Self loading used equipment

Wrong equipment

 

never that I have seen, unless they drop it from a crane. Had a guy slide a 100k crane off my big trailer in Vegas - even after telling him not to stop at the break over point. Shaved the top of the ramp hinge off - no compensation.

that is not the real issue - it is the customer insisting you put the trailer in a place that is not accessible without risking screwing up the trailer. Then the real discussion starts - then never want to be ‘responsible’

 

Most of what we haul is our own equipment so driver loading/unloading isn't really a problem. We like it that way. It's easy. It's simple. The driver comes home at night. We don't tear up very much machinery.
What I worry about are the calls that come in from out of area machinery people who want something moved. Why us? Aren't there people in their area that can move a 966 or a D-6? We're not talking rocket science here. Get a little further into the conversation and it turns out that the machine is way back in the woods, or won't start, or has three flat tires, Or has a track gone, or the brakes are out on one side or the hydraulics are gone, or it has a lien notice against it, or is on private property with no permitted access, or behind a locked gate, or is in a creek, or all of the above. These are actual examples of calls I've received from total strangers trying to talk me into hauling for them. When I make a couple of calls to check on the guy calling me the news is almost always dismal. He's broke, or bankrupt, or hiding assets from IRS, or just doesn't pay his bills on general principle and nobody in his area will haul for him anymore.
Don't get me wrong, we'll take all the hauling we can get if it's legal and available and we can do it without anybody getting arrested or shot at.
Otherwise, no thanks. I'm not looking for any more life lessons and my drivers are too old for cheap thrills.

 

There is a local guy that has a half dozen trucks or so that hauls for us on occasion - as a matter of fact he is going to haul boulders for us tomorrow. The first year that we had our 345 I hired them to haul it from Central Idaho to a job outside of Boulder Wyoming, before I figured out that I could haul it ourselves on a single trip permit with bridge review. Anyway, his driver certainly knew that we were capable operators, but kind of sheepishly asked if we minded if he loaded it. I said by all means, chances of hurting the excavator were far less than hurting the trailer, and it wasn't my trailer.

The opposite can certainly be the case as well though. I remember watching videos of Sergei loading crap that he had no business being in. I believe that he managed alright, but it sure could have turned out way worse.

Scrapers on the other hand should be a team sport ...........eh Ron?

 

Should be, but seldom are.

 

I don't like scrapers much but I absolutely HATE these things.

 

Compactors are the devil. Even with an inch and a half of plywood this one still got the floor in a couple spots.

 

Was that @Hurst? (Anybody fairly new on TTR won't appreciate that)