Posted 2009-06-23 3:59 PM (#106942 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Elite Veteran
Posts: 792 Location: East Tennessee, USA, Planet Earth
Originally written by brew26 on 2009-06-22 4:08 PM
I've lived on a ranch and went to rodeos my whole life and I haven't ever used a safety chain.
Wow...that is IMHO...a huge risk and liability. Why would anyone risk hurting or worse yet...killing someone with a run away trailer?
On the way home today, the traffic on Hwy 94 into WI, was bumper to bumper. This never happen on this stretch of road, unless there's an accident. Sure enough...SVU hauling an Airstream trailer. Don't know what happen or if anyone was hurt. But you could see the tire marks where the Airstream brakes engaged and try to stop the trailer. SVU and Airstream ended up in the median Airstream on it's side.
Posted 2009-06-23 6:23 PM (#106947 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
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Posts: 22
Location: 03303
A lot of the problems with safety chains and the fear of an accident relates back to not understanding how they're supposed to work and help you in that situation. A trailer coming loose should not be a big deal.
First off, I've had a trailer come off the truck. It was a FEMA housing unit where the trailer received was not properly welded onto the trailer. On its way to Louisiana, it decided to separate. Only excitement was the swearing I did after I was stopped. And the swearing was at the dumb-ass manufacturer.
Safety chains for a bumper pull should be just long enough so that they don't interfere with your turning. If necessary, keep crossing them until you get them short enough, though for my own trailer I'd cut the chain to the right length. This limits the amount of room the trailer has to wiggle if it separates.
Electric cable should be longer than the safety chains. This leaves you with your brakes should the trailer separate. This is vital. The breakaway brake cable should be the longest of the three. Idea is if the chains break, and the electric cable brakes, emergency brakes are activated. These brakes are your last ditch avoid the disaster solution.
So the trailer separates from the truck with correctly adjusted brakes. What do you do then? What you want to do is stretch your rig so that the trailer isn't hitting the truck. Trailers hitting the truck are annoying and potentially dangerous. To get the trailer going slower than the truck, you want to lightly hit the brake controller for the trailer, while ignoring the brake pedal. Turn on your emergency flashers to warn other drivers.
The trailer will stretch out the chains, as its trying to stop while the truck is only coasting. Keep the brake lightly on in the trailer, as you slowly reduce speed. Trailer won't move around that much, you'll be safe, your horses will be safe, and everybody else will be safe.
Best part of this is its something you can, and should, practice. In a parking lot, with an empty trailer, practice stopping with the trailer brakes only. When you are feeling comfortable, find a lightly traveled road and practice some more. Then when you feel really comfortable, try stopping at rest areas off the highway using your trailer brakes only.
I'm not sure of all the details of the guy with the wood chipper (Demitras: 'It Will Always Be My Responsibility' - kdka.com) but he didn't check that the trailer hitch was locked. I don't know about the safety chains.
Posted 2009-06-24 3:44 AM (#106954 - in reply to #106903) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Expert
Posts: 3853 Location: Vermont
Originally written by brew26 on 2009-06-23 12:13 PM
Weather they "hold" or not, they are installed at the manufacture for a reason! This maybe true. But just over half the state require that you even hook them up on a gn trailer. I'm not trying to argue with anybody that its a good idea to hook them up(even though I'm guilty of not hooking them up). I just wanted to know if anybody has ever had a gn come unhooked while driving with them on.
Posted 2009-06-24 8:34 AM (#106964 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Elite Veteran
Posts: 714 Location: Minnesota
Equinetransport- Excellent advice. Everybody that pulls a trailer should read your post and take it to heart.
I for one, always manually check my trailer brakes before I even load a horse. Part of the hitching process. No different than making sure all the doors are latched shut.
Posted 2009-06-24 6:49 PM (#107001 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 522 Location: Tucumcari NM
A friend of mine was hauling a few head of cattle to the sale barn in a bumper pull trailer with a bulldog hitch. She forgot to latch the hitch or the safety chains. Everythinhg went well until she bounced across a set of railroad tracks. The trailer came loose, turned over, and killed two beeves. That was an expensive lesson. She was very lucky that it was cows that died instead of people. CHECK YOUR EQUIPMENT!!
Posted 2009-06-24 8:26 PM (#107008 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069 Location: MI.
Chains on a bumper pull is a given......A gooseneck....well, I can actually see both sides. Gosh, every situation is different. If chains were not hooked but the EB was.....Situation, trailer pops off ball, trips cable, rips your tailgate off (depending on your speed/weight, I am not so sure the chains would hold even if they were attached) but you are separated from the trailer, hopefully unharmed. Trailer brakes are locked up and they are doing hopefully what the EB intended it to do, stop straight.....Why would it matter if your truck was still attached? What exactly is your truck going to do to help this situation?
Posted 2009-06-24 9:54 PM (#107016 - in reply to #106936) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Veteran
Posts: 195 Location: PA
When you say; "chains ripped right off the truck" where was the failure? Broken chains? Chain hooks? Chain loops on receiver?
If I may also inquire; What make was the receiver/hitch? What grade of chain & hooks? "S" or forged hooks? How was the chain attached to the trailer? For example; bolted on, welded on with weld-able links, or just welded a link of chain to the tongue?
The original failure was the coupler. The little mechanism that closes on the ball broke and the coupler slipped up over the ball. Once we got to level ground, the safety break engaged. Because its cord was shorter than the chains, the break engaged which caused the chains to be pulled taut. The "S" hooks on the chains were yanked so hard they actually straightened out under the pressure.
The chain was welded to the trailer. I'm sorry but I don't know what grade the chains and hooks were. I bought the trailer used and had it inspected. The dealer put the safety break away system on for me. I don't think the chains would have failed if the break away cord wasn't so short.
Posted 2009-06-25 6:16 AM (#107020 - in reply to #107016) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Expert
Posts: 1416 Location: sc
Originally written by Hillview on 2009-06-24 9:54 PM
When you say; "chains ripped right off the truck" where was the failure? Broken chains? Chain hooks? Chain loops on receiver?
If I may also inquire; What make was the receiver/hitch? What grade of chain & hooks? "S" or forged hooks? How was the chain attached to the trailer? For example; bolted on, welded on with weld-able links, or just welded a link of chain to the tongue?
The original failure was the coupler. The little mechanism that closes on the ball broke and the coupler slipped up over the ball. Once we got to level ground, the safety break engaged. Because its cord was shorter than the chains, the break engaged which caused the chains to be pulled taut. The "S" hooks on the chains were yanked so hard they actually straightened out under the pressure.
The chain was welded to the trailer. I'm sorry but I don't know what grade the chains and hooks were. I bought the trailer used and had it inspected. The dealer put the safety break away system on for me. I don't think the chains would have failed if the break away cord wasn't so short.
Thanks. You're probably right about the break away causing the "S" hooks to fail. Although I suspect that if the trailer had properly attached chains and forged hooks of the correct grade it would have remained attached.
I've read/heard several similar stories about "S" hook failures. Even read a university paper/study that found the "S" hooks failed well under their published ratings.
IMO "S" hooks are a cost cutting measure and I tend to steer clear of trailers that use them as that's probably not the only place corners were cut.........safety is the last place you should cut corners anyway.
Posted 2009-06-25 6:21 AM (#107021 - in reply to #107008) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Expert
Posts: 1416 Location: sc
Originally written by Gone on 2009-06-24 8:26 PM
Chains on a bumper pull is a given......A gooseneck....well, I can actually see both sides. Gosh, every situation is different. If chains were not hooked but the EB was.....Situation, trailer pops off ball, trips cable, rips your tailgate off (depending on your speed/weight, I am not so sure the chains would hold even if they were attached) but you are separated from the trailer, hopefully unharmed. Trailer brakes are locked up and they are doing hopefully what the EB intended it to do, stop straight.....Why would it matter if your truck was still attached? What exactly is your truck going to do to help this situation?
Posted 2009-06-25 7:13 AM (#107025 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Elite Veteran
Posts: 1069 Location: MI.
Well, I hope it never happens. I don't rush hooking up trailers and I always do a twice around. Hopefully my equipment won't fail. I have S hooks on my stock trailer.......Hmmmm.....
You guys have provided alot of important information.
Posted 2009-06-25 8:50 AM (#107030 - in reply to #107021) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Expert
Posts: 2954 Location: North Carolina
Originally written by chadsalt on 2009-06-25 3:21 AM
Originally written by Gone on 2009-06-24 8:26 PM
Chains on a bumper pull is a given......A gooseneck....well, I can actually see both sides. Gosh, every situation is different. If chains were not hooked but the EB was.....Situation, trailer pops off ball, trips cable, rips your tailgate off (depending on your speed/weight, I am not so sure the chains would hold even if they were attached) but you are separated from the trailer, hopefully unharmed. Trailer brakes are locked up and they are doing hopefully what the EB intended it to do, stop straight.....Why would it matter if your truck was still attached? What exactly is your truck going to do to help this situation?
Posted 2009-06-25 10:26 AM (#107035 - in reply to #107025) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Expert
Posts: 1416 Location: sc
Originally written by Gone on 2009-06-25 7:13 AM
Well, I hope it never happens. I don't rush hooking up trailers and I always do a twice around. Hopefully my equipment won't fail. I have S hooks on my stock trailer.......Hmmmm.....
You guys have provided alot of important information.
That's a fairly easy fix.
I 'acquired' an old flatbed BP (GVWR 7K) that had 1/4" grade 30 (5K breaking limit) chains with "S" hooks that had a chain link welded to the frame.
A trip to the hardware store and a few minutes later; I had 1/4" grade 43 (7K breaking limit) and forged hooks bolted to the frame with 1/2" grade 8 bolts and hardened washers. Made me feel better anyway.
Posted 2009-06-25 10:59 AM (#107036 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 434 Location: Brooksville, Fl
While I hate to admit it, I had a case of 'I thought you did it' once when hooking up a GN. (this was many, many years ago). The trailer was a 20 ft GN 4h w/dr that never had the coupler locked....went up a steep hill and all of the way home on back roads and it never budged...it was realized when the trailer was parked. That particular trailer didn't come with chains and we always used the EB when we hauled. We had two or three horses in it at the time. It was my trailer and someone else's truck. With plenty of weight in the trailer, it was fine (thank goodness).
I learned that lesson and double check everything. I never let myself be interrupted when hooking up the trailer either. It's all or none. That way things don't tend to be forgotten. I have chains on my GN now and I use them every time as well as the EB.
Posted 2009-06-25 11:29 AM (#107037 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Expert
Posts: 1871 Location: NY
this just happen to me and my friend June 24 2009 He asked me to help him get a round pen form a friends house upstate NY. We got up there with no problem. loaded the trailer and started home . Trailer is a goose neck. we pull forward to leave and BANG!!! the hitch Broke and the trailer did hit the bed of the pick up the chains stopped the trailer from coming all the way off the truck and the break away system just stop the trailer. We were shaken up by the thought that is a horse was in the trailer and if the trailer came off the truck the whole thing would of been flipped over and the horse would, could of been kill. Why the hitch broke? he is going to the dealer for that question the stuff is still upstate we came home and with out the trailer or the round pen. the chains and the breakaway system work . remember that you have your best friend in the trailer would you send you friend in to danger if you could stop it , sorry for the long post but this happened at 1:00am NY time in the morning .very tired but still up thinking about all this WOW THAT COULD OF BEEN A LOT WORSE
Posted 2009-06-25 11:52 AM (#107041 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 402 Location: Valentine, NE
I use mine all the time. Best example is that I was following a 1 ton with a 5 horse. He missed a "t" intersection due to fog, T-boned the road embankment at 40 mph, pu nosed into bank, trailer ripped off pipe/coupler, chains held the trailer from going thru the back of the cab into who knows who. Front horse had to eventually be put down. No one stayed longer than overnight in the hospital. Also,we have had several times, where employees set the coupler on top of the ball (gooseneck and bumper hitch) take off, and chains seem to limit the damage. Very seldom do we have the safety battery deal work---older ranch trailers are lucky to have brakes, let alone the battery deal. Also, if your ever involved in an accident, one less fine to pay or less lawyer fees...
Posted 2009-06-25 2:17 PM (#107051 - in reply to #106838) Subject: RE: Safety Chain Expierence
Elite Veteran
Posts: 736 Location: Western WA
I am appalled that anyone has the attitude they don't use chains because they might get hurt in an accident with a trailer attached to the truck if the hitch fails. My thought is if you take it out on the road you are responsible for it, not the poor guy who gets hit by your trailer if it disconnects from your truck, whether it be bumper pull or gooseneck.
The attitude "at least it won't take me with it" is incredibly selfish.
Safety Chain Expierence
