Tractor unloading safety!

[Anonymous-0]

A 25 year old woman and her ten month old son were killed yesterday by a runaway truck and trailer in Manitou, Ky. This is in Hopkins county in the Western end of the state. The local news reported that a local paving company was unloading a large tractor off a gooseneck trailer attached to a Ford Truck. As the tractor was being unloaded, the rear tires of the truck came off ground, causing truck to travel accross road into the yard of the mother and her two children. It ran over the mother, the 10 month old, and a 4 year old girl. The mother and 10 month old were killed on scene, and the 4 year old was taken to local hospital where she was treated and released. Just a reminder of the dangers involved with equipment, so please be careful, it may not be yourself that may be in danger while messing with your tractor and trailer. Jason.

 

[Anonymous-0]

We learned a valuable lesson when unloading our newly acquired JD '43 B. The trailer was parked on a gentle incline. When my beloved hubby backed the tractor off the trailer, he had to adjust for the additional speed from the incline and just as he started down the ramps, one of the brakes locked causing a hard swing to the right by the front end. My hubby was just able to get it straight in time for the front wheels to line up with the ramp. Otherwise, the front end would have missed the ramp, dropped about 2 1/2 feet to the ground and maybe broken or damaged the pedestal and who knows what else. Now, we never unload where we have to back the piece of equipment downhill. We turn the trailer so whatever we are unloading is backing off the trailer uphill. We were very blessed that day that all we got was a big scare and a valuable lesson.

 

[Mike M]

And all that could of easily been prevented with a stack of blocks under the back of the trailer to keep the truck from poping up. Won't hurt to block the wheels too.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yes, blocking the tires on the trailer and/or the towing vehicle is always a good idea. I had never thought about the vehicle rolling off if the rear tires were picked up, but these tractors are heavy and the trailer shifts during loading/unloading. I always thought that was a huge strain on the transmission/brakes of the tow vehicle. We always set the emergency brake very firmly when loading/unloading, too. I bought a set of heavy duty (airline quality) tire blocks when I bought my big horse trailer. We use them almost every time we load/unload equipment. You just can't be too safety conscious.

 

[Bob]

"Trailer surfing" is no fun!

 

[Lanse]

I was once unloading a garden tractor from a small trailer, and had no clue how it worked. The plan, was for the neighbor to lift the front of the trailer and for me to ride the tractor off the back. But, I (unknowingly) released the brake, and I then jumped off and the thing flew off the back of the thing, fell about 1.5feet, bounced, took off down a small hill and hit a tree...

 

[Anonymous-0]

I had a simular incident only my trailer came unhooked some how and went through my tailgate. expensive show that day. I now place jack stands under the back corner's and double check the ball connection.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I always wondered about the trend of using pickups to haul loads that would have been hauled with a medium duty (class 6-7) truck years ago. The pickups might have the horsies to move the loads, but are they heavy enough to handle and stop 10 tons or more?

 

[Machinery-Man]

Live in area and saw the news account on tv. Appeared to be a dove tail with fold over ramps without legs. A large John Deere tractor with weight box. Truck headed down hill, my opinion when the operator went of the trailer he started surfing. Didn"t see the operator but if you can come off fast in this situation you can let the truck back on the ground. The thing to do is to have the proper ramps, but if you will notice at shows and general usage people use ramps and this is a commonly overlooked hazard.

 

[02XLT4X4]

We use jackstands on our trailer to keep things put while we load and unload so far they have worked well.

1/2 tons are about as heavy as a older 3/4 weightwise, what scares me more is all the people with 3/4 and one tons that think they are a sports car.

 

[johndeereman]

i put blocks under the trailer and put the truck in 4wd

 

[David in TN]

I went trailer surfing for about fiftey feet about a month ago. I was parked on a gravel drive with a slight hill and went to load a ford 2000 and I went for a ride!! Luckily I gathered my thoughts soon enough to put the tractor in reverse and back back off of the trailer and my truck missed a big old Maple tree by about two feet. Also lucky one of the ramps didn't fall off of the trailer, but the back tires were still on them. I can promise you that that will not happen to me again!!! [BTW tomorrow I'm carrying that ford off and bringing home a JD 2630 ]