53' Step Deck. Tridem or Tandem

The HD ramps are rated for 47,000lbs. The heaviest I will personally load up on them is 42,000 - 43,000 lbs for tracked machines. I have 15 yrs of experience operating various machines for site development. So loading and unloading these machines comes naturally to me. I do not recommend you go for something that heavy with out some sort of comfort level with the machine you are loading. Do not trust shippers to load up the ramps for you. As @johndeere4020 will be quick to point out from a post I made a while back. There is a level of risk involved when loading heavy up ramps onto an aluminum deck.

I'll do the honors this time.




My carrier has a guy that we haul a lot of equipment for. Usually no one is there and I pick it up and load it myself. This particular time the owner was there and he wanted to load the machine himself. What happened was that as he approached the top of the ramps where the machine starts to tip he panic and became unsure. All of the machines weight (42k lbs) was on teetering on the edge of my trailer. I was yelling at him to continue forward and let the tracks land on my my deck. He kept inching left and right,.. not sure of his bearings. This was too much for my trailer to handle and the results are in the pics above. The ramps did not fail here. My trailer failed. When loading machines with this much weight,.. dozers, loaders, excavators,.. its best to use a loading dock,.. or if you bring them up the ramps,.. you need to have it lined up from the start,.. once you start tipping,.. you can not stop,.. it must land on the deck.

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My trailer has since been repaired and during the repair process I had them do some custom reinforcing underneath as well as on top. In theory,.. it should be able to handle a 42k lb machine teetering on the edge,.. but I am not willing to test it.




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Here is a really good series of pics showing a 41k lb D61 coming off my deck and down the ramps. This should illustrate everything you want to see of how the trailer reacts to the weight during delivery or while being loaded. This was also well before the reinforcements were made,.. this was as you would buy from Fontaine.

This is where I loaded it.


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And here is where I unloaded it.










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Ta da,.. and there you have it. I hope that helps.

Make no mistake,.. its a lot of weight and a lot can go wrong when not handled properly. I have personally done hundreds of machines like this. This is my little niche. Pays better than general freight (Most of the time), permits are easy and lots and lots of them.

As for wheeled machines,.. the heaviest I have brought up the ramps are probably some of the Genie boom lifts at 39k and Motor Graders around the same weight,.. 39 - 40k lbs. I would probably attempt to load heavier up the ramps with a wheeled machine because there isnt a teetering point like with tracked machines. I would probably limit wheeled machines at 44 - 45k lbs. I honestly have never done any that heavy. The Infinity has side braces from the deck to the frame,.. so I (Hope) think the deck should be ok with that much weight outside of the frame rails. I have personally never done any that heavy. As always,.. I will be sure to post pics of any carnage,.. should the worst happen.

Hurst

 

Leave me out of it.

 

I would call CT and find out exactly what the rules are. I have been too lazy to do it myself. I am only relaying what a few others have said to me. I can not tell you with any certainty how true it is.

I have been through the scale there on i84 a bunch of times with my spread open and I was never hassled.

Hurst

 

Yes sir,..

LOL

Hurst

 

Each piece is rated 23,500 lbs,.. there are four 8 ft ramps and 2 stands which are also rated 23,500 lbs each. Since all of the weight is not on a single piece,.. you have 2 sides,.. so you split the weight of the machine or multiply the rated weight x2 which is 47,000.

The first time I tried a machine this heavy,.. I swore there would be no way the single pin for the adjustment in the stands would carry the weight. Besides some battle scars on the ramps,.. they have worked flawlessly.

Hurst

 

You have a lot more faith in recycled Coors cans than I do! At least your close to the ground, so when they fatigue, you have a much smaller chance of rolling over...

 

Here is probably the heaviest wheeled vehicle I have put on my deck.

Picked up at the national guard,.. it never went up or down my ramps. It was posted as being 40k,.. how ever, after scaling and being 100lbs over gross with 3/4 tank of fuel,.. it was probably a lot closer to 45 - 46k lbs.



Hurst

 

If anything ever went off the side,.. can almost guarantee it would not land shiny side up.
My lower deck is 39 inches at its tallest point.

Hurst