is it even legal?

tn terry t

Well-known Member
my son and I have been out looking at tractors. what ive noticed is people are securing tractors with 3 and 4 inch nylon straps. so we bought a new Kubota m7060 and the dealer delivered it yesterday on a rollback truck. yep you guessed it they had it tied down with ratchet straps is this legal?
 
Really don't know the answer to your
question about legality of ratchet
straps but I use them here in Alabama
when I'm transporting my tractors and
equipment, never been pulled over about
it and they are supposed to be rated
better than a chain. But when I haul my
backhoe I chain it down, makes me feel
better
 

Terry, this question is on the every-other-month YT schedule and every time it comes up it goes for a week with many posts. The main thing to remember about chains vs. straps is that many many guys will post wrong information. I finally cut and pasted multiple pages from the USDOT-FSMCA website. The short answer is that straps are legal for ALL loads except for big boulders. The laws give the truck owner and operator credit for enough smarts to replace worn straps and to slip protectors over them if they are going to be subject to wear. The protector are available pretty much wherever you buy straps. The part about wrong information goes for pretty much all trucking law topics
 
Ratchet straps are like chains in that they
are available in a wide variety of strength
or load ratings. Perfectly legal if proper
load rated for load hauled and properly
used.
 
In my line of work we see it all the time , oddly enough so
long as it's rated enough for the cargo it is legal..

I can tell you one thing , when a guy shows up to load rig
matting on a bush move and thinks he is tying down with 4"
straps they get informed on what happens to straps when they
are shock loaded such as if you spin out on a hill or have a
sudden stop. You wind up playing 52 pickup with rig matting.

It's chains only in a case like that. Strangely enough our
company won't make a policy on the matter because the DOT
regs state that straps are fine so long as they are applied to
the ten foot rule (1 strap every 10') and the combined rating of
all the straps used equals or is greater than the payload.
 
thank you guys for your time and answers. I should have done a better job researching the question.
 
Yea ya can use straps if rating is enough , BUT straps can ware thru from sharp edges and vibration from wind . Since i am old and follow the old rule on hauling and that is it take IRON TO HAUL IRON . . I will use straps to haul hay and straw , plastic pipe or it is specified for the load and at the points of contact edge protectors / rubber belting . At one time i hauled huge concrete pipe 10 and a half foot in dia. and 30 foot long and weighed in at over 70000 lbs and it had to be Strapped no chains . First one we did like the rest just throw the straps over it one strap ever three foot , yep 10 straps over it , a vary top heavy load , When the load was unloaded and i was rolling up my straps every one was frayed and now junk . How long those straps would have lasted had i had to go haul in more miles , I have no idea . This was going to be a on going haul and we had to come up with a way not to destroy 4 inch straps on every load . We got some heavy rubber belting and made up strips 8 inches wide to go over the pipe then put the straps over that . But i never felt comfortable with the straps as i have had straps fail and if you look along the roads you will see broken straps laying . Yes i have had G 70 chains break due to trailer flex panic stops .
 
tractor vet I'am with you, IRON TO HAUL IRON......CHAIN A ROLLING LOAD, I am not going to haul my dozers or track-hoe or back hoe;s with out chaining them on my trailer, dont have any 4'' strapes
 
(quoted from post at 11:59:17 08/03/17) tractor vet I'am with you, IRON TO HAUL IRON......CHAIN A ROLLING LOAD, I am not going to haul my dozers or track-hoe or back hoe;s with out chaining them on my trailer, dont have any 4'' straps
oh im with yall on this im not hauling my tractors with straps either. I was just wondering if it was legal to use the straps thanks again
 
I like the light weight of straps as well as their convenience, but I also cannot afford to keep replacing them all the time. So for me, I usually depend on chains for holding the bulk of the load, and then augment with straps.

I'll use ONLY straps when going over more fragile surfaces or where the holding force needs to be spread out (surface area of straps vs. chains).
 
The dealer probably does not want to deal with customer complaints about brand new tractors and equipment delivered with scratched paint. They may have it in their budget to replace the straps regularly or as soon as they start to show wear.
 
I have been trucking most of my life and Showcrop has the right answer. I have seen a lot of wrong info on here, but he has it right.
 
I don't know about everywhere but I can't picture it being illegal. A 3" strap is rated at more than 5000 lbs. That is roughly the weight of the Kubota so two straps should be more than enough.
 
I always strap/chain things down as though I expect to be in an accident. Reason being, if my load comes loose under the additional G-forces of an accident, I don't want my load killing someone else. If in an accident, there will be a brief moment where that 5,000 lb. tractor could weigh much, much more.
 
(quoted from post at 01:16:53 08/04/17) I always strap/chain things down as though I expect to be in an accident. Reason being, if my load comes loose under the additional G-forces of an accident, I don't want my load killing someone else. If in an accident, there will be a brief moment where that 5,000 lb. tractor could weigh much, much more.

KCM, you are actually doing the minimum. Holding in an overturn or a major front end impact is what the regs are based on.
 
its not just a question of "leagle" i use straps on my light tractors too, [ below 3500 lbs] but never on the heavies, it may be leagle, but the question for me is if i have some joker pull out in front of me, or get in a accident, do i really want a big heavy tractor possibly breaking loose and installing itself in the back of my truck? big tractor use chains and binders
 
(quoted from post at 16:08:18 08/07/17) its not just a question of "leagle" i use straps on my light tractors too, [ below 3500 lbs] but never on the heavies, it may be leagle, but the question for me is if i have some joker pull out in front of me, or get in a accident, do i really want a big heavy tractor possibly breaking loose and installing itself in the back of my truck? big tractor use chains and binders

Eric, the manufacturers of the straps have to make them to stand up to their rated load just as the manufacturers of chains do. If a joker pulls out in front of you and your chains are too light they will fail just the same as a strap that is too light will fail. The person chaining them down is responsible for the condition of his straps just as he is for his chains. It is not the material that the load restraint is made of it is how they are made. and what tests and ratings they meet. My loads are far safer with 20,000 lb straps than with 10,000 lb chains.
 
(quoted from post at 06:05:26 08/05/17)
(quoted from post at 01:16:53 08/04/17) I always strap/chain things down as though I expect to be in an accident. Reason being, if my load comes loose under the additional G-forces of an accident, I don't want my load killing someone else. If in an accident, there will be a brief moment where that 5,000 lb. tractor could weigh much, much more.

KCM, you are actually doing the minimum. Holding in an overturn or a major front end impact is what the regs are based on.

*hehe* You haven't seen how many chains and straps I use!

A couple years back, we were hauling a mis-matched load of building materials, ladders, tools, hot tub, and my Pasquali tractor down to Arkansas. Got over 1,000 miles and then ended up on this long downhill run. Traffic was fairly heavy (right before Christmas) and it was dark, and what few exits there were were cram packed with traffic. On a long downhill run, a small red car cut in front of us and I slammed on the brakes. Didn't realize it at the time, but the new brake controller was the wrong type, which only added to the troubles. Anyway, ended up losing electric brakes and had to jackknife the trailer into our truck to stop. Hardly any of the load moved at all! Even the little tractor was still right there, right where I put it - only a bit flattened, as the trailer had rolled over itself during all the madness. Pretty much ruined every chain and strap I had, but the load was amazingly intact!

Before I married my somewhat-paranoid wife, I would only do the minimum. Now, I go overboard - and now I know why! :shock: Spent about 2 weeks solid just tying down that load!
 
Where do you get a 4" ratchet strap that is rated at 20,000 lbs.? The best 4" ratchet strap that US Cargo Control has the same WLL rating
as a 3/8" grade 70 chain.
 
(quoted from post at 23:05:21 08/07/17) Where do you get a 4" ratchet strap that is rated at 20,000 lbs.? The best 4" ratchet strap that US Cargo Control has the same WLL rating
as a 3/8" grade 70 chain.

Lodi Metals Belleville Ohio. has 24,000 lb. rating. The whole point here is that we should not be trying to convince newbies that chain is good, straps bad. The wise informed transporter knows his equipment AND the laws and uses properly rated and applied restraints. The Newbie who, instead of consulting the correct authority, finds a forum to ask his question, and is told repeatedly "use chains, not straps and you will be OK" is headed for a headache.
 
i went to Lodi Metals site and their best 4" ratchet strap has a WLL rating of 5,670 # . A 3/8 Grade 70 chain has a WLL rating of
6,600# . When you are buy chains or straps you go by the WLL rating. WLL (work load limit]. Dot goes by Wll rating not the BS rating.
 
As mentioned previously, the accident I was in resulted in the trailer fishtailing wildly for quite some time (lots of G-forces!), plus that the trailer rolled over and then righted itself before jackknifing into the tow vehicle. In the process of rolling over, the trailer tongue twisted and the trailer hitch came completely off the trailer and was still hanging from the tow vehicle.

Again, this little tractor (only 1,500 est.) stayed exactly where I had planted it on the load. Any straps that went over the top were long-gone, but the worst of the chains only wore through half their thickness. So no matter what ANYONE tells me, I know that in any situation where rubbing or friction-skidding is concerned, steel will ALWAYS win out over fabric.

Most every strap I had on that load was completely scrapped, yet only one chain needed to be replaced, and actually hasn't yet been as I just used it to help tie down a Gehl 4625 SX skid loader. And no, wasn't using this in any sort of primary holding capacity!! I just haven't replaced much of those straps yet. Besides, I can get a lot more UMPH! from load binders and a cheater bar than I can from a small ratchet. ...And for those of you who say load binders should be outlawed (and ARE in some states!), the reason is the ability of the handle to pop open, loosening the load. Here's a pic I took of how I remove that problem. Most people will say to simply wrap the excess chain around the handle, but sometimes there's not enough chain to keep me comfortable. In this case there was ample chain, but I still chose to use multiple wraps of heavier baling twine, THEN wrapping the excess chain.

3136.jpg
 
if a trailer starts to fish tail hit the gas not the brakes once it settles down then your can start breaking also if you have trailer breaks if you don't panic and reach down and manually apply trailer breaks with slight throttle it will pull it self straight most people panic dive on the breaks swing the wheel left to right and wonder why there on there top commercial driver 35years no accidents 3 million miles I know what i.m talking about but tou right about chains on heavy loads
 
The handle on my binders is designed a little different than yours and I put a bolt through handle and link of chain. I than wrap rest of
chain around complete binder.
 
My dad always said: "You are responsible for securing your load." I always
figured if it came loose and came off, it wasnt secure and that was on me.
 

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