Never assume
Posted: Sat Nov 17, 2012 10:01 pm
I let rabbit Holler Flash and Scrivet store their 18 foot flat bed trailer under my lower lean too, and a 22 ton wood splitter in my shed most of the time. A ton service truck belonging to Flash's son has also been stored there hitched to the trailer for the last month or more.
There are a couple of night time Christmas parades in this area In the next couple weeks, and I needed room to get my trailer and a cub in the shop together to rig lights. Due to a cub belonging to the local Lions club being spread around my shed, I decided to move the log splitter out onto Flash's trailer to get a little more room. I lowered the center and left ramp on the rear of the trailer, hitched the log splitter to the front hitch I got from Rick, and proceeded to push the splitter up the ramps onto the back of the trailer just as I have done 4 or 5 times. Since getting on and off the cub with it partway up the ramps is a pain, I just drove all the way upon to the trailer. Just as I got the rear wheels of the tractor I got a SURPRISE. The truck and trailer were setting right where they had been for the last month or so, but this time it was not hitched. The rear of the trailer went down, the tongue came up and the trailer rolled forward some. I reached down into the tool box and got a long screwdriver that I used to pry myself loose from the seat cushion, and got off and looked things over.
The tongue was about a foot and a half in the air, and the left ramp sticking up at about a 45 degree angle. The legs are attached to the ramps at an angle and as the weight of the tractor passed the attach point the weight caused the ramp to push the trailer forward as the rear went down. I decided everything that was going to happen had happened, so I unhitched the log splitter and put the stand on it. No easy task at the angle the trailer was setting. I then got on the tractor, and calmly (yeah, right) backed the cub down the ramps, which was a little interesting considering the center one was down and the left one at a 45 degree angle upward. As soon as the tires pushed on the raised ramp a little it started down with the leg dragging the trailer backward soem and as te tongue came back down the jack stand sat right back down on the 6x6 block that it was setting on before I started. I decided I had enough excitemnet for the day, so I put the ramps up, parked the tractor and closed the shed up then went to the house.
There are a couple of night time Christmas parades in this area In the next couple weeks, and I needed room to get my trailer and a cub in the shop together to rig lights. Due to a cub belonging to the local Lions club being spread around my shed, I decided to move the log splitter out onto Flash's trailer to get a little more room. I lowered the center and left ramp on the rear of the trailer, hitched the log splitter to the front hitch I got from Rick, and proceeded to push the splitter up the ramps onto the back of the trailer just as I have done 4 or 5 times. Since getting on and off the cub with it partway up the ramps is a pain, I just drove all the way upon to the trailer. Just as I got the rear wheels of the tractor I got a SURPRISE. The truck and trailer were setting right where they had been for the last month or so, but this time it was not hitched. The rear of the trailer went down, the tongue came up and the trailer rolled forward some. I reached down into the tool box and got a long screwdriver that I used to pry myself loose from the seat cushion, and got off and looked things over.
The tongue was about a foot and a half in the air, and the left ramp sticking up at about a 45 degree angle. The legs are attached to the ramps at an angle and as the weight of the tractor passed the attach point the weight caused the ramp to push the trailer forward as the rear went down. I decided everything that was going to happen had happened, so I unhitched the log splitter and put the stand on it. No easy task at the angle the trailer was setting. I then got on the tractor, and calmly (yeah, right) backed the cub down the ramps, which was a little interesting considering the center one was down and the left one at a 45 degree angle upward. As soon as the tires pushed on the raised ramp a little it started down with the leg dragging the trailer backward soem and as te tongue came back down the jack stand sat right back down on the 6x6 block that it was setting on before I started. I decided I had enough excitemnet for the day, so I put the ramps up, parked the tractor and closed the shed up then went to the house.