GRUMPS The Towman

All I can ask is WHY??? Under what kind of situation would warrant or justify loading that like that then taking off down the road? Ridiculous...

There is nothing "safe" or even legal about any of this. Gross overload, Poorly secured with straps not rated for that kind of load when they were new and look like they should have been replaced months ago. This looks like one of those cheap Kilar decks that have those weak poorly built bed locks... The mud flaps are on the ground.. I mean what else did this guy need to see to maybe realize this was a bad idea? Saddest part is that someone probably took this pic and plastered it on their facebook or something to "show off" what they can do.. The only thing it proves to me or anyone else with a brain is that this guy is an idiot.

I have heard that NJ has its fair share of "rugged areas"... I gotta tell you, I dont miss living down that way at all.. Especially this day and age of "defunded police and any/all lives but yours matters".. Just stay safe and keep your head on a swivel down there NJSS..

It is not quite "Irish" green but hey, It is green... Lmao. Heres my old 95 IH 4700 / Jerr Dan 21' aluminum deck. This was my first roll back when we first bought out the business. Still have her and I am hoping to get her up and running again this spring.

Theres certain areas of " Da Bronx" that EVERYONE has to watch their back.. I grew up there so I know how it used to be.. I dont know, maybe things have changed.. I doubt it though.. Lol

Absolutely. He is a pretty big dude.. That car has to be smashed good.

Part of my weekly maintenance routine is to re-spool and oil my line. Any long pulls usually do require a re-spool as well. As far as crushing, I havent had that issue since I started using the super swedge line. As far as kinks or over wraps, As long as it is not a sharp kink or there is any broken strands the super swedge will straighten itself out after a re-spool with tension on it. I have been running the same line on my truck now for almost a year. It is ready for replacement but Mainly because my hook end is really starting to show some serious wear. I use the self locking ends on my roll back and over time they wear out and start to get a lot of slop and play in them. I will be changing it out here in the next week or so.

Lol. I am not worried about it. My rigs are legit and very well maintained. They can look all they want. They wont find anything. It will only cost me some time. I have never been inspected while responding to tow one out of their area. They usually leave us alone Especially when they need us to get the O.O.S. ones out of the way for the next "victims"

I will admit that having 100' on my roll back can be a pain at times and it does take a bit of attention to keep it from messing up. So I can understand your frustration and returning to just a 50' line. I am basically a 1 man band so I keep myself well over equipped to deal with any situation without having to call for help or someone to bring me different gear or another truck. The main reason it is different on a roll back is there is no fixed sheave to constantly guide the line like there is on a boom. No matter what direction you pull off a boom, it still has that 6' or more of a fixed point to hold it straight from the sheave. Even adding a snatch block on the deck at times is too little too late depending on the pull. On a roll back we pull right off the drum so the line will naturally go where it wants to.

My thoughts are with you and I pray you make a full recovery. I do have to ask WHY were you standing on the road side of your casualty vehicle with YOUR BACK TO TRAFFIC?????? This is a perfect example of what NOT to do on the side of the road. NEVER turn your back to traffic EVER!!! Nobody cares about us out there. No SDMO law will ever make them care. Their Facebook post, Snap, Text or Burrito they are eating while driving oblivious down the road is more important than we are... YOU need to care about yourself and PROTECT yourself at ALL TIMES This was a totally preventable incident. I do hope the driver involved either turns themselves in or is caught.

I recall my fathers 750 having the same issue back in the day. Turned out being the drum was "warped" ( for lack of a better term ). basically it was worn down and mildly grooved causing the shoes to not make full contact with it. It was hard to see really with the eye but once compared to the new one you could see a vast difference. At first he had just installed new shoes which actually made it worse because they were not worn into the grooves and warped areas on the drum like the old shoes thus causing less surface contact with one another. My guess would be with the new shoes, drum and all adjusted up, you will be all set. Gorgeous rig btw.

I agree. If it is really wonked and everything is twisted up then that is my play as well. Pulling the tire will prevent tearing up the fender or bumper cover etc.. This one here I got pretty lucky with as the way it was jammed in there, the wheel would still roll backwards so it helped a lot on this one. the key is to first try straightening the "good' wheel and securing the steering wheel so nothing moves around on the bad side. then if you need to turn it, simply skate it which ever direction needed.

I too used to keep my damaged lines after cutting away the damage until one day you realize they have been laying around for 2-3 years, You have 3 or 4 of them and you havent touched them since you rolled them up on the rim or into a tire. Nowadays When I change one out, It gets cut up and thrown in the scrap bin. I would urge caution on using the guard rail cable on recoveries Stubborn. Although they look like any regular winch line many of them have nowhere near the load limit of actual winch line. they are not constructed in the same manner as true winch wire rope and not to mention you have no idea what it's W.L.L. really is. Not to say it wouldnt do the job, but I dont know if I would trust it on any real hard pulls or tricky rigging. I am somewhat cheap myself but, I am also not a fan of things breaking on me when I need them the most.

I too switched to the 100' synthetic extensions although I still have a couple old lines coiled into a tire like sweetk30 mentioned. The beauty of the synthetic line is like esc stated, you throw it in one of those small canvas tool bags and boom, now it is on board with you all the time. No need to run back to the shop to grab your tire or wheel of coiled extension. I "daisy chain" wrap mine then put it in the bag. this way you pull it out of the bag, hook it to your casualty and it will play out as you walk it out to your rig.

The roads around the city here are notoriously famous for how horrible they are year round. But this year a lot of the outer roads are tore all up too mainly due to the fact it never really got cold enough long enough for a frostline. everything is mushy and falling apart. Bent wheels and broken suspension parts are very common here.

I did in fact use my safety chains on it as well as my wireless tag light. I do carry a 4-way to 7 way adapter to just plug into the trailer but half the reason it was red tagged was all but one rear light was out or missing entirely. I dont run my beacons at all while driving no matter what I am hauling. Never have, never will.

A local construction company I do a lot of towing for called me the other day for one of their dump trailers. He was pulled in for a D.O.T. inspection and the wagon failed for no break-away system, insufficient safety chains and some inoperative lights. The D.O.T officer told him to have it repaired on site or have it towed. Pretty simple deal for me really. Just threw my ball hitch and wireless tag light on and away we went to the repair shop.

Rest easy Operator Billote. My thought and prayers are with the family and friends of this Lost Operator. On another note, Many thanks to the police agencies who tracked down and arrested the scumbag that MURDERED this man. My hope is she never sees the light of day again.

Took this call yesterday from one of my repair shop accounts. Their customer stated they thought they had a flat tire. When I arrived I found this VW nosed in a sloped driveway, over a curb with a busted ball joint. ( so much for that flat ). It was on a narrow, sloped road right off the corner of a main street So there was no way to get straight on it. So rather than attempt to wiggle myself across the whole road and block traffic off the blind corner I decided to work an angled pull then "tail kick" my truck out after I got the rear of the car up on the edge of my deck. Some skates, Cribbing for the curb drop and a about 15 mins time, she was loaded and on her way to the repair shop.

My company's Full name is Ryans 23-3/4 hour towing and recovery. This was done here because way back in the day, the county had a law that if you stated you were a 24 hour business, you must have your main office open and staffed around the clock. So to get around it since Mr Ryan ( the original owner) would just forward the business phone to his house, He changed it to this. Since we are the oldest towing service in the county (1940) we kept it like that for the nostalgia. Nowadays, whenever anyone asks me about it I simply say that any time I am 15 mins late to a scheduled call, that was my 15 mins when I was closed. Lol

You have GOT to be kidding me...... Not to mention it only took 3 trips back to the cab before this bozo realized the P.T.O. wouldnt engage because the TRUCK WAS STILL IN REVERSE from when he first backed into it....

I have seen them use the 2 liter cases like Chuckud mentioned ( thats what looks to be sticking out from under this one) or milk crates, random bricks, large sticks or stones, you name it. The milk crates and bottle containers will hold it up just long enough to get their jack out. Then as they sit there, they get squished down. Those are easy to come by too. They just snag them from a nearby quick shop or grocery store.

I picked up this Numbers matching 69 RS/SS Camaro from a local restorer ( happens to be my wifes uncle ) who just gave her a fresh coat of paint. She went back to her owner for final assembly. Beautiful car. I also returned the school project fast five kit car I posted a few weeks back after a local body shop donated time and materials to paint it the schools color. Turned out really nice. Both the tows I did for the school project were "on the house" I Was dodging snow flakes and road grit during both trips. Luckily, both cars received very minimal grime or road spray

I am not overly religious but I certainly believe God was with you boys on that one. That would have been one massive mess If the tanker had ran through your scene. Lives would have been lost for sure. That must have been one LONG day Between dealing with such a close call and then the two recoveries.

Your a very lucky man.. Cars slamming into one another just feet away from you at highway speed is a sound I will never forget. Now, you probably never will either. You can almost feel it. Glad your ok.