was working by side of A80 early sat morning,4axle blue DAF95 pulled up with 4 axle low loader,picking up 35t tracked excavator,van arrived with plant firm’s driver,started to put machine on wagon,could see where it was going so me and mate stood watching,artic didn’t bother drop trailer neck,sideloaded it,got half way on then nearside track slipped off trailer bed,digger came off with a right clatter up!getting it back on he nearly put it off other side,would’ve been interesting as he’d have gone into live lane!wouldn’t it have been easier to drop trailer neck and drive straight on?space allowed it,easier on man and machine,but not as amusing for us!
to answer the question, in the circumstances you described, it would have been easier to split the trailer and put it on from the front.
but, if the driver knows what he is doing and is competant in driving the machine, sideloading is far quicker if done correctly 
Not that surprising he slipped off, a 35 tonner will have a wide footprint and there aint much room to sprag the thing round. It’s probably something they usually do without incident though and just had an off day. I can load plant all day without event but then get some awkward little roller or something stupid decide to do it’s utmost to kill me.
Still here though.
years ago, i worked for a heavy plant hire company as a fitter, occaisionally, i used to go out as drivers mate on the low loader, we used to load bulldozers and tracked excavators on/off the side, only once did i have one fall off 
on the other hand, i had a Terex TS14 twin engine motor scraper, rear engine went full throttle and launched the machine straight over the end of the trailer 
when the cab is about 12 feet off the ground, then add to that the height of the bed above the trailer wheels where the cab was sitting at the time, was pretty high up
put a couple of nice little dents in the back end of the brand new Nooteboom trailer 
nick2008:
I know its only a little one but thats the way to do it
youtube.com/watch?v=E3RuLOpOxW4
You can do it with bigger ones as well:
youtube.com/watch?v=f1DH9tXxlqw&NR=1
nick2008:
I know its only a little one but thats the way to do it
youtube.com/watch?v=E3RuLOpOxW4
No, this is the way to do it
orys:
nick2008:
I know its only a little one but thats the way to do it
youtube.com/watch?v=E3RuLOpOxW4You can do it with bigger ones as well:
youtube.com/watch?v=f1DH9tXxlqw&NR=1
That’s just shagged the springs on the 7.5t then, looked like an old 7 tonner to me.