Oops - Why you should follow posted bridge limits

[mffarmall]

My thoughts are what is the county doing. If they know that there are farmers using those bridges why don't they do something about it. Colorado has many small towns and bridges. But they are not wood like that one.

Posted or not, if the county knows that the bridges are being used by these vehicles then they bar most of the rebuilding cost. They probably have memos going back years about it needed to be replaced.

 

[mffarmall]

As for trucks, hold onto your trucks. With the new buy out. New trucks will get 40 mpg but will not hall much. F250 will mean F 2.50L

 

[Renze]

As for trucks, hold onto your trucks. With the new buy out. New trucks will get 40 mpg but will not hall much. F250 will mean F 2.50L

With proper engine design, you'd be suprised what a 2.5 will haul... In my former job we converted small drivers license (under 3500kg GVW) Mercedes and Volkswagen trucks to 5th wheel haulers, these hauled up to 8.75 ton train weight. I assume thats pretty as much as what an F250 is approved for..

You do need to change gears more often than with a 300 hp Cummins, but most folks run their trucks only on partial load, and very few times at 8.75 ton gvw or more... For a lot of truck owners, it would be an acceptable compromise between mileage and towing ease...

For those who require more, maybe Mercedes should give it a try with the V8 version of the V6 in the Sprinter...

Problem is i guess, that the typical buyer doesnt want to give away truck bulk and the heavier diesel roar, for fuel economy and car-like driving comfort.
Thats also why i never saw a Prius outside of a city, or an elderly people homes parking lot..

 

[Cyclone Jake]

Do those carts hook up directly to the drawbar?? In one of the photo's it looks like its hooked onto the three point hitch somehow. He's lucky that tractor didn't go with the cart.

Yes, they typically do attach directly to the drawbar. In a closer look at the picture, it appears that the clevis broke off of the hitch of the wagon. Also, it's hard to see, but it looks like a little blue is still in the pintle hitch on the tractor.

 

[garydc]

Some of the older bridges around are pretty scary, about 7 years ago when I had a truck we were gravelling a township road and had to cross an older concrete bridge with gravel on it as part of the road, we ran across that bridge half of the day with tractors and tri-axle belly dumps with 35 tonnes of "a" gravel no problems at all. Well a couple of years ago I was working for a guy doing bridge demolition and when they scrapped all the gravel of the bridge deck he set the point of his hammer on his excavator on the deck it went right thru. Looking back I was really thankful I didn't realize the bridge was that rotten when I was using it. Gary

 

[mffarmall]

I have seen some great haulers. It is easy to forget that German companies make all kinds of vehicles and they are really good. Saw a 63 VW that was a bus like front with a bed on it. A kid lowered it. It could do corners at 60.

 

[radman1]

Do those carts hook up directly to the drawbar?? In one of the photo's it looks like its hooked onto the three point hitch somehow. He's lucky that tractor didn't go with the cart.

The grain carts attach to the drawbar. However, depending on the drawbar, the weight of the load, it can be too much for the drawbar. On our tractors, we commonly use a 1/2" chain which is looped under the hitch of the cart and to each 3pt lift arm. The lift arms can now support much of the weight rather than just on the drawbar. Our new Case-IH 245 has the optional heavy duty hitch rated for load weight of 11,000-12,000 lbs and does not require a chain support. Our cart hold about 750 bushels and can carry about 45,000 lbs loaded. Some of the newer largest carts can hold 1100 bushels or around 65,000 lbs.