Tow by Numbers
16 Steps to Moving Your Big Excavator to the Jobsite on Time
By Harold Wallace
When it comes to hauling the heavy, big-boy excavators yourself, you’re moving into the big-boy world of permits, specialized trailers, bridge heights and weights, curfew hours, weather restrictions and increased liabilities. And those flags on your tractor and trailer are like a red cape to a bull — you’re drawing the attention of your state’s department of transportation (DOT) and various law-enforcement departments. But don’t back off! In order to help you navigate, we’ve compiled 16 steps and some sound advice from industry experts and heavy-equipment haul-truck drivers. Hauling your own equipment can speed deliveries and save you money.
In order to select the correct trailer, you need to answer some questions first: How big will your largest load be? How much does it weigh? What about transport width and length? Remember the transport width for an excavator is different than the operating width. Large excavators usually have a retractable undercarriage that narrows the machine width.
All these things are going to determine your truck and trailer configuration. For example, you may need to have a three-axle tractor with a drop axle, a two- or three-axle jeep, a three-axle trailer and maybe a stinger axle on the trailer. It will be determined by the gross combination weight of your heaviest load. As far as the type of trailer, the most popular type is the detachable gooseneck. Most drivers prefer a wooden deck to a metal one because the tracks don’t slide as much and the planks are great for lining up the tracks during loading.
Step by Step
1. Accept you will be an easy target for the DOT and police. So make sure you have the basics covered: truck and trailer inspections; driver time log; and a clear knowledge of your route and its restrictions.
2. Get your permits and know the curfew hours, weather, weight and height restrictions. Regulations vary by state and even by city and county, so check to see what you may need. Some areas provide an annual permit you can apply for, with additional filings needed for machine-specific, trip-specific permits if you exceed the equipment specifications in your original filings.
“If you are hauling, you are supposed to know the law,” says veteran hauler Aaron Lightfoot of ROMCO Equipment in Dallas. “If you’re stopped, you cannot plead ignorance. Tickets go on your record and make your company look bad too. People think they can haul a big machine without a permit. You can’t.”
 3. Position your trailer in a level, easy-to-work-in area, with plenty of vertical clearance. Disconnect the tractor from the trailer. Make sure your trailer surface is clean. For demonstration purposes, the photo below shows a detachable gooseneck trailer.
 4. Drive the excavator right up to the front of the trailer before you do any cleaning. That way, you won’t get additional mud or dirt on the excavator after you’ve cleaned it. If you are not comfortable or familiar with the equipment, find an experienced operator to drive the excavator for you.
 5. Rotate the cab and stick around and use the bucket to lift up one track. Rotate the track to shake off the mud and dirt. Repeat with the other track. Clean the undercarriage and tracks with a shovel and then a broom in order to remove all “unsecured cargo,” as DOT likes to cite anything that can fly or bounce off.
Don’t take any shortcuts on this step. Debris that comes off the excavator or trailer while in transit can, at the minimum, get you pulled over and fined and at the worst, kill a fellow motorist.
6. Drive the excavator onto the trailer, keeping it centered. Go slowly and steadily. It is critical that the rollers are on the edge of the trailer on both sides. Position the bucket and stick so they are tucked in as low and as tight as possible, placing them over the rear wheels so the counterweight faces the truck. This is easy to do on goosenecks, as the excavator loads in from the front. Many trailers have a cut-out over the rear axles to allow the boom to set down lower. Take the hydraulic load off the system, kill the engine and remove the key, locking the cab on the way out.
 “Large excavators will often only have a portion of the track on the trailer, so careful positioning is critical,” advises Matthew Hendry, product consultant for hydraulic excavators, John Deere Construction and Forestry.
If you have attachments like an extra bucket or two that you are asked to move at the same time, don’t do it. State DOTs have divisible load rules that come into play with permitted loads. Adding those items makes it a multiple-piece shipment. They add much more weight and are probably illegal for the type permit you have, so transport those separately. Excavators over 100,000 lbs require removing one or all of the counterweight, bucket and stick components and should be transported as separate loads.
7. Before you start chaining, hook up the trailer to the truck so you’re securing the load as it will travel. Now secure all four points of the tracks — left and right front, left and right rear — to the trailer. Make sure you hook onto the middle of a track section, not a crack in between the sections, which can cause breakage or slippage.
Lever binders can be used, but racheting binders are preferred. Check your chains, hooks and binders for wear and tear, replacing any that are damaged. That goes for the attachment points on the trailer too. Make sure the total of all the chain/binder tiedowns are rated for one-half the weight of the excavator you are hauling. A binder at one rating paired with a chain at a lower rating (or vice versa) will count at the lower rating.
 8. Secure the cab and stick with one chain over the boom near the bucket or across the inside of the arm and attach to the frame rails or chain eyelets on the side of the trailer. Avoid the cylinders and hoses. If you are hauling a new machine or one with a nice paint job, you should use something like an old mud flap to pad the chain.
9. Secure the front and the back of the excavator with four chains that crisscross. Manufacturers have attachment points on the undercarriage, two in the front and two in the back. Tighten them down on opposing sides of the trailer.
 10. Place flags on the tracks if they stick out 3 in. or more. Use a full flag on each track on the back of the excavator, closest to the tractor, so they go around the corner of the track. Use a half flag on each track that’s toward the rear of the trailer so they flutter in the wind.
11. Now that you have the excavator in position and secured, double-check for loose dirt and, if necessary, sweep again.
 12. Fold in the cab mirrors and tape over the excavator exhaust pipe. Since it is facing forward, it can scoop up all kinds of unwanted objects like birds, bugs and tree leaves, possibly creating an expensive mess once you start up the excavator to unload it.
13. Unfurl your wide load banners at the front of the tractor and the rear of the trailer. Unfurl your front bumper flags.
14. Measure the height of the load and make sure the route you want to take will accommodate that height. Do one last walk-around.
15. After you’ve pulled away from the site or yard, stop a few blocks down the road and double-check your rigging. Then, check your mirrors often. If you are going a long distance, pull over after a few miles and check the rigging again. Also keep in mind that few people on the road realize how wide you may need to turn or how long it takes you to stop.
16. Finally, don’t rush things. Most accidents happen because the driver was in a hurry and did one or more really stupid things. You don’t want to be the contractor who moved a piece of equipment sideways on a trailer without any chains or flags because he was only going a mile or two and the load slid off one side or the one who didn’t bother to measure how tall his load was, hadn’t planned out his route and, as a result, hit a bridge.
“A lot of hauling is common sense,” says Lightfoot. “Take your time and don’t get in a hurry. If you do something illegal, it hurts everyone. You always need to be thinking of what can go wrong.”
“Hauling large excavators requires an experienced driver and pre-planning,” adds Hendry. “Do it by the numbers and the haul will likely go well. Cut corners and you are inviting disaster.” Harold Wallace is the president of Galloway Wallace, Oklahoma City. |
