Animosus

Rest easy friend.

I'd try a counterweight. Cheaper than stretching it for sure.

https://weldbuilt.com/products/custom-bodies/30-ton-capacity-hydraulic-tunnel-wrecker-short-112-wheel-base/

We've used beacon for over 105,000 calls now. A couple years ago we switched to towbook for about 3 weeks, worst decision ever. Back to beacon we went.

I think towbook was more feature rich maybe, but it was liking using a MSDOS program. Beacon has a much nicer user interface for both dispatch and drivers.

https://zips.com/parts-detail/chevron-pin-dual-deck-lift-cylinder-15-7293530

North American Auto Accident Pictures, Towing Division
'an association of independent tow truck operators"

Apparently. Not much about them on the internet it seems.

MUTCD Section 6D.03 states: “All workers, including emergency responders, within the right-of-way of a roadway who are exposed either to traffic (vehicles using the highway for purposes of travel) or to work vehicles and construction equipment shall wear high-visibility safety apparel that meets the Performance Class 2 or 3 requirements of the ANSI/ISEA 107–2004 publication … or equivalent revisions"

I know our highway patrol will call the next truck on rotation if you show up without hi-vis on.

"Something wrong with the hitch" no mention of anything else.

That is a M3 scout car. It is an unditching roller to prevent it from getting stuck in a ditch.

"Upon entering a ditch the roller prevents the front of the vehicle digging-in to the opposite face of the ditch, instead the roller acting as a wide wheel enabling the front to climb out of the ditch more easily."

I had one that got stuck in a hole and then broke something in the drive unit. Winched it out and towed it about half a mile with a police escort. Kinda wish I had them put the boom over my truck to maybe get some of the counterweight weight off the truck, maybe?

We are required to run red & blue lights here in Wyoming. The people that are going to hit you aren't going to care what color your lights are in my opinion.

9 hours ago, rreschran said:

Hi All ... Have you ever worked a horse or large animal recovery or extrication?

I don't know if you would consider this a "recovery" so much as a.... transport.

9 hours ago, rreschran said:

I'm looking for input on what part you played in the recovery and if you charged for your work?

There was a tractor trailer rollover several days earlier that killed a few of the animals, and they quickly corralled most of the others. But this fella was loose running around town for about 3 days. It ended up charging an officer who shot and killed it. Animal control said it was too large to get into their trailer to transport and they called us off rotation.

9 hours ago, rreschran said:

Who paid for the extraction?

I don't know if we ever actually for paid for it, I would assume the insurance for the trailer trailer that was initially involved since it was its "cargo"?

9 hours ago, rreschran said:

Was the animals owner present?

No, but they had several good samaritans and such that had been trying to rope it for days.

9 hours ago, rreschran said:

Was there a veterinarian on-scene?

I don't think that was necessary. 

9 hours ago, rreschran said:

Would you do it again?

Absolutely.

---

On a more related note though, we did recently train with the fire department for such a scenario.

We have a set of sonetics with 4 headsets. They go on every heavy accident, couldn't work without them. Bill for all equipment used.

You mean that's not how everyone does that? 🤣

All with 6.7s, but we are also at 6,000+ ft and idle a lot.

We carry Buyers Products LED flares on all of our heavies and a few of our light duty trucks, to supplement cones during inclement weather and at night. They are extremely fast to setup as you can just shove them in your pockets, and with the case they all charge at once which is a nice feature.

I've also made a couple of these cones now for myself and a few coworkers. I saw a company selling something similar for almost $300 and decided I could make my own significantly cheaper. For under $100 I threw these together. They also work tremendously well on getting people to slow down when setup as the first cone of a taper, or by themselves and a sort of advanced warning device. (I need to get more pictures/videos of them actually in use)

Shoulder is considered a lane in TIMs.

2 hours ago, Steve W said:

 

Randall I am sure you are aware in the FSP policies it specifically prohibits the use of emergency lighting on the shoulder.

 I wish more manufacturers would use dimmable light bars with a photo cell, or even the new DVI patterns or "flicker cruise" patterns at night to be less distracting. 95% of these trucks are very dazzling or have no lighting at all. I know on our new trucks our light bars have a ton of these features but our dealer doesn't wire them in for whatever reason.

Our rollbacks run with 75' on the drum and either a 50 or 75 ft extension. Our light duty wreckers run with 150' on the drums and a 50 or 75ft extension. Our heavies run with 200' on the drums.

After that you start getting out recovery straps, continuous loops, chains, whatever it takes. I only recall a few times that we have had to go to such extremes.

Depends on the style but most should be fine to around 55mph. (Which sometimes is all our 20 ton will do anyway) But you can strap them together as Stuart said.

Look into the iLLUMAGEAR Halo for hard hats.

You don't need anyone to steer it, it will track behind you.

1 hour ago, GRUMPS The Towman said:

Jerr Dan part # is 1001199476. ( 60" Bar )

That's a Whelen Liberty II bar rebranded by JerrDan.

All our new trucks are coming with ECCO 21 series bars (formerly code 3). They have built in traffic advisors, cruise mode, front/corner cut outs, alley lights, take downs, work light, STT, dimmable. All the main features and use a 2 wire power and 16 wire low current control cable.