Don't crank down landing gear all the way !! Please !!

Please, please, show me a picture of a gap.

 

I hate it when they drop it all the way on the ground.

 

I used to work for a company that had a trail king hydraulic dovetail with those on it. we had 2 tractors, one with a dump valve and one without, and they had different 5th wheel heights. several times i had to get a telehandler to pick up on it so i could lower it because the guy with the dump valve and taller 5th wheel forgot to dump his bags when dropping the trailer

 

My truck is basically married to my trailer so it's very rare that I even have to drop it.. I would say maybe roughly 12-20 (if that) times a year I drop my trailer..

All our trailers, trucks and 5th wheels are the same heights and sizes.. On a empty trailer I will drop it with the legs about 1/2 or so from the ground, dump the backs and drive out.. Then when I back under it or someone else the legs are off the ground and it's that much easier to dolly legs up.. If the trailer is loaded then I drop the landing gear to the ground.. Very hard to back under the trailer if it was dropped with legs 1/2 - 1" high from the ground. Trying to back under a trailer with 80,000lbs in the box is tricky so much resistance..

 

Yeah, go spend some time hauling cans around, they're either dropped 8" low or 14" high. I've had some that were so low, my drives wouldn't fit and the hostlers played heck trying to get under them. And I've had some that were so high, I spent 20 minutes cranking it down (those 50K marble loads are so much fun to crank down). Conagra in Commerce City, Co., the hostlers are notorious for dropping stuff high. They always try to blame the dropping driver. Caught them in a lie several times, dropped one one day, stopped an inch from the ground, dumped my airbags and pulled away. Came back three days later to pick up the load, with bags inflated it was 6" high. Hunted down the hostler, when he backed under and raised it so I could crank the legs, he said "yeah, the driver that dropped it must have had a really high 5th wheel, we never touch them". Really, huh, that's odd, I'm the one that dropped it three days ago, see, here's my dispatch sheet showing it, and this is the only truck I drive. He shut up real quick.

 

Inch from the ground and let the bags drop it. Heck of a lot easier to drive under it than crank a loaded trailer. all of our trucks are the same. Work smarter not harder

 

You guys amaze me. How can you really find something to complain about with a drop & hook haha is that really all the work you can handle

 

On the ca written test it reads " crank landing gear until it makes contact with ground then put into lower gear and give it another one to two cranks..... I thought to my self who ever put this together has not had to deal with a.

Daaaaaamnnnniitt the handle wont turn left or right which way does it go. ####ing driver who ever dropped this off ill ####ing kill you situations

 

Why not get an hourly job then?

I've had this happen too many times. People are so lazy. Here's what I do if a trailer is dropped high. I just back half way under it. Then hook up the air and pressurize the trailer suspension. This lifts the back and lowers the front end. Usually that's enough to take the weight off of the landing gear so you can easily crank the landing gear. Easy peasy.