How can I get more weight on my truck?

Discussion in 'Flatbed Trucking Forum' started by Bdog, Dec 30, 2017.

  1. johndeere4020

    johndeere4020 Road Train Member

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    Sure
     
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  3. TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    Okay, bear with me friend... I'm not trying to be a prick, but actually trying to help you.

    Loading the way you did is extremely tail happy. That can possibly give you handling issues (tail wagging the dog) in bad weather. You loaded across the whole trailer. This is what @johndeere4020 and @kylefitzy brought out in their posts. @Ruthless suggested loading more at the step. Dead on accurate. You want to load the trailer evenly so that the drives and the trailer carries nearly the same amount of weight. That makes all the difference in the world if you are on a slick road.

    To be honest with you, that was an ugly load BTW. Glad you didnt have any issues since the load looks like its hanging over the sides of the trailer.
     
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  4. beastr123

    beastr123 Road Train Member

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    if you had loaded one more lift of under 5000# just behind the neck(step)and moved one off the back and up to just behind the neck again you would find your weights would be balanced much better.
    A rough guess would be
    11200# steers
    32000# drives
    36800# trailers
    Notice my educated guess leaves at least 2000# leeway on each end and a max of 80000#
    This guess is if your fifth wheel is 4" ahead of drive center
    Please note I pulled a front sliding spread step for 5 years and have some experience in this.
     
  5. Aradrox

    Aradrox Heavy Load Member

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    The stack of longer boards seems to be slightly higher than the others.... If you had loaded the forward against the step you may of found the weight to be a little more uniform and then been able to load a few more of the short boards....
    Just how it looks to me
     
  6. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Lumber cut from old phone poles? Could they have been old power poles? Depending on the kind of wood used in the pole, doug fir, white fir, pine, or whatever there could be a major difference in the weight of the lumber.
    Also, there are three or four different treatment methods for poles that can effect weight.
    Some of the treatments evaporate with time with a resultant weight loss, some don't.
    We haul a lot of railroad ties and power poles, both treated and green. The weights are all over the place.
     
  7. Bdog

    Bdog Road Train Member

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    Yes these were all made from creosote treated power poles. They are called quarter rounds. They cut the four sides off and get a square shaped board from the middle that is smooth and expensive. People use them for things like porch supports I think. The quarter rounds people use for livestock corrals and fencing. They tell me horses won't chew up the creosote treated wood like they will other lumber.

    Yes they are heavy. A bundle of 25 boards 8' long weighs about 800 lbs.
     
  8. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Landscape timbers. Yeah, those things can bring you up to weight real fast. A lot of states don't allow creosote treating anymore because of the carcinogens.
    LOL...now they use stuff that doesn't last nearly as long as creosote so the pole companies sell more poles. Job security.
     
  9. Ruthless

    Ruthless Road Train Member

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    Best way to sell product is get a regulation that requires people to buy your product; or periodically replace your product with a new version.

    -_-

    @PeteyFixAll doesnt mind tho lol
     
  10. Hurst

    Hurst Registered Member

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    On a load like this where its smaller bundles,.. if you know or have a rough idea how much each bundle weighs,. I would try to stack more on the 2nd bundle right behind the step. Maybe invest in some tall pipe stakes if need be. I have 4 pipe stakes for mine and it helps on loads like this.

    Here is a load that I needed pipe stakes in order to load it properly.
    [​IMG]

    As for when dealing with longer pieces,.. say 45 - 55 ft in length. You can use dunnage and load levelers to control your weight distribution. Setting them accordingly to balance out the weight to where you want it.

    Pics:
    Here are 2 good examples. 1 with out load leveler,.. and the other with. Same principle used for both in setting the weight properly.

    [​IMG]

    .

    [​IMG]

    The reason for setting the leveler so far forward was because the bottom 2 levels of pipe were 55ft. The entire load weighed in just over 45k lbs. With 2ft hanging over the front of my trailer.

    Hurst
     
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  11. kranky1

    kranky1 Road Train Member

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    Deck angle makes a difference. In theory if you had put the load 1' ahead you would have been about 1000lbs heavier on the truck. The angle of your deck dictates how much weight you move by shifting the load ahead, but 1' generally moves about 1000.
     
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