Your worst trailering story..................

[undergroundrmk]

Well it started out like a normal day got up fresh snow about a foot of fresh at the house so I knew about 2 or 3 feet in the mountains! So I walk out to the truck with all my gear as I am putting it in the back seat look at the front ramp door and note to self don't forget to latch it before taking off! I always leave it cracked open or it seems to freeze shut! So get it all hooked up remember camera at this point walk up to house look all over for it to no avail so go back down to truck dig thru the back seast finally find it by now running late so you can see where this is going! So jump in truck put it in gear make a u turn on to the road feel something funny you guessed it the door came open smack into a snowbank rip the 2 outside hinges clear off bend the other 2 man talk about pissed! You would think this is the end of the story but no it continues! Finally get it shut enough to park it! So I know it is going to be good so option 2 unhook enclosed back up to 2 place open dang latch won't latch so go to pulll up in the mean time get a call from buddies they are wondering where i'm at and Im holding up progress jump out of truck get machine out of truck pull the ramp out of trailer get back on snowmobile hit ramp and wam trailer hitch smacks truck smack in the midlle of the tailgate! good thing I did latch the break away chains or it would have been real ugly! So I;m sitting on trailer thinking this is a bad bad day!LOL But all I could do is laugh at myself I had none to blame but my dumbass! I finally made it to the parking lot and I thought thats it nothing else could go wrong but alas I was wrong I got stuck more times in that day than I have in the last 10 years! But the funny part was I still had a great day kinda costly but a bad day riding is better than any day sitting at home wishing you were riding LOL! Sorry kinda long but my worst day with trailers!

 

[chas57006]

bought a new 2 place trailer, in a hurry to get home, going about 85, when the empty tilt trailer has enough air going under it to flip up, once up, it was just like pulling a kite. wheels were off the ground for a little while.
No damage, but what a shocker. Always make sure tilt is locked down now.

 

[Evolution Powersports]

1997

Coming back to the twin cities from West Yellowstone.

Blizzard warning, Hwy 94 east bound closed at Dickinson

So instead of heeding the warnings of several dozen truckers at the truck stop, we fueled up and a caravan of three trucks with four place trailers decided we knew better than these truckers, and proceeded up to hit hwy 200 across North Dakota.

For the first 75 miles we were laughing at these know it all truckers for being so conservative.

That was until it got dark, and the plows got pulled off the roads completely.

Little drifts began forming on the highway, no big deal, punch right through them. Kept doing that for another hour or so, and then the wind kicked up to the point where we could hardly see the road, but we kept on going.

Soon the drifts started getting to the point where you could really feel the vehicle slowing down and almost getting stuck, but we kept going.

About midnight, the lead truck hit a drift and never came back down. At this point the wind is blowing 45+ mph, and you had to wear a snowmobile helmet and goggles to walk up to the truck infront of you to communicate.

So there we were One truck + trailer stuck up in a 4+ drift that measured 1,000' long and about a foot of snow on the road to boot. We were totally screwed. You could not see 5' in any direction. You could not back up these trialers or turn around in the highway, drifts formed around the "non stuck" trucks and trialers within 15 minutes.

So we sat there in the middle of Hwy 200 idling for a few hours. We figured no big deal, we had just fueled up all the trucks, had another 30 gallons of diesel fuel, if we played our cards right, we could wait this thing out. The younger guys in our group got tired of waiting and wanted to unload sleds and make a run for it. I said "run where?, you cannot see 5' infront of you, chances are you will hit a barbed wire fence, or drop off into a ditch,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, nobody is going anywhere, we all stay with the vehicles"

Then a farmer appeared at the far end of the snow drift that I had just crossed by foot. He had a 10'x8' three stage snow blower hooked up to a huge tractor. He blew a path right up to the stuck truck, and proceeded to pull all of the trucks through the drift down into the path on the hwy.

He sized our group up and said "I would offer you guys a place to stay for the night, but I have a 16,18,20 year old girls, and you P.U.S.S hounds are not getting 100 yards from the farm house". He proceeded to direct us to a hotel in Harvey? (I think that was the name of the town)

That was the famous blizzard of 1997 and I still can picture standing down in the path of where the snowblower carved a path in this drift, and watching the tractor pull the truck and trailer that was stuck 5' above the road.

It took us two more days to get home because the roads had drifts up to the BOTTOM of the bridge decks on the highways that needed to be cleared.

Hey Jeff, its Jim Z. I remember you telling me this story on our way back from Cooke City back in 1999. How have you been?

I assume your still riding out west?

 

[Evolution Powersports]

Last year - Going to Colorado the day after Christmas, whole family loaded up, 24' enclosed trailer, 3/4 ton diesel crew cab for tow vehicle - 1:00am, Nebraska, winds gusting out of the North at 40mph, a blizzard had just passed through the area a day prior so snow was blowing across the road in sheets - all in the sudden, we hit a stretch of ice and we start doing uncommanded lane changes. Some how, I manage to keep it on the road.

Just about the same thing every year - same conditions, same wind - but the misery of the trip out is forgotten by the next year and we do it all over again. We are doing it again this Christmas - I am sure it will be the same

 

[Qreiff]

A couple years back I was leaving the Denver area heading to Snowmass with my 27ft. Wells Cargo Silver Sport (Alum. frame) pulling with my '01 Dodge diesel. I was going to Snowmass to work for a few days at a custom cabinetry project I was involved in.

My trailer was full of freshly finished, custom cabinet doors and various finish hardware along with my sled, which was up front in the nose of the trailer. I had my sled because the plan was to head to Steamboat lake and the Colorado - Snowest ride after my work was complete in Snowmass.

As I was leaving Denver on I-70 heading west the winds were crazy. 60-75 MPH gusts depending on location and I was getting tossed around like a rag doll. My "wind pilot" had me doing 5 - 6 ft lane swerves. Everyone around me appreciated my driving skills at the time, I'm sure.

Just as I past the C-470 overpass, I take another huge gust from the west (right) side of the rig and my fingers tighten a bit more. I'm thinking to myself...."if I can just get passed Georgetown, I've got it made". White knuckled, I glance in my driver side rear view mirror and the large, chrome center -V-nose section is at a 45 degree angle.......maybe a bit more. Passenger side tires were off the ground 3+ ft.

I'm pretty sure a drop or two of urine squirted out and about that time and I slammed the gas pedal through the firewall. Given 'er all the diesel had......I'm sure it was only about 2-3 seconds and the wheels came back to terra firma........but it felt like an eternity. I pulled on up the hill to the Morrison exit and pulled off into the T-Rex lot and had to get out and walk around a bit. Shaken.....not stirred.

In full panic I unlocked the side door to check out the damage....and much to my surprise, NOT ONE THING MOVED AN INCH!!

Cabintry parts perfect.........sled perfect.......trailer perfect. Undergarments lightly soiled.

Friggin' wind!

 

[SLDHVN]

towing my 26ft enclosed up an icy hill covered in 2 ft of pow to get into the parking lot, im thinkin"better keep my momentum or i will get to play with the chains today..."

a few seconds later i come around the corner half way up the hill and some idiot is flyin down at me in a ford excursion...

the guy slams on the brakes and whips the excursion sideways and i had no choice but to t bone him in the back quarter panel, my truck and trailer slid about 3 feet back.

our vehicles ended up with the driver windows side by side(perfect CHATTING distance) im pretty sure i about ripped my window button off trying to roll it down while screamin at this friggin dipstick

the worst part is, i gave a hobo ten bucks earlier in the day trying to be nice and get some good karma for riding, that worked out well didnt it

 

[sdsnocop]

As a Game, Fish & Parks Officer we are suppose to be perfect and lead a good example to the public. However sht happens to us too. I had just picked up a 21 foot patrol boat from the body shop that was doing some hull painting. I had turned a corner and accelerated with my patrol vehicle. I heard a thump and looked in my mirror to see the patrol boat skidding down the highway behind me. I was right in front of a busy truck stop for everyone to see. I had forgot to check the winch cable and safety chain after the body shop did the work. The worst part was 2 days later I arrested a guy for boating under the influence, he looked at me and said "hey you were the one you dumped the boat on the highway, and you think what I am doing is dangerous!". Talk about embarassing.

 

[Evolution Powersports]

One thing I must say: I believe the thing that saved my butt multiple times is the cam sway control i have on my weight distributing hitch. For those of you who have never used one, it makes a huge difference in how much the wind can sway your trailer. Instead of having the hinge point at the rear bumper, it basically locks the trailer in a straight line behind the truck so the trailer can't get out of line. Its like having 40' of wheels on the ground in a straight line - it is hard (but not impossible) to upset it.

 

[Qreiff]

I was using my sway control on my "incident" day. Once the dust settled it was a quite bent with a slight twist but, still operational.

 

[Skogen]

This happened a couple years ago. Ground was frozen, fertilizer trucks had been going up and down it all morning. Driver wanted to just take a big run at the hill vs. chaining up or getting a tug up by a challenger. Had a load of big bread heifers on. I will say, unloading those girls on the hillside, and feeling that trailer shift sucked....

Wade Pretending he was HeMAN...

Carnahanns from GF's giving us a tow up the hill...

I have some pictures and video of a bullwagon that flipped over at Avon MT on the corner, went 1/2 mile down the guard rail. But those are awfully horrible pictures. Kid went throught he corner to fast, calves shifted, flipped over on his top. 74 calves on, 6 were salvaged.

 

[hatchers]

Trailered up to a spot 40 mins from my house, opened the trailer to get geared up and thought "no Fin way"......forgot to put a sled in the trailer, drove home, got sled, returned

 

[MORSNO]

Trailered up to a spot 40 mins from my house, opened the trailer to get geared up and thought "no Fin way"......forgot to put a sled in the trailer, drove home, got sled, returned

#1 story so far!

 

[PJ-Hunter]

This one time at Sled Camp......

I walked in the trailer door and this dude was tagging a quite hefty sledder chick who had a Polaris two-up. She was rocking the Grannie panties and had cottage cheese thighs that were large enough to scare the Jolly Green Giant. I have no idea how he manged to get that one-piece riding suit down. I gouged my eyes out with a spark plug that was nearby.