I was just out working on a re-build I'm doing to my last wooden structure on the place (fire prevention) when there was a hell of a clatter on the road. I sprang out of work to see what was the matter. A young lady was driving a PU with a large Snap-On box in the back. As she entered the curve it came loose and flew out of the back. From the spread of the tools, it was Snap-On as shrapnel. The fellow driving the on-coming car said he could just see it rolling over the side and barely missed him. The box is destroyed. We all collected a large pile of tools. I got my big Harbor Freight rolling magnet out and picked up a lot of small jewelry in the area. No one was hurt but, damn. Her Dad is going to come along later and I will help him fish out some other tools from the neighbors very thick shrubs. I tried to calm her down, but she was really devastated. I asked her who had secured the load and she said it was her father. I am generally an insensitive lout, but damn I feel bad for them.
Tool Box catastrophe
- Thread starter Jackfre
- Start date
rustyjames
Well-known member
Oh wow, good thing that box didn't hurt/kill someone. Could always be worse.
ZRX61
Well-known member
Friend did that on a cloverleaf freeway exit, they were still picking up tools about 5 hours later.
Last edited:
619DioFan
Well-known member
The fact that you picked up those snap on tools with a HF magnet puts a big smile on my face .
MFolks
Well-known member
Something that big and heavy, should have had at least 6 ways of securing it from moving.
Chevy-SS
Well-known member
SGKent
Banned
Jack we are in Citrus Heights. If you are near us let us know and we will come over and help. What a terrible way to start the week. Thank you for helping someone in distress. Lots of folks just turn the other way and ignore it.
LS6 Tommy
Well-known member
Affirmative.................
It should have never been moved while it was full in the first place.
I feel bad for them, too.
Tommy
ShadeTreeMechanic
Member
Wow, that box should simply be fixed enough to be operational and kept. those battle scars have a good story to go along with them now.
2 good lessons learned there.
1) never rely on a straps. (Just like a safety switch) it could fail. so double it up.
2) never move a loaded box. (at best your going to have to pull it all out and reorganize it again anyway so...) Just pull them out and box the up in shipping crates.
2 good lessons learned there.
1) never rely on a straps. (Just like a safety switch) it could fail. so double it up.
2) never move a loaded box. (at best your going to have to pull it all out and reorganize it again anyway so...) Just pull them out and box the up in shipping crates.
Yeah, unless the box is going inside a moving truck with a bunch of heavy stuff up against it.
I would've taken the drawers out, winched the empty shell of the box up into the truck, strapped and roped it down, then put the loaded boxes single layer in the bed of the truck.
Physics happens.
matt_i
Well-known member
I like to think of it as "never rely on friction to hold the load". Which means make the straps attach to the vehicle/trailer and then the load, rather than hooked vehicle-vehicle (trailer-trailer) with a loop over the load.
I think we are all lulled into this by semi truckers who use the loop-strap technique all of the time. However when you look closer the large width straps have impressive tension on them being wound with a long cheater bar, enough to squash the sheetmetal or the horns on the swivel casters of a rolling toolbox. The bulk loads that are carried...topsoil bags, timber, bricks, just to name a very few, are resistant to the result of the strap tension.
If you can get 4 independent straps as above, then your load is generally going to be very secure. Sometimes it involves making flat metal brackets with a hole for a J-hook and another hole for a bolt, or more complex setups depending on how critical, delicate, or exquisitely painted the load is.
Not saying one should never use a loop-strap but saying the application should be suspenders and not belt if the analogy makes sense.
Last edited:
K'ledgeBldr
Well-known member
I'm not fallin" for the ol' "Night Before Christmas..." story about tools...
Santa brings me tools every year, so I know his sled doesn't deposit them all over the road!
Santa brings me tools every year, so I know his sled doesn't deposit them all over the road!
Bruce Amacker
Well-known member
I had a flatbed wrecker move mine last time, loaded. Too high of a C/G for a pickup, IMO.
off topic, several years ago I saw a guy lose a couch off the back of his truck an a 6 lane skyway. it hit several cars and the couch was toast too. I think he probably just left a nearby furniture store . Bet he wished he'd paid the delivery charge!
Robert Haas
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2010
- Messages
- 1,749
I unstack my boxes and transport them full, drawers locked.
Have done it several times over the years.
Have done it several times over the years.
ShadeTreeMechanic
Member
I see you matt
can always tell who used to load truck's and trailers.I cant see why we still don't have some sort of a basic test when getting a license. as it really is a safety issue for the public as a whole and also one of the leading driving hazards.
X1 Mike
Well-known member
So, what you are saying is that the toolbox that fell out of the moving truck was not properly secured?
