New twist on recieverless hitch

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Son sent me this,  saw it in a parking lot "Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:Funny, that pic was posted quite a few months ago....Check this thread.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...21#post5594321Just a couple welders, big hammers, grinders, and torches.Work will free you.Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it. Trump/Carson 2016-2024
Reply:Son must be fibbing"Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum"Lincoln Idealarc 250 AC/DCMillermatic 251   Syncrowave 300   30A spoolgunLincoln MP210Hypertherm 45(2) LN 25(2) Lincoln Weldanpower 225 CV(4) SA200   1 short hood    SA250    SAM 400
Reply:Originally Posted by kolotSon must be fibbing
Reply:This reminds me of the dumbest thing I ever did. Back when I was 17 or I had to go pick up a broken down 3/4 ton truck about 500 miles away. I drove there in a 3/4 ton truck and was going to rent a haul tow dolly or trailer when I was there to haul it home on. When I got there I found out that uhaul would not rent me one because they said the 3/4 ton was too heavy to fit on any of their dollies or trailers.Not to go home empty handed and drive 1000 miles for nothing I devised a plan. Both trucks had heavy duty receiver hitches with the ball mounts in them. I removed the balls from both trucks and backed them together and placed a grade 8  1-1/4" double nutted bolt through both of the ball mounts. I then proceeded to drive it home over 500 miles including going through downtown San Antonio. It actually pulled pretty well I just couldn't turn sharp. If the DOT man would have saw me I would probably still be under the jail and this was over 20 years ago. From time to time I think back about that and how stupid it was and how lucky I was to make it.
Reply:Hello Drilldo, I thought that I would have gotten more grief for one of my "tow" scenarios too. Especially because this tow originated in Sacramento, Ca. and ended about 50 miles north of Portland, Ore. But at the time it was more economical to build a hitch, install it, and then rent a truck and bobtail it down from Wa. make the pick-up and drag it back home. First scale that we had to stop at in Ca. not a word was said and no issues after that either. I will say though that the way that it was connected that we had all of the weight of the bus on the truck's hitch and also had the air brakes from the bus plumbed into the truck's braking system. Here's a photo pictorial to give a little better "look". Best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:In 1987 I bought a 1956 Power Wagon. Something was wrong with the brakes, It was easier to stiff hitch than fix brakes, register it and drive it home. I had a half ton Jeep pickup. A friend volunteered his Chevy 3/4 ton for the task. It was miserable! I fought the wheel the first ten miles. The tow vehicle wanted to leave the road, and jump into the river! Half way home something snapped! I could feel it get light, The back window was blocked, I couldn't find it. Not knowing whether the safety chains were attached or not, I didn't know whether to goose it to get out of the way or not. Ultimately I did. The truck crossed a busy highway at a spot where pretty much everything on both sides of the road were lined with parked cars. Miraculously it crossed the road twice running onto a lawn, by sheer coincidence the lawn was owned by friends. It crushed a lilac bush, turned back across Route 7 and stopped a few feet short of a historic stone building. I retired the broken stiff hitch, No it wasn't my weld, it broke mid tongue. It turned out the tow vehicle had a stuck brake drum on right rear.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Reply:Originally Posted by aevaldHello Drilldo, I thought that I would have gotten more grief for one of my "tow" scenarios too. Especially because this tow originated in Sacramento, Ca. and ended about 50 miles north of Portland, Ore. But at the time it was more economical to build a hitch, install it, and then rent a truck and bobtail it down from Wa. make the pick-up and drag it back home. First scale that we had to stop at in Ca. not a word was said and no issues after that either. I will say though that the way that it was connected that we had all of the weight of the bus on the truck's hitch and also had the air brakes from the bus plumbed into the truck's braking system. Here's a photo pictorial to give a little better "look". Best regards, Allan
Reply:Hello RJ Lindblom, a little history. This bus blew an engine just outside of Sacramento, it's an Eagle bus in a Greyhound class/type(Detroit 871). The front suspension on these is "torque tube" style and the axle is set quite a ways back from the front end. Overhaul of the engine at any local shops was prohibitive in cost at the time and when I checked on towing from any of the tow companies(WA. or CA.) their cost was pretty steep too. I had a sister to this bus at the shop in WA. allowing for fitting and sizing of the bolt-on hitch and after a little research and pulling in favors decided to build the hitch, hire a local driver, and make the trip to CA. to tow the unit back.The overhaul cost on site or the tow by a commercial company was so expensive that it was still cheaper to build the hitch, take a trip to CA. and install it and come back and then take a truck from WA. to CA. and tow it back. I know that's hard to believe but that's the way that it penciled out. It's hard to see in the photos, but there are blocks that clamp the hitch to the front suspension and are held in place by 16 - 1 1/4" grade 8 bolts. As I mentioned previously, I did plumb the brakes from the bus to the truck with a set of gladhands and also provided brake and turn signals via connection to the truck and a light bar at the rear of the bus. Weight of the bus was in the vicinity of #38,000 so that was one of the reasons for designing it to apply weight to the fifth wheel as opposed to just trying to "drag" it behind the truck. There is just no way that dragging that sort of weight is safe. Making the bus essentially a "trailer" also helped immensely with maneuverability and smoothing out the ride. So for those who were wondering(if anyone was), that's the story on this little gem. Best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:Originally Posted by kolotSon must be fibbing
Reply:Originally Posted by aevaldHello RJ Lindblom, a little history. This bus blew an engine just outside of Sacramento, it's an Eagle bus in a Greyhound class/type(Detroit 871). The front suspension on these is "torque tube" style and the axle is set quite a ways back from the front end. Overhaul of the engine at any local shops was prohibitive in cost at the time and when I checked on towing from any of the tow companies(WA. or CA.) their cost was pretty steep too. I had a sister to this bus at the shop in WA. allowing for fitting and sizing of the bolt-on hitch and after a little research and pulling in favors decided to build the hitch, hire a local driver, and make the trip to CA. to tow the unit back.The overhaul cost on site or the tow by a commercial company was so expensive that it was still cheaper to build the hitch, take a trip to CA. and install it and come back and then take a truck from WA. to CA. and tow it back. I know that's hard to believe but that's the way that it penciled out. It's hard to see in the photos, but there are blocks that clamp the hitch to the front suspension and are held in place by 16 - 1 1/4" grade 8 bolts. As I mentioned previously, I did plumb the brakes from the bus to the truck with a set of gladhands and also provided brake and turn signals via connection to the truck and a light bar at the rear of the bus. Weight of the bus was in the vicinity of #38,000 so that was one of the reasons for designing it to apply weight to the fifth wheel as opposed to just trying to "drag" it behind the truck. There is just no way that dragging that sort of weight is safe. Making the bus essentially a "trailer" also helped immensely with maneuverability and smoothing out the ride. So for those who were wondering(if anyone was), that's the story on this little gem. Best regards, Allan
Reply:Aveld  you basiclly built a tru-hitch towing aperatus under the bus.   You were a pioneer ahead of your time!   http://www.truhitch.com/Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Hi Dualie, I believe that I may have seen that very companies products(and they are nice), however, this was after the fact and had this been an everyday occurance it would have made sense to go with a system like theirs, but fortunately it wasn't and I don't believe that I would want to be in the business of something like this. Thanks and best regards, Allanaevald
Reply:When I was a kid, backhoes were fairly new. I live in a rural area. We didn't see construction on the scale we do today. Cellar holes were commonly dug with a bulldozer, but it was not unusual for them to be dug by hand. Sometimes horses were involved. The local IH dealer had a Farmal M fitted with the most fragile backhoe imaginable. digging a hole to bury a dog was an all day project! The first actual tractor/backhoe/loader was a Case, a local guy had one, his was probably a 1964 unit. He revolutionized the act of digging with this thing! For decades, he and all who followed moved them by setting the loader bucket over the tailgate on a single axle dump truck, and lifting the front wheels off the ground. The practice didn't stop until torque converters in the tractor caused damage if towed. I don't remember any accidents it caused beyond some buggered tailgates. I have a 9 ton trailer to move mine. The process is inherently dangerous. Ramps are steep, and often slippery. The sharp departure angle forces me to lift the hoe high until the rear wheels are on the ramps, making the front wheels weightless. Steering is done with brakes. Loading or unloading is much more hazardous if no level ground is available. A couple years ago my friend nearly went over backwards loading an antique tractor. He was quick thinking enough to push the clutch, moving the rear wheels out from under the engine. It made my heart beat very hard! He didn't admit until later it scared the $hit out of him too! I've long dreamed of a hitch like these. The tractor could sit with rear wheels on the ground, fronts several inches off the ground. It'd shave several thousand pounds of load off the truck. The whole thing could be 3 feet lower, no chain down needed.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.