Fat guy hauling cars..?

shollis125 · Jul 27, 2021

FallenStar said: ↑

Training has been going pretty smooth. At first, things were a little intimidating, but every trip up and down the ramps and in and out of the belly has been a confidence builder. Our class is a little bigger (6 people) for one trainer, so we don't get a ton of reps, but we go out with trainers next week, so we'll get plenty then.

That said, I did have my first scare this morning. My confidence was decently high, so I volunteered to go first. We had a Mini Cooper, so they're already on the more narrow side. I started up the ramp and the floor mat slid up to pin the accelerator open. I FLEW up the ramp, in this little narrow car, trying to keep on line and brake to a more manageable speed. I didn't really panic, but after the fact, my blood was PUMPING. We were practicing on the stinger, so when I got up to the #2 position, I hard braked to figure out what was going on. It was not great fun. lol

Also, one guy in our class is experienced and swears by loading heavy up front on the stinger - pickup, van, whatever. We have done a couple of mock loads on paper, so I used his tips and tried to load a Dodge Grand Caravan or Chevy Silverado 1500 in the #1 hole and was shot down by the trainer - too heavy, too tall. I'll be on the east coast (kind of SE regional), so they're pretty strict about the 13'6" limit. Is it just not possible to get those larger vehicles down to legal height? The experienced guy just waved him off when I mentioned it, but I haven't had a chance to see for myself. For reference, the truck I'm learning on is a Pete 389 with a 9 car stinger. Steers are rated up to 14.6 but they want us to keep it under 14.5.
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Banker · Jul 28, 2021

It is possible to get the big vehicles down when you have to if you have something manageable behind the cab. If height is an issue, you have the option of putting something not so large on the head rack and you don’t have to do reloads I would take his advice. I load big up there everyday but I normally have at least 4 pickups on a load and that is the best for my situation normally.

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