I did not witness this, but according to family lore, my dad once towed a Kubota L35 on a trailer rated for 4K lbs behind an Audi 4000 (he put a hitch on everything) because the suburban was in the shop. We used the 4000 for our dump runs with a small trailer.
No chains, straps, etc.
Tractor rolled back, off the trailer, and onto the road. Trailer popped off the car during this event because the car hitch ball was tiny and didn't match the trailer.
My dad put the trailer back on, backed up, drove the tractor back on and then continued down the road. He did put rocks from the roadside on the trailer as chocks, though.
I would say this thread is right on topic. We are just discussing the fact that I hit something not to hard but man some guys did some things that I couldn't even imagine
I would say this thread is right on topic. We are just discussing the fact that I hit something not to hard but man some guys did some things that I couldn't even imagine
Thank you. Looking back, I was mad at myself for catching that hydrant. Today, it makes me laugh to think I was stuck on a hydrant for almost 15 minutes in broad daylight, worrying about who was watching.
Thank you. Looking back, I was mad at myself for catching that hydrant. Today, it makes me laugh to think I was stuck on a hydrant for almost 15 minutes in broad daylight, worrying about who was watching.
Ok not nearly as bad as getting a 30 ton fire engine stuck in a ditch while responding code 3. I don't have pics but it was embarrassing, especially when the second due engine drives right past you and the engineer flips you the bird.
But the next winter the same Engineer that flipped me the bird rolled his engine down a 20 foot deep drainage and came to a stop on the roof of the engine. I wasn't fortunate enough to be there as he was working OT on a different shift. I got my last laugh on him as I was the Chair of the Health and Safety Committe and I got to deliver his remedial training package to him.Thumbs Up
Im not sure but I'm thinking I have pics of this one, I'll go dig and see if I can find some.
Sorry fellas, I thought I had multiple pictures. Had to scan this in off one the old newsletters. This was obviously after the wrecker got it out of the ditch. Oh well I tried.
Ok not nearly as bad as getting a 30 ton fire engine stuck in a ditch while responding code 3. I don't have pics but it was embarrassing, especially when the second due engine drives right past you and the engineer flips you the bird.
But the next winter the same Engineer that flipped me the bird rolled his engine down a 20 foot deep drainage and came to a stop on the roof of the engine. I wasn't fortunate enough to be there as he was working OT on a different shift. I got my last laugh on him as I was the Chair of the Health and Safety Committe and I got to deliver his remedial training package to him.Thumbs Up
Im not sure but I'm thinking I have pics of this one, I'll go dig and see if I can find some.
So on the first example where I was getting flipped off, iced up roads with hard pack. I can't remember how cold, but it was definitely below freezing. I was the engineer (driver). It was a typical type 1 engine like your used to seeing, cab over front axle. This was a brand new engine at the time and had all the latest safety stuff on it. Traction control, ABS air brakes, etc. These engines are so heavy, coupled with the traction control it's really hard to get them to break loose. I was running with the on-spot chains engaged and the transmission brake off because of the ice conditions. Didn't help the steer tires. Took a 90 degree left turn a little too fast and steer tires lost traction halfway through the turn, and went straight into the bar ditch. Driver duals were still on pavement, all other tires were off then pavement and rear axle was buried in the plow berm. No damage from me, rear bumper got slight damage from the wrecker pulling us out.
For the engine in the pic I posted yes the damage was astronomical. That engine is what is called a Type 3 engine. It's lighter, has a Peterbuilt chassis, compared to the custom Pierce of the other one. It's 4x4, has a higher clearance, etc. They are heavily used in wild land firefighting. We have some pretty rural areas where a type 1 engine physically can't fit and or doesn't have the clearance. This was one of those cases where they needed the smaller engine, had a structure fire in the rural area. They were done and leaving the scene. There is a deep drainage all along that road, and the houses are set back a couple thousand feet from the road. So each driveway has large 6' culvert pipe, with dirt over the top to act a the bridge across the drainage. No side rails. It was toward the end of winter and there was several feet of snow on the ground. So you couldn't see exactly where the dirt ended and what was just snow. He got over a little too far and the dirt on the edge of culvert under the snow gave way and they tipped over, and landed on the roof of the engine at the bottom of the drainage. No one was hurt, but repairs were in the $120,000 range lol.
^
Haha almost Sno. Whenever we were evaluating new stuff like tools or thermal imaging cameras, etc., they always made sure I got one because if it was gonna break I could do it. They jokingly called it standard durability testing, which meant hand it to me. I was as hard on my body as I was on equipment hence all the injuries and a medical retirement.
Yeah, fun times. I was driving a truck (straight stick) with a 105' ladder, with a self steering tag axle. Found oot that the tag axle's brakes that were allegedly slaved into the drive axle's ABS weren't. Not much more will get your heart pumping REALLY hard than looking in the mirror and seeing the ass end of your truck heading in your direction. Fortunately, we weren't responding on a call at the time. They brought it in to the dealer and had it looked at. I did it again...on purpose...and found out they hadn't fixed it.
A close second is changing lanes sideways with truck and trailer in a blizzard in Minniesoda.
Yeah, fun times. I was driving a truck (straight stick) with a 105' ladder, with a self steering tag axle. Found oot that the tag axle's brakes that were allegedly slaved into the drive axle's ABS weren't. Not much more will get your heart pumping REALLY hard than looking in the mirror and seeing the ass end of your truck heading in your direction. Fortunately, we weren't responding on a call at the time. They brought it in to the dealer and had it looked at. I did it again...on purpose...and found out they hadn't fixed it.
A close second is changing lanes sideways with truck and trailer in a blizzard in Minniesoda.
Holy crap. I couldn't imagine driving a ladder that didn't have a tillerman. Even on dry roads! The City has a couple Quints that they replaced the tiller trucks with. They have autosteer in the rear as well. Been nothing but problems. The auto steer will wig out and start doing its own thing. And these are custom Pierce rigs. You would think Pierce had that worked out. One of the Quints auto steered into the side of one of the stations pulling into the bays, on 3 seperate occasions I'm glad I never had to Operate one of thoes.
That's some crazy stuff! In other news, I finally stopped in the shop and asked Exactly what they did for reinforcement. I'll try my best to explain. He said he made a thicker weld to the bushing because the bushing wasn't taking the force the way it was supposed to before. He says they think this will resolve the issues. We will find out! Long range for me shows no real snow the rest of January
That's some crazy stuff! In other news, I finally stopped in the shop and asked Exactly what they did for reinforcement. I'll try my best to explain. He said he made a thicker weld to the bushing because the bushing wasn't taking the force the way it was supposed to before. He says they think this will resolve the issues. We will find out! Long range for me shows no real snow the rest of January
Good point. I won't be hammering it but I won't be losing time because of it. Gonna plow like normal! I'm actually going to ask that my warranty be extended because of all this
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