On 6 Jan 2004 06:18:06 -0800, (Dave Ficken) wrote:
Gary Coffman wrote in message . ..
if I had a tilt bed, I think I'd
want a steel diamond plate floor. That'd allow things to slide on
and off easier. It's what the rollback wreckers have.

Actually, the roll back trucks used by (professional) Machinery Movers
have Wood decks, not diamond plate.

Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option. You get a choice of either steel or aluminum diamond
plate. If you put wood over the steel bed, you'd have a step to the shop
floor when you rolled the bed back equal to the thickness of the wood.
That would be a nuisance at best when winching the machine on or off.

My new (to me) trailer has a diamond plate deck. First thing I did was
put wood over it. It's real tough to keep a machine from sliding on a
steel deck. The concern is when hitting the brakes, not when sliding
down the ramp unloading. The machines slide nicely down the wood when
you tilt the deck.....nice and slow and easy, the way it ought to be.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, if you don't want the load to move,
you tie it down so it can't. You don't depend on the friction of the bed
surface to hold it in place. Lance Wrecker has moved several machines
for me, and they have regular Jerr-Dan trucks with steel diamond plate
floors. None of the machines have shifted even an inch while they hauled
them, because they tied them down properly so that they couldn't move.

Example, when they moved my mill, they had chains going from the lifting
eye to the four corners of the bed, *and* they put a strap around the base
and ran four more chains to the bed corners. That mill couldn't move top
or bottom while tied down that way. You *might* get by without the lower
set of chains on a wood floor, but I'd rather have them there anyway. So
it is really no more trouble to tie the load down properly on a steel deck
than it is on a wooden one.

Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your machine
on the truck. If it is *possible* for it to move, there's at least some
chance it *will*. So tie it down so there isn't any possible way for it
to move short of something rated for the job breaking.

Gary

I mentioned the steel versus wood option because I am trying to decide
which way to go. Both options have their advantages.

Meanwhile Gary raises a very good point...don't rely on the machine's
friction to eliminate load shifting.

A story...

A few years ago I had a small Clausing mill in the back of my 1/2 ton
Ford pickup. I had it chained down very well from the top of the mill
to rings in the bed of the pickup. As I was driving down a busy street
in town (at the speed limit) approaching an intersection, a little old
lady decided that she had the right of way by running a red light.
Only because I applied several defensive driving moves (with great
screeching of tires as I drove around her) did this little old lady
live to see another day (exact words from policeman who witnessed the
event). By the time all the excitement had finished, the small
Clausing mill was still chained to my pickup bed...only now the mill
was sitting upside down. While the mill had suffered minimal damage,
the pickup bed had several large holes where the mill had punched
through during the evasive driving. Thankfully, the only hole in me
was in my billfold when repairing the damage later. All parties
involved were very, very lucky that day.

The lesson I learned...tie your load down as if your life depended on
it.

It does.

Oh...and don't trust little old ladies. ;)

TMT




Gary Coffman wrote in message . ..
On 6 Jan 2004 06:18:06 -0800, (Dave Ficken) wrote:
Gary Coffman wrote in message . ..
if I had a tilt bed, I think I'd
want a steel diamond plate floor. That'd allow things to slide on
and off easier. It's what the rollback wreckers have.

Actually, the roll back trucks used by (professional) Machinery Movers
have Wood decks, not diamond plate.

Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option. You get a choice of either steel or aluminum diamond
plate. If you put wood over the steel bed, you'd have a step to the shop
floor when you rolled the bed back equal to the thickness of the wood.
That would be a nuisance at best when winching the machine on or off.

My new (to me) trailer has a diamond plate deck. First thing I did was
put wood over it. It's real tough to keep a machine from sliding on a
steel deck. The concern is when hitting the brakes, not when sliding
down the ramp unloading. The machines slide nicely down the wood when
you tilt the deck.....nice and slow and easy, the way it ought to be.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, if you don't want the load to move,
you tie it down so it can't. You don't depend on the friction of the bed
surface to hold it in place. Lance Wrecker has moved several machines
for me, and they have regular Jerr-Dan trucks with steel diamond plate
floors. None of the machines have shifted even an inch while they hauled
them, because they tied them down properly so that they couldn't move.

Example, when they moved my mill, they had chains going from the lifting
eye to the four corners of the bed, *and* they put a strap around the base
and ran four more chains to the bed corners. That mill couldn't move top
or bottom while tied down that way. You *might* get by without the lower
set of chains on a wood floor, but I'd rather have them there anyway. So
it is really no more trouble to tie the load down properly on a steel deck
than it is on a wooden one.

Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your machine
on the truck. If it is *possible* for it to move, there's at least some
chance it *will*. So tie it down so there isn't any possible way for it
to move short of something rated for the job breaking.

Gary

Quote....Oh...and don't trust little old ladies. ;)

Us bikers have been knowing that for years! G

RJ


"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
om...
I mentioned the steel versus wood option because I am trying to decide
which way to go. Both options have their advantages.

Meanwhile Gary raises a very good point...don't rely on the machine's
friction to eliminate load shifting.

A story...

A few years ago I had a small Clausing mill in the back of my 1/2 ton
Ford pickup. I had it chained down very well from the top of the mill
to rings in the bed of the pickup. As I was driving down a busy street
in town (at the speed limit) approaching an intersection, a little old
lady decided that she had the right of way by running a red light.
Only because I applied several defensive driving moves (with great
screeching of tires as I drove around her) did this little old lady
live to see another day (exact words from policeman who witnessed the
event). By the time all the excitement had finished, the small
Clausing mill was still chained to my pickup bed...only now the mill
was sitting upside down. While the mill had suffered minimal damage,
the pickup bed had several large holes where the mill had punched
through during the evasive driving. Thankfully, the only hole in me
was in my billfold when repairing the damage later. All parties
involved were very, very lucky that day.

The lesson I learned...tie your load down as if your life depended on
it.

It does.

Oh...and don't trust little old ladies. ;)

TMT




Gary Coffman wrote in message
. ..
On 6 Jan 2004 06:18:06 -0800, (Dave Ficken) wrote:
Gary Coffman wrote in message
. ..
if I had a tilt bed, I think I'd
want a steel diamond plate floor. That'd allow things to slide on
and off easier. It's what the rollback wreckers have.

Actually, the roll back trucks used by (professional) Machinery Movers
have Wood decks, not diamond plate.

Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option. You get a choice of either steel or aluminum diamond
plate. If you put wood over the steel bed, you'd have a step to the shop
floor when you rolled the bed back equal to the thickness of the wood.
That would be a nuisance at best when winching the machine on or off.

My new (to me) trailer has a diamond plate deck. First thing I did was
put wood over it. It's real tough to keep a machine from sliding on a
steel deck. The concern is when hitting the brakes, not when sliding
down the ramp unloading. The machines slide nicely down the wood when
you tilt the deck.....nice and slow and easy, the way it ought to be.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, if you don't want the load to
move,
you tie it down so it can't. You don't depend on the friction of the bed
surface to hold it in place. Lance Wrecker has moved several machines
for me, and they have regular Jerr-Dan trucks with steel diamond plate
floors. None of the machines have shifted even an inch while they hauled
them, because they tied them down properly so that they couldn't move.

Example, when they moved my mill, they had chains going from the lifting
eye to the four corners of the bed, *and* they put a strap around the
base
and ran four more chains to the bed corners. That mill couldn't move top
or bottom while tied down that way. You *might* get by without the lower
set of chains on a wood floor, but I'd rather have them there anyway. So
it is really no more trouble to tie the load down properly on a steel
deck
than it is on a wooden one.

Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your
machine
on the truck. If it is *possible* for it to move, there's at least some
chance it *will*. So tie it down so there isn't any possible way for it
to move short of something rated for the job breaking.

Gary

Backlash wrote:

Quote....Oh...and don't trust little old ladies. ;)

Us bikers have been knowing that for years! G

I was going to add "drive like an old biker when
you have a mill in the back of your pickup"

If you're not an old biker, that means "drive
like you are paranoid that everyone is going
to run a red light and hit you"




"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
om...

I mentioned the steel versus wood option because I am trying to decide
which way to go. Both options have their advantages.

Meanwhile Gary raises a very good point...don't rely on the machine's
friction to eliminate load shifting.

A story...

A few years ago I had a small Clausing mill in the back of my 1/2 ton
Ford pickup. I had it chained down very well from the top of the mill
to rings in the bed of the pickup. As I was driving down a busy street
in town (at the speed limit) approaching an intersection, a little old
lady decided that she had the right of way by running a red light.
Only because I applied several defensive driving moves (with great
screeching of tires as I drove around her) did this little old lady
live to see another day (exact words from policeman who witnessed the
event). By the time all the excitement had finished, the small
Clausing mill was still chained to my pickup bed...only now the mill
was sitting upside down. While the mill had suffered minimal damage,
the pickup bed had several large holes where the mill had punched
through during the evasive driving. Thankfully, the only hole in me
was in my billfold when repairing the damage later. All parties
involved were very, very lucky that day.

The lesson I learned...tie your load down as if your life depended on
it.

It does.

Oh...and don't trust little old ladies. ;)

TMT




Gary Coffman wrote in message

. ..

On 6 Jan 2004 06:18:06 -0800, (Dave Ficken) wrote:

Gary Coffman wrote in message

. ..

if I had a tilt bed, I think I'd
want a steel diamond plate floor. That'd allow things to slide on
and off easier. It's what the rollback wreckers have.

Actually, the roll back trucks used by (professional) Machinery Movers

have Wood decks, not diamond plate.

Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option. You get a choice of either steel or aluminum diamond
plate. If you put wood over the steel bed, you'd have a step to the shop
floor when you rolled the bed back equal to the thickness of the wood.
That would be a nuisance at best when winching the machine on or off.


My new (to me) trailer has a diamond plate deck. First thing I did was
put wood over it. It's real tough to keep a machine from sliding on a
steel deck. The concern is when hitting the brakes, not when sliding
down the ramp unloading. The machines slide nicely down the wood when
you tilt the deck.....nice and slow and easy, the way it ought to be.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, if you don't want the load to

move,

you tie it down so it can't. You don't depend on the friction of the bed
surface to hold it in place. Lance Wrecker has moved several machines
for me, and they have regular Jerr-Dan trucks with steel diamond plate
floors. None of the machines have shifted even an inch while they hauled
them, because they tied them down properly so that they couldn't move.

Example, when they moved my mill, they had chains going from the lifting
eye to the four corners of the bed, *and* they put a strap around the

base

and ran four more chains to the bed corners. That mill couldn't move top
or bottom while tied down that way. You *might* get by without the lower
set of chains on a wood floor, but I'd rather have them there anyway. So
it is really no more trouble to tie the load down properly on a steel

deck

than it is on a wooden one.

Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your

machine

on the truck. If it is *possible* for it to move, there's at least some
chance it *will*. So tie it down so there isn't any possible way for it
to move short of something rated for the job breaking.

Gary

Gary Coffman wrote in message

Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option.

The key word here is "wrecker". A "wrecker" is designed for moving
incapacitated vehicles, not machinery.


Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your machine
on the truck.

Hopefully you don't think I use a wood deck in lieu of safe tie down
practices.
So we agree on your statement above.
There's one more reason professional Riggers prefer wood decks. A
steel or aluminium deck won't be flat for very long if you move a lot
of machinery on it. It tends to get wavy and you can actually tell
where the supports are.......they are the peaks in between all the
valleys. Forklifts are particularly good at causing depressions in
metal decks and most riggers routinely transport forklifts.
It is a lot tougher to securely tie something down or slide it on a
wavy deck than on a flat one.
My landlord owns a towing company with several Jerr-Dan trucks. He
refuses to move forklifts and or machinery for fear of rippling the
decks.

Since the original post was about HSM trailers, another thing I like
about wood decks is that you can drill through the deck and use
carriage bolts from underneath to secure machines. Additionally, you
can nail or screw 2x4's around the base of machines. I don't get too
many HSM's who show up to pick up a machine with a box full of chains
and binders. If they have a wood deck trailer, I know I can safely
secure their load before they leave.

Regards,
Dave

Wood or steel, if your going to get in so deep as to have an equipment
trailer, you should have the proper chains & binders, and properly secure
the load. Rope & nails to the bed don't cut it. You never know where you
might run into the highway police whom are expert at being nitpicky. They
will want to see the load secured with grade 70 chain and binders. The chain
is to be so marked. Look in Grainger book for further details. I prefer the
ratcheting type of binder.

Also, any machine sump needs to be drained of swarf so you don't leave a oil
slick on the road, and loose attachments, doors, handles secured so they
don't become projectiles.

Once one gets involved with trailering equipment you are kinda leaving the
realm of HSM. Keep this in mind so that you don't make your hobby a hazard
to fellow motorists.

Tony


"Dave Ficken" wrote in message
om...
Gary Coffman wrote in message

Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option.

The key word here is "wrecker". A "wrecker" is designed for moving
incapacitated vehicles, not machinery.


Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your
machine
on the truck.

Hopefully you don't think I use a wood deck in lieu of safe tie down
practices.
So we agree on your statement above.
There's one more reason professional Riggers prefer wood decks. A
steel or aluminium deck won't be flat for very long if you move a lot
of machinery on it. It tends to get wavy and you can actually tell
where the supports are.......they are the peaks in between all the
valleys. Forklifts are particularly good at causing depressions in
metal decks and most riggers routinely transport forklifts.
It is a lot tougher to securely tie something down or slide it on a
wavy deck than on a flat one.
My landlord owns a towing company with several Jerr-Dan trucks. He
refuses to move forklifts and or machinery for fear of rippling the
decks.

Since the original post was about HSM trailers, another thing I like
about wood decks is that you can drill through the deck and use
carriage bolts from underneath to secure machines. Additionally, you
can nail or screw 2x4's around the base of machines. I don't get too
many HSM's who show up to pick up a machine with a box full of chains
and binders. If they have a wood deck trailer, I know I can safely
secure their load before they leave.

Regards,
Dave

(Dave Ficken) wrote:

Since the original post was about HSM trailers, another thing I like
about wood decks is that you can drill through the deck and use
carriage bolts from underneath to secure machines.

Yup. That works. I used all thread when I hauled the Lagun from AZ
to CA simply because I had no idea how long the bolt would have to be
before I got to where the mill was. A supply of all thread, box of
nuts and washers, and a sawzall (or the portable metal saw of your
choice) works just fine.

I'm planning to haul both mills and lathes on a wood deck flat bed
from CA to PA. Mill bases bolted down, tops chained. The lathe
benches, welded up square steel tube assemblies, will also be bolted
to the trailer using the seismic restraint feet that are welded to
them.

I'll use my trailer tongue scales to get them positioned for the
proper tongue load. The trailer has tie down loops and chain pockets
welded all over it. Drop a chain over the side, there is a place to
attach it right there. I have one on each side channel centered the
long way between the tandem axles (I always seem to need to hook a
chain there).

Fitch

I know exactly what you mean.

I have rode bikes for many years and I know that riding a bike has
made me a much better driver all around. Personal suvivial tends to do
that for a person. When it is your butt on the line, you either become
a better driver or you run the very real risk of not surviving to be a
threat to others in the future.

If I ran the world ;), all would be drivers would be required to ride
motorcycles for several years BEFORE being allowed to drive a car. I
also think that all drivers should be required to pass both car and
motorcycle tests, including vision, written and actual driving parts
each time their license comes up for renewal. If you couldn't, well it
would be time to pull the license. A moving vehicle can kill just as
easily as a gun in the hands of an untrained person (the little old
lady). The roads would be much, much safer.

TMT



Jim Stewart wrote in message ...
Backlash wrote:

Quote....Oh...and don't trust little old ladies. ;)

Us bikers have been knowing that for years! G

I was going to add "drive like an old biker when
you have a mill in the back of your pickup"

If you're not an old biker, that means "drive
like you are paranoid that everyone is going
to run a red light and hit you"




"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
om...

I mentioned the steel versus wood option because I am trying to decide
which way to go. Both options have their advantages.

Meanwhile Gary raises a very good point...don't rely on the machine's
friction to eliminate load shifting.

A story...

A few years ago I had a small Clausing mill in the back of my 1/2 ton
Ford pickup. I had it chained down very well from the top of the mill
to rings in the bed of the pickup. As I was driving down a busy street
in town (at the speed limit) approaching an intersection, a little old
lady decided that she had the right of way by running a red light.
Only because I applied several defensive driving moves (with great
screeching of tires as I drove around her) did this little old lady
live to see another day (exact words from policeman who witnessed the
event). By the time all the excitement had finished, the small
Clausing mill was still chained to my pickup bed...only now the mill
was sitting upside down. While the mill had suffered minimal damage,
the pickup bed had several large holes where the mill had punched
through during the evasive driving. Thankfully, the only hole in me
was in my billfold when repairing the damage later. All parties
involved were very, very lucky that day.

The lesson I learned...tie your load down as if your life depended on
it.

It does.

Oh...and don't trust little old ladies. ;)

TMT




Gary Coffman wrote in message

. ..

On 6 Jan 2004 06:18:06 -0800, (Dave Ficken) wrote:

Gary Coffman wrote in message

. ..

if I had a tilt bed, I think I'd
want a steel diamond plate floor. That'd allow things to slide on
and off easier. It's what the rollback wreckers have.

Actually, the roll back trucks used by (professional) Machinery Movers

have Wood decks, not diamond plate.

Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option. You get a choice of either steel or aluminum diamond
plate. If you put wood over the steel bed, you'd have a step to the shop
floor when you rolled the bed back equal to the thickness of the wood.
That would be a nuisance at best when winching the machine on or off.


My new (to me) trailer has a diamond plate deck. First thing I did was
put wood over it. It's real tough to keep a machine from sliding on a
steel deck. The concern is when hitting the brakes, not when sliding
down the ramp unloading. The machines slide nicely down the wood when
you tilt the deck.....nice and slow and easy, the way it ought to be.

To play devil's advocate for a moment, if you don't want the load to

move,

you tie it down so it can't. You don't depend on the friction of the bed
surface to hold it in place. Lance Wrecker has moved several machines
for me, and they have regular Jerr-Dan trucks with steel diamond plate
floors. None of the machines have shifted even an inch while they hauled
them, because they tied them down properly so that they couldn't move.

Example, when they moved my mill, they had chains going from the lifting
eye to the four corners of the bed, *and* they put a strap around the

base

and ran four more chains to the bed corners. That mill couldn't move top
or bottom while tied down that way. You *might* get by without the lower
set of chains on a wood floor, but I'd rather have them there anyway. So
it is really no more trouble to tie the load down properly on a steel

deck

than it is on a wooden one.

Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your

machine

on the truck. If it is *possible* for it to move, there's at least some
chance it *will*. So tie it down so there isn't any possible way for it
to move short of something rated for the job breaking.

Gary

"Tony" wrote in message v.net...

Once one gets involved with trailering equipment you are kinda leaving the
realm of HSM.

Funny, I thought being an HSM and having a "do-it-yourself" attitude
went hand in hand.

Dave

Once one gets involved with trailering equipment you are kinda leaving the
realm of HSM.

Funny, I thought being an HSM and having a "do-it-yourself" attitude
went hand in hand.


Yeah - How are you gonna move that second hand equipment???


Paul in AJ AZ

"Tony" wrote:

Once one gets involved with trailering equipment you are kinda leaving the
realm of HSM.

You are kidding, right?

Fitch

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 05:28:57 GMT, Fitch R. Williams
wrote:

"Tony" wrote:

Once one gets involved with trailering equipment you are kinda leaving the
realm of HSM.

You are kidding, right?

Fitch

ROFLMAO!!! Thats in Chapter One of the HSM Handbook.

"How to get your chunk of scrap home"

"Since you have failed to heed all warnings and enter the HSM Zone,
you will find a particular kind of madness taking over your life. Its
called many things, Cast Iron Addiction, Machine Noncompus Mentus
etc, but the official diagnosis is Machine Fever. While not fatal,
there is no cure and it will debilitate you for life.

You will find yourself driving the back alleys of industrial parks,
craning your neck, looking for that telltale speck of gray or rust,
indicating the presence of a hulking machine tool, cruelly turned out
to pasture, rusting away. The maternal side of your illness kicks into
overdrive as you find yourself climbing on the hood of your vehicle to
get a better look over the wall or fence...weighing in your mind,
assessing, pondering if it will fit in the cubby hole you have started
calling Your SHOP.

Even though you realize you have 25 square feet of shop, a complex
chemical process now occurs, removing totally spatial proportion
ability from your brain. Your heart beat increases, a sense of
excitment and a seething madness sets in, and within an hour or
two..the fog rolls away, and you shudderingly realize you now own 3000
pounds of rusting cast iron...."

snip

Gunner
"Gun Control, the theory that a 110lb grandmother should
fist fight a 250lb 19yr old criminal"

On 9 Jan 2004 16:08:14 -0800, (Dave Ficken) wrote
Gary Coffman wrote in message
Jerr-Dan, the largest manufacturer of rollback wreckers, doesn't offer
a wood bed option.

The key word here is "wrecker". A "wrecker" is designed for moving
incapacitated vehicles, not machinery.

Yes, but many companies which own them will haul machinery. My
local guys, Lance Wrecker, do it routinely.

Note, I am not trying to claim that steel decks are better than wooden
ones for a machinery mover. I'm just saying that you shouldn't depend
on the friction characteristics of the deck material to hold your machine
on the truck.

Hopefully you don't think I use a wood deck in lieu of safe tie down
practices.

I don't, I was just using this as an opportunity to talk about proper
tiedown practices.

My landlord owns a towing company with several Jerr-Dan trucks. He
refuses to move forklifts and or machinery for fear of rippling the
decks.

Must be aluminum decks. They're only rated for 1,000 pound point
loads, ie 4 wheels, 4000 pound car. The biggest steel deck Jerr-Dan
units, like Lance's Tweety Bird, are rated for 6,000 pound point loads.
In other words, they'll haul large straight trucks or semi-tractors.

That's a bit of overkill for most HSM machinery moves, but the
smaller steel deck rollbacks can also handle higher point loads
than the aluminum deck models. Lance usually sends a "medium"
steel deck rollback (12,000 pound capacity) when I want a machine
moved. No sags or depressions in that deck even though I know
they've hauled forklifts and assorted reasonably heavy machinery
with it.

Gary

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 06:52:03 GMT, Gunner
brought forth from the murky depths:

ROFLMAO!!! Thats in Chapter One of the HSM Handbook.

Got a URL for the handbook, big guy?

P.S: Tony was either trolling or is an elitist peeg who doesn't
deserve you fine guys (and gurl) on RCM.

--
Vidi, Vici, Veni
---
http://diversify.com Comprehensive Website Development

Well what I mean by that is to say its one thing to get a little "out of
control" on one's own property. When your a "HSM" your activities will just
impact yourself if something goes wrong.

If your trailering equipment and something goes wrong on the road, you will
affect others. Therefore you need to operate at a higher safety factor.

In looking back over some of my own rigging & trailering jobs i've had some
close calls myself. I've had hitches come loose, & lug nuts back off the
trailer tires. Had a freight elevator drop 2 stories with a Sheldon in it,
luckily I wasn't in there with it. Never lost a load or had damage on the
highway. But things can and do go wrong.

There's been a couple of people killed on the Long Island Expressway in NY
where pipes flew off a supply truck and harpooned the motorist behind the
truck. Same thing happen with part of a construction crane.

The only reason I'm not scavenging equipment much any more is because I am
totally filled up - out of room :^(

Tony

"Dave Ficken" wrote in message
om...
"Tony" wrote in message
v.net...

Once one gets involved with trailering equipment you are kinda leaving
the
realm of HSM.

Funny, I thought being an HSM and having a "do-it-yourself" attitude
went hand in hand.

Dave

Tony wrote:
Well what I mean by that is to say its one thing to get a little "out
of control" on one's own property. When your a "HSM" your activities
will just impact yourself if something goes wrong.

If your trailering equipment and something goes wrong on the road,
you will affect others. Therefore you need to operate at a higher
safety factor.

Some advice from professionals as far as the proper Grade 70 chain,
tensioners and associated hardware is a good thing if you're moving heavy
equipment.

Fitch,

It sounds like you are moving your shop.

Care to give us an idea as to how many machines and what the total
weight including tooling will be for the move?

I ask because when in the past I added up the weight of moving my
shop, it quickly totaled up into the many tons. I was shocked
especially in how much weight I had in miscellaneous tooling.

I would also be interested in how you are packing your tools and
tooling for the trip. Many of the tool accessories used in a HSMer
shop are difficult to pack in conventional terms without building a
special crate for them. One only needs to look at the problems with
Ebay purchases being mispackaged to see the results.

So any moving hints? I would appreciate your advice for my next move
in the future.

TMT


Fitch R. Williams wrote in message . ..
(Dave Ficken) wrote:

Since the original post was about HSM trailers, another thing I like
about wood decks is that you can drill through the deck and use
carriage bolts from underneath to secure machines.

Yup. That works. I used all thread when I hauled the Lagun from AZ
to CA simply because I had no idea how long the bolt would have to be
before I got to where the mill was. A supply of all thread, box of
nuts and washers, and a sawzall (or the portable metal saw of your
choice) works just fine.

I'm planning to haul both mills and lathes on a wood deck flat bed
from CA to PA. Mill bases bolted down, tops chained. The lathe
benches, welded up square steel tube assemblies, will also be bolted
to the trailer using the seismic restraint feet that are welded to
them.

I'll use my trailer tongue scales to get them positioned for the
proper tongue load. The trailer has tie down loops and chain pockets
welded all over it. Drop a chain over the side, there is a place to
attach it right there. I have one on each side channel centered the
long way between the tandem axles (I always seem to need to hook a
chain there).

Fitch