(800) 853-2651
SHOP NOW

good scare today

C

Chris Jones

Member
I towed a Ford 601 and scrape blade 'bout 30 miles today on the interstate. During unloading as the tractor was on the ramps the tongue of the trailer popped off the ball! The safety chains were holding it down. I was stunned--yes the hitch was locked. I thought something must be broke or badly worn. But, it turns out that while I'd been told the trailer took a 2" ball it actually took a 2 5/16 ball! That's a big difference. That could have come loose on the road! I'd used the trailer once before too with that same 2" ball!

And it didn't even damage the truck when it popped off. Whew!

Don't rely on the person who loans/sells you a trailer to correctly tell you what size ball it takes.

P.S. I was delivering a tractor sold on Craig's List. Good sale. I think both sides were happy.
 
Came up behind a Uhaul truck pulling a Uhaul trailer. The driver was completely oblivious that he was towing the trailer by the safety chains, as the hitch was completely uncoupled from the truck.

I tried to wave him down but he just waved back, so I drove on and left him to find out whenever he stopped.
 
Buy your own trailer. If that had come loose and killed a family coming the other way, you'd be out more than the cost of a trailer. Happened to a friend, he was lucky , it went thru a fence into a field.
 
We have 4 trailers and I'm pretty sure all have a ball size stamped on the ball coupler on the trailer. You were lucky, it's a pain to play gussing games with a trailer ball size.
 
It has been my experience that while you may trust someone to a certain extent, there are some things you must verify for yourself! Glad it was not serious!
 
Yap ! I had my home made wood splitter jump off when I first bought it, because I thought it was 1 7/8 and it was 2" so I put it on my 1 7/8 ball. Good thing I heard it hitting the asphalt and the safety chains keep it on the truck until I pulled over . It was a life long lesson that I learned --- always check the ball size.
 
A guy came to get a tractor that he had bought from me on Craigslist drove 500 miles showed up at 12:30 at night. Was loading the tractor up and the trailer came off the ball. We looked it over and he said I must have not latched it. He drove all that way with it unhooked its a wonder it did not come off the ball on his 500 miles.
 
Was hooking up my trailer one time and just about the time I was finished a friend of mine pulled up and I spent a few minutes talking with him. moved the trailer to the front of my shop and started loading my 4000 SU Ford with a mower on it. As soon as the tractor got up on the trailer the front comes flying up stopped only by the safety chains. Ok now what do I do back off or keep going forward. I could just see the trailer coming down on a very expensive tail gate. Luckily I backed off real slow and it sat back down on the ball. I had hooked everything up but had not locked the coupler on the ball. So I guess what I am trying to say is we all screw up from time to time. Ever since then the first thing I do is lock the coupler
 
A couple years ago was helping a friend during harvest. I was back at the farm unloading and get a call bring a drill and bits and a long strap and some grain. I'm thinking OH BOY THIS IS GOING TO BE GOOD. Get to the next farm only to see his brand new chevy smashed all to hell in the back and the header cart tongue laying there and one of the guys holding a horse by a rope around the neck. The welded hitch on the cart snapped off and the guy panicked and hit the brakes smashing the 35' head into the truck. Then it hit a hole in the road and sent it thru a horse pasture with the really expensive plastic fence. I started to ask what happened and got the DEATH STARE so I just shut my mouth and screwed some of the fence back up and put he horse back. He was only in the hole for about 15,000 for all damages. Needless to say the header cart has a hitch rated for about a million lbs now and he rigged elec break away on it too.
 
Just keep on checking yer balls guys!
We had a big problem in the early 70s when we went from 2 inch to 50 millimeter balls.....that small difference caused a lot of wrecks!
Remember size does really matter when it comes to balls!
Sam
 
I hired a local man to haul a heavy tractor a couple of 200 miles. We made it to the pickup site OK and he put down his ramps, jumps onto the tractor and starts to drive it onto the trailer. He gets about half way when the front of the trailer jumps up and is pointing into the air. I and the owner have a hard time to get him to wait until we get the jacks down under the trailer. If he had gone forward the gooseneck would have gone through the bed of the truck and if he backed off it would have done the same.
He claimed someone else had hooked the trailer to the truck and it wasn't his fault. HMMMMMM
 
Had the ball come loose from the truck once. Old chev pick up that some guy welded a piece of channel on the bumper. Ball came up on a bump, pulled the channel off the bumper.
Not going fast, but the trailer weighed a lot more than I could lift. Chained it to the truck and went back. That was around 1970.
 
Some people like to grease their balls but the grease just attracts dirt that wears them and the coupler out. I think nice shiny balls are better.
 
Many years ago I towed my 16' fiberglass boat to a fishing tourney in Alabama, about a 50 mile trip. When I took the boat out to leave I noticed the coupler was loose. Turns out the nut that holds the coupler on had worked loose but stayed on. I picked the trailer up like it wasn't even connected. Am very thankful that was the worst that happened!
Not only check your balls but also check your NUTS!
 
Wife and her friend were hauling 3 horses back from Montana in a 3 horse trailer. Wife backed the truck up to the trailer, friend hooked it up. They drove about 1200 miles home. I went to unhook the trailer- it was not engaged on the ball, but was just laying on top of it. Told the Mrs. that in the future, it might be best if she checked things before departing. Good thing the trailer was loaded heavy.
 
Another guy and I stopped to help a young couple who'd lost their U-Haul trailer on I-24 just west of Paducah in Southern Illinois. The safety chains had kept them together, but the two kids couldn't lift the tongue. I loosened the coupler before we started to lift it, and the kid looked real worried and asked me what I was doing. I explained how the coupler worked, and after we got it hooked up, we demonstrated how you couldn't lift it off the ball. He was tickled to death - he said they'd lost that thing four times between St. Louis and Paducah. They were just married, and on their way to South Carolina - he was going in the Army. Somebody in St. Louis should have helped those kids get hooked up right.
 
I had one of those receiver pins that has a toggle on the end to keep it from going back through the hole in the receiver/hitch---but it didn't. The pin fell out somewhere along the way and I went 60-some miles with only my safety chains pulling my loaded 16 ft. trailer. The ball stayed hitched because the chains wouldn't allow it to pull all the way out of the receiver. I now have a better kind of pin.
 
Glad nobody got hurt. I have put a block of wood under the jack and cranked it up with trailer locked on the hitch many a time to check to be assured it will stay hooked.
I have seen them come unhooked even with the right ball due to wear. Just because its stamped on the hitch, the ball size, doesn't mean anything if the hitch is wore.
 
Glad no one was hurt. That could have been a mess. I was trying to load a fork lift on my trailer. It would get up to the rear wheels on the fork lift, then stop. I decided to get a run and go up on the trailer. About I got to the trailer the rear wheels the fork lift stopped, and at the same time the ball came loose from the pickup. (I forgot to lock it) I rammed the trailer hitch into a good tail gate. It was beyond repair. Another lesson learned. Stan
 
has anybody seen the pintle style for ball hitches it basicly is a hook that comes down on top of the reciver after its hooked i knew i guy put one on after a trailer come loose and the only thing that stopped it from plowing into a school yard with kids was a power pole.
lets not forget how many people x the chains
 
I think you mean to not forget to cross the chains its the law in ontario anyway

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook/section5.4.6.shtml
 
My oldest son and his friend had my int. p/u one day. They decided to take friend's dad's boat to the lake, wasn't but a couple of miles away. My truck has 17/8 inch ball and my son knew it, boat trailer hook up was 2 inch son said no problem, we will just wrap a rag around the ball and it will be ok, no need to hook up safety chains no farther than we are going. Well, you guessed it, boat came loose at the first turn, went off into a eight foot deep ditch, wrecker had to be called to get it out, several hundred dollars damage to boat and trailer too.
 
With any trailer I hook up, I ALWAYS screw the jack down and lift the back of the vehicle. This might not help in every situation, but I just feel better after checking.
Yes I ALWAYS "cross" safety chains.
 
Well then i will tell you about pintle hooks . And old friend of mine who had a small excavating co , nothing big mind you a 580 case hoe and a case 450 dozer one dump truck and one trailer . Trailer was a tri axle pintle hitch One nice sunny day he was on his way to pick up the dozer and as he crossed a bridge that was a little rough when the EMPTY trailer hit the bump the Pintle snapped OFF the truck and the saftey chains snapped and the trailer went left of center and hit and oncoming pickup and killed the driver , the driver of that pick up was one of my friend FRIEND . He was never the same after that and about two year later he put a gun to his head and ended his suffering . So it does not matter what kind of hitch ya have they can fail . I have seen semi fifth wheels fail I have seen 2 5/16 balls snap off . And reese receivers they scare me , ya have a two inch ball that has a one inch shank and the only thing holding it in a 1/2 pin.
 
When I was teen working at my dads service station, a truck came in pulling a loaded cattle trailer. It was a goose neck, the ball type with a hinged clam-shell coupling. I looked at it and saw that the coupler was closed, but was sitting on top of the ball!

I showed it to the driver, he couldn't believe it had stayed on. I couldn't either, I knew the road he had traveled, a rough, winding country road, crossed a couple of ditches getting onto the road, and then up to highway speed for 5 miles or so!
 
Pintle hooks are ok but I have seen as many unhook as the ball hook up does. The pintle does not have a + lock set up and so they are no better then any other set up. By far the best over all is the 5th wheel and those can still if not check well can leave a trailer in a ditch
 
Pintle hooks come in many different ratings. Gravel pups use real heavy duty pintle hooks and they all have a safety pin so they can't accidentally pop open. A lot of safety chains and their mounting points are lame on trailers and tow vehicles.

I saw the safety chain mount rip right off a trailer that was built by a well respected trailer shop. I was quite shocked though because it broke when the trailer was being moved 20' closer to the shop to go on another vehicle. The coupler wasn't latched and just as the truck stopped, the trailer popped off and rolled back about 5'. The weld on the chain mount pulled off like it was stuck on with bubble gum. A lot of good something like that is going to do you on the highway with a loaded trailer. The weight of the trailer rolling backwards about 1 MPH and the safety chain failed.
 
Short version of lesson learned is that the ball size is stamped on the hitch.

Looking to verify what we THINK is not a bad idea!
 

I try to always check the lock for my flip-over ball gooseneck hitch. Two years ago I was sure that I latched it at least three more times than I unlatched it. Kids will play.
 
Another tip to do when loading and unloading is to place some blocks under the back of the trailer so when the weight hits the back of the trailer the front does not want to go way up. I have had the weight lifted off the back of the tow vehicle and then the park brake does not hold and away it wants to go !
 
Several years ago a local fellow was pulling a fancy bass boat - wrong size ball and didn't cross the chains. Trailer came loose while crossing a 2 lane bridge. Short story - boat went through windshield and inside an on-coming car ending the life of young mother of two boys as she was heading into town going to work. I've seen a couple of people loose trailers while crossing railroad tracks over the years, too.
 
Well duh I know that I have dealt with rigs from 22 tires on down and pintle hitch is one of the common ones I have messed with. I still carry a Class A CDL that covers all but haz-mat and school bus so your trying to tell some one that knows already. Pull a trailer combo this summer that was pintle hitch and yes it was a pin lock but many ball hitches also are set up for a lock pin or other such thing but seen both fail A lock pin is only as good as it is as long as the pin does not break or fall out
 
My neighbor reported having this happen to him. As the tractor came off the trailer it took enough weight off the pickup that the rear tires started to skid and the truck and trailer started sliding down the hill.
 
(quoted from post at 17:13:39 01/22/14) Well duh I know that I have dealt with rigs from 22 tires on down and pintle hitch is one of the common ones I have messed with. I still carry a Class A CDL that covers all but haz-mat and school bus so your trying to tell some one that knows already. Pull a trailer combo this summer that was pintle hitch and yes it was a pin lock but many ball hitches also are set up for a lock pin or other such thing but seen both fail A lock pin is only as good as it is as long as the pin does not break or fall out
Click to expand...

It is a well known fact that any item can't be made "fool proof"!
Like the post above states-- People are dead because of one persons stupidity or laziness!
Accidents happen but I try to minimize the possibility by sometimes overacting!
Like last week, I bought a single sheet of 1/2 OSB 4x8 sheet and since it was elevated by 2x4s above bottom of truck bed, I strapped it down!
May not have been necessary but--WHY TAKE THE CHANCE!!
 
Glad I'm not alone. But I'm always amazed how lucky I've been many times--and not even known that I was.

This trailer has, I guess you call them legs attached to the ramps but they stop well sort of the ground when the ramps are lowered. It's an older trailer built by a commercial trailer manufacturer. My father and I jointly purchased it but use it very rarely.

Also if there ever was a mark on the hitch as to what size it was it's unreadable now. The seller told us it was a 2" and I pulled it home with a 2" ball that day I'm sure. My father has used it since then a couple times and me once before with a petty light but bulky load. On the way home yesterday he said, "you know I knew they said it was a 2 inch ball and it never occurred to me but I think my tow vehicle has a 2 5/16 ball on it." He previously owned a travel trailer that apparently took a 2 5/16. When he got this trailer he'd just backed up and it hooked up so he never looked at the ball. By dumb luck he had actually be using the correct size ball! Yesterday as I was inserting my tri-ball hitch into my receiver I "knew" the trailer took a 2" ball and my father even said to me, "you have the 2 inch ball right?" We locked it down, loaded up and away we went.
 
Yep that is why a good trucker does a walk around each and every day if drives his truck. I my self try to check my car lights at least once a week or more and I try to double check any and all hook ups on trailers etc more then once and stop after the first mile os so and double check and re-tighten boomers and chains on loads and then stop once or twice to check again depends in how far I go
 
(quoted from post at 17:33:35 01/22/14) Yep that is why a good trucker does a walk around each and every day if drives his truck. I my self try to check my car lights at least once a week or more and I try to double check any and all hook ups on trailers etc more then once and stop after the first mile os so and double check and re-tighten boomers and chains on loads and then stop once or twice to check again depends in how far I go
Click to expand...
It also amazes me to see a loaded trailer with load back too far!
Very little weight on the ball with the towing vehicle "waving" back and forth!
This in addition with two 1/4", or smaller, safety chains, hooked straight!
 
Yep I have a friend who when he hauls a tractor he uses on single ratchet strap and that is it. Ya his trailer has a fold up type ramp that locks up so something would have to roll threw it to come off the back but still that is not as it should be
 
(quoted from post at 05:21:37 01/22/14) I think you mean to not forget to cross the chains its the law in ontario anyway

http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/driver/handbook/section5.4.6.shtml
Click to expand...

... and don't forget that the chains should be adjusted so the trailer hitch won't hit the ground should it jump off the ball. Learned that one from the operator's manual from a trailer that I had bought used, but never looked at. Makes a lot of sense. It would limit the upward travel too.
 
What scares the bejabbers out of me is that all the danged balls, hitches, chains and pins are made in China !!!!

I wouldn't even know where to find a ball made in America.

Gene
 
(quoted from post at 19:53:49 01/22/14) What scares the bejabbers out of me is that all the danged balls, hitches, chains and pins are made in China !!!!

I wouldn't even know where to find a ball made in America.

Gene
Click to expand...

You buy a used one that --at least---says it is made in AMERICA.
I just installed a receiver hitch on my wife's Infiniti FX35. I had to search, but found one from RockAuto that is made in America.
Like I have said before--The problem with Communist China Products is with the quality of materials they are made from. I personally would rather pull a trailer with an American 1 7/8 setup then use a 2 5/16 China setup.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Ford 9N governor internal question
Replies
1
Views
187
wore out
wore out
Geo-TH,In
24 hp 48 inch husqvarna transaxle?
Replies
13
Views
696
Geo-TH,In
Geo-TH,In
C
New (to me) toy. 1957 Ford 601 Workmaster
Replies
15
Views
1K
curtis73
C
Turkeyfoot
Shaking my battery
Replies
4
Views
638
BarnyardEngineering
BarnyardEngineering
RedMF40
Third Cub's the Charm
Replies
7
Views
746
SweetFeet
SweetFeet
Tractor Parts Tractor Manuals

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Copyright © 1997-2024 Yesterday's Tractor Co.

All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of any part of this website, including design and content, without written permission is strictly prohibited. Trade Marks and Trade Names contained and used in this Website are those of others, and are used in this Website in a descriptive sense to refer to the products of others. Use of this Web site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: Tradenames and Trademarks referred to within Yesterday's Tractor Co. products and within the Yesterday's Tractor Co. websites are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademark holders are affiliated with Yesterday's Tractor Co., our products, or our website nor are we sponsored by them. John Deere and its logos are the registered trademarks of the John Deere Corporation. Agco, Agco Allis, White, Massey Ferguson and their logos are the registered trademarks of AGCO Corporation. Case, Case-IH, Farmall, International Harvester, New Holland and their logos are registered trademarks of CNH Global N.V.

Yesterday's Tractors - Antique Tractor Headquarters
Website Accessibility Policy

Back
Top