Puget Dude’s creations and fabrications (Random project thread.)
- Thread starter PugetDude
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Swanny1953
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Sterling, Harbor Freight sells a pretty reasonable gantry crane that adjusts height wise. I’m pretty happy with mine. I have one of their electric wire rope hoists as well as a chain hoist, depending on the need.
I can sure relate to this sentence.
I was spoiled living in Michigan as long as I did.
My neighbors are nice people but not much help with many jobs.
My 70 year old wife is my best helper. Gotta love a girl that was raised on a farm.
gearhead1960
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Gotta love equipment that doubles as a clothes rack!Sterling, Harbor Freight sells a pretty reasonable gantry crane that adjusts height wise. I’m pretty happy with mine. I have one of their electric wire rope hoists as well as a chain hoist, depending on the need.
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
You know what big feet mean, right?Hey, at least my feet are large...
Big boots.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Big shoes.. Badumpbump
I'll just leave this here...(..there?)Glad the return trip went well bud.
But you don’t think for one second I can let the drive out go without follow-up.
You need to show the world! (k, like maybe 6 guys here - but I digress) the death , destruction and desert donation you endured.
Ya know, your typical Scotty trailer trip
After 350 miles the little Uhaul trailer decided it was done with the trip. Felt like the left rear axle suddenly locked up, trailer started swaying violently, when I hit the brakes and headed toward the right shoulder it departed the truck and the I-10 Freeway. Did a spectacular flip and landed right side up in the ditch. Stuck the landing. 10-10-10. Whats really strange is that the hitch and both safety chains left the truck with no damage. Picture is untouched, you can see them still attached to the trailer, undamaged, still twisted and crossed like I installed them. 
Not sure how or when in the decoupling process that the hitch pin failed. The U haul rep in AZ took several photos of the installed trailer before I left their lot, and she verified it was there when I initiated the insurance claim. (Best $24 I ever spent)Not a mark on the truck, receiver hitch and chain loops look perfect. Dragged the trailer up out of the ditch with a tie down strap, and notified UHaul where to retrieve it.
Picked up another trailer in Bakersfield the next morning, (bought two new hitch pins) loaded up the mill and drove 550 miles home without incident.
This could have been much, much worse if the trailer had stayed on the freeway instead of landing in the ditch... (Or on the way back with #1500 # of top-heavy iron strapped down in the bed of the trailer...)
And.. I have to add that UHaul Customer Service couldn't have been any better. Absolutely top-notch, one of the best customer service experiences I have had in decades.
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larry4406
Well-known member
WOW!
Right!
WoodsTruck
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 1,024
Can you provide a picture of the offending hitch pins?
I have a theory...
I have a theory...
No pics, I wanted to go back and see if I could find it, but not in I-10 SoCal traffic. The one that failed had a hole for the clevis pin to pass through. It was a 20 year old pin. My theory is that the hole may have been wallowed out and the clevis somehow worked its way out. Or it was the point of failure when the trailer went nuclear.
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Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Holy ****!! 
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Strange that the safety chains didn’t keep it attached to the hitch.
The safety chain ends were just simple hooks, no retaining clips. I had to twist them about a dozen times to get them short enough that they wouldn't drag. Probably under a bit of side tension, that might caused them to pop off when the pressure was suddenly released. Might have been what saved a bunch of damage to the truck.
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Casters arrived last night, got them bolted on and the mill out from under the crane, cherry picker, and floor jack. Lowered each end onto a stack of 2x4 blocks, then worked back and forth removing the top block until it was on all four casters.
Rotated the head back to zero (pretty sure that was my spleen I tasted getting it back over center.)
Casters are temporary so I can move it around my shop playing advanced machinery Tetris until I decide on a permanent location for it.
Clean up and a phase converter/VFD are next.
Rotated the head back to zero (pretty sure that was my spleen I tasted getting it back over center.)
Casters are temporary so I can move it around my shop playing advanced machinery Tetris until I decide on a permanent location for it.
Clean up and a phase converter/VFD are next.
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WoodsTruck
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2013
- Messages
- 1,024
If the hitch pin was retained with one of the bent "keys", I've lost several on my work trailer.
Our theory is the safety chain has the ability come tight on corners and push up on the end to pop it loose. The rest is vibration.
It is frustrating to hook up, then do a walk around when loading to find everything in place. Get to the destination with a load on and there is no keeper in the pin.
I ended up going with a snap lynch pin that I made a retaining cable for so it can't walk off.
Our theory is the safety chain has the ability come tight on corners and push up on the end to pop it loose. The rest is vibration.
It is frustrating to hook up, then do a walk around when loading to find everything in place. Get to the destination with a load on and there is no keeper in the pin.
I ended up going with a snap lynch pin that I made a retaining cable for so it can't walk off.
Attachments
Sounds very plausible, and that WAS the style of pin that failed. As mentioned, the chains didn't have a lot if slack in them, so maybe they did work on the pin when cornering. Trailer was empty, so it probably did bounce around more than it would have loaded.
Thanks for the insight.
mattthemuppet
Well-known member
Lovely mill! I'd definitely recommend going with a VFD, decent ones aren't much money for that size motor and you could probably find a 110V input on (max 1.5hp). Variable speed and reversing is super handy.
Bigblue&Goldie
Well-known member
Some people have all the fun!
Years ago we were going from Williams, AZ to Moab, UT and we saw this on the I40 between Williams and Flagstaff....
Years ago we were going from Williams, AZ to Moab, UT and we saw this on the I40 between Williams and Flagstaff....
LopezBart
Well-known member
I have a VFD and the variable speed head on our Bridgeport, and the VFD gets used most of the time to change the speed. The lathe VFD is even more handy, since I get to tune out chatter/vibration that way.
Thanks, Matt. Been shopping Amazon for a 3-phase inverter, I can buy one with 110V/1/60 input for about $120
Or a 220/1/60 input for about $60.
Not sure where this one is going to end up in the shop. (Put it on casters temporarily)
so 110 might give me a little more flexibility.
Do know I want to put a big fat E-stop right next to it...might be better to get a panel mount inverter and put it in a little Hoffman box with the E-stop...
Decisions...
msharley
Well-known member
That rain? Wowser!
Glad the trailer didn't smash your truck, but good!
Glad the trailer didn't smash your truck, but good!
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
They predicted a washout down here and all we got so far is 0.17". We really need some rain. 
We didn’t get much up here either.They predicted a washout down here and all we got so far is 0.17". We really need some rain.
inphx
Well-known member
1.3" in 24 hrs here.. it lit up a local hike waterfall that is somewhat seasonal.
Where’s that at inphx?1.3" in 24 hrs here.. it lit up a local hike waterfall that is somewhat seasonal.
Old Man Roger
Well-known member
Couple a cannon balls would take care of that.Epic rains in the Arizona desert...roads washed out, arroyos running full, flash flooding. Almost a year's worth of precipitation in two days. My pool is up over 5", going to have to pump it down.
inphx
Well-known member
Bigblue&Goldie
Well-known member
Scott, I checked the official Maricopa County rain gauge site (still covers some of Pinal) and the gauge by the Basha's is showing 3.58" in 3 days. Peralta is showing 4.02"! My pool actually got pumped the other day for a face-lift, but they haven't been able to start demo due to the rain. Sound like they will have to pump it again.
For those that don't live in the desert, that's a ton of rain for us!
For those that don't live in the desert, that's a ton of rain for us!
mattthemuppet
Well-known member
personally, I'd go with a brand name VFD for a fair bit more, eg.Thanks, Matt. Been shopping Amazon for a 3-phase inverter, I can buy one with 110V/1/60 input for about $120
Or a 220/1/60 input for about $60.
Not sure where this one is going to end up in the shop. (Put it on casters temporarily)
so 110 might give me a little more flexibility.
Do know I want to put a big fat E-stop right next to it...might be better to get a panel mount inverter and put it in a little Hoffman box with the E-stop...
Decisions...
Much better manual, warranty and support. It's the one I would have gotten if I hadn't sourced a couple of nice Invertek drives off eBay for little money. The cheap Amazon ones do work and work pretty well for most people, but their manuals aren't always the best and support is nonexistent. Plus, they have fairly poor reliability record (caveat - I know several people who have been using theirs for years).