Hauling tractor for the first time, tell me what I'm doing wrong

zing · Oct 2, 2017

bigtiller said:
Your nylon straps need some attention. If they are touching anything, they will chafe and it won't take long for them to fail. You can protect the problem area with heavy carpet strips or something similar, as long as the strap doesn't develop enough slack for the carpet to fall away. A twist in the strap is a good thing, it helps prevent the strap from vibrating in the wind.

Congrats on the safe trip OP and nice job of being so careful with your load. I agree with bigtiller about the straps. Not saying you are doing anything unsafe, just that where they touch metal corners they will chafe and will get weaker or have to be replaced sooner. I got condemned fire hose from my local fire hall and cut off 1 foot sections. Then you slide the strap through the fire hose piece and align that at any place you are at a metal corner. The rubber inside doesn't slip on the strap and they take all the chafing you can throw at them.

vvanders · Oct 2, 2017

John Fitzgerald said:
What mountains are in the background?

That's the Olympic mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula west of Seattle. We picked up a 5 acre parcel just outside Sequim, earlier in the year they had a fair bit of snow on them and were quite spectacular. Once we get setup and moved really looking forward to exploring them a bit.

vvanders · Oct 2, 2017

zing said:
Congrats on the safe trip OP and nice job of being so careful with your load. I agree with bigtiller about the straps. Not saying you are doing anything unsafe, just that where they touch metal corners they will chafe and will get weaker or have to be replaced sooner. I got condemned fire hose from my local fire hall and cut off 1 foot sections. Then you slide the strap through the fire hose piece and align that at any place you are at a metal corner. The rubber inside doesn't slip on the strap and they take all the chafing you can throw at them.

So I had foam on all the straps across the flail mower and on all the sharp edges of the bucket, other other side is smooth with the bucket hooks so just used those. Where do you think I have issues(not an attack, would like to know so I can correct it next time)?

vvanders · Oct 2, 2017

AWSubie said:
Good to hear your trip was safe. The new property looks beautiful.

Thanks! We like it as well, can't wait to get the house on it and moved up there.

John Fitzgerald · Oct 2, 2017

vvanders, PM sent.

TomSeller · Oct 2, 2017

RichM752 said:
A tennis ball will prevent bugs from getting in the exhaust pipe.

Or rain. After all he lives in Oregon

. Congrats on a safe trip.

I always stop after about 5 miles and tighten everything up. I have been surprised a few times and needed to ratchet a few clicks.

zing · Oct 3, 2017

vvanders said:
So I had foam on all the straps across the flail mower and on all the sharp edges of the bucket, other other side is smooth with the bucket hooks so just used those. Where do you think I have issues(not an attack, would like to know so I can correct it next time)?

Where the straps go into the stake pockets was what caught my eye. Your trailer looks really new so not a big issue yet, but going around the steel edge of the pocket can be a sharp edge and is often the first place to get rusty since the paint is chipped off when the chains drag through. A strap vibrating in the wind as you drive down the highway, against a rusty stake pocket corner will fray and weaken the strap pretty quickly. The fire hose will also be much easier to use and will stay put better than pool noodles which will come loose if the strap loosens as you drive.

Like I said, not criticizing at all since you did a great job of tying that thing down, just making a suggestion for how to make it easier in the future and get more life out of your straps :thumbsup:.

vvanders · Oct 3, 2017

Ah, gotcha that makes sense and appreciate the feedback. The trailer is pretty new but can see how that could easily become an issue.

The pool noodle was just something we had on-hand, will get some a bit more robust in the future for sure

.

vvanders · Oct 3, 2017

TomSeller said:
Or rain. After all he lives in Oregon . Congrats on a safe trip.

I always stop after about 5 miles and tighten everything up. I have been surprised a few times and needed to ratchet a few clicks.

Hah yah, we did hit a tiny bit of rain on the way up but didn't seem to hurt anything. I've been meaning to swap the exhaust so something that at least vents to the side so I don't have to inhale it so much. No idea why the previous owner put shortened exhaust at eye-level.