Anybody have one of these tow hitches? O/Os who tow their own

I know of a small outfit around here that has one of those. They use it when a truck goes down 500 miles away or whatever, go hook to it and bring it home to fix. More cost effective than getting robbed by unknown towing companies and stealerships. If you have one somebody will be wanting to borrow it at one time or another lol.

 

I used a ProTote in the past and like it better because at the horizontal bar that hooks to the disabled trucks frame, the pivot point was three really thick chains vs basically a u joint type setup. This was I believe safer since all the weight is distributed over 3 chains vs on point and the truck you're towing wasn't swaying since 3 chains wouldn't allow that. Other than that, I loved being able to tow my own trucks back to the barn and not get raped by a tow co. I even towed one back for 1300 miles with no issues. Go to AuctionTime.com, I see them on there all the time and they look new.

 

Just remember its not a wheel lift. Most trucks have cute bumpers on the front, so this style lift would damage the front. But if the front is messed up so that the rears only roll you probably wont need to worry about it. It will get used more than you think.

 

I usually only lift the back, and chain axles around frame cause the air bags. They are not really designed to hold the weight of the engine, or pick it up for that matter. And yes its always on loan.

 

Recently I bought 2 trucks for the engines. The cost of shipping them here is too great. The cost of renting a trailer is insane. I really have no need to go purchase a 12 ton bob- tail trailer designed for hauling backhoes. Faced with this dilemma, and after a million phone calls I found a guy who built one out of some purchased steel but the lifting mechanism is fabricated out of some truck airbags. Total cost of the materials is about $1000. He wouldn't let me borrow it or even rent it, but he let me take all the measurements and photos I needed. Needless to say, the steel will be ready for pickup tomorrow. Hope to have have it all welded up by Wednesday and on the road to get the first truck by Thursday. If all goes well, I'll post some photos.

 

cool, I would love to see some pics. Good luck.

 

Yea pics would be cool mine has the electric hydraulics which are getting weak, but the airbags still interest me