Don't Follow to Close to this guy

Adirondack case guy · Aug 25, 2016

He came down our road from the farm today. All the other drivers have always strapped the bales down. Not this guy. Sure hope he is smooth on the clutch and shifting lever.
Loren

jon f mn · Aug 25, 2016

Yikes!

Paul from MI · Aug 25, 2016

Major ticket just waiting to happen. Here in Michigan cops don't like unsecured loads.

rrlund · Aug 25, 2016

I never tie mine down. I'd never get done if I did.

J.Wondergem · Aug 25, 2016

They are all loaded suicide, but the last two. If they start going, they'll go like dominoes.

Mathias NY · Aug 25, 2016

I've seen a bunch of apple farmers around here loaded similarly if they are only on back roads. They usually strap the last row of bins and skip the rest.

T in NE · Aug 25, 2016

There's a timber strapped across the back. If they come off it will have to be sideways.

MarkB_MI · Aug 25, 2016

Eh, at least he's not hauling coiled steel. I've seen what a roll of steel can do if it comes loose.

Galen Houk · Aug 25, 2016

I have been told that the MDOT rule in Minnesota is that if the truck runs in the ditch and tips over everything better be strapped or chained well enough that the load is still attached to the trailer just as it was when it was upright. Every bale should have at least one strap over it. Yes it takes time but do you want to live with the fact that your time is more valuable that someone's life. Several people have been killed in Minnesota by unsecured round bales coming off trucks. The truck driver goes to prison and has to live with his mistake the rest of his life. I drive semi for a local auctioneer and often haul many smaller awkward items on a flatbed. I have about a dozen chains and as many straps and I often use almost all of them. I make sure every item has at least two tie downs. It takes about an hour to secure the load but it is worth every minute of it. I follow the MDOT rule that it better still all be on the trailer after an accident. I am the first to admit that I am not always perfect either but I try.

Galen Houk · Aug 25, 2016

By the way, the wagons look like they only have one strap but they have three each. I chain or strap through the wheels but throw a safety strap over the top for extra safety. Again, I am not perfect either but I try very hard. Horse machinery is the worst with the long reaches (is that right? The pole).

matthies · Aug 25, 2016

I'm not standing up for the guy but it does look like there is a strap on the last two, I see a wad of strap on the drivers side half way up the bale.

Stephen Newell · Aug 25, 2016

I hate it when they do that. One of those rolls is enough to crush a car. Last week somebody lost four rolls off a truck at the end of my road. Fortunately they went into the ditch as I live on a dead end road.

notjustair · Aug 25, 2016

In Kansas farmers are exempt from strapping farm loads like that. Whether or not it's smart is irrelevant. I usually load them all up and strap the back two. I don't double stack at the back, either. Of course, the farthest I go on old roads is four miles.

dlbuck · Aug 25, 2016

I was a passenger in a pickup traveling on a two lane road. We met a pickup hauling small square hay bales, with four bales higher than the cab, and not strapped down. The four top ones started popping off the truck like they where spring loaded. The first one went through our windshield right between us. The second one hit the grill and popped hood open over the windshield, into the ditch we went. The other two bales caused three more accidents. Thankfully nobody was hurt. I can still hear the hay hauler saying I have hauled bales that way for thirty years and never lost one till now. You don't get much done when you are in court for a wrongful death lawsuit.

rustred · Aug 26, 2016

i know i would not be scared to haul those bales as they are.. around the country though not through town. they dont roll that easy once they are flat on the bottom.

MN Scott · Aug 26, 2016

Here in SE MN a guy was killed last year when round bales of hay loaded on a gooseneck flatbed trailer fell off and crushed his car. Not securing bales is not a risk I would not take.

Bobl1958 · Aug 26, 2016

Looks like the back two have a strap over them. That's the way I haul them if not going too far. Not saying it's smart, but never lost any yet, although I've only done it that way for 30+ years. Tying the back two pretty much eliminates the front ones going anywhere, unless things get wildly out of hand. I would agree if he is heading several miles down the highways the police may not like him very well though.

jacksun65 · Aug 26, 2016

Can't fix stupid even with duct tape. You can't explain it's wrong to someone untill it causes them pain. Thirty years over the road and I have seen and heard all kinds of stupid. Most say I have done it that way for years or I don't have the time to do it right. Well if you don't have the time to do it right you don't have the time to do it. Explain it to the five year old that you didn't have time to check your truck and the wheel came off and killed his mother.

INCase · Aug 26, 2016

driver is always responsible for the load. that means if it gets there in one piece or if the load comes off and hurts/kills someone the driver is responsible. even if he didn't load it he's still responsible.

even these hot shots that drive 2-3 axle dump trucks. they all (most) put sings on the back saying not responsible for damage. true ONLY if it was kick up by the tire. IF it came of the truck they are completely responsible. even if it was the loaders fault and he slopped stone/dirt/gravel along the edges. if it comes off the truck the driver is still responsible.

jeffcat · Aug 26, 2016

Those two back ones are "chocks" he he. Actually I was wondering what happens if he needs to throw out the anchor and stop real fast? A hood full of bale? Right over the top baby.

tom stalker · Aug 26, 2016

The back two ,that are on their ends, are strapped down if you zoom in on the photo

I prefer more myself but that should hold the load in place under normal circumstances

BarnyardEngineering · Aug 26, 2016

Can't tell from the picture but I would expect there to be a header board at the front of the trailer to prevent the bales from rolling off the front.

Probably figures the header board will keep them from rolling off the front, and the ones on the back will keep them from rolling off the back. Not going far. Not going fast.

Nobody would have a problem with that picture if it were a wagon with a farm tractor in front.

Ever had the boss get on your case for wasting time strapping the load down, get on the stick or hit the bricks, and you NEED that job? Maybe you older guys could get away with getting in his face and telling him that the load gets strapped down properly or it goes nowhere, but the younger guys would be looking for work.

Bobl1958 · Aug 26, 2016

Probably a headache rack on the trailer. I would also assume he is not going very far. It looks terrible but they ride good, with the back tied. Again, going down a highway he is inviting a ticket..lol!

Bobl1958 · Aug 26, 2016

No doubt then you would have a chain net to throw over it, or maybe just wouldn't haul the load cause it's not safe? There is common sense and there is stupid. My guess is this guy is long on common sense. But of course, there is always someone who is the Safety Nazi. There is a million things that can go wrong in that picture. One of those bales falling off is at the bottom of the list. Bob

fixerupper · Aug 26, 2016

In my neck of the woods there is a cellulosic ethanol plant that uses corn fodder for feed stock. Many thousands of big round or big square bales of fodder come in to the plant every year and might keep coming in if they get the kinks worked out at the plant. Fall is the busiest time and every fall a few stray rounds can be found in a road ditch somewhere. As a result the DOT runs that area pretty hard and they should. The loads of rounds are stacked ten feet wide and two bales high. I've never strapped a load of rounds but I would think it would be a trick to throw a strap over the top and hit the tall part of the bale. It takes a strong arm on a tall young man to get the strap completely over in the first place.

58 Deere · Aug 26, 2016

Come from VA to NC with no problems. But the rear ramps are tight against the rear bales also.

Don't Follow to Close to this guy

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