tonyw:
… don’t forget to look up for those electric/telephone wires
and remember that the diff lock is to get you out of trouble not into it …
Excellent advice!
I stand corrected; the follow paragraph is pure donkey twaddle… Please read Tonyw’s post HERE:
Sniper, if you ever get the ■■■■ tangled in electricity cables then remember to jump out of the cab - and jump well clear. Don’t climb out of the cab - as you run the risk of earthing yourself when you touch the cab and the ground - and if those cables are 10,000+ volts it could hurt!
I know Health & Safety says “Don’t jump down from your cab…” - but this scenario is the exception to that rule!
Remember to try and tip on level ground too. I know this is sometimes difficult. If you’re unsure - but have no choice - then raise the ■■■■ slowly and watch the rams. If you see (or hear) the rams going sideways then it’s probably wise to abort the tip, lower the ■■■■ and re-think the situation. It’s surprising just how little sideways movement of a full ■■■■ is needed to tip over when you’re on uneven ground. These high winds don’t help either!
Day 3 and I’m loving it again
The sun has come out, the wind and rain is gone and i’m on a simple muckaway job rom one site to another, tip, and back again.
Easy job. What could go wrong.
Nothing
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Until the last tip of the day.
Went and snapped a half shaft!!!
(to be confirmed when truck recovered tomorrow morning)
Sniper, if you ever get the ■■■■ tangled in electricity cables then remember to jump out of the cab - and jump well clear. Don’t climb out of the cab - as you run the risk of earthing yourself when you touch the cab and the ground - and if those cables are 10,000+ volts it could hurt!
NO NO NO promise me now that you will never ever do that some voltages can jump further than you can and anyway some poor git has to jump back in to the cab to move it or some other mug might try to hang a chain on it to drag it off personally I would get the nearset 360 to push it off
Just dont panic, keep calm, if you have driven into it, reverse away from it, if you have tipped into it, lower the body, as long as you are in the wagon you are relatively safe, ■■■■■■■■ yourself but safe, please dont jump
In 1968/9 ish at Allerton Park Knaresborough when the A59 bridge over the the A1 was being built a guy got hung up on the electric wires and jumped and all they found were the metal eyelets from his boots and the split rings and washers of the back of the buttons on his overalls the poor lad just vaporised as 500 000 volts went through him
Sniper, if you ever get the ■■■■ tangled in electricity cables then remember to jump out of the cab - and jump well clear. Don’t climb out of the cab - as you run the risk of earthing yourself when you touch the cab and the ground - and if those cables are 10,000+ volts it could hurt!
NO NO NO promise me now that you will never ever do that some voltages can jump further than you can and anyway some poor git has to jump back in to the cab to move it or some other mug might try to hang a chain on it to drag it off personally I would get the nearset 360 to push it off
…
In 1968/9 ish at Allerton Park Knaresborough when the A59 bridge over the the A1 was being built a guy got hung up on the electric wires and jumped and all they found were the metal eyelets from his boots and the split rings and washers of the back of the buttons on his overalls the poor lad just vaporised as 500 000 volts went through him
Tony
Blimey!
Thanks for the correction! The first time I started on tippers I was told to jump clear - so from that I take it the person who told me wanted me vaporised!
I’ve flagged my so-called “advice” in my post above to reflect your correction…
As they say - you learn something new every day! Thanks!
Hi all
Ive been driving 8 wheelers now since i was 21 (3 years ago im still a kid i know) just thought id try and give some tips to stay safe aswell.
First and formost always check out your entry route on soft ground and make sure you can get in and out with ease as the trucks got far less traction when empty, also if you do engage your diff and cross locks always remember to dis-engage them, ive had the diffs go before and believe me the gaffer was’nt happy. When tipping I always take a quick look at the back of the wagon when i open the tail gate just for peice of mind that the wagon’s (fairly) level, if you can’t help but have to tip on the pee then send her up half way then shunt forward to get some weight off then fire it right up but always be totally focused on whats going on (I turn the radio off and put the phone down). Most importantly remember you are the driver and you are the one risking going over if you let the dozer driver bully you into tipping where he wants you to, I was banned from a tip last week for not tipping where he wanted due to it being totally un-safe, I think they sometimes do it to see how much bottle youve got. Take your time in the quaries they are dangerous places and at the end of the day what dont get done dont get done, its not worth damaging your pride and your wagon for the sake of that extra load, you will only be let off with smashing the truck so many times then its goodbye to tipper driving for you im afraid.
One last thing if you have’nt already got one then pester your boss for a good solid steel rope chain, mines got me out of a few sticky situations, I never let the machines push me out on the pusher bar since a 360 went through my back door so keep safe and just be careful, comon sense is always the best policy. Hope its been some help and more importantly…HAVE FUN
Some interesting reading and good advice
for drivers working with tippers and that was terrible
what happened to that guy(vaporised as 500 000 volts
went through him …)
rang for a job in our local paper tonight to find out its tipping but you gota be experienced he said ah well, i hate being out of work since i jacked my job last week when i was told to take out a 18 tonner i had put off road or else
Hello Sniper, pleased its going well for you,i have been on tippers
for 14 months now and still learning all the time.
Im working at Partney bypass in Lincs at the moment and last Friday
undone my sheet, rolled it over, tipped, check for stones in wheels, get paperwork signed close door and off down the A158 in the wind and like
a idiot i did not secure my sheet and it was in a field 20 feet from the road.
Did i feel a right one going in the field to retieve it with fellow drivers
giving me a blast on the air horns , i can laugh now, but at the time i was so mad with my self as it could have easy hit someone, so i learnt a lesson
and that will never happen again.
Nothing more broken
I am beginning to get the hang of it now. I’m getting a good mix of quarry work and muckaway.
On the downside I did get stuck on site today and had to phone for another truck to pull me out!!!
Although to be fair, if I had a diff lock (I’ve got the one on the fleet that hasn’t) I would have been able to get myself out.
The ribbing has started from the fitters. I got in this morning to find they had made me a new nameplate. Semtex (cos i’m always destroying things)
But they are a great bunch of lads.
Everyone has said that I am driving the truck no one else wants to (cos of the lack of diff lock) but as a newbie that is expected.
Good to hear it Semtex . Personally I went through a phase of being called Scud, becaue “you destroy wherever you land.” The [zb] even had it vinyled on the front of the thing. Week after I gave my notice. Saw the Merc the other day, it’s still got it on the front. The driver had no idea why it was their. He does now .
just to add my bit. if you think its not safe to tip THEN DONT. i have made the 360 driver level an area for me to tip before i would consider it. If they want to ban you from site then just ask for the h & s rep. You do not want to be in one of them buggers when they fall over trust me. Always look up before you tip. If, as has been said you hit a cable, any cable, do not get out of the cab. And dont assume its a telephone cable. Can you really tell the difference? Always tip fro the cab. if perchance the thing does turn over the cab is the safest place to be. Never be afraid to ask if you are not sure. Tipper drivers are the most helpful bunch I have ever come across, even the OD’s will stop and help if you are in trouble. Get used to the slip sliding. Its normal in this job, minor damage is an occupational hazard. You should see my trailer overtaking the cab coming out of some quarries
Most of all enjoy it. It really is good fun and a tremendous bunch of people. It is a bit easier in summer though
Glad to see your getting the hang of things semtex (you’ve got to expect some stick of us nasty lot)
As nessa said if you dont feel safe to tip then DONT
Another trick to watch out from in some of these dodgy tips is if you are tipping on the pee, watch out for machine drivers who think they are being helpfull by shoving there bucket up with you on the side of the body, ill be honest and say ive done this a few times witch i no is bad practice but yesterday was the last time id allow it to happen when a machine driver got his bearings a bit muddled up and nearly shoved me over, it was only saved because i managed to drop the body as quick as possible.
I was handed the keys to a brand new scanny 8 wheeler last week and touch wood hav’nt marked it YET or have i got it bogged down, being very carful to say the least, one last bit of advice, if your on muckshifting id take a guess that you are tipping on previously tipped muck thats been levelled by a blade, this is the worst stuff to drive on and the easiest way to pull a diff out or your propshaft, so when your backing up to where you have to tip and its soft ground dont go at it like a bull in a china shop just give it about 1700-2000 RPM and keep your eye on the back wheels at all times, once it starts struggling you have gone far enough because remember if its hard getting back it will be even harder getting out due to loss of traction on the drive wheels after you’ve tipped your load even more so if your lorry has’nt got diff locks, you can also leave your body up half way once you’ve tipped this is abit naughty but if its safe to do so, will give you abit more weight on the back end to improve your traction, only do this if you know your exit route is fairly level ground though.
Anyway keep safe and ENJOY
You do not want to be in one of them [zb] when they fall over trust me
Is there something you should be telling us nessa. You hav’nt have you
One of our lads rolled one just before christmas but it was while he was on the road, some idiot if front of him decided he was just about to miss his turn, slammed his brakes on as hard as he could rather than carry on to turn around properly somewhere, along came MR fully loaded 32 tonne tipper round a blind bend to be confronted with a stationary car unable to make his right turn due to oncoming traffic and had to decide did the car get it or sould he put it into the bushes at the side of the road, he chose the bushes but was’nt expecting the 5 foot ditch on the other side of the hedge and down he went straight onto its side into a farmers field.
Well it was’nt to bad, no one was hurt apart from the truck but the part we could’nt help but smirk at was when he finally dragged himself out, there were two donkeys in the field that didnt take to kindly to him trespassing and started sizing him up, the only place him could find to get out of there way was on top of the lorry that was on its side, i think even the gaffer found it quite amusing.
His new nick name by the way is ROLL-LAND - rolland ( off of grange hill)
Really settling in now, havn’t broken anything this week.
I have been really lucky with this firm. The job wasn’t advertised and the drivers that are there have been there for years.
I think the laid back attitude of the bosses is also helps
When tipping I always take a quick look at the back of the wagon when i open the tail gate just for peice of mind that the wagon’s (fairly) level, if you can’t help but have to tip on the pee then send her up half way then shunt forward to get some weight off then fire it right up but always be totally focused on whats going on (I turn the radio off and put the phone down). Most importantly remember you are the driver and you are the one risking going over if you let the dozer driver bully you into tipping where he wants you to, I was banned from a tip last week for not tipping where he wanted due to it being totally un-safe, I think they sometimes do it to see how much bottle youve got. Take your time in the quaries they are dangerous places and at the end of the day what dont get done dont get done, its not worth damaging your pride 
I never let the machines push me out on the pusher bar since a 360 went through my back door 
so keep safe and just be careful, comon sense is always the best policy. Hope its been some help and more importantly…HAVE FUN 
. Personally I went through a phase of being called Scud, becaue “you destroy wherever you land.” The [zb] even had it vinyled on the front of the thing. Week after I gave my notice. Saw the Merc the other day, it’s still got it on the front. The driver had no idea why it was their. He does now 
