This is a little embarrassing...lol

All right I just have a question on landing gear. This might sound stupid but I just want to get the cranking of landing gear down pat.

I'm in training with my company and I'm doing pretty good overall. I sometimes struggle with getting the landing gear lowered/raised. What positions are low gear, high gear, and nothing? How do I get the handle to those positions?

Its such an easy concept but I'm so bogged with information I tend to forget this simple task. Thank you folks .

 

I'm not good at explaining things.But the high side is used when you cant raise the trailer,it eases the tension.Once it comes loose then push the lever in and start cranking.High side pull the lever out and handle in.Low side lever in.You should be asking your trainer questions and be out side so he can show you.

 

Lol,dont worry we all been there if you push the handle in towards the trailer frame,that is 2nd gear it will be a little harder to turn but it will get the landing gear up faster once you got it off the ground,then you can go to 1st and slow roll it up,if you pull it all the way out towards you that is 1st it will seem like it takes for ever to get up but be patient and it will get there eventually,cranking toward the back of the trailer it should go up,cranking opposite direction toward the front of truck it should go down,depending on the make of the trailer it could go either way,hopes this helps i agree with pattyj,your trainer shud be there assisting you,thats what he or she gets paid for

 

This is one of those hard questions that once you figure out what you are doing, you will wonder at how easy it is. But keep in mind that sometimes, particularly on older, not well maintained trailers, that landing gear can have a mind of it's own. And just once in a while, you will find one that is really, I mean REALLY screwed up. I was trying to lower a gear on a loaded trailer that some dipwad had dropped too low. I couldn't get under it, even with airbags on tractor deflated. I couldn't raise it by cranking in the high position, so I finally got it into the "low gear." And I start cranking. And I crank, and I crank, and I crank, it seems to be taking forever, with the trailer not raising even the small amount it should. I relaxed my grip on the crank handle, and that #### thing whipped back on me hard enough that if I hadn't been watching what I was doing, it could have really hurt me. I mean breaking a bone type of hurt.

What my point is here, is that you need to be careful with these things. You may go your entire trucking career and not run into anything like that. Or it could happen tomorrow.

OBTW, as usual, PJ is correct. This is something to ask your trainer. That is why you HAVE a trainer. Don't be afraid to ask any question, no matter how dumb it may sound to you. If you honestly don't know something, and can't figure it out, ASK, before you do some damage or get hurt.

Speaking of cranks and crank handles, once you get out on your own, a spare crank handle and the hardware to attach it is something you should carry with you. Because, sooner or later, you will be told to pick up a trailer, and when you find it, somebody will have stolen the crank handle.

 

Can't add a thing to posts 2 & 3...both are good answers to the question.

 

Trailers are all a bit different. Newer ones are more user friendly than those multi-million mile ones. Different manufacturers have slightly different approaches...direction of raise/lower, in/out on high/low ratio, door fastenings, so on. It's part of the learning curve. Tandem pins are like that, each one is a new adventure. You'll need tail/turn signal lights, marker lights, some wiring equipment and tools, glad hand gaskets, for your trailers. If you work down along the Mexican border, expect stripped lights, crank handles, lug nuts, glad hand gaskets, it's a great place to learn. Anyway, if it's too hard to crank, pull it or push it in the opposite direction, and see how that goes.

 

By the way, there's no point in feelings like embarrassed or whatever. If you have a question, then it's a valid question, get it out there. If some teasing comes your way, it's all in good fun (mostly) and remember this: nothing is sweeter than payback.

 

I would also recommend that you put your "free" arm out and brace yourself against the trailer, as this will steady you and help prevent a fall. Sometimes cranking a trailer can take 2 hands however. That can be an indication of a bent gear, dry gear (needs lube), or even a broken cross bar (goes from one side of the gear to the other. Yes, your trainer should be helping you, and if you are afraid to ask for some help, that is a fear you had better get over, and fast.

Now taking along a "spare" crank handle does come in handy, if you can get your shop to give you one, complete with nuts and bolts. Not for when you come to a trailer with a handle that has been stolen, but for the trailer that you get, and the crank handle is rotted away, or broken, due to an idiot dropping the trailer and left it sticking out, and some other idiot backed into it, crushing it.

Then if you have to make a repair, inform your company, the shop AND dispatch, maybe you "might" get paid some extra for your time, maybe not.

 

My current co-driver got injured with the landing gear. It was wound up too tight i guess and swung back over and cracked her in the head. Kept her out of the workforce for a few months.

 

THAT is exactly what I was talking about! Keep your cotton pickin' head OUT of the line of fire!