Hopper, Dump O/O's & Drivers

In Luzeanna I haul corn and soybeans to Mound(Vicksburg) river terminal. In Arkansas and Memphis mostly rice and soybeans. Rice is great cause it's high yielding so alot of hauling. Corn too I guess but I haul a lot more rice. Plus we haul rice all winter and spring so I'm kinda partial to it.

 

I'm up to page 32 reading about weights. In La we get 100,000 pound permits but we can't get on interstates and we must obey bridge limits. Gotta love political power. And yea this is with double axle trailers.

 

We have high sides in La. 78's and even 1 peanut 90 incher. That one is some DOT target. I haven't figured out many roads that don't have bridges but that's the law for ya. My brother in law got caught right across a bridge where they set up. I saw an old hopper break in the middle last summer on Hwy. 65. Scary. The guy said he was doing about 45 when it went. Strowed corn everywhere. They brought in vacuum trucks to get it up.

 

Oh yeah I forgot. Hauling rice in hoppers very common here (Ark.). Most of the farmers have steel CPS's,Jets,etc. that they haul from the field to the bins with. Very few onfarm pits most use driveovers so you have to have hoppers or dump trailers to load the bins. Most of the farmers are worried about the trailers being dropped off culverts loaded and warping aluminum trailers. Also steels are so much cheaper. We run aluminum. The boss likes being able to put that extra 100-125 bushels on. The steel trailers weigh bout 5000 pounds more least that's what I hear I've never pulled steel.

 

Pharm was headed to Beatrice, NE first to get a new trailer. Then On to ND for Monday load in ND... Not sure if he will have to get the trailer Monday morning or if he made other arrangements to pick it up Sunday. The whole "We want the trailer Now" just wasn't worth the risk of losing it in a crucial moment... He was in MO around noon today...

 

ok peace of advice,for the future to self,next time i get the bright idea to change the shocks on my truck,take it to the shop!!!!!!! freaking cant get the wrench in to hold the #### nut to spin of the other nut grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,tools required 1) sawsall,1) grinder w/cut wheel(make sure you have spare wheels ) your gona need them 1) air gun, and when all else fails ,,,,,,,fire exsinguisher and torch<<<<<< took 6 hours to remove 4 rear shocks!!!!! good thing i pay myself buy the hour??????????now tommoro i can install the new ones yeppppppp huraaaaa lucky me what did i get myself into???? but gots to geterdone before friday ,,,,, yep i can officaly call myself a parts changer now whoooohoooooooo

 

Cowdoc, does rice wear on aluminum trailers? I always heard it wears out combine augers, tubes, doors, etc really fast, wondered if that is a concern with trailers.

Dino, those rear shocks aren't fun are they? Sometimes, you can take a cheap wrench and grind it down so its thin enough to fit on that inside nut. Or the torch is faster still, just have to be ready when the rubber bushings inevitably catch on fire!