Impossible to believe F250 hauling story- true or false ?

[procyon]

(story posted below) Sounds urban legend to me, but the poster is a regular on my machinist forum and has always seemed straight shooter to me. One of these deals where on the one hand I can't believe it's true and on the other hand can't believe it's not true...dunno what to think. I made the point that if that happened to me, it would have been so astounding, that I would have been posting about it the *same day* it happened and not many months later. Also seems no way the tires wouldn't have collasped immediately.

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posted 05-03-2005 10:40 AM www.practicalmachinist.com forum
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I must share this with you all. This is one of those things that I am still thinking "I cannot believe this happened"
Some guy bought this used lathe (a 20"x60" 8000 pound lathe) from me last year, said he wanted to pick it up himself here to save on freight. I said OK no problem.
He drove 400 miles and showed up with a pick up truck. WHAT! I thought, well he is an hour early, he must have left his trailer at the hotel that he stayed at and just came up the hill to see where I was located at. Went to talk to him and he said "Yep we'll just put her in the bed right there" (for information it was a newer Ford F-250 extended cab)
In my head I still thought he was kidding. He was irate when I absolutely refused to load him. But oh well. He insisted that it was no problem at all and I should do it.
So I offered to just put it on my trailer trying to be nice and help, and bring it to him the next day for free. He agreed, I went to get my trailer that was about 5 miles away.
BIG MISTAKE when I left to get my trailer I left the side door open to the shop, I said he could go in there since it was a little cold out, or use the bathroom if needed.
He took it upon himself to to load the machine in his truck. He opened up my garage door from inside, and used my fork lift (keys are always in it since it is locked inside) to load this thing in his truck. He basically backed his truck up to the dock then used the dock leveler as a ramp and slid it into his truck. It was on a skid so it was easy to do that with I guess even with the foot difference in height between the truck and dock.
I was gone for only a total of about 1/2 hour and he had this thing in his truck.
This was the most amazingly dumbest thing that I had ever seen. To my amazement, the truck actually held the lathe. I got back and they were strapping it in. I was so ticked off yet so stunned. I told them not to go anywhere, that they are idiots and going to get hurt or hurt someone or something. I was flipping out.
About 3 inches of the tailstock end base was on the bed, the rest was on the tailgate. I guess the skid evened it out, the tailgate didnt break off (yet)
Not that those little details matter, the whole thing was just so idiotic that I wish I was not there.
We argued back and forth but he was so stubborn he just kept tying it down (with his tiny 1" straps too hooking into the cheap hooks in a pick up bed). I was obviously not going to physically hold the guy back that would be problems.
So I called the police, by the time they got there he was gone. Thats not a high priority call I guess. But I had them put out a lookout for the truck, I told him it was dangerous.
About 20 miles away he lost the lathe over the side of the truck, he was going down a windy road, then tried to turn but it wouldn't turn I guess from what I hear, the lathe came out the side of the truck and the truck then wrecked into a parked car in a driveway.
Nobody hurt. Good.
Long story sorry. Any way he tried to sue me too for damages. Didnt have a chance at winning. Glad I have cameras. He tried to lie and said I loaded him up and said he would be fine.
It was finally all over yesterday with court. But actually I only had about 3 hours in it. WHAT AN IDIOT. And to think, this guy was going to run a lathe. He must have one now, part of his suit was for the cost of a new machine.
I know he was actually fined a lot too, I dont know exactly what they wrote it up as though.
Again. What an idiot. Its one thing if he messed up and thought he could haul it, another thing to argue with me and fight then load it himself. They should put him away somewhere. He is a dangerous idiot.

[Ag__Teacher]

Don't know if it's true or not. However, if his tires were aired up to the max, I can believe they could hold the load on pavement and at a reasonable speed. If he took it on to gravel roads and ran 50 mph, he would have probably had tire trouble.

[T_Bone]

Hi procyon,

My Dad built a 8ft pick-up camper in the early 60's that was a tad to heavy, 1x2 frame with 1/4"plywood then fiberglassed the plywood. He used leaf and shock overload springs on the 63 Dodge 3/4ton.

We would bubble tires in the sidewall, cause the belts to seperate on bias cord tires about every 2k miles. Even tried super singles that lasted about 10k miles before the sidewall "bubbles" would appear.

He never weighed the camper but the guy that bought said he bought a 1ton dulley to carry it without damaging the tires.



When I was young and dumb, I bought a cab high pick-up load of manure for the yard about 10miles from the house, what about 6k? maybe 8k? dry or as dry as manure gets. 76 Dodge 3/4ton PowerWagon. I got back late that afternoon and parked it in the back yard next to my new 6ft cedar fence and then decided to wait to unload the next day.

WRONG thing to do as it rained for 3 days straight. The truck sunk to both bumpers in the soft ground just from the load weight sitting there. I had to off load the very heavy manure by hand then spent 2 more days jacking and blocking to get the truck out.

Ahh to be young again [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]


[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smokin.gif[/img]

[mann]

The story sounds about right to me.

[Hoss350]

Wow, that's gall right there. Use a guy's forklift without his permission, ignore his pleas to not load the thing in the bed of your truck, ignore his advice to not use cheesy 1" straps to tie it down, turn down his offer to haul it for you, then sue him when all of your stupidity comes crashing down around your head. I wonder if the guy really felt that your friend was at fault, or if he was looking for a payday. I can't imagine how any reasonable person could possibly blame your friend after all of that...

[oregon96psd]

i believe it,most people have no idea what their vehicles are capable of carrying. we used to have people come into our rock quarry with 3/4 ton pickups to get gravel, well some would back up to the rock pile till their back bumpers hit the pile. then they would load the pickup not realizing that the weight of the rock was resting on the bumper instead of the springs [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif[/img] then when they thought they had enough away they went pulling off the pile and everything settled down (sometimes with the frame sitting on the axle). after about 6-7 people had all of their wheelstuds break completely off on the highway we quit selling rock to people with pickups [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

[Mr_Roboto]

Sounds reasonable to me. You have to remember that the "newer" F-250's use the same tires, axles, frame etc as the F-350 SRW. So you essentially have a light 1 ton that is de-rated.

You can way overload tires before they will explode. What causes tire failure is not so much the overloading, but the heat buildup from driving on them overloaded.

As far as the guy losing the load, again not surprising. I have moved machinery on flatbeds, everything was tied down hard with binder straps and chains, and I *still* went around corners slow!

[Hoss350]

[ QUOTE ]

As far as the guy losing the load, again not surprising. I have moved machinery on flatbeds, everything was tied down hard with binder straps and chains, and I *still* went around corners slow!

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely, man. I used to drive a dual-axle kenworth with a tilt and slide bed that I used to deliver heavy equipment to our jobsites in my pre-college days. You put a dozer up on that bed and you had better be taking corners slllllooooowwwww or you and the tractor are going over. Anytime you get a piece of machinery that is as heavy or heavier than the truck, and then mount it above the truck's center of gravity (in the bed) you are courting disaster with every turn and every stop. Maybe there will be some that learn a lesson from this post...

The lesson is.... just because the truck will do it does not mean it should be done!

[Tobin LaBorde]

So, the important question is, "is the lathe ok?"

Had to ask.

Tobin

[hhills]

oregon 96, I sent you a PM

[Nick_Kent]

I bet the lathe could have been used nicely as a mooring after tumbling out of the truck.

[Kanman]

One thing I have learned in life. Fact is often waaaaaay stranger than fiction.

I was sitting at a stop light one day just in front of the Boeing surplus store here in Wichita. Right about the time two guys finished up tying down a Huge industrial sized band saw with rope. They had a half ton pickup. Dont know what the bandsaw weighed but it was a big one. Very obviously top heavy. The guys started to pull out of the parking lot and the thing rocked. They both jumped out of the truck (stopping traffic) pulled the ropes a little tighter and took off again. I kicked on my 4 way flashers about then, and waited for the show. Of course the thing flipped over the side of the truck and destroyed it self and half the truck in the process. These guys stood there in total amazement that this actually happend! WHAT IN THE HELL DID THEY THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?

[glazer1972]

I hauled a set of solid concrete steps about 4' tall, about 4' wide and about 5' long in the back of my 93 F250HD. I had some guys moving my old house out after we built a new one. They were supposed to haul the steps off as part of the deal and then backed out. No way I was leaving that crap in my yard. I had them load them onto a pallet in the back of my truck. Must have weighed about 5000 lbs [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] but the rear axle still didn't hit the rubber stops. These fly by night housemover guys told me they had a big forklift at the dump about 10 miles away. When I got to the dump there was no big forklift. Just a gigantic dozer. They made me sign a waiver releasing them from any damage to my truck. I headed up to the top of the hill where the dozer operator was shaking his head. We hooked a tow rope to a chain on his blade and he proceeded to pull it out. Started going crooked and he sat it down on my wheel well where it dented in about an inch. I re-adjusted the rope and he pulled it out, it slid right off my truck missing my pipe bumper. I left him shaking his head and wondering what he was going to do with it. I went back up to the office where they asked if we got it out alright. I said yes but it dented my wheel well some. They proceeded to get very defensive and say well you signed a waiver. I told em I wasn't griping and that I was glad to have it out of my yard and out of my truck. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Truck handled it suprisingly well. However, I would not do it again. I would get a trailer and try to load it right

[procyon]

[ QUOTE ]
Fact is often waaaaaay stranger than fiction

[/ QUOTE ] Not really. What makes it strange is that it's fact. I could make up some tales alot more "strange" than any actual event, but then it would just sound "screwy", whereas if it's odd but a known fact, it's "strange" but it's mostly strange because you know it actually happened. Clear as mud ? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Funny story about the bandsaw though. I once carried a 32 inch Northfield vertical bandsaw in the back of a Ford Ranger pickup truck ! But unlike your two guys, I had heavy forged eye bolts thru the frame of the truck and 3/8" chain holding the thing down. So, the saw was unlikely to turn over but it could have turned the whole shebang..saw, truck and me...over if I wasn't super careful in turns and such. I wouldn't dare do that these days but the stupidity of youth....at least I had a tidbit of sense with the eye bolts and all..

[LRH]

Got behind a pickup the other day that had a refrigerator in back against the cab and a gas grill with tank right against it, both of which were not secured in any way. He went real slow for a bit then stoped and had his 13-15 yo kid get back there and try to hold them. Kid found it hard to stand while truck moving so sat on floor of truck and wrapped legs and arm around grill in a bear hug I guess was praying the refrig wouldn't tip over and crush him