Dont high center your landing gears

runaway parents · November 16, 2016

So I was coming home from work one day and ran across a semi that high centered on his landing gears on a side walk coming out of a gravel parking lot . A cop was there directing traffic I knew the cop . So I asked him if I can help. Some kids in a half ton four wheel drive was trying to pull him back off the side walk with out much success. The weight was off the drivers so the tractor was just spinning his wheels. The kids was just tearing up the parking lot. The cop was getting upset . The truck driver thought he was going to get fired.. And a wrecker was called. I went over to the driver and pointed out to him the drivers are literally off the ground so why not run the landing gear down lift the tractor off the ground farther put lumber under the wheels lower it back down and back it up. Plan worked. Driver was happy. Cop was happy. Wrecker not so much. He got canceled.

CrazyCooter · November 16, 2016

I've run across this scenario before once. Had the driver disconnect the leveling valve linkage and re-inflate the suspension so he could drive away. Amazed at what the driver's don't know about the machines they operate.

maveric · November 16, 2016

I had a similar experience (kinda) a few years ago. It was one of the first times I hooked to a trailer with a HDT. The trailer did not have adjustable landing gear (oil field trailer) so was positioned on blocks. I forgot to drop the air on the truck before I backed under.

Ended up knocking the trailer off the blocks. Had to get creative to get it back on the blocks. The front of the trailer had landed on the frame of the truck. Used the air to lift the trailer, crib under the landing gear, drop air, crib between trailer and frame, repeat. Took about 20 minutes, but I did learn to make sure the air was dumped before backing under the trailer after that. That truck was the most expensive jack I have ever used.

beyerjf · November 16, 2016

Sidewalk. Minor traffic delay.

Railroad Track. Not so much

runaway parents · November 17, 2016

Rail road track bad bad bad!!!!!!!

Broncohauler · November 17, 2016

Back in my tow truck days, I was called out to a semi that high centered.

He had gone down a very steep street and then turned left into a even steeper driveway with a low furniture trailer.

After unloading he had Tried to back out. He got midway out with a 53ft trailer when the belly high sided leaving his driver side trailer tires about 2ft in the air and his passenger side about 5ft do to the steep street.

I called in a 2nd heavy wrecker to strap over the trailer to keep it from rolling while I winched him out backwards.

A little hairy.

Dollytrolley · November 17, 2016

We had a big CAT excavator and a double Jeep lowboy and it was really loooow so when we would pull up the hill drive out of the mill yard Bill the driver would leave the excavator idling and I would pull the flagger pickup into the street and stop what little traffic might be passing and when the lowboy high centered Bill would get in the excavator and swing around across the street and hook the bucket teeth into a old 4 ft diameter Douglas fir stump and just drag the lowboy and rig off high center then I would set the parking brake and Bill stowed the bucket back on the lowboy and it was just another hillbilly trucking day on the Oregon coast.....

Drive on.....(Big tree stumps can be handy)