loading tractor Safely

[Soundguy]

When your tractor hits those ramps, it will take a couple strong gorilla's to lift the ramps off the trailer.. I think a safety chain is a bit ridiculess... the timber or block or jackstand under the rear of the trailer is good though.. if the trailer squatts.. it picks up the rear of the truck.. if you are on a hill.. the truck starts rolling!

soundguy

 

[MikeD74T]

Propjob, If you use jackstands under the trailer & they still have weight on them after loading how will you get them out? If you use wood blocks you can just pull ahead. Wood is less likely to damage driveway when loading. MikeD74T

 

[MikeD74T]

if the trailer squatts.. it picks up the rear of the truck.. if you are on a hill.. the truck starts rolling! soundguy

In an old thread someone loaded as Soundguy describes and couldn't get back off the trailer when the whole assembly started rolling. Ended up over an embankment. MikeD74T

 

[swines]

Propjob, If you use jackstands under the trailer & they still have weight on them after loading how will you get them out? If you use wood blocks you can just pull ahead. Wood is less likely to damage driveway when loading. MikeD74T

My Big Tex trailer has built-in rear stabilizers. To use them with an unloaded trailer you position them about 1/2-inch above the ground. The trailer will tilt back very slightly before they contact the ground as the tractor is driven up the ramps. With the tractor loaded on the trailer, the stabilizers are about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch above the ground with the suspension under compression from the load.

When the tractor is unloaded, you can position the stabilizers on the ground because the suspension will lift them slightly off the ground under no load.

I would assume you could use the same sort of spacing between the trailer frame and jack stands.

 

[Propjob]

Yes , My thought would be to set the jackstand a height a little lower than the frame for that reason and maybe placing plywood under them to protect the driveway. If you were going to use wood, do you use 4X4, 4X6 and do you set them on each side or in the middle of the trailer. I envision these being used similar to cribbing.. JIM

 

[plowking]

I had an interesting episode today. I was unloading my machine and trailer tipped enough to take pressure off back of truck,I was sliding down the hill,drove machine forward on trailer and it[truck ,trailer ,tractor] stopped before hitting a fence. I put blocks under ramps but definetly willl block the trailer with blocks,jackstands. Never happened before but truck was on an incline and parked on gravel and hottop. The neighborhood I was in was all hilly,no level spot to unload. I wish there was a way to lock the trailer and truck brakes to unload. plowking

 

[wkpoor]

I had an interesting episode today. I was unloading my machine and trailer tipped enough to take pressure off back of truck,I was sliding down the hill,drove machine forward on trailer and it[truck ,trailer ,tractor] stopped before hitting a fence. I put blocks under ramps but definetly willl block the trailer with blocks,jackstands. Never happened before but truck was on an incline and parked on gravel and hottop. The neighborhood I was in was all hilly,no level spot to unload. I wish there was a way to lock the trailer and truck brakes to unload. plowking

What were you loading and what size truck was the trailer attached to?
I know of a guy that happened to while loading an 8N on a 1/2 ton truck. His didn't turn out pretty though. He balled it all up at the bottom of the hill.

 

[ampsucker]

i suppose if your tow vehicle has 4x4, you could lock that in, then put it in park or set the parking brake. that should lock the front wheels to the back so no rolling even if rear comes off the ground.

i would think the best answer is still to block the rear of the trailer some way. it can't be good on any of the equipment to load it so heavily the rear of the tow vehicle is suspended by the trailer.

amp

 

[plowking]

Hi,ampsucker,my son-in-law who is mechanic said the same thing. Put it in four wheel drive with the emergency brake on. The truck is a 2500HD. The tractor I have now is 2000 lbs. more then the one I originally bought trailer for.I usually park on dirt and level most of the time. I'll block the wheels from now on and I have some blocking I can put under gate to support trailer. I was going to get some jackstands or carry a floor jack but afraid if trailer is in street unattended,someone will walk of with them. By driving tractor forward on trailer while it was rolling,I was able to get weight on back of truck again. It stopped in front of fence at neiighbor's driveway just to the right of neighbor's Corvette Z-06. For ease of use,I would like to have some stablizers installed. plowking

 

[Soundguy]

I had an interesting episode today. I was unloading my machine and trailer tipped enough to take pressure off back of truck,I was sliding down the hill,drove machine forward on trailer and it[truck ,trailer ,tractor] stopped before hitting a fence. I put blocks under ramps but definetly willl block the trailer with blocks,jackstands. Never happened before but truck was on an incline and parked on gravel and hottop. The neighborhood I was in was all hilly,no level spot to unload. I wish there was a way to lock the trailer and truck brakes to unload. plowking

As the others said.. lock in 4wd, set park brake, and BLOCK the rear of the trailer so it can't squat.

if the trailer has electric brakes, it's SUPER easy to install a toggle switch on the trailer to kick power over to the brakes.. just like the brake pedal was pushed..

soundguy