Trailer recovered

[topo]

I bought a pup box trailer and went to pick it up it has been sitting in one spot for about 25 years the air brakes where caged so I though the lines where damaged turned out they where fine .The lights worked filled the hubs with oil adjusted the brakes aired up the 11 24.5 tires and brought it home . I feel real lucky every thing went smooth .

 

[fasttruck]

Nifty winch behind the cab.

 

[m715mike]

Congrats on a successful recovery!
What are your plans for the trailer?

 

[topo]

I'm not sure I have had thoughts of removing the axle and landing gear a setting it on a pad for storage or insulating it and finishing the inside for a reloading room . With the fifth wheel all the way back I was able to run the winch line under the fifth wheel and hook up to the center of the frame on the trailer and winch it up on the truck there was a building abought 3 feet behind the trailer so I did no want the trailer roll back any when I was trying to get it on the fifth wheel .

 

[zebedee]

Can't beat a winch on the back of your tractor for trailer recovery. I made a "key hole" plate to hook a shackle and winch line to the king pin. I had to move a 40' van trailer for a neighbour - trailer was set 2' below where I could get the back of the tractor to, so the winch and some 4"x4"s over the tail roller worked a dream.

 

[doghead]

What was your overall height with that setup?

 

[topo]

Height is 14 feet 2 inches

 

[Mullaney]

Height is 14 feet 2 inches

I went to pick up a 45 using my M1088. Mine Happened to have come from Overnite - and is a nice match sitting there beside the Carolina that I already owned. I was at 14 feet 5 inches. Had I been pulled over, the DOT man would have given me all the attention I could stand for being over height without a permit. Thankfully it was about a mile from the shop and there were no bridges. Only a few low hanging telephone lines to be careful with. I have a 4 inch convex mounted up on the top of my mirror frame that was perfectly aimed at the top of that trailer. Makes me wonder if that kind of situation happened regularly in my truck's previous life...

 

[fasttruck]

The Army apparently never planned to deploy to regions with overhead structures. Witness only recently they came out with a double drop RGN machinery trailer to pick up a foot or so of overhead clearance. A M1088 with a 60" fifth wheel likely spent its life hauling platform trailers like M 871 and M 872. Even loaded with a 8" CONEX box would be less that 13.5'. Commercial tractors typically have 48" or even 46" fifth wheels so those high cube van trailers of which you speak make 13'6".

 

[zebedee]

Yeah - just fit a cable lifter and read the bridge height signs!

 

[Mullaney]

The Army apparently never planned to deploy to regions with overhead structures. Witness only recently they came out with a double drop RGN machinery trailer to pick up a foot or so of overhead clearance. A M1088 with a 60" fifth wheel likely spent its life hauling platform trailers like M 871 and M 872. Even loaded with a 8" CONEX box would be less that 13.5'. Commercial tractors typically have 48" or even 46" fifth wheels so those high cube van trailers of which you speak make 13'6".

It sure seems like you are dead on... It looks really funny all jacked up in the front, but it pulled well. Discovered that our fancy new $4,500,000 bridge has no height placard. There are 6 different truck yards on the other side of that bridge. Guess they are not concerned about anybody bumping the new bridge.

My M871 looks goofy behind the m1088 too - with the front of the deck at least foot higher than the back - but it pulls well too.