Flatbed wannabe

I would look for a member that goes by the name of Notarps. Him and WCP would know best.

KH

 

I like it.....

Whining though is a prerequisite to being a driver......
I like pipe loads myself.....Although the occasional bee load makes for some interesting conversation at the coops....

 

Those that say they never would do it have never done it, otherwise it's ALL
they would want to do.

 

As far as the most unusual "loads".....
One was an aquarium for the mall in Tempe....
And a couple weeks back....Gordon Ramsay "rode" with me....

 

As long as my body and health allows it...I will be pulling a flat bed.

I did the heavy equipment hauling for a while...I liked it, a lot. (and would do it again in a heartbeat...provided the lanes were right, as in coast to coast)

Hauling steel is the easiest though...

 

Altho I drive tank now I've run flatbed for many years. It's always been a love/hate relationship.

If you're a gearhead you will enjoy the challenge of securing everything under the sun. You'll see all kinds of interesting industrial machines that can be amazingly fragile if you hook in the wrong place (and hugely expensive should you damage one.).

You'll get frustrated when you pick up a load from ice/mud then have to tarp it and watch the consignee unload it right back into mud/ snow.

You'll get cheap thrills the first time a wind picks tarp and you off the top of the trailer. Or when you're climbing over and through a load of rusty steel while trying to figure how to tarp it without tearing your tarp to shreds (hint: get you an old carpet, cut it into 2 foot squares and use several rolls of duct tape).

You'll learn to be inventive because nobody manufactures/supplies everything you'll need for securement.

Enjoy!!!

 

Laying some pipe........, the birds and the bees.........., it just comes naturally.

 

I hauled alot of specialized heavy construction equipment. It was alot more challenging which I liked the most about it. It was a pain when I had to get permits which was just about all the time but then again the planning makes a better trip. I learned all I could about tie downs and weights plus making the load secure. You also have to know a little about the equipment. For example most times you'll want to tape the exhaust stack closed so the wind doesn't spin the turbo without the proper lubrication going on. That's for long hauls.

I pulled a single drop 3 axle lowboy with no fancy hydraulics or self loading trailer. Sometimes you had to be very creative to load or unload the equipment. I picked up a D8-L out of OH which was going to UT and when I got there it was parked on a dirt road with no loading ramp or dock anywhere. All the engineers and technicians thought I would never get that dozer loaded on my trailer and they would have to spend thousands to hire another company (I was with the government). I asked the head engineer if he could buy a load of 3/4 inch rock and have it brought to me. He did and I had the dump truck driver back up to my trailer and unload the whole load of rock right at the end. He left and I drove the dozer over the rock and right up onto the trailer. The contractor kept the rock and the whole process took about 30 minutes. Plus it saved them alot of contract money. I've used sides of hills and dug ramps while an excavator was still loaded. That's what made it fun. However, you'll never get me to switch from tankers.

 

About that "creative loading/unloading"...

I have unloaded John Deere 225 excavators off of a step deck many, many times...without a loading dock or ramps.

Using the bucket, take it right off the side.

Have done tracked front end loaders the same way a few times, but they are a bit trickier...you have to catch the balance point just right or you'll hit the ground a bit harder than you want to...it helps if you can take them off the uphill side.