Man I hate it when this happens

[towingace]

It looks like all the axles are lifted, except the drivers. That's done to cut down the resistance, but at the price of putting a LOT more weight on the front & drivers. Pushing or pulling, or both, would likely remove the axles from the truck (at least partially). Also would end up with a bent frame.

 

[Gypo Logger]

The bright side is that the trucker set off the trailer.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

You guys sure have odd log trucks!

We use a normal 5 axle truck and trailer, self loader mounted near the cab. Legal to 80,000lbs... about 9-10 cords depending on the wood.

 

[shamusturbo]

epicklein22 - what is the legal weight in PA for a typical (tandem with a tag?) "tri-axle" log truck? 73,280 I'm guessing. How do you get away with pushing the limit? Even local cops stop you where I live (Mars, PA) if you look suspicious....

 

[coltont]

Run the back roads as much as you can. That's all we do.

 

[coltont]

There are no local loggers that haul at legal weight. DOT really does not mess with us much. We get more crap over hauling on roads with 10-20 ton weight limits. They want thousands of dollars per mile to bond the roads. More often than not the roads are nothing more than a cattle path already. I'm not for totally destroying public roads but local government will capitalize on any chance they have to screw the guy trying to make a buck around here. Except the farmers. They can run there over loaded **** spreaders down the same roads we haul on and never get pinched. They can drag as much mud out onto the road as they want too. Not us loggers though.

 

[bitzer]

Its the same here except the DOT is all over us too.

 

[treeslayer2003]

same here. we don't run heavy no more......no money in payin fines. and they will write a fine.......its their job lol.

 

[coltont]

They would eat us alive if we ran main routes or interstates

 

[coltont]

Some more full trucks.

 

[epicklein22]

epicklein22 - what is the legal weight in PA for a typical (tandem with a tag?) "tri-axle" log truck? 73,280 I'm guessing. How do you get away with pushing the limit? Even local cops stop you where I live (Mars, PA) if you look suspicious....

Ya, you are right about the tri-axle weight.

It's a numbers game mostly, you just hope to haul enough heavy loads that it will pay more than the cost of the overload fines. You're gonna get popped, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. We always tried to keep an eye on the DOT and give a heads up to other drivers when possible. Then you just haul legal when DOT is around or find another way around.

I got an overload out of downtown Cleveland last year and the cop gave me a 4th misdemeanor. I had to go to court twice, got a plea deal eventually for a just a fine.

 

[epicklein22]

It looks like all the axles are lifted, except the drivers. That's done to cut down the resistance, but at the price of putting a LOT more weight on the front & drivers. Pushing or pulling, or both, would likely remove the axles from the truck (at least partially). Also would end up with a bent frame.

Those axles are steerable and only meant to be used going forward. If you leave them down when backing up, they will turn sideways and skid, plus you'll probably bend or break them. We call them lift axles, tags or cheaters. It seems like every axle you add, you're good for another 2k pounds. Length factors in too.