The IDEAL Machinery Moving Trailer?

My trailer has a wood floor. Things tend to stay put on the wood floor better than on a steel deck. But 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.

Gary

Dad's old bobtail IH had a steel deck with bolt on 2"X12" runners. We used the runners when hauling a load of levee rollers (3) at 4800 lb. ea., or removed them when we put the sides on for hauling rice. We used an onboard hydraulically driven winch to load the rollers using the tilt bed with limiter and two 3"X12" live oak loading planks. The winch was below the deck, with a payout roller in a frame to fit the cutout. A filler plate was placed over the cutout and taped for rice. The limiter was removed for dumping rice or whatever. The smooth steel deck was definitely needed for dumping rice.

Hauling the rollers around southeast Texas was one of my jobs from age

Pete Keillor

My Centerville trailer came with two skid type feet at the rear of the trailer that would act as a stop when the bed was tilted. I found the feet would scrape when pulling out of a gas station for instance and the trailer had to clear the side walk. What I did was to burn off the feet and fabricate rollers, one on each side (left/right) of the trailer similar to what is on a dumpster. I used 2" pipe about 12" long, with a 3/4" axle shafts, supported by 3" heavy channel on each end. This way if the trailer has to clear any high spots in the road, the rollers will roll over it.

With real low trailers curb cuts can be a problem, or crossing a high road crown at an intersection can cause scraping if your load or hitch is not level. Also trying to backup the trailer over deep snow can be very tough. You have to shovel first!

The last couple times I've moved machines I rented a U-haul trailer. Duel axle and a sort of corrugated type floor. I like the floor because I can move the machines by myself with this type floor. I can get a pry bar under the edge of the machine due to the corrugation and the floor is smooth so the machine slides fairly easy. The side rails make it easy to chain the machine. I would like these trailers to have sway bars on the axles. They can be a little squirrely on the highway.

Gary Repesh

One of the Lincoln Arc Welded Projects Books, I think maybe vol #2, has some implement trailer with tilt-away and slider axle sets. might be useful for moving equipment.

Have a Good One, tHAT

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

Regards, dave

My local rigger's truck has a wooddeck, a winch, and a hydrualic crane. They replace the wood deck every now and then.

I got my idea for the perfect machinery moving trailer from the machinery dealer that delivered my bridgeport clone milling machine. He backed a trailer into my driveway, lowered the trailer bed down to the ground and rolled the mill, which was on a caster frame, out of the trailer into my garage. He did this by himself using only a crowbar.

The trailer he used was a tandem axle Jacobsen Selma Hydraulic Trailer. These are commonly known as kneeling trailers. Jacobsen's website is:

After seeing this trailer I looked for years to find a used one. These trailers seldom are found used. I think this is because of the high initial price compared to a common utility or tilt-bed trailer, and the fact they are so versatile that their owners are reluctant to part with them. I finally found a very old tandem axle one advertised in the local paper. It was in rough but working condition. I have had it for several years and still have friends asking to borrow it all the time.

If one is looking for a trailer that can move machinery and be used for other things and is not interested in equiping hisself as a machinery mover, I don't think there is a finer piece of equipment.

The website shows a single axle Selma Hydraulic. It's 5 pictures down in the 1st column. Jim

How about a semi adjustable steel skid with a provision for a 3500# axle and highway speed tires? Put the axle where you need it for proper weight distribution depending on machine, make the skid a little longer than the machine to allow additional chain points. Easy to store when not needed, comes apart to fit in tow vehicle, minimal cost $300? axle, wheels, tires, hitch, 20' to 40' of heavy steel angle or tubing.

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

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

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

Dave

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

Paul in AJ AZ

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...."

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

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

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 ---