Side loading an excavator video. Would you do this?

gotta be a stiff old trailer, it's pretty short. my 80 ton Aspen would have the rails sagged right to the road. I've done this quite a few times moving logging equipment short distances in the bush. nothing that weighs anywhere close to that beast though...

 

When I worked on a pipeline in Texas as an operator we side loaded everything. It was only one time I loaded from the front and that was because it was muddy, on a slope and when i would swing around to pick the back end up the front of the tracks would slide off the trailer.

 

Ya thats not a good idea because you end up putting the whole weight of the excavator on that out side frame rail and will end up bending it. Just take 5 minutes and separate the neck that way the weight of the excavator is spread out over all 4 frame rails

 

Except that excavator won’t fit in that well.

 

Rules for operators: 1) Don’t side load, even in a subdivision. Bring old truck tires and some helpers to keep them moved under your tracks. 2) Don’t push on a stuck dump truck. Go get a cable. 3) Don’t smoke in my equipment. 4) My equipment, my money, my rules.

 

Side loading is done all the time. Something that heavy, not so much

 

I do that when we are moving a crew just a few miles down the line. But we stack mats up and dump air on suspension. I don't spin tracks on my trailer. That is when damage can be done. Excavator pad tracks dont eat up the deck as bad as dozer tracks. And my trailer is 13 yrs old. I have spun the tracks a few times with excavators myself or a good operator. Alot of the company pipe line trucks have metal plates welded on the deck so they can spin eaiser.

 

Seen them move side booms a bunch like that, when they don't want to take the counterweight or boom off. When you load a side boom with the counterweight the regular way, they are bad heavy to the counterweight side, and makes the trailer lean bad. They would also leave to boom in them, laying it down toward the back. This was only mostly off road or very short moves on public roads.

As a rule, we don't side load. We have done it in very special circumstances but my drivers have to get me (the boss) to ok it, and I will be there if I can to oversee. If you can't get the trailer beam all the way on the ground, you need to block it. Also, you need to take blocks and put beside the trailer, so the blocks take most of the load as the machine climbs up, not the trailer side beam.

If you plan on doing much side loading at all, you need to make sure your trailer has gussets on the outside beam top flange. Most all heaver built trailers will have the gussets, but some of the cheaper and/or lighter trailers don't. You will roll the top flange if it isn't gusseted.