Tons Of FUN!


vato loco

vato loco

Just a Foolish Saint!
I title this job, "TON'S OF FUN!" I caught the tail end of the move! The Pic's Say's it all! All the guys were soak in sweat and ate their fare share of Tums.

This took place off of SR52 in florida! It was at the old feed mill siding! I'm suprised the old siding tracks held!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
some more pic's, wish I could have got better pic's , but with all the equipment and people running all over I thought it best to not get in the way!
 
In about 1987 I was coming home from a late meeting in Seffner, Fl. & I was on hwy.39. I got up to about the area of Ft.Green & there was a lowboy trailer w/a giant transformer stuck crossways on the road. I pulled over & asked what happened. They said the guy was backing up to the transformer yard & the tractor went off the pavement to make the turn. Well, the rear tires(3 axle tractor) on the tractor was completely off the ground & the trailer was sitting right on top of the hump in the middle of the road. There was no way to go around either pc. of equipment. They told me I would have to go back to the next intersection(about 25 miles) or wait for the crane to show up. Well, this was about 7pm & about 11:30pm the crane showed up.
It took about another 2 hrs for them to lift the transformer up enough for the trailer to move.
After they swung the transformer around close to the fenced in area where it was supposed to go in the 1st place, they had to move the crane closer to where it was going to be set. After another 2 moves it was placed.
The 1st move wasn't safe. The ground kept giving way under the outriggers.
I left about 3 in the morning & headed home. I wasn't going to miss any of the action by turning around & going back. I then had another 45 miles to go to get home.
They told me that the transformer came off a train in Tampa & the same crane had unloaded it & was on the way to Ocala when it was turned around.
Larry
 
vato loco said:
... I'm suprised the old siding tracks held!
Click to expand...

Since the 400000 lbs of weight is spread over 16 wheels rather than the usual 8, the rails can handle it. Each wheel exerts the same force as a loaded 100-ton hopper car.

BTW - excellent pix! :cool:
 
What I watched was just neat! the tree and men gave the actual perspective on the size of the unit! the trailer had six axles in the front and another 6 in the back and they turned with the truck to make those tight curves down the road! The transfer was done the same way they pick up a house and put it on a trailer! I was impressed! And No I wouldn't want that on my foot either!
 
Wow, I'm amazed. That's a combination transformer breaker that will be filled with cooling oil when it gets on site. The cooling oil alone will weight about 70,000 pounds, with is why they ship them filled with nitrogen to keep any moisture from forming on the inside. One of those things, when I was in the business, was about $2.5 million and I imagine they've gone up since then. I've never seen them use a power forklift to transfer one of these from a railcar to a truck. It was always with at least two hydraulic boom cranes with a large forklift to keep it centered on the trailer bed. I don't know who had the contract on this one but that is about the sloppiest, most backwoods way I've ever seen to handle a very expensive (and delicate) piece of equipment.
 
They should have used a crane but I didn't see any in the pictures, just the power forklift. The transformer has lift rings on the top just for something like this and it's meant to be lifted from the top, not skid loaded. If I was the customer, I wouldn't be happy looking at those pictures.
 
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