A couple pictures from work

I've mentioned a time or 2 the equipment we have at work.. Finally got a chance to take a couple and decided I'd share em (Company name "removed" from pictures)









We can move a lot of liquid real quick with this unit.. The Semi tankers haul approx. 11,000 gallons a load, the quad tanks can hold up to 13,000.
It takes approx. 8 minutes to empty a semi tanker with the boom on the unit, and approx. 12 minutes to inject it.
It's a great step up from our old Terra-Gator 2505's

Brad
Brad

Brad, did you apply in Blissfield, Michigan a week ago.

Mark

Mark,

As a matter of fact, I did. I take it you must have saw where we were working?

Brad

Now THAT'S some serious crap squirtin'.

Never seen them pulled in tandem before, good looking equipment, big output and big bills.

One more photo of the semi.Like a look at those wheels.

I'll get a better picture of one of the trucks tomorrow.

As for big bills.. Ya, I don't think I'd want to make the payments

Brad

Brad, it is a small world. I was taking pictures of the rig at the back of the field with the farm owner while I was stopped back there with my planter. Now if I could only find my camera.

Mark

Ah, ok.. Were you the neighbor that was planting then? If so, what was ya planting? I'm thinkin it should have been way early for corn...?

Brad

I was planting carrots. I plant them as soon as the ground gets dry enough to work it.

Mark

Very impressive setup. Do you every get "stuck"?

That's a heck of a lot better than the free air blaster we used years ago cleaning out the hog swamp twice a year made the neighbors take pot shots at us with air rifles and the planter tractor cab became part of the hog barn made the wife happy when I got home had to eat supper on the picnic table. Thanks for the pics!

You can get a lot of poop on some tires with that setup.............

6 axles on the semi-trailer? !!! That must be a a real pain to maneuver around.

Nice pics and thanks for sharing.

Yes.. Stuck happens. When it does, it's usually not good.. I managed to get hung up Friday.. Was fault of operator, as I had gotten into what had already been injected. It usually then has to be pumped off back into a tanker if loaded.. which I was, another crew brought over their applicator.. once emptied, sometimes you can pull the whole unit out, sometimes you have to unhook, drag the tractor out, then drag the tanks out.. Not much fun either way.

Alot of poop on the tires is also a understatement.. But if we have it on the tires means we're not getting a good cover, and then when the man from the state shows up he becomes very unhappy.. then he starts issuing fines.. so long of the short, I try my best to keep it under the dirt.

Maneuvering the trailers can be a trick.. Need a wide drive to get into the fields. I imagine if they raise the air axles it's a little easier, but I don't know much for sure, as I'm strictly a field operator.





Here are 2 better pictures of a couple of the trucks. W900 Kenworth's are the truck of choice. As the pictures show, our brokers keep the trucks clean and shiny. The truck with the hood up developed a squeal and the owner/operator was looking for the culprit.. It's hard to keep the trailers shining though, as when the company obtained them they had the weathered look as it was.. Plus it'd take a lot of hours to polish up that big of a trailer.

The weight of the truck, trailer, and load is roughly 160,000 pounds.. which can be hauled legally in Michigan with proper plating and permits, and with enough axles.

Brad,
Thanks for the updated pics on the trailers. They are strange indeed. You are correct, if they lift the tag axles they are easier to maneuver. I am still scratching my head trying to figure out why the number of axles. I am assuming that there are 2 tires per an axle. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable then I can explain why anyone would go to this type of setup.

Yes, on these trailers all axles are dualed. We used to have some tankers that ran "super singles" (Or boloneys if you prefer) on the air axles.

All I can tell you about the number of axles and the configurations of the axles has something to do with the Michigan weight law..

I'm no expert on it, and I'm sure I'll be corrected.. but, with a semi and tri-axle (which the ones I grew up around were 9 foot spreads..) was good for 100k legally.

I do know there is a bridge law, as there is in a lot of states, and the "bridging", or spacing of axles has something to do with the weight that can be legally hauled.. But basically, there are 7 (plus the 3 on the tractor) axles so the tractor and trailer can gross 160,000 pounds legally.

Seems to me that the rear axle of the tractor and the front axle of the trailer must be 12 feet apart (not sure.. but that comes to mind..) and that would be your bridge (I think) and I know we can't have more than 11 axles hitting the road at a time..

Brad