EdsTowing

Tough situation....anyone know who's truck it was from the reading area?

Had a 4am call over the weekend for a Tractor Trailer that was in a deep ditch. I was sleeping quite comfortably, apparently so was the driver... My first thought was "Dammit"... I had my Heavy buffed out for a Big Parade on Sunday and as I was getting dressed I noticed it was raining... I thought this better be worth it...LoL He veered off the road and in to a 7' drainage ditch that was full of water & mud. I would of had to drag it backwards a couple hundred feet to get it out of the ditch, and I didn't know what else was down there. As of right now, there wasn't any signs of petroleum in the water anywhere and I wanted to keep it that way. In searching around, I found this big slab of concrete in the ditch that concerned me. PA has always buried their road debris over the years, filling in ravines and median strips with older road pavement & concrete ect... I was concerned that there could be other unfriendly debris in there to tear up an oil pan or fuel tank. Ditch was so deep he had to crawl up out of the window to get to the road... Brought a Skidsteer & power broom because there was quite a bit of mud on the road from the incident and I figured there would be a lot more where that came from when it came out. I felt the safest way was to vertically lift the complete unit up and swing it out on the shoulder. That was going to take a little more "Iron" to accomplish that though... Called my buddy Mike & His son Nick to bring me some "swingin" sticks to help. We discussed the plan of attack and began executing it immediately. We had a Tator on the rear doors of the trailer, another on the front of the trailer to do the heavy lifting and my heavy on the front to keep it strait. Once all of the rigging was hooked &verified, it was up and out in minutes... Once it touched down, everybody hustled to break everything down and get the casualty out of the way so we could clean up the area. Everything went on with out a hick up and we were out before anyone even woke up. We have done a number of jobs with this team and work well together...everybody has the same goal in mind - Get it done, be safe & go home... Sorry not used to posting in the Tator page...if you guys need to move this, that's fine... 🙃

We do this parade every year...it's one of the highlights of our Autumn season... The local Youth Soccer organization asked if they could do a float so we gave them the Dump Truck & Trailer... New wreckers aren't done yet so we just did the F600 Rollback and my heavy... Had my heavy professionally rubbed out to get the aluminum nice, picked it up for Friday. Don't you know on Saturday morning we get a truck wreck in the rain.... Had to reclean it on Sunday am. The kids have such a great time and we get a lot of exposure from the community. Over a grand in candy...LoL It was 11,000 pieces I think.

One of our customers needed a storage box transported to NJ and placed at one of their stores... Dropped it in the lot which was tight but it worked out... This will store misc. truck maintenance items for a store now used as a sub DC center.

Just when we were wrapping up the completion of our annual Halloween Parade yesterday, one of our customers called that their nearly 100 year old fire truck started over heating and they needed a tow home from the parade area... At least everything was clean for the pictures...LoL Water pump leaking out the "weep" hole so not too big of deal. They were concerned about towing it on the under reach but I explained for the 1st 50 years of it's life, that was all that was available. 😉

I imagine it is the same on a W35 as well?

A tandem rear tow on U-bolt cups w/ a 12 ton is probably not realistic...that 2465 isn't going to lift 10k I don't think...not stuck out for sure. 12 ton would do it on a sling. I would get spring slippers for it. We used those quite a bit for heavier stuff.

We have a Detail shop that does cleaning, ceramic coating & paint correction we use so Rob took 2 trucks out there that needed to be done... We do a lot of refurbish work and I don't want to tie my Body guy up with buffing trucks out if i don't have to. Both of these GM's were converted to Flatbed trucks for the customers.

Honestly we have been doing work for them for so long I don't recall how we started....LoL

Why the need for a stretched frame? A lot of dealers are hesitant about that due to warranty restrictions by the manufacturer. I had a 550 stretched and had issues with it but it can be done. I haven't heard of anyone doing a F600 though. Not really a need for it. You are talking about building something bigger & stronger but at a point where you are trying to re-engineer the truck, most dealers are going to shy away. My excavator is like 12,000lbs and the F600 handles it very well. It exceeds the trucks GVW at this point though. If you need to move more weight then that, then buy a bigger truck. This has a 20' body on it. I don't imagine anyone would put a locker in the steer axle of one of these...it would destroy it under weight. As for the strike issues, I don't know how that will effect issues. I have a new Explorer we had built for my wife that we got confirmation was completed a few days prior to the strike and waiting for transport. It's been 3 weeks now and I haven't heard anything so I guess it's sitting in a lot at Ford somewhere waiting....

I have one F550 Gasser that I drive myself and it works pretty well. The 7.3 has plenty of power & matched with the 10 spd does a good job. It's lighter in the front by nearly 1000lbs over the diesel which can be an issue. We installed a counter weight behind the bumper that narrowed the difference some. I would say the cost of operation is similar due to a little less fuel economy but cheaper at the pump. It's certainly cheaper to service & what not. This unit only has a little over 10,000 mi on it so we haven't had any unscheduled repairs needed in the last 2 years I have ran it.

I have all kids of wood (planks, fire wood, ect...), floor mats...one time the guy put a spare tire & wheel in front of it? I told him they have a word for that...it's called a "wheel chock"! Had a screen door once... One of the worse was a guy put a mattress under the wheel....tires wouldn't grip it but the driveshaft sure did! What a F'n mess that was when the coils all wrapped around the shaft.... Yea Uhaul has made me a lot of money over the years... 😁

John I'm glad they are finally agreeing to consider the towing & recovery industries concerns in the matter. We fight some of the very same issues here in the states. I'll admit, it frustrates me to see the added level of "enforcement" making the company apply for a permit...undoubtedly at a "cost factor" for the right to protect your interest. Typically when the "Bureaucracy" gets involved, it's to benefit their own agenda. Maybe I'm just cynical but the thought of some paper pusher deciding the validity of my better wellbeing based on their pre-determined rules or regulations sort of ticks me off...but that's me...LoL Good luck with the outcome guys.

I'm curious as to how this will hold up? Zacklift has used this philosophy for years but I don't recall it in a Light Duty application. A Tapered Roller Bearing requires "preload" so I assume adjustment & retainment of that adjustment will be a factor. "Lifetime" to me is a marketing term & irrelevant in the real world but that's just my opinion. Good luck with it.

Our thoughts & prayers are with Russell and his family...Godspeed.

Yea I have my doubts on getting picked up...it's pretty messed up underneath. "Pused" all the ATF out... It's junk. Oh and the car was completely cleaned out except the Title sitting on the seat...LoL And being it's a NJ title but it had PA plates on it, I'm going to say it wasn't even registered at all.

Got a call this morning for a "Rollover" in a community we service. I called Rob to help me in case I needed a rollback... Typical rocks, Trees & boulders... Trouble with the curve....LoL Took out a mail box and just missed this culvert which would of "debowled" the suspension on that car... Backed in, ran 2 lines to the rear wheels, lifted it up over the rocks and brought it out in to the street....

I guess she needs the rear track width changed and the bolts are all seized...nothing want's to move.

That's a nice job. I would of been hesitant to give up that machine though....it's an old beater truck and a destroyed trailer...

Got a call Saturday for a "Muscle car rolled over" in the rain. Eddie asked me to give him a hand with it... Not rolled over but sitting on some huge rocks though... It was pouring and we had the road blocked so I didn't get recovery pics...Backed my wrecker in to the side & boomed over the trunk. Two rim slings around the frame at the bumper mounts and I lifted it off the rocks. As Eddie winched it on the rollback, I pivoted the wrecker ahead and swung the rear of the car out to the roadway. Then set it down & loaded on the carrier. A little more effort but it kept it from dragging over those boulders again... Hopefully they have some sort of coverage to take care of this...

I could live with the "Theft" reputation...as long as it's insured. Most of the late model Hyundai's & Kia's we get are financed but no insurance coverage... Gets frustrating when you get out on the job and it's a 1 or 2 year old car that you're afraid you're not getting paid for.

Uhaul came in for stuck just off the driveway in the yard... When I got there, I backed down the driveway and chuckled... I looked at the guy and said "Well this started out with a bad decision"... he just shook his head yes. I thought I would be short on rope and wanted to double up my line so I locked it in 4wd and backed down a bit to get closer. It was pretty wet and I didn't want to tear it up more then they already did... Once I got it close, I pulled up on the driveway and winched it the rest of the way. They backed down there to cut a big tree & load it in the box... I could start a book called "What Folks Can Do With A Uhaul Truck"...LoL

Nothing special...just busy work...

Customer asked Eddie if we could help her fix her Farmall tractor... It's not in our "typical" agenda but he told her we would see what we can do.

My guy sent me pics of this beauty....not sure but I think it's a 56' Mercury?