Transfer Video

[RSTrans]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woi0T4XVf1s

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[Kranky 1]

Those high lift gate on the transfer trucks appear to be a completely different animal than the high lifts we use here on the rock & demo boxes.

It appears the only pivot point is where the arms meet the top rail of the box, unlike ours which can also pivot at the top of the gate, just like a conventional dump gate, when in the down position.

.

[Big_Dave]

Seems awfully labor intensive for a few 'extra' tons of material. :wtf:

I've seen this done in person before, back when I used to run LA 3-4 times a month.

Why not use something on the order of a 34' tri-axle end dump instead? :explain:

[Pipeman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woi0T4XVf1s

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Doesn't the driver have to wear PPE????

[Pipeman]

Have a look at these trailers:


http://www.klinetrailers.com/



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v16/Pipeman/SideDump_20091014.jpg

[Kranky 1]

Seems awfully labor intensive for a few 'extra' tons of material. :wtf:



My thoughts exactly.

Seems a lot simpler and more sensible the way we do it.

Back in, dump, & go get another load.

.

[Bikerboy]

what make the box slide from trailer into truck and back out again?

and seems dangerous having the truck in reverse and using starter to reverse the truck. seems weird the labor department allows that.

the only tranfer trucks you see around here, are the guys who haul the big trash bins or trash compactors, they haul one bin on the truck and one or 2 on a trailer, its just a rolloff truck with a winch cable, so i think they winch the bins on and off the trailer.

usually they slide the bins onto the trailer from the rear, so the hitch is not in the way.

[Big_Dave]

My thoughts exactly.

Seems a lot simpler and more sensible the way we do it.

Back in, dump, & go get another load.

.
:hi5[1]: Makes up for no mudflaps in WI, right? :rofl: j/k ;)

Seriously, 'transfer pups' really do seem awful 'labor intensive' when compared to a bigger end dump/belly dump (roughly the same tonnage), to do the same job.

Is the reason for 'transfer pups' due to 'local' or 'CA' ordinances? :wtf:

[RSTrans]

Transfers are used because of CA's screwy bridge laws. There still is no way to legally bridge it in this state to haul what a tri-axle or quad can haul elsewhere. I seriously doubt that it will ever change here. We do use end-dumps out here but most of them are for demo purposes only and they are frame less which makes them too dangerous to use in a paver. Also because of them being demo boxes it makes for a stupidly heavy unit to haul material with and brings your payload back down to around 18 tons or so. The transfer is helpful in the sense that you can go to places with a maxed out load and get into a place that only a 10-wheeler can fit in to, where an end-dump, bottom, or pup can't get in. They have many positives and only a few negatives. With a transfer or a pup I can do something that the rest of you can't do. I can haul two different materials in a split load with out contaminating the other. This is very helpful when it comes to making homeowner deliveries. Say Joe Blow wants 10 yards of Topsoil for his garden and 5 yards of sand for his kids sand box, by having a transfer I can save him a second delivery charge and bring him his whole order in one shot and he only has to pay for the truck once.

There are 4 ways to transfer the box. The first way and most popular is by air. Underneath the trailer box is one or two large capacity air tanks, which supply air to a air motor which drives a chain to activate the rear wheels on the box. The second way and probably second most popular way (was when they first came out up until the mid 90's) was by electric motor. In the very front of the box there was a small box that held 1 or 2 12v batteries and when you pushed the button to transfer a loaded box it engaged a ford starter motor on the front axle and rear axle of the box, when you transfered the empty box it powered one starter on the last axle. Electric boxes are more dangerous because you can not stop them like you can an air box. My friend Dave lost a finger to a mishap with an electric box. The third way is done by a special chain drive that I believe is electric and it is mounted to the trailer frame instead of the box. I do not know anything about that way except that it is used up in WA, OR, UT and other places where they are allowed to carry more than 80k on a truck. The trailers that use this setup tend to be longer, have 2 front axles and 2-3 rear axles and sometimes are setup to pull two trailers. The 4th way is to push or pull it with another truck, loader, or by hand because something happend and your dead in the water. I have had to do this before. I snapped a chain while transfering the loaded box so I lifted my box up so the trailer would come out by gravity then we pushed it by hand.

The way a transfer backs up to hook back up is safe, yes it is in reverse and depending on the truck you either leave the key in the on position or in the off. If the key is in the off position the truck will not turn over. If you have it in the on position you must first push the emergency stop switch on the back of the truck before you hit the start button otherwise you will start the truck and run yourself over. Yes it has happened, hence why now they have emergency switches on the back. If you are proficient with one and do not keep having to hit the start button to back up you do not go thru starters. If you can't do it right and keep hitting the button then yes you can end up killing a start prematurely.

Your right about the tailgate being different on the Highlift, I was trying to explain this before. Ours are only set to pivot in one place unless it is on a demo truck then some have the ability to be a highlift or a hinged swing gate. I for one do not like having a dual purpose gate because in time they wear out funny and then you have extra things to repair and maintain. The old school highlifts were done with a counter balance instead of air rams. When you would dump the box these special weights would lift the gate with cables. Then when you were done you pulled a rope to close the gate. It works, but I was never a fan of this style because if a cable broke and you had the gate open with the box up and were scrapping asphalt off the bottom of the gate youd get crushed.

There are a few ways that the box is held in place when it is in the back of the truck body. Depending on the setup you had would determine the locking mechanism. My personal favorite is the old Likens and Rogue style which is two hooks that hook pins on the back of the trailer box. The old Superior/Likens style I liked too. It had a locking hook at the top front of the box and you spun the lock by hand. This to me seemed to be the best way from a safety stand point. The other way is with the special tailgates on the new Superior Boxes. I absolutely hate this style and have seen many a box fall out of a truck as a result. It relies solely on airpressure holding the gate down to lock the box in place. If you are backing up and hit a tree limb with the gate, hit a pole when dumping, or anything for that matter with the gate your screwed because it will lift the gate up enough for the locks to come loose. This is the worst design IMO.

As for PPE, it depends on the place that you are dumping. In every plant I have ever been in when you get out of the truck you are supposed to have long pants, hard hat, boots, safety glasses and in some cases a vest, unless you are in a designated safe area which is usually next to the scale house where you get your weight tickets. In most cases when I was on a jobsite and had to get out I had a vest and hardhat, but if I was on the street dropping my wagon, transfering, or hooking up I didn't bother with any of it except at NIGHT. Night time there is no way in hell I am going to be getting out of the truck and messing with it without a vest on in that flourescent yellow color, which was mandatory for night use but now is a Calif. OSHA requirement day or night must be a yellow vest orange is no longer acceptable.

As for the picture of the side dumps, yeah we use those once in awhile out here, I can't remember the last time I saw one being used but they are around. However we use a 40' single trailer instead of double sides because once again weight and bridge law. The ready mix plants out here typically stock their plants with a transfer or double bottom dump fleet. Some also use end dumps and pups, but mostly transfers and double bottoms.

Ever since I started driving trucks I ran a transfer, that is what I learned to drive in. As a result I do not mind getting in and out of the truck to unhook, transfer and hook. Personally I like to get out of the truck which is why I used to refuse to pull a pup trailer. If I sat in the truck all day and never got out I am pretty sure I would be probably close to 400 pounds. By getting off my butt and being active whether it is to breakdown the lowbed or to transfer I found that it is better for my health.

[RSTrans]

I will try to shoot some pictures of the whole mechanism the next time I am around a transfer when it is transfering. If I can shoot a closer video I will also do that. Once I get my ramps finished on my rig I will also shoot some video of breaking down, hooking and unhooking of a Mechanical RGN.

[RSTrans]

Dave to answer your question about a Tri-axle trailer, CA does not recognize the extra weight you can haul on it. Same with a tri-axle tractor, so in that respect why have 3 axles carry the same 34k that a set of tandems can?

[Aaron]

Missed one type of transfer, and they were before our time, maybe, but the early stuff from the 50's was all rear transfer, you'll notice the hitch was up mid ship of the front frame therefore you couldn't back against the front only the rear, and they were orginally jerked to trasnfer, the truck box was lifted a bit and backed under the trailer and then let down a set of hooks then grabbed you and you pulled ahead and tapped the brakes, the trailer would roll in to the truck,the term slam bang came from these old trailers, I watched one of these in opoeration at the last truck show at the Orange county race way several years ago, the owner driver was way ahead of the newer transfers untill he hit himself on the head unlatching the trailer box knocked himself out cold.

[RSTrans]

Aaron they still have the rear transfers. Neal Trucking has a triple transfer that the last trailer is a rear and anyone that pulls a set like that has a rear transfer. There are a few guys around here that have them, but they have the super highsides and usually haul pumice, staylite, and some other featherlight material used in block making and amended soils. The oldest transfer boxes I have ever seen were from the 60's so I would be interested in finding a vintage unit to see how it worked compared to a modern unit. If you have any pictures or video or something to that nature I'd like to see it posted. I love old trucks and love the dirt trucks the most because they are my passion.