Post flatbed load photos here V2.0

Have until tomorrow to make up my mind on this baby.

2012 Reitnouer 53' Big Bubba Tridem. 12' rear group.
$31,500 U.S Excise tax and broker fees included.

41' Kingpin to center axle.
47' Kingpin to rear axle means no cali for sure.
Going to need a rear lift for IL and In. [Haven't been south or east of OH in years and not planning on it.]
Going to want a center lift also.

Talked to Michigan yesterday. They told me they now allow 53' tridems. And they now measure to the center of the tridem. So the funky over 50' trailer kingpin law of 40.5' plus or minus 6'' makes me good to go.

Going to be a learning curve for sure. As long as it doesn't weigh much over 12,500# I figure I can still load 48K and run the general freight same as before and hopefully move up to the next level. And be Canada legal at the same time without messing with a slider.
Prepare for lots of dummy questions.

 

You can also permit more weight on non divisible loads. I thought Canada did not recognize a liftable axle unless it was weight actuated. Our triple does better on tires than the spreads. Oh, watch the mud flaps. For some reason our 53' only has an 8' upper deck and if your 5th wheel is not all the way back you will lose them.

 

Good looking wagon, Old Iron. I like all your ideas except the not going south of Ohio part.

 

Thinking the rear lift will be a ball valve in the line to the bags. And a farmerized manual lift of some sort. Not exactly sure yet. For the few times I would need the rear axle lifted a $25 crawl under it and chain it up operation would work. Electric dump valve for cornering for sure.

But the center axle would be used all the time. An air lift would be nice. I've seen them with a air bag bracket assembly up top in the frame rails that lifts the axle with a strap or cable. If the cable is missing it's not an lift axle thinks my ''Farmer legal department''.

Spent half of last night running different bridge formulas.
Federal bridge with my truck should work out to 91,000#.
12 steer 34 drives 45 tridem.
N. Dakota state system 94,100#
Over 100,000# in all of Canada.
Lots of knowledge needed that I haven't dealt with before.

My understanding is that the states can't go below federal bridge? What I mean is as long as my kingpin to rear axle length is legal in a particular state, and I can run as a tridem, that they have to allow me 45,000 on my 12' tridem?
Kind of like 40K on a spread?
Unless your in certain western states 80,000# gross weight for divisible loads. But with a bunch of state route exceptions for ag and logging.
Have a lot of respect for you guys that deal with this stuff every day.

My plate renews in march. Trying to figure out which states to up my weight in for permitting reasons and for divisible loads.
Any way to know ahead of time how the much plate cost will increase at a given weight? Trying to figure out if its worth it or not in a few that I hardly ever run in.

 

Unloading in Corpus Christi.

 

Today's fun. At the consignee for the tarped hardwood now.

 

Some recent and not recent ish,..













Tarping with frozen stiff tarps in the freezing cold and icey conditions should be worth a lot more. Tomorrow morning I get the finger numbing thrill of rolling them back up,.. oh rapture!

Hurst

 

Don't remind me. Make sure you roll 'em tight or they'll be a sloppy mess when they thaw and you try to use them again... Yeah that was me this morning.

 

Got to tarp in the blowing snow for the first time today. Not very fun but I did have a snowball ready to go in my coat pocket when I was done.

 

Its always such a joy when you climb a tall load to roll out the tarps and the wind wont let one side of the tarp drop down, then when you finally get both sides down and manage not to slip off and kill yourself. You climb down to grab some bungee and the wind blows both tarps to the ground.

Then you have the pleasure of trying to recover the load with open tarps,.. or fold and roll them back up just so you can test your immortality climbing the load and rolling them out again,.. and the wind,.. and you curse,.. and the wind,.. did I mention the wind?

Hurst