We’ve all sat back and marveled at the sheer might of hydraulic lift trucks. They’re the guys who get the construction waste out – and boy do we ever load’em up heavy. It’s no wonder with how much these lift trucks haul that we’re going to see some crazy antics along the way. But even a big hoist lift truck can try to pick up a load too big for its britches. Thankfully, these guys are on hand to give him some help.
It’s really hilarious to see how many people have to get on the front end of a national lift truck in order to compensate for the incredible amount of weight its trying to pull up onto its bed. The reason is simple: when a roll off truck pulls more than its own weight, there’s going to approach a time where its cargo lifts up the front end. The hydraulic lift on this truck is very powerful – so powerful in fact that it can even get itself into a little trouble from time to time.
Whether it’s pulling up a heavy cargo container or recovering a big rig from the side of the road: lifting a truck can be a pretty precarious thing. Too much weight on the wrong side, there’s the chance the cargo rolls off the truck and becomes a bigger hazard than it needs to be. That’s why we’ve set up a pretty easy system to make this process just a bit smoother.
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Step 1: Do The Numbers On Your Hydraulic Lift Truck
If the weight of the rig you’re pulling out is greater than your own weight, you’re in for a bad day. There’s no such th
Step 1: Do The Numbers On Your Hydraulic Lift Truck
If the weight of the rig you’re pulling out is greater than your own weight, you’re in for a bad day. There’s no such thing as hand lifting a truck out of a ditch – so it’s really going to come down to ensuring your hydraulics are rated to handle it and you’re parked accordingly. It’s always best to park into a position where your lift truck has good sturdy ground beneath it. Next, align it to the truck you’re trying to lift. Make sure the largest amount of mass is parallel to the center of mass of the vehicle that’s going to be recovered.
Step 2: Counter Balance The Weight
If you have other heavy equipment on hand that can help winch or tow the downed vehicle, these vehicles can be instrumental in helping the recovery vehicle properly align and then hoist the truck onto its bed. Many hands make light work, after all. So, get the recovery vehicles that are going to assist you to help position the truck’s center of mass. The very next step, once aligned, is to properly moor the recovery vehicle. Some hydraulic lift trucks have pylons they can deploy or additional base plates. Both may be necessary depending on the cargo you intend to hook lift onto the truck. The lower your center of gravity is, the better off you’ll be. In some cases, hoist lift truck operators even drive pylons and strap down their own vehicle to give every last pound a chance to get lower.
The front end of your hydraulic lift truck is going to be the most susceptible to lifting off the ground. That’s why you have to keep the payload low and angled just enough to get it onto the bed – and that’s it. This is also why you may want to moor the front of your lift truck so that the front end stays down throughout the transfer of weight.
Step 3: Easy Does It On The Lift Truck
When you’re pulling up the truck you intend to recover, again, make sure that all people and bystanders are cleared away. Your lift truck is going to be having a hard enough time as it is without gawkers hanging around. A good national lift truck operator will situate the weight of the recovered rig so that it is just barely above the threshold to make it onto the back of the bed. Let the hydraulic truck do the heavy lifting, after all. Having a good ground guide can also be essential because you may not be able to see how the recovered vehicle is affecting your lift truck. Once the center of mass is in the process of being transferred, there is definitely a “point of no return” where you have to commit. Before it even gets there, make sure your hydraulics are operating smoothly. It’s more important to get that weight transferred properly.
Recovering a heavy big rig off the side of the road with a hydraulic lift truck is definitely a mixture of an art and a science. No matter what the hydraulics are rated for, lift trucks have to deal with their own limitations in terms of center of gravity, the center of mass of the object being lifted, and how good the lift operators are.
