super-b driving and chaining advice in winter.

Hey all, I have a couple years experience, but am returning to driving after a year off.

I was hoping for some advice as this is my first winter driving Super-b. I'll mainly be on Highway 3 and Highway 5 (coquihalla) in British Columbia. My understanding is that highway 3 doesn't really have signed chain-up areas? If true, that makes it difficult if a driver is unfamiliar with the route.

And I believe with Super-b you should chain both axles? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

 

There are several chain up areas up hwy 3. Generally, hwy 3 is better taken care of than the coq. Keep an eye on drive bc, set up links on your phone to the highway cams and mountain forecast and chain up status across the province.

Are you hauling chips or doing deck work?

If you spin out loaded, play it safe and throw 2 sets of triples on. If its preventative, you might get away with one set. However some chain up areas require both axles anyways. If you know someone up the road is spun out, you definitely want 2 sets on in case you need to stop for oncoming traffic and have to lift off again.

Stay out of the torque, keep rpm high with light throttle so you have room to back out of it to hook up again when you start spinning without having to shift.

As soon as you start spinning your chains trying to lift off, stop, try again. Back up on to different snow that isn't shined up. Keep a set of chain pliers on hand, as well as half a dozen cross links, quick links, hooks, boomers etc for repairs if you blow em apart.

If the lights are on, put em on. When in doubt, put em on. You'll get really fast at it in no time!

 

Sirjeff... Thanks for the advice! I'll be doing deck work Super-b, not gonna lie... The Super-b weight is gonna take some getting used to and I'm slightly nervous, which is good I guess.

The company doesn't have CB radios, so I guess I better invest in one, or a portable VHF. Helps to know what's happening on the road up ahead! I've done a few tridem runs on Hope-Princeton, but Super-b is a whole different ball game.

Cheers!

 

No problem! It's a steep learning curve but it gets easier and easier every season. It wont be long until you dont sweat it or think too much about the weather and snow.

Definitely invest in a vhf. If you are running lumber one way, see if the loader will throw your pup up on your lead for you when its crappy out.

As far as running down the smasher or any hill out here with those things when its ugly... start out in some gear or a gear lower than normal, keep rpm low (1000) and Jake on lowest setting. You want to be able to kick out the Jake if its locking up, and not fumble for the next gear up while you re-establish traction.

You can always pick up speed! And you can always up your jake if its holding well and not locking out. You want to have some room to grab a gear to go quicker if those things start to push you down the hill. Whatever you do, dont be one of these guys going down the hill in 1st or 2nd. That's when you get into trouble and jackknife like guys often do. Dont be afraid to use your brakes going down the hill when its lousy out either, you have less chance of sliding around if your braking is evenly distributed, rather than concentrated to one wheel position with Jake 0nly.

I hope the extended driving advice isn't unwarranted hah everyone is going to do everything a little differently, you'll find what works best for you before long

 

Thanks man, I appreciate all advice and tips. I'm 51 now, and want to be as safe a driver as I can. The tips for the smasher are really good, I never thought about having room to kick out Jake without fumbling for another gear up. In good weather I would do the smasher in 4th over when loaded on the tridem... I think Sunday Summit on Highway 3 I was about 3rd over loaded.

I gotta say that watching highway thru hell has me questioning whether I'm really stupid for doing this again!

Cheers.

 

Working with B-Trains you'll need to make sure your specifying the right type of chains. You're going to want the most hardened, and thickest gauge set of dual tire chains you can buy. Yes it's expensive but Don't skimp on this. You want chains that can handle the torque from a B-train spec'ed truck with 2500Ft-LB of total torque and 600HP.

With a B-Train your drive axles won't have much control authority over the entire weight of the train. There is just too much drag and too much weight pushing/pulling on the king pin. Because of the enormous amounts of rolling resistance you should always start out with all 8 tires chained up, and establish control authority under braking with another set of doubles at the back of the first trailer, and another set of singles at the back of the last trailer. If you don't do this before going downhill your momentum will gain more authority than your tires have grip, and your two drive axles will not be able to gain authority over the train.

For the same reasons never stop your train for any length of time in deep snow if your drive axles are not chained up, because you will not be able to restart again because of the lack of authority your drive axles have over the weight of the train causing the king pin to push against your tractor too much, and that's where you're going to start getting sideways, with your only option to undo the braking and countersteer and go with it, come hell or what may.

I've done a couple years of Hwy 3 from Coquitlam to Castlegar. Coming back to Coquitlam the room for error is nil because the runaway lanes are short, hard to vector to, and you'll probably end up missing the runaway lane and end up over the side of the mountain like that Arrow driver did (he died). You're best bet is to take note of where the brake checks are and chain up at the brake checks and when coming the other way the bottom of the hill before the brake checks. Pay very close attention to the hills between Hope and Princeton, keep your window cracked open, your door unlocked with your hand on the door handle, and your foot covering the brake. Don't go any faster than you can survive if you have to eject out in a hurry.

Also, Manning Park to Princeton the speed signs aren't worth ####, and there are no warning speed signs on the tighter curves. The curves are tighter than the ambitious speed limits allow. Tighten up your speed control through this area, and keep it under 75KM/h through the curves. Lot's of drivers wreck here when it gets slippery.

Also, the coffee at the Chevron at Princeton is not bad. I always make a point of stopping there.

A french press and some good MP3 files makes the day go fast.

 

All great advise! Listen to these guys, they know from experience. If you can travel with a seasoned veteran, that's willing to "baby-sit" you for a few rounders, would be my advise. Avoid night driving to begin with, as you need to become familiar with the road. And yes...get a radio.

 

On the contrary, If you are a beginner I would recommend you start out at around a couple hours before sunset just so you can get to Princeton by the time it gets dark. The rest of the route is fairly straightforward.
The beginners should start out driving at night because if you screw up there is less likely another vehicle you're going to hit, and therefore, you have more road to work with to recover from if you get out of control.

As I said before if you end up in a "come hell or what may" situation you at least have more road to work with at night to recover with, straighten out and re-brake, or get outside and chain up in the middle of the road. This is not possible during the day time as traffic density picks up.

Night time driving is more forgiving.

 

Also always make sure your drive tires are in top shape, have them changed in the fall with fresh tread, and do not use those cheap discount Chinese-made tires. Spec a Michelin or similar grade tire. Don't try and save money on tires. Safety first. Your grip is a combination of the tire casing's ability to flex, the rubber compound, and to a smaller extent the tread pattern. For winter tread pattern, Spec an open-shoulder tire in winter because winters here are a bit warmer and you're going to encounter softer snow and slush, which open shoulder tires clean better than the more fuel-efficient closed-shoulder tires.

At the end of the day your tractor needs to maintain control authority over the train. Good tires go along way to disperse any lack of confidence in your equipment.

 

Thanks for all the advice so far guys. As for the power units being spec'd for super-b... I know a few are Cummins 550HP, but a few are automatics - not sure If autos are that great with Super-b weights in the mountains though.
I had a quick look at one tractor, it definitely had one set of chains that was a lighter gauge, and the forward drive axle appeared to have less wear on the rubber than the rear drive axle.

They have offered 1 trip to coast with a trainer, hopefully that's enough!

Thx again guys - all tips are greatly appreciated.