jon f mn
Well-known Member
My company has several of these tiltbed low boy trailers for hauling 40' containers.
As you can see, the containers need to be strapped on, and if they are loaded they also need to be chained as well. The boss asked me to come up with a way to make it so they can be pulled all the way on the trailer and fastened down without straps or chains. This creates several problems. First they are pulled on with a cable winch hooked to a cross chain that hooks in the front of the container in pockets.
That creates the problem of getting the container close enough to the trsiler gooseneck because the cross chain leaves too much distance, they need to get within 6" of the gooseneck. They have several different trail ers, some with the winch on top of the upper deck and some with it down on the main deck. With the lower winch the Chain hits the winch before the container gets close enough, on the ones with the upper winch the cable pulles up too much on the front of the container.
So the first issue is how to get the container all the way forward.
The second issue is that to unload the container needs to hang over the rear of the trailer so that when the trailer is raised the container hits the ground so it will drag itself off.
So if the container is pulled all the way on the trailer there has to be something to push it back again, about 4', so it will slide off. There also needs to be a way to latch them down in all 4 corners using these standard corner boxes.
One additional problem is that the rear leaves very little to work with because the trailers are pointed so they can get the bed to the ground. So there is no room under to work with. You also can't put anything above the bed at the rear because sometimes you can't get straight to the container so it has to slide over the side.
So, any ideas on how to achieve all these goals? It needs to be easy, fast, safe and idiot proof. Should be easy. Budget is pretty open if it saves enough time. Strapping takes 15+ minutes each for on and off and we can haul 5-10 loads a day, so labor adds up quick. Plus workers like to claim injuries from throwing straps. There are no commercial trailers yet that don't need straps, so there is nothing to copy.
Did I forget anything? Loly
As you can see, the containers need to be strapped on, and if they are loaded they also need to be chained as well. The boss asked me to come up with a way to make it so they can be pulled all the way on the trailer and fastened down without straps or chains. This creates several problems. First they are pulled on with a cable winch hooked to a cross chain that hooks in the front of the container in pockets.
That creates the problem of getting the container close enough to the trsiler gooseneck because the cross chain leaves too much distance, they need to get within 6" of the gooseneck. They have several different trail ers, some with the winch on top of the upper deck and some with it down on the main deck. With the lower winch the Chain hits the winch before the container gets close enough, on the ones with the upper winch the cable pulles up too much on the front of the container.
So the first issue is how to get the container all the way forward.
The second issue is that to unload the container needs to hang over the rear of the trailer so that when the trailer is raised the container hits the ground so it will drag itself off.
So if the container is pulled all the way on the trailer there has to be something to push it back again, about 4', so it will slide off. There also needs to be a way to latch them down in all 4 corners using these standard corner boxes.
One additional problem is that the rear leaves very little to work with because the trailers are pointed so they can get the bed to the ground. So there is no room under to work with. You also can't put anything above the bed at the rear because sometimes you can't get straight to the container so it has to slide over the side.
So, any ideas on how to achieve all these goals? It needs to be easy, fast, safe and idiot proof. Should be easy. Budget is pretty open if it saves enough time. Strapping takes 15+ minutes each for on and off and we can haul 5-10 loads a day, so labor adds up quick. Plus workers like to claim injuries from throwing straps. There are no commercial trailers yet that don't need straps, so there is nothing to copy.
Did I forget anything? Loly