How would you explain this to your TM in a phone call?
its not clear in this pic but there is a sloping cement wall that finishes just below the bottom of the fridge unit with trees above the wall.
I’m guessing the driver went to turn the unit and trailer round and thought it was shorter than it was.
I think it might go something like… As I look out my cab I can see a queue of traffic. They all want me to get out the way.
Er Boss…you’re never gonna guess where that bloody agency driver left my fridge 
this close coupling just isnt going to work 
Wouldnt he be calling ze boss?
I have no doubt about it wouldn’t be a conversation in English…
I’m thinking, drop trailer where it is. Then get a forklift or something (telehandler) to straighten the trailer up and reconnect?
Bung the forky / farmer a few notes. Then home in time for tea?
thelorryist:
I’m thinking, drop trailer where it is. Then get a forklift or something (telehandler) to straighten the trailer up and reconnect?
Bung the forky / farmer a few notes. Then home in time for tea?
Yep, that’s a good idea and one that’s appealing to driver and TM alike.
But what will happen is, they’'ll drop the trailer, they’ll knack it trying to move it with a forklift, shove it further into the hedge and bend the legs. Then when they realise they can’t budge it, (or the police get impatient) they’ll call for recovery. The wrecker lads will turn up and the first thing they’ll say is
“Put the tractor back under it”.
As ultimately, the recovery job is far harder without the tractor unit to winch off.
But of course, now the forklift has shoved the trailer around, they can’t get the tractor back under it.
The Phantom Pin Puller strikes again! Turning a straight forward winch out into a headache arse of a job (and a reasonable bill into a big one).
We get quite a few jobs that would have been straight forward if not for a helpful farmer/forkie who’d tried to pull or lift a vehicle out and just made the job 10 times harder. Such as milk tankers that have dropped a couple of wheels off the side of the road. Straight winch back the same way it went in usually does the job. But then a helpful farmer chains it to a Fastrac and tries to tow it out forwards, only to pull it further in, or even topple it over (this is not uncommon).
Another job we did, one of our continental cousins got lost, and pulled their artic into a FIELD to turn around. Right in to the middle of the field then got stuck. All that was required was for one man in a wrecker to park on the road by the gateway and winch the artic back to the gate, about 30 mins work.
But no, our intrepid road warrior pulled the pin, dropped the trailer in the field so he could drive the unit out. So now winching it out isn’t an option, as it’ll knack the trailer legs. Can’t back a unit back under it 'cos the driver chewed all the ground up getting himself out. Couldn’t get a unit under it anyway because the trailer legs had sunk in the mud. We had to put the wrecker in the field, part driving, part winching the wrecker backwards using the trailer as an anchor, lift the trailer out of the ground then winch the whole lot back out of the field with another wrecker. About 4 hours work for 2 men and 2 wreckers.
Moral of the story is…
Look boss it’s not my fault! You told me to turn around and come straight back.
What about dropping the trailer where it is and then reconecting the tractor unit from this side. Don’t know where this is or if that’s possible but it sure is a right mess which I’m struggling to understand how he got into it.
mick.mh2racing:
What about dropping the trailer where it is and then reconecting the tractor unit from this side.
How about not dropping the trailer 
The back of the unit isn’t up against the wall, but the front is.
Put a little left hand lock on the unit and winch the unit forward. Get the unit as close to a jack-knife as possible, so it’s just missing the trailer side.
The trailer will move backwards from the wall as the unit comes forward.
If it doesn’t, chain the trailler chassis halfway down the os and winch the trailer (and arse of unit) backwards from the wall.
Then winch unit forward.
Professional recovery would have that out of there in no time, with no damage. Half an hours work. £100 plus travelling time.
The reverse of what got him into that position should get him out, are people too stupid to think of that these days?
waynedl:
The reverse of what got him into that position should get him out, are people too stupid to think of that these days?
HALT !! The voice of a wheel attendant speaks,
flat to the mat:
waynedl:
The reverse of what got him into that position should get him out, are people too stupid to think of that these days?HALT !! The voice of a wheel attendant speaks,
My thought as well.
At least he’s trying to wind the legs fully up just in case VOSA turn up
Foxstein:
At least he’s trying to wind the legs fully up just in case VOSA turn up
Ah, that’s where he went wrong, they are definitely down in that photo.
Can’t honestly see how he managed to get into that situation quite so badly, I suspect either a setup or maybe a thief who would try anything.
How anyone could think you could screw an artic round in that space is beyond me.
It’s better to drive 10 mile down the road to find a suitable turning point than damage the tackle or as in this case get completely stuck.
I’ve always thought I was too nervous of the minimum space needed to screw it round, maybe not
jessicas dad:
flat to the mat:
waynedl:
The reverse of what got him into that position should get him out, are people too stupid to think of that these days?HALT !! The voice of a wheel attendant speaks,
My thought as well.
Well, firstly, it’s not me in that position 
Secondly, I’ve had to recover vehicles from that position or worse.
And thirdly, why do you think that statement is wrong? Anything you can get an artic into, you can get it out of, simples. And with that many people to watch you, it should be a piece of ■■■■
Fair enough I will bow to your better judgement
jessicas dad:
Fair enough I will bow to your better judgement
A wise choice Mr Dad, Mr WayneDL speaks from experience (experience of getting them out, not getting them stuck ).
Usually the best course of action is to bring them out the same way they went in.
waynedl:
And with that many people to watch you, it should be a piece of ■■■■
And there’s always someone watching! We were doing a job at the arse end of no-where. Even the sheep had got bored and buggered off it was that cold an windy.
Then this picture turns up here on Truck Net:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66301&hilit=simmo
He he, just goes to show, you dunno who’s watching
The unit looks like it’s already reached the point where it’s connected it’s left rear corner of the cab with the side of the trailer ?.So going back using the same line it went in isn’t an option.It can’t use any left hand lock going back because of the front right hand corner against the wall.It can’t go forwards because of the length of the trailer will mean the trailer has to go backwards as it goes round but the road looks narrower than the overall length of the trailer unless there’s nothing behind it. 
So the phone call to the guvnor would be along the lines of I’m in a tight spot at the moment but I’ve got an idea of how to get out of it but it’s going to mean dropping the trailer in the middle of the road and then driving a few miles on a detour to get back the other side of the trailer because it’s blocking the road from this direction.Oh and by the way I forgot to report the damage that was on the rear corner of the unit and side of the trailer before I left the yard.
That’s when he realises that the left hand landing leg seems to be jammed against the side of the unit near the back wheel and there’s no way of straightening the trailer up to re couple it without damaging the landing legs anyway.