Securing a load - I am an idiot (thankfully, I got away with it)

[skotl]

Today I bought 21m of 30mm box, 14m of 25mm box and some 33mm round tube (probably also 7m).

Cut them down to size at the excellent Alexander (Scotland) Ltd at Sighthill, Edinburgh (they let you borrow electricity) and loaded them up in the back of the pickup truck.

The load bed, with the tail down, is around 2m and I'd cut them to ~3m lengths and then strapped them together.
But normally I have a tarpaulin with eyelets, which I wrap round the ends and then strap to the pillars in the back of the bed. Except I had forgotten to bring it.

So I tightly strapped the lengths together and tethered them to the uprights, and put my spare wheel on top of them for weight...


... I made it half a mile. First left turn and the car behind me is standing on his horn. I guessed what had happened and pulled onto the pavement (it was a dual carriageway).

The load had shifted and then exited the tub. Some of the straps were still holding on but I had probably 100KG of steel dragging on the ground. And the spare wheel was at the edge of the tailgate.

What an absolute pillock

Look; have at it - tell me what a t*t I was for not doing a better job. I can hardly look at myself, six hours later. Thank whatever you pray to that it was at the start of the journey, I was doing 20MPH and it didn't hurt or kill anyone. I'm probably more worried about the damage that the wheel could have done rather than the steel.

I tied everything up much, much tighter than I had previously and used every strap in the truck. Then I drove home at (literally) 20MPH (on 30/40 MPH roads).

A valuable lesson that at least didn't hurt anyone - please think about your kit before you go and pick anything up.

 

[Robotstar5]

If I carried stuff like that in the Navara I would leave the tailgate up and hang it over the back, ratchet strapped down against the top of the tailgate.

 

[skotl]

If I carried stuff like that in the Navara I would leave the tailgate up and hang it over the back, ratchet strapped down against the top of the tailgate.

That's a good shout. I've moved a bunch of unstable loads with the tail down and the tarp covering the end.

In hindsight, I should have done what you suggested (and cut the material to suit). With the tail up, it's a little over a metre so it might have been tail-heavy at 3m. Again, in hindsight, I should have cut it to 1.5m lengths, raised the tail, and strapped it vertically as you suggest.

 

[optima21]

worst Ive ever seen was a sheet of 8 x 4 plywood being carried on a roof of a car.it was held down arms from the cars windows without and straping etc

 

[skotl]

worst Ive ever seen was a sheet of 8 x 4 plywood being carried on a roof of a car.it was held down arms from the cars windows without and straping etc

I've seen that, too.

I went up to a bloke in the B&Q car park a few years ago. He was in the process of tying a 2m x 1m piece of ply to his roof rack, with his one strap going laterally from one side to the other.
I was polite (honest) and said "look mate, you're going to get a huge amount of lift at the front of the ply, even at low speed. I'd pop back into the store and buy a couple of straps and make sure you've got it tied down fore to aft".

He got all goggle-eyed and said something like "f*** off and mind your own business you c***!"

So I did.

 

[bricol]

I bought several lengths of steel pipe in Fort Worth Texas, loaded it into the rented Ford pickup, tailgate down, lengths resting on it and up on the little ladder bar behind the cab - taped the footwell mats down on the roof to pull the longer lengths of plastic pipe down and over the roof with straps to the front bumper. Pipe strapped together and well strapped into the back of the bed.

Got back to that well know manufacturer of military aircraft and unloaded onto a stretch golf buggy for it to be taken in. Came to close the tailgate . . . had to hammer the sides of the pick up back out to be able to get the tailgate shut . . . I might have been a bit keen on making sure I didn't lose any pipes ;-)

Bri

 

[skotl]

I bought several lengths of steel pipe in Fort Worth Texas, loaded it into the rented Ford pickup, tailgate down, lengths resting on it and up on the little ladder bar behind the cab - taped the footwell mats down on the roof to pull the longer lengths of plastic pipe down and over the roof with straps to the front bumper. Pipe strapped together and well strapped into the back of the bed.

Got back to that well know manufacturer of military aircraft and unloaded onto a stretch golf buggy for it to be taken in. Came to close the tailgate . . . had to hammer the sides of the pick up back out to be able to get the tailgate shut . . . I might have been a bit keen on making sure I didn't lose any pipes ;-)

Bri

Aye - that's another thought steel stock is cheaper than a tailgate!

In my case, though, it's definitely cheaper than an insurance claim for a wheel-thru-the-windscreen...

 

[Benson]

Skotl, I have a similar truck to you and have recently been buying a lot of timber for use on the ranch. There's a wee switch on the centre console which opens up the rear window and gives another 1.5m inside the cab- if you do this try and remember to brake gently or risk popping the windscreen out lol

 

[mcostello]

Stored enough plywood in FIL's barn to build My house. When time came and it was needed We loaded it all on a trailer made from a truck bed, (1956 Chevy). Started down the road and the trailer hitch went t*TS ^. The plywood slid off the trailer one at a time like a deck of cards. Had about 200 meters of ply nicely laid out on a country road, was easy to pick up.

 

[rtbcomp]

................
I went up to a bloke in the B&Q car park a few years ago. He was in the process of tying a 2m x 1m piece of ply to his roof rack, with his one strap going laterally from one side to the other.
I was polite (honest) and said "look mate, you're going to get a huge amount of lift at the front of the ply, even at low speed. I'd pop back into the store and buy a couple of straps and make sure you've got it tied down fore to aft".

He got all goggle-eyed and said something like "f*** off and mind your own business you c***!"

So I did.

I've seen someone try that with a sheet of glass when I worked at a DIY store. He had the sense to take advice though. He was still in the carpark when we closed so I don't know what he did eventually.

 

[ms08]

Saw that recently and the driver was not hanging about - however bits of whatever he was carrying (looked like some kind of insulation board 8x4 sheets) started to be deposited all over the A249 as I passed by.....

 

[Gareth0123]

I can get 3.3 metre lengths inside my Pug 406 Estate, and fortnightly I carry 36m X 10 x 30, 18m X 10 X 40 , 18m X 8 X 40, 18m 10Ø, and 12m X 16Ø. There is currently sitting inside my Pug the following; 12m X 10 X 30 , 2m X 75 X 75 X 3 box, and 2.5m 50 X 75 X 6 angle all to be unloaded in a few minutes for this morning's work, and then this afternoon I'll be collecting the another batch of the first lot mentioned for a production welding run first thing Monday morning.

 

[Kent]

When I transport 3mtr lengths in the L200 I just stick them through the window in the rear bulkhead into the front passenger footwell.
Carrying an insecure load is 6 point I think? if someone is hurt though its off to prison most likely so I like to take good care

 

[skotl]

Skotl, I have a similar truck to you and have recently been buying a lot of timber for use on the ranch. There's a wee switch on the centre console which opens up the rear window and gives another 1.5m inside the cab- if you do this try and remember to brake gently or risk popping the windscreen out lol

I do that with wood, but steel is staying outside the cab

 

[Keith 66]

Some years ago i moved a dinghy with a mate by putting it on the rook of my Moggy van (told you it was some years ago) Anyway we had supported the rear with a large van tyre for some reason & when we unloaded the boat at the yard forgot to take the tyre of the roof.
A while later we went to the bakers for some grub and as we were flying round the roundabout i looked at him & said "did you take the tyre of the roof?"
"No i thought you did it" was the reply, I indicated left & coasted in to the side of the road & the thing was still sitting on the roof. Lord knows how it stayed on.
I am paranoid about trailer hitches now as well, i backed up to the club slipway once with a 26ft rowing gig on board & forgot to put the reverseing lock on, the trailer balked & the hitch rotated sideways & unlatched itself. I remember seeing the bow of the boat lurch up as the wheels went over the hump at the top of the slip & then rapidly disapear. I put the handbrake on & leapt out & chased the outfit down the slip.
The boat was still strapped to the trailer & hit the water at speed, proper lifeboat launch! Then the boat started to sink as the bung was out.
I arrived also at speed & ran into the water & managed to grab the boat & pull it back before it went down. This happened on a saturday lunchtime with the yacht club bar packed so i had a good audience.
There were a lot of ribald comments & i did bow to the audience at the end.
It has a funny side but it could quite easily have run someone over & it was only luck that the slip was clear.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

@ skotl: did you get that 'prickly' feeling at the back of the neck which appears when you realise what you've done?

 

[pedrobedro]

I went to the steel stockist and bought my lengths of 25mm rhs, took it in the car park and stacked it on the van roof bars then realised I'd left my ratchet straps and any other means of attaching it at home. I went back in and bought a roll of gaffer tape and taped it all together then taped it to the rack with lots of wraps and 14 miles later after a steady drive home it was still solidly in place.

 

[tomsutton529]

Also remember that when you are carrying a load the suspension is lower, and when you take it back out its higher...

Me and my dad were at the local tip many moons ago and someone in a 4X4 got through the first height barrier with a few mm to spare and someone guiding him though, he emptied his stuff and set off.. only yo make it 200 yards when the height restriction on the exit gate got him and it got him good. No damage to the height barrier, which was good. I think they removed it shortly after that.

 

[Wallace]

As a young man I stacked six 21ft lengths of 3" gas pipe on a small industrial articulated trailer to move it from one factory to the other and towed it with the factory tug or jeep as we called it, a small gas fueled vehicle with a Moggy 1000 engine & box and very low gearing. Deciding that the main road would be safest route I had my foot flat to the floor and the valves bouncing at all of 20mph and the overhanging pipe started to sway the trailer getting progressively worse until the articulated wheels were in a tank slapper lifting off the ground bouncing side to side. I still don't know how the pipe stayed on the trailer let alone missed the parked cars and traffic!

 

[Ed.]

I think most of us have done something similar, when I was about twenty, I picked up about 8 lengths of 4m x 25mm x 2mm SHS and did the same, tied them to the roof racks with rope and didn't cover or tie down the ends, had to pull up quickly and watched as they all slid off towards the car in front that had braked. Fortunately he was further away and just narrowly missed having them spear through his back window.

So lesson learned and since then I remember what happened every time I move tubing on roof racks or in the trailer and haven't made the same mistake again. You live and learn!