65k, 4 chains, good to go

Agreed. It's ludicrous to see one chain on a dozer, pulling to one side. Just where is that dozer going to go?

 

I see it as permanently attached. Most of the time to remove it you have to remove pins which have bolted caps and the ball and socket if it’s a six way. I’m the same way with rippers too. However Keen won’t let you out of the yard with out something on the blade or bucket. So sometimes I have to do it to keep the peace.

 

Hey, listen. I said, I WOULD put chains in the middle, for looks, but I said in the event of an upset of a 65,000 lb tall vehicle, those middle chains aren't going to hold it on the trailer, I don't think anything would. And 35 years trucking without an accident, qualifies me to say that. Can you make that claim? "Good thing I'm retired", indeed.

 

Nope. Had a couple accidents a lot of #### ups. Only got 18y years of driving, but I can tell you this. You have a better chance of them holding if they are on there as opposed to sitting in your chain tray. A40’s are a little heavier than 65,000 they are closer to 72,000.

 

For the 3rd time, I said I would chain it in the middle, it just wouldn't do anything in an upset. What's on the trailer, "D" rings? A cast iron hook on the binder?( I hope it's not a cheap Asian binder) Yank them right out, it would, yer turn,,,.

 

Which is it? First you would run like it is, then you would chain the middle. You keep acting like the chains in the middle won’t help, the chains on the ends are no different. Same chains and same attachment points. The more chain you put on the less stress and shock the other ones will take. So by adding the ones in the middle the end ones don’t have to work as hard. But I know you said you would use them. After you said you wouldn’t. Yer turn..

 

AND THEN that coil gets to unrolling.

 

Hey, I'm not on trial here, quite frankly, I'm retired and couldn't care less.

 

Not even close to acceptable, C'mon now.

That thing (and I hauled my share of them over the past 35+ years and still do,) should have those four 1/2" chains pulling fore and aft and diagonally, PLUS I put at least two or more 3/8" G70 at the pivot point pulling fore and aft as well. 6 chains, looks a LOT better than 4, and you gotta do the math on the chains and binders if you're gonna play this game right. Anything articulated I use a minimum or 6 chains. I don't care if it's rubber tires, peanut butter tires, or tracks...you should be securing these things so if you roll over upside down in the ditch, that #HIT is still attached to that trailer, PERIOD. The law states "there shall be no fore and aft or lateral movement," so cross-chaining everything diagonally is the proper way, AND the point where chains touch I use pieces of old firehose to keep the chains from chafing...a requirement by DOT, BTW...

Been checked and commended by DOT in the past years and gotten compliments for the way I overdo things. That's a lot better to me than a ticket for lack of securement or worse.

This oversized box below has overkill securement, it only weighed 14k lbs, but I used my four 1/2" chains front and rear; notice the firehose at the contact point where they cross... And, there's another four 3/8" G70 chains inside the box in a cross grid that you can't see unless you lay on the ground that I put to keep it square, and impossible to move side to side, front to back.

Yes, it takes a few more minutes...yes, you might get dirty or wet like I did here. But I can buy a pair of pants at Walmart for $12.00...the cost of picking that thing back up off the ground, and the repercussions that goes along with that might be a bit over the cost of the pants.

This thing below was 13'6" wide, 13' 6" high.



I get tired of seeing that substandard securement stuff every day, and then seeing another wreck due to driver lack of brains. Then another law is written, and it just strangles a guy like me trying to do everything RIGHT even more.

I was in Clayton, NC last year picking up a new Cat loader going to St. Louis, Mo. The yard is run by Keen Transport, who is contracted to do the shipping for the Cat factory there and they load and inspect every load that leaves.

I commenced to chain the loader down as I always do, in a repetitive manner as every one I do, with the four 1/2" chains front & rear, pulling fore & aft as usual. I always put one in the pivot point as an extra sense of security, pulling forward usually...not on top of the pin but against the structure of the machine itself. I get over to the office and some woman with a hardhat and a yellow vest tells me I have to remove that chain because it'll ruin the bearing.

Dumbfounded, I started to say I've been doing this a long time and she stops me dead in my tracks and says "either remove it or unload the machine right now." This is where it gets difficult sometimes, especially dealing with a woman with a hardhat.

I removed it, drove out the gate out onto the main road, pulled over and put it back where it belonged. Ain't no round 5' tall female with tatoos gonna tell me how to do what I've been doing twice as long as she's been alive. Sometimes you just gotta use your own better judgement for your own sake. I usually do.

 

Nice cover on the exhaust too, BTW. I understand with all the emissions equipment from that stack to the turbo, the chances of the wind getting down to the turbo and spinning it would probably be nill, but I cover every stack of every machine with a Turbo Saver. It's a $50.00 hat that goes over the stack with a bungee attached that you put over it to keep from damaging the turbo from air getting down through the exhaust and spinning the turbo without any oil pressure to it. It's kind of a witch tale, but you pull into a Cat or other dealer without one and chances are you're gonna hear about it.