step deck ramp / beaver tail question

Someone here crunched the end of his trailer due to all the weight being at the very rear tip of the trailer.

 

That was Danny

 

Not much to it. Clean the machine off then walk it on w/ a spotter till you've done it a few times. Center it so the over hang on the sides is equal if there is any and place it towards the front of the trailer. Check your OD specs so you don't take out the first power line,ect. you come too. Secure properly. That's the basics.

 

Ramps and beaver tails are different animals.

Q: How much would an excavator need to pay to make me risk damaging freight and trailer by running it up ramps?

A: Insert answers here.

Broker's response to my price would be: "Are you nuts? I could get an RGN for that price."
My response to broker would be: "Exactly. I am supposed to risk $10,000 or more so someone can save/make $500 - $1000? Find another sucker."

The ONLY reason trucking companies exist is because shippers want to transfer risk. The trucking company needs to know when the reward is worth the risk.

Its' an excavator for crying out loud.....build a dock out of dirt or gravel.

 

yes, I crunched the back of my 04 Transcraft badly unloading a 46k excavator. They had a "dock" of sorts but it was a bad one, just an angled steel plate with supports welded.

the best ramps you can buy are rated for 23,500 lbs per axle. It's fine when the tracked equipment is flat on the ramps or flat on the trailer with the weight spread out, but when you approach the ramps and only the front of the tracks are on it you have a little problem. When you reach the tipping point where all the weight is on a very concentrated area you also may have a big problem.

Another concern is steel tracks chewing up the aluminum, most guys who regularly load steel tracked equipment use heavy rubber mats to protect their ramps and/or deck.

Another concern is if the tracks are wide you are putting all that weight on the outside channels of your trailer and not on the main frame rails where it should be.

Some stepdeck's are better suited for ramp loading than others. I rebuilt the back of mine with drop jacks and square tubing to support loading, but I still will not haul tracked equipment over 30k without a level dock on both ends. I also will not haul wide tracked equipment over 30k even if there is good docks on both end. The knee braces, cross supports, and outside channels on a stepdeck are not adequate to support that kind of weight IMO. I need the weight to be on the main frame rails or at least closer to it.

 

lol, no, it's set forward pretty far. Just laughing because I'm never sure if I should really share things online. It's kind of embarrassing, especially when it comes up again and again. But maybe somebody can learn from my mistakes. here's the video.

 

It would have made a difference, yes. There was just a plate of steel across the top before, now there is 3/8 - 4x4 tubing forming a complete square with drop jacks on the sides. However, any time you beef up one part of something like this, you are probably moving the breaking point somewhere else.

The reason I added the jacks and beefed it up was just to insure I could load military trucks, tractors, and things safely without it dipping and picking up on the fifth wheel. Not so I could go back and try an excavator again.

I don't want to mislead you though, people haul excavator's like this with stepdecks all the time. I mean, it can be done for sure. I just figure, why push the limit's of my equipment to do stuff it's not really designed for when there's RGN's all over the place built to do that job without even thinking twice. I never really thought much about the crossmember's, side channel's, and decking on a stepdeck or RGN before this happened. I just figured if it was legal weight, put it on there. After this I started taking a good look at the construction. I got to look at it plenty while we were replacing the decking, believe me ! lol, then I took a good look at some RGN's. They're made to have weight way out on the edges, stepdeck's aren't. They have 2-3" apitong decks, mine is 1-1/8". I mean, there's no comparison, so I say let them guys have that stuff it's not for me.