Trailer safety (was Re: [AT] OT Darwin

[Mike Sloane]

Larry D. Goss wrote:
> WHOA!  Man, Mike, that makes chills run up my spine.  One of the things
> I learned early on when transporting tractors is NEVER EVER use the
> winch as a binder, not even for the front of a light load.  It is SO
> tempting to chain the back and use the winch as a quick and easy
> tensioning device, but they just aren't made for that.  I did it a
> couple of times, and on the second time I was driving down the highway
> and heard this rumbling from in back.  Before I could get the truck
> stopped, the winch had run backwards, jammed the spool of cable, and
> burned up the main switch on the motor.  I had left the control wire
> lying on the bed of the truck and it shifted around enough that it got
> caught under the front tractor tire and the insulation got cut all the
> way through so that the controller was shorted out against the expanded
> metal traction paths on the bed.  The winch was unfused -- wired
> directly to the truck battery -- so it's a wonder that the whole thing
> didn't catch fire when the motor stalled.  As it was, the relay switch
> burned up and finally went open circuit.
I know you mean well, Larry, and I agree with on the use of electric 
winches. But these trucks have substantial PTO driven hydraulic gear 
winches with no free spooling. When I got there, the Ford 7000 had over 
200K on the clock, and the biggest hazard was stepping on a soft deck 
board and falling through. The F550 only had about 75K on it (the boss 
considered it "brand new"). And almost all of that mileage on both 
machines had been done hauling tractors from little lawn tractors to 555 
loader/backhoes to balers, hydraulic excavators, and everything in 
between, with never a mishap (caused by loose tractors). And there were 
no hooks on the ends of the cables, just a clevis that we connected to a 
chain going to the tractor. And, as I mentioned, if the load was large 
or didn't look "good", everyone but the owner would put a regular chain 
on the front for an added margin of safety (he thought we were sissies, 
but we didn't care what he thought).  :-)

Mike
> 
> The free spooling action of those winches is also a concern.  They
> simply won't take the impact load that results from having the winch
> under load while running down the highway.
> 
> Other NO-NO's:
> 
> Never drop the hook through a frame and double it back to hook on the
> end of the cable.  The sharp bend in the cable at the hook or at the
> tractor frame will break the strands.  For the same reason, always use a
> deadeye for fastening the hook to the end of the winch cable.
> 
> Never stand close to the line of the cable tension from the winch to the
> load.  If the hook breaks loose for any reason, it becomes a missile
> that's every bit as lethal as a bullet.
> 
> Never stand in back of the load while it is being winched.  If it breaks
> loose, you'll get run over.
> 
> Larry
> 

-- 
Mike Sloane
Allamuchy NJ
mikesloane at verizon.net
Website: <www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>

Political freedom cannot exist in any land where religion controls the
state, and religious freedom cannot exist in any land where the state
controls religion. -Samuel James Ervin Jr., lawyer, judge, and senator
(1896-1985)


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