How Not to load a Trailer. Mistakes that lead to accidents. 

My best tip for driving a trailer safely: don't drive like you don't have a trailer. Meaning, slow the F down!

Long as you say "She ain't going anywhere" There is no wrong way to load.

I load them backwards. Saves the front window on gravel roads.

"Never load on a hill"?? Are you suggesting that people who live in the mountains just never use heavy equipment? The only flat spot on my entire farm is the floor inside the house.

Once you get your sweet spot.. A can of spray paint to mark tire locations on the deck of the trailer for your common loads (skid loader with standard bucket or compact tractor with mower deck) Then just hit the wheel of the skid steer or tractor with a dab of the same color spray paint. Different load, different color... couple / three satisfies most needs.

My biggest piece of advice as far as loading goes: (speaking from personal experience). In the odds that your truck lifts off the ground and starts moving, keep loading. Don’t stop on the ramps. Stopping will only hold the truck up and you’ll keep moving and you’ll have high chances of jackknifing and doing a lot of damage. If you just keep driving whatever you’re loading, the weight will begin to even out and your truck will set back down, stopping the truck from moving. I get that it can be slightly nerve racking when your truck and trailer starts to move, and that will probably make you freeze up and pause. Don’t let yourself do that. That’s the worse you can do.

Anyone else think Stanley is the long lost twin of Richard Rawlings?

Have a manual transmission then u never have to worry about park gear

Tongue weight is your friend. Scariest loads I've ever towed were because I didnt have enough tongue weight.

Death wobble is a front suspension/ steering issue/ problem. This is trailer sway, that you’re talking about.

Holy tail whip batman!!! How did the guy in the video not lose that machine? The look on his face is priceless. Something you might consider talking about is how an employee can go about declining to transport equipment with under sized or defective equipment and not get blacklisted by employer. Many times I have had to transport equipment on trailers with defective brakes, lights, or even use trucks with defective controls because if I said anything or took time to fix I would be sitting at the house. Things dont have to be new and shiny, but they do have to work. Great video!!

Wow solid tips, these are the videos that I love watching and learning the basics.

Very well explained. I suggest putting a marker or sticker at the center of gravity of each of your machines. Then put a corresponding sticker for the ideal matching spot on your trailer fender where they should align.

I’ve also found that backing the skidsteer onto the trailer so that if the ground that you are unloading onto is unlevel, then it will allow for more visibility of wheels, and more control while unloading.

always when transporting anything that you have secured. within the first 45 miles you need to stop and check all securement. then every 2 hours thereafter

Many years ago when I was a kid, my dad took my younger brother and I to pick up some sand in his 4 cyl. S-10 with his high sided single axle trailer. He filled the entire bed and trailer with wet sand. I don’t know how much weight it was but I’m guessing it was about 5 times the rated capacity, but probably more. Needless to say, the trailer fishtailed and threw us off the highway. Fortunately, the truck and trailer stayed upright and no one was injured. We blew out both passenger side tires and the same side on the trailer. It was scary as hell.

I look for a 60/40 split over the axles. 60 up front, 40 at the back.

It’s a good idea to use a couple blocks of wood or landing jacks on the tail of the trailers when loading equipment. That will prevent the tounge from lifting, and the whole setup from potentially rolling away.

with the binders,it hekps if you put a piece of fencing wire through the chain and loop on the binder handle

After almost 19 years of driving semi I can feel how my load is in the trailer. I also gained a lot of experience on loading trailers. I have a trailer that I use to haul wood pellets on. Being it's short I can only fit 2 pallets of pellets on it. I tried 3 once and the very back pallet made the tongue of the trailer come up. Had to take the 3rd pallet off as I knew it wasn't safe to haul like that. I also understand about straps loosing up. I use to pull flatbed and hauled Christmas trees. Every 50 miles had to stop and tighten the straps. The trees would settle and the straps would loosen up. Kinda sucked cause if you knew there was a scale coming up you better stop before and tighten the straps. Had one driver not do it and not only had to tighten the straps at the scale but also got a ticket for an unsecured load. I still enjoyed the video and I will always learn something new. Always said if you hear a truck driver say they know everything about driving truck stay far away from them on the road. I learn something new almost every day even after almost 19 years driving.

Just stick it in park, and drive the e-brake to the floor. Hopefully the ebrake holds 100%. If it doesn’t, you softened the blow for sure.

A couple years ago, I was helping out a friend who needed to have several non-op International Harvester Pickups and Scouts moved from one storage facility to another facility roughly 90 miles away. I was using a constructed deck over tandem axle trailer that had belonged to my dad. The deck was only 15 feet long...yeah pretty short and the axle group was nearly centered front to back almost like a teeter-totter. WTF? Anyway, my dad had used it to haul my own Scout a couple times for me, so I knew it would suffice to haul this guy's Scouts, but his full size pickups I wasn't so sure about. The first trip I hauled one of his Scouts that was minus the engine all the way to the destination without issue. The second trip was hauling an early 70's IH 3/4 ton long bed, regular cab 4x2 pickup. It fit on the deck, just barely. I could have maybe gotten the thing another six inches further forward than I did before we chained it down. As it turns out, I should have done that...or better yet not even attempted to haul that truck on the POS shorty teeter totter in the first place. Twenty miles into the trip at a speed of roughly 50 mph, I went over a minor jostle in the road which suddenly pitched my little choo choo train into a very violent tail wagging the dog scenario. I was on the interstate too. Fortunately, there were no other vehicles nearby. Traffic was fairly light and well behind me. Only by the grace of God did I manage to regain control without winding up in a steaming pile scattered across the road. The wag probably only lasted ten seconds at most, but it sure felt like an eternity. And it seemed like the cycles were getting worse before they finally subsided. I at least knew not to slam on the brakes. Rather, I did a series of quick on/offs of the brake pedal, feathering it I guess you might say. Once I was back under control, you can bet your sweet bippy I pulled over to ahem, collect my thoughts and reflect on my recent life choices. I still had over 70 more miles to go with some 6 percent grades for good measure, plus it was raining too! But, I was committed to the journey at that point. I really didn't know what else to do, but climb back in the saddle, even though I didn't want to. I made it to the destination without further issue, but it was a white knuckle, and puckered sphincter ride the whole way doing 40 mph down the interstate! Afterwards, I told my friend about the incident and the blood drained from his face. I told him yeah, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to rent me an actual car hauler trailer for the next trip. Something with at least an 18 foot deck that has the tandems set back a bit so I can get plenty of weight on the tongue. He agreed wholeheartedly. What a difference it made to have a trailer that was properly setup to haul the next loads. Total night and day difference.

5:20 you couldn't help but look haha.

I wish I saw this video a year ago. I loaded a trailer incorrectly and had to drive home under 45 mph constantly applying the trailer brake. Luckily I noticed the fishtailing right away because this could have gone bad. Nothing worse than having a trailer loaded for you with no forklift to fix it once you’re on the road. This is a great video.

Years ago with a borrowed trailer i moved my bobcat 863 with my dodge DRW on a slight downhill slope. no landing gear on the back of the trailer and no chocks on the trailer wheels. raise your hand if you know where this is going... as you guesed the trailer leveraged the back of the truck off the ground and away we went till i mashed the sticks and transferred weight back to the back end of the truck. and yes i needed a new pair of shorts.

So many words so little information

The parking brake only applies to the rear wheels if you load something heavy and the rear wheels come off the ground you will still roll around the best thing to do is put your truck in four wheel drive then engage the parking brake you should be good to go then chalk the wheels if you want to be extra safe if your truck has trailer brakes too get a spring-loaded clamp that you can use to squeeze the brakes on

Great video! I just wish there was a way i could beam this video to the guy i pass on the highway in need of your advice! Nicely done.

Here's my car hauler/equipment trailer loading adventure: OK. So I was working at a shop, we needed to take the bobcat out to do a job. Never loaded a bobcat. So, I told my coworker to go get the trailer hooked up while I was getting some other things, getting the bobcat. So I get the bobcat, start it up, head out of the shop, and total brain fade. I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn't even notice that my coworker had brain fade too, and just sort of forgot to hook the trailer to the truck. So I go driving the bobcat out there and start driving up the ramps.... lol .... The coupler was about 8 friggin feet in the air. Never count on anyone to get their end done while you're trying to coordinate your efforts. Because if you're not standing right there making sure they carry THEIR end of the load, then chances are it won't get done. Check EVERYTHING they do. And, pay attention! lol

I've been driving trucks for quite a few years. This is by far one of the best explanations I have ever seen

Also, those lever binders (mousetraps) are quick to use when you get the hang of them vs cranking on those ratchet binders. Just be careful unloading them 😂

We don’t call that death wobble we call it fish tailing

It is not a gear, it is a very small pin. It is called the parking paw. Depending on the transmission 1/4 to 1/2" in size.

Look in a Bobcat Owners Manuel, it says to Back it on. Heavy end up.

Find the sweet spot for parking your skid on your trailer and mark a line where your bucket should go. That's what we did. Every time the skid goes on the trailer for transport we know where it should be.

I would never leave a truck in neutral without someone behind the wheel, set the E brake and as long as your brake works there is no strain on the parking paw.

Nice video.... I hope the trailer plug was installed before driving off (I could see it hanging down).

Solid video. I’ve been hauling stupid loads for 30 some years. Ive made almost every mistake at least once.. luckily without injury or serious damage. There’s never a good time or place to have to adjust your load or re-secure it once you’re on the road. Tie down selection is a personal choice.. I actually prefer the lever binders hands down.. but there are solid arguments for the ratchet style. One trick for ratchet straps on loads that can’t be tied too tight is to put a bungie from hook to hook or somewhere that will keep the hooks from becoming in-hooked if the load moves.

A comment I have on loading the trailer by yourself. I like to take a string and use it to hold my trailer brake controller locking the brakes on the trailer and setting the park brake on the truck. This eliminates almost any movement of the tow rig when loading and save you from needing a buddy to hold the brakes.

Bought a weigh safe hitch and the thing lasted 1 month before the oil leaked out and the scale stopped working. Still a good/cool hitch but i find the scale part garbage.

You can also shift to neutral, apply the parking brake, and then put the transmission in park. You should always use chocks anyway.

Lol, years ago my son decided to load my Bobcat with truck & trailer pointing down the driveway, a slight down hill grade. He wouldn't listen from being in a hurry. As he drove up the ramp, the truck started raising up, then at the right point, truck, trailer, and skid steer started sliding down the driveway. He then backed off the trailer, moved to level ground to load it. You gotta love it when you can say " I told you so. Lol. Lesson learned.

I was 19 years old and loading cows at a sale barn on a slope at night and had the truck parking brake on. The truck started rolling forward as the cows were still running in. The cows obviously were disinterested in continuing to load and started running toward the highway. I sprinted out around them and headed them off (amazing how much faster you can run when your ass is on the line). X2 on loading on a level surface and someone holding the brake lol.

The weigh safe hitch is an amazing but simple hitch. We have one for our snowmobile trailer and its awesome. Those pins come of to where you can adjust the ball height up and down. And you can change the ball out easily as well. It is the best user friendly hitch I have ever used.

Always make sure your hitch is coupled...even though a gooseneck will likely ride not latched it won't stay when loading... It will come off and forward and will mess up your tailgate, bad. Also at home/shop I've got a ditch that I park in to load that lowers trailer to level ramps...easier to climb.

Stanley...you're awesome! Thank you for putting the effort into the video and introducing us to new tech. I just got my first TLB and 14,000GVW trailer so this information is invaluable to me.

Funny how i dont do any of these right way methods, But ive never had an issue. I must be really lucky.

Another way you can get pretty exact tongue weight is with bags of cement, or anything hevy you know the weight of... Hook the trailer to the truck, Measure the height from the ground to the hitch... Add bags of cement or other to the desired tongue weight (say 800lbs put 10 80lb bags on the ball or really close and measure how much the truck dropped. Then take it all off and load your equipment and move your load forward until your truck matches the height it was at with the bags on in. Then you are pretty damn close to knowing.

My trick is I have cut a 2x4 that I push against my brake pedal and wedge in front of my seat and that holds the brake on when I load up my equipment. I also put my truck in 4 wheel drive and the parking brake on.

I’ve always rapped the leveler binders learned it from my dad he ran a lowboy

Well, not to be negative Nancy but you are breaking the biggest rule in loading a skid loader. You are always suppose to load heavy end up hill. So, you back the skid loader on the trailer. Just as when operating a skid loader, you always go up the hill with a full bucket of material. If you are empty, you back up the hill. A great advantage to backing up the ramps as well is that as you ride down the road, all the road salt, sleet, snow and rain will be hitting your tailgate and not filling up the inside of your cab. Also, the absolute best, safest binder on the market today is Torque Drive by speedbinders.com.... Really hope you don't mind the comment...love your videos.

Never personally used the weight-safe hitches but I have seen them in use by other people and they seem solid. I'd try one if I was running a crew and had to trust inexperienced people with my equipment. The.... pool of candidates has been pretty... murky lately and everyone is sue happy these days. I wouldn't want anyone getting themselves hurt or causing anyone else to with my equipment either.

Had never seen the shock straps. Ordered 2. Thanks bud.

In 05 I had an f350 and was loading my skid steer on my trailer I had backed in my buddy’s driveway that was a hill, as I loaded it the ass end of my truck lifted and truck, trailer and me in the skid steer took a ride down the driveway! When I noticed we were moving I sped forward in the skid steer thinking once the ass end of the truck came down we would stop but that was not the case , it just continued skidding out in to the street where it started to jackknife my truck... only damage was a mailbox and my boxer shorts ..... definitely learned my lesson

Good information saves time money and trips to the hospital

If you do load a turbo machine backwards, be sure to cover the exhaust. Air will be pushed into the pipe and could dry spin the turbo.

There's nothing wrong with using the old fashioned lever type chain binders. However, before wrapping the excess chain around, I use doubled up bailing wire on the lever (handle) to secure it from opening. I've never had a problem.

I'm not familiar with the laws when it comes to securing load in the US, but here, we would chain Bob down in a cross pattern, where each chain goes to the opposite corner of Bob on the trailer. When you do that, you keep Bob from sliding around, jumping up and down or whatever he does, because of the bumps in the road. It also takes a lot less force to chain Bob down that way too. And when you chain him down in a cross pattern, you've used up a lot of excess chain, so you don't need to spend half an hour on trying to chain Bob down.

Not that those hitches wont work but adding bells and whistles to something that should be made out of solid steel make me more nervous than I am about loading a trailer wrong iv had a hitch come apart from hitting a pot hole with a load now I only trust solid steel or better yet 5th wheel

im certainly going to remember that loading tip thank you

As far as loading the trailer in neutral with the parking brake on, you can actually leave it in park as a back up if your brake fails. You can do this so long as you firmly apply the parking brake then put it in park after, that way the transmission is not under any pressure

What scares me the most is wondering how Google knows I needed to see the info in this video. I'd encountered the loose strap problem on a 75 mile trip hauling light equipment from one of my farms to another. Thanks for the great video.

Great video. Lots of helpful information. Just ordered 2 sets of those shock straps off Amazon. Thanks alot.

The hitch on the truck is rated for 500lb max tong weight not 1000lb

Here's my 2 cents. anything with tires should be chained and not strapped. the 4 point tie down is OK for anything under 10 ft long, D.O.T actually mandates cargo must be tied every 10 ft. so if you have cargo between 10 and 20 ft long then you will need 6 point tie down, between 20 and 30 ft 8 point ect... My biggest concern is people grossly overloading a trailer. (just because it fit's does not mean it is safe to haul it)

Hmm I've been using smart straps that are patent pending. They basically eliminate the excess strap after tying down the load working like a tape measure in a since. But they would be loose when I get to the job site. I will check out the Shock strap. Thanks for this information!

You are absolutly right about hiting brakes. Thats instant disaster! Go s against natural reaction. Very gentle step on gas for 2 seconds will HELP stop extreme trailer wobble.

- When loading backward, I've seen guys put a bag over the exhaust to protect the Turbo from wind and rain. I center the load over the axles, because you don't want to stress them especially when going over speed bumps, might break the springs. I think backing it on is much safer, less chance of tumbling backward because the motor is the heavy part and Bobcats are back-heavy on purpose, plus when you unload you don't have to worry about rolling over a kid cell phone game zombie who decided to park his bike behind your equipment trailer. I've seen guys actually weld the load binders and chains so that there is an exact balance spot for the skidsteer so that they always load the skidsteer perfect every time and then they don't have to worry about the chains / binders being stolen. They connect the chains to a welded on ear with a hole in it or some sort of weld-on D-ring so that it swivels. It also is allows for speed loading/unloading. I don't like the nylon lines, the sun eats them up and they break due to dry rot which could cost you dearly if it comes off in traffic and hits a bus load of nuns and orphans on their way to Sunday school. Chains last much longer. If your truck is squatting too much, you can get air bags to help level the load. I've seen load binders that you can tighten with cordless impact wrenches to tighten them down and it's not so bad to run out after the first mile of settling and give them a few extra turns. Epoxy mixed with silica sand, about 1 quart per gallon gives your deck much more longevity and grip on a frosty morning. I don't like the angle iron ramps, they tear up treads on compact track loaders. A real cool trailer is the BWise Ultimate Dump Trailer, Load Trail has a direct clone but I would go with BWise. If your skid steer is light enough (under 10k) BWise also has a chain driven Multi-Tasker setup so that you can load the trailer bed on the ground with the equipment and then pull the whole setup in place like a roll off. This makes it a 1 man job because there is no pressure on the transmission until the operator is in the truck. No ramps to fool around with. It doubles as a dump trailer/flat bed /roll off. The Gator made Aardvark Trailer is also another great Equipment Trailer for stability, you can get with upgraded 8k axels if you have more attachments to load. My favorite equipment trailer is the MaxxD Slide-X, the low angle 7 deg will allow loading of cars, trucks, equipment and an 18k winch will allow you to drag something up on the deck of it's busted or get some pipes and roll up/roll off a 40 foot shipping container. I prefer the Goosenecks for control and stability, but they are much harder to hitch up than a pintle, especially if they don't have hydraulic jacks.

Great video. So many guys don’t load level or tie down properly. Experience is an asset but you don’t want to learn the hard way. Death wobble is scary and can be as the name implies deadly. We can’t use leverage binders in our jurisdiction. If dot pulls you over without a proper tie down expect big fines. I also see lots of guys pulling bobcats and trailers with trucks that are significantly undersized for the load. Do your home work before you get on the road.

I've never had death wobble with my larger trailers, but I've had it on a 2 place enclosed snowmobile trailer (no trailer brakes required on them due to light weight). Best thing to do in that scenario is to stay off the brakes and apply some throttle. Get her straightened out, pull over and either move the load forward if possible or add some ballast to the front of the trailer.

Excellent Video Another tip to add as ive seen this mistake done often is many people try to tow something way over than the truck is rated A lot of Boat owners do that and dont know how to balance the weight on the trailers correctly too much tounge weight screws up the trucks steering capability when i was young a dumber i worked for a small builder that owned our own Bobcat Skid Steer and a trailer they bought a old GMC 2500 and told us to tow the Excavator with that i was usually elected to pull it and no matter where i strapped that machine on the trailer it was just to heavy for that truck as you know a Skidsteer is over 10 K plus your trailer in our case 3.5 K lbs and thats pretty large load on the 2500 brakes and drivetrain BTW no Electric Brakes or controller ? Now as ive gotten older ive towed a 19.5 Klb 5th Wheel with my Chevy 3500 Dually Deisel with of course brake controller and Electric Brakes on the Camper BTW the Shock Straps are a nice new System sure beats the old Lever Binders and trying to compress foam filled tires with them i didnt loose any teeth with the leverage pipe but i did Break the hell out of my nose When i was wearing Muddy leather gloves on a rainy day and that “ Cheater “ pipe slipped on me hurt like hell too and i was close to passing out from the force And the blood loss

I like the idea of a scale, but first you need to know the GVW (Gross Vehichle Weight) of your trailer. Not knowing that sort of negates the value of the scale. Do not create a negative without a possible solution. Dad drove logging trucks, and I drove tractor trailer over the road and in cities. Possible solution, a tape measure. Measure the drop at the hitch unloaded, then (depending on tow vehichle and load) move the load so that the hitch drops 2-4 inches. Hope this guide helps.

50 sheets of 12ft drywall in a 10ft trailer gave me a ass tightening fish tailing moment.

In my bobcat manufacturer manual under loading it states backwards on a trailer. idk if anyone reads the manual anymore lol but every trailer is different on how its loaded. these trailer manufacturers have their own madness they follow. Myself i like a trailer that is balanced from the start, that PJ you are using is toung heavy.

You about ready to put the back snow blades on i saw the plow you got in michigan we are from Michigan we have property in Niles Michigan we are heading up in December thank you for the awesome video

great video, i wish i could have seen this before my close call in 2001, haha! thats not really a shock but more of an elastomeric device that stores potential energy or "preload" on the straps preventing them from "ratcheting down" when going from unloaded to loaded...you are truly a thoughtful individual that thinks through not just the mechanical situation but the social situation. i can tell just from this one video your the kind of individual that strives for a 100 percent satisfaction rating from the clientele just as i do and sure, some may take some extra work but in the end its all the same...we work to serve with pride!

Here's an idea, once you find the "sweet spot" for your load, make a mark with spray paint, if you're hauling different pieces of machinery then use a different color for each, maybe orange for your bobcat or blue for a new holland, etc. One mark on the leading edge of your bucket or in front of your front tire, a whole lot better than a mental note if you ask me, just saying.

Good video, thank you for taking the time to show this, it should prevent a lot of accidents. I spent years teaching how to load tow trucks, flatbeds and trailers. I’m a big believer in the 4 point tie down system. I would like to add a couple of things... 1. You must also have a tie down restraining anything that articulates, so you need to restrain the bucket. 2. You should be checking your load within the first 25 miles and then periodically.

Hi from Australia .load trailer get weight correct ball weight at weight bridge and put a mark on rear shocks perfect every time

I learned all of this the hard way - trial-by-fire, lol. I'll share some extremely dumb stories with ya here ... One time I put 5,000 lbs. of coal on a little torsion-axle enclosed 6'x10' Car-Mate trailer - had 80 psi in each tire, and both looked half flat. Was probably 3x over it's weight capacity. I only had to go 7 miles, with no highway in a rural area with very light traffic, if any - only reason I attempted it (was trying to do it all in 1 trip vs. 2). Anyway, when I got to a straight section of road, people were stacking up behind me, so I figured I'd try and get to the speed limit of 50mph, at least. As soon as I got over 40, the sway started (no brakes on that trailer) - I just let off and let it settle down. Then I tried again, this time hitting 45 MPH - was pretty clear this wasn't going to work - I pulled over and let everyone pass. I learned a little that time, but clearly not enough ... Years later I had a side gig hauling cars all over New England with a 18' dovetail. I knew the dangers of being tail-heavy, and had to pull over a few times to readjust vehicles - usually by 50 mph it becomes clear what is going to happen on the highway. Having a different vehicle each time was a real challenge to get it right. This one time I had to pick up and deliver a van - a Ford F350. Not a problem, even though I'm using a half-ton truck - I had done it many times before. What I didn't know was, the entire driveline, including the engine, was in the back! Of course, the thing was nose-in where I had to winch it out. It also had 44" super swamper tires, and a 12" combined body and suspension lift! This thing towered over my truck by 6' it seemed. I pulled it as far forward as I could, tied her down, and hit the road. The onramp to the highway was a slight incline, so I poured it on & started building speed to merge. Hit that magic 55 mph as I merged, and she started to sway a bit. Now the highway was headed downhill. The weight starts to push me down the hill as I cross 60 mph ... now the whole ass-end of the trailer is all over the highway! Not quite as bad as that video clip you showed here, but close enough for me. Cleared the highway - had people driving in the median on both sides. It was super unnerving to take a hand off the wheel during this to reach down and peg the brake controller, but that's what I did - a few seconds later everything settled down and I was back on my way ... at 50 mph. It was painful, but made it there in one piece! The next day, I ordered up a Reese SC weight distribution hitch setup, & a set of Firestone Ride-Rite air bags, and now pay VERY close attention to what goes on the trailer. Haven't had an issue since. I also learned to ALWAYS have wheel chocks in the truck! Chased the thing down a couple hills - both times, thankfully, I was able to dive in and stand on the brake (one time with just my hands), and steer. Now whenever I stop to load, I put the truck in 4x4 before shutting it off, stand on the e-brake, then chock the trailer wheels in between the axles. With a half-ton truck, heavy loads always lift the rear axle right off the ground, so the e-brake is useless, unless you're in 4x4 ... OR have the damn wheels chocked! :) Live and learn!

Does anyone know anything about loading something like steel beams on a trailer that takes up the whole of the bed. How are you supposed to balance it?

So'ooo not Australian, LOL. Love the channel, watching from down under.

An easy trick i use is to mark a stick at bumper height and rest it against the truck at the bumper, then pull the load forward until the bumper is two to three inches below my first mark.

33 yrs loading machinery and never loaded with truck in neutral.

I have learned over the years that if your trailer starts to fish tail hit the trailer brakes and mash the gas . sounds crazy but it works only takes a second . the two forces working against each other pulls unit into line .

My cousin turns his skid steer around because one time we were driving and he kicked up a rock and it shattered the windshield

You could estimate tongue load by measuring the hitch height as sacks of weight are placed on the tailgate over the hitch. With just the truck, enter drop vs weight added in a table or graph then with the table, adjust trailer load to get the drop for the desired tongue weight. The table may change some depending on the load in the bed or as the spring rate changes with temperature or age. Be mindful of the maximum allowable tailgate load when generating the table.

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I love those lever binders!! Much easier than trying to screw those damn other ones. What a pain

All we use is pintle hitches👍👍 We always overloaded our trucks. Talking about a F450 & F550 with 15 leaf springs lol. Leaf springs are flat. We have snapped our trailer axles before. Edit: about two months ago I was driving down the interstate and the truck started shaking badly... pull over and noticed my driver side rear dual tires were at a 45 degree angle... all but 2 wheel studs snapped. Last year I was pulling our Vactron that was fully loaded with 500 gallons of liquid slurry using our pintle hitch. All of a sudden the hitch receiver pin comes out and the pintle hitch itself pulled out of the receiver at 55mph. I guess the clip that holds the hitch receiver pin in fell off during my 1 hour drive.

Wow been trucking since 1976 don't know how I did it without you

I'm glad you mentioned that the trailer should be level when you load or unload it... very important tip that I see a lot of people overlook

In Germany back in the old days we had to transport our army tanks by rail when we traveled long distances. The tracks were so wide they hung over each side of the flatbed cars by about 8". If you were driving the first tank to load in your company, you had to drive it along all 17 cars. The worst part was dropping the nose of the tank into the gap between the car you were coming off as you onloaded onto the next car. Anyway, the reason I remembered this was we used exactly those ties you recommend people not use today. And even though we actually wired the handles closed, I think the ratcheting style people use today are far safer.

Good point about not loading in Park mode (actually not a gear, but a parking pawl), I'd never heard of it before. This is why I watch your videos, you are just about the only guy that knows stuff that I don't.

12:50 "BASS ACKWARD" was that on purpose or a dyslexia moment. by the way great video. always great info.

I’ve never had any issues with transmissions from loading equipment in park. Been doing it for 15 years and no tranny problems. Just go nice and easy.

A death wobble can also be caused by using truck tires instead of trailer tires on your trailer.

Always have to load a boat on a hill.

I use a Weight Safe hitch for my large boat and flat bed trailer. My tongue weight varies from 700 lbs to 1800 lbs fully loaded. Great invention.

I remember loading a 4 ton mini ex onto a 20 footer hooked up to a 7.3 (on a hill) when I was a pup. About halfway onto the trailer it picked the back tires of the truck up and away I went. Truck and trailer started rolling down the hill with me in the ex going with it. I was on a long 200 ft driveway with a drop off to either side. Luckily I was able to pull the ex onto the trailer completely and set the truck back down but not before I rolled a good 10-15 feet. Puckered me up real good lol.