Another reminder about wet trailer decks and ramps
Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 8:21 pm
The scariest situations I have ever encountered loading and unloading tractors have all involved water. A couple weeks ago, I was helping a friend unload a non-running Cub (not mine!) from my trailer. It had been raining, one of those come-and-go summer thunderstorms. We got the trailer all set up, ramps down, put my jacks on the back of the trailer so it wouldn't bob the rear truck tires up, checked everything out, and proceeded to unload. My friend was in the seat so he could steer and brake, we rolled the tractor off by hand, checking brakes first before we got to the ramps. When the tractor started coming down those wet ramps, it seemed to accelerate to about 90 miles per hour... Not really, but my friend locked the brakes and it just came right down like it had no brakes at all. Fourtunately we had everything lined up right and it descended down the center of the ramps, and once he was on terra firma again he could control the Cub, but if we hadn't lined them up right with the tires, it could have become a very ugly situation very very quickly. In the few seconds he was descending the ramps, the only control he had was steering, all he could do was "hold on."
I am not saying I won't load/unload anymore when things are wet, but I hope this will remind everyone to take the extra time to make sure everything is set up perfectly, and try to anticipate any unforseen problems when conditions are less than ideal. It has, however, made me start to think about a nice electric winch for my trailer....
Al
I am not saying I won't load/unload anymore when things are wet, but I hope this will remind everyone to take the extra time to make sure everything is set up perfectly, and try to anticipate any unforseen problems when conditions are less than ideal. It has, however, made me start to think about a nice electric winch for my trailer....
Al