E.L.D.E.R. - Experienced Lowbed Drivers Essential Rules

#4: Secure all of the doors on the load! Make sure they are latched & locked or bungee them if you're unsure.
You don't want to be looking in the left mirror and the excavator side engine access door is open and latched making you about 18' wide in rush hour on I84 going through Portland......

 

#5 Add at least 10% to any weight you are given. This includes the mfg web site.

 

Look UP for power lines before moving machine.

 

#7 KEYS!!! Make sure you have your keys. Finding yourself 20 miles from civilization to pick up a Komatsu dozer & realizing you left your tractor keys in another machine is a frustrating experience. I kept my main key ring with about 10 keys hanging on a hook under the drivers seat so you SAW them every time you opened the door. Along with a 3 Lb coffee can full of misc. keys, I kept a couple spare Cat, JD, Case keys in my lunchbox. Note: The Komatsu incident, I did not have a key of my own, so the owner said he would leave the key in the usual place on the machine. He forgot. I found a key in my coffee can that went in the switch & after 30 min. of jiggleing it, it turned!! DONT give up.

 

#8: heavy, long jumper cables.
2 or 3 days on the road in the snow and cold, break the trailer apart jump on the machine- click, click, click.

I made a set up with welding cable & Anderson connectors. I also keep some starting fluid for the older machines that don't like the cold, careful with that though!!!!!

 

#9. Always try to load your own machine. It's better to get familiar with a new or unusual machine on the ground than when sitting on a trailer. Know the Panic stop move. When picking up an unfamiliar machine, park far enough away from it so you have a couple hundred feet to learn how it reacts to its controls.

 

#10 Keys Part 2 - never leave keys in the ignition of equipment during transport

(even when it's a new unit you picked up from the factory, that the manufacturer loads on your trailer for you, tells you not to enter the cab, and you have a layover at a hotel in Baltimore where drunks like to play on construction equipment during the middle of the night coming back to said hotel).

 

#11 Chains, Binders, and Straps - take care of them and they will take care of you.

 

And on the 12th rule of lowbedding.... Learning how to hang your tire chains. On a 3 rail set of chains, always put the outer rails on the hooks, not the center rail. This keeps the hooks and loose ends from dragging on the ground.

 

I kinda saved this one for rule #13 because it could be bad luck for the other person.

Rule #13.... NOBODY tells you where and how to place the load on your trailer.