Technomadia and towing

Emcemv · June 15, 2013, 07:08:53 PM

Reading of technomadia's plight put chills down my spine, a possible fried engine out of the blue. I hope we hear the final diagnosis on this. Being a newbie, we have not had to be towed yet. We have coach net. If we need to be towed, how do we decide flatbed vs. standard lift the front tow truck. I know that the driveshaft gets disconnected during most truck tows but that is hard to do unless the bus is aired up or jacked up. Ours is a 73 MCI MC7 combo with an Allison HT 740 automatic. How should this be towed? Will coach net pay to put it on a flatbed?

My heart goes out to them, this is something I fear every trip.

luvrbus · June 15, 2013, 07:34:22 PM

They pull the axles if they cannot get under one it works the same the drivers have impact guns and covers faster to pull the axles

,I never was taken to a shop but once and I requested a drop deck from Coachnet it was no problem, as he just had 1 overpass he could not clear hauling one in a city maybe different

Dave5Cs · June 15, 2013, 08:59:30 PM

Clifford is a drop Deck the same as a Land-All?

Dave5Cs

oldmansax · June 16, 2013, 04:42:14 AM

Quote from: Dave5Cs on June 15, 2013, 08:59:30 PM
Clifford is a drop Deck the same as a Land-All?

Dave5Cs

Technically, no.

A "Landoll" is a brand name of trailer that has a hydraulically operated tilt bed with a winch so a vehicle (or other load) can be loaded from the ground with minimum problems.

A drop deck is a trailer made so that part of the deck is permanently "dropped" or lower than the standard trailer deck height. They can be single drop, meaning the height of the deck above the tractor tandems is standard height and the rest of the deck is somewhat lower, (these have smaller trailer tires) or, double drop meaning the deck above the tractor tandems and the trailer tandems are standard height but the center deck is lowered almost to the ground. Either of these types of trailers can also have a detachable goose neck so that a load may be driven on to the lowermost part of the trailer and then the goose neck re-attached.

There are several versions of these types of trailers.

The terms "drop deck" or "lowboy" are used to generically describe the entire genre of trailers.

This may be the only area in the entire world where I am more knowledgeable than Clifford because I used to be in the freight business!!! LOL!!!

Hooray for me!!

TOM

saddleup · June 16, 2013, 05:44:38 AM

Heres a Land all, move-all differnt names for them,but they all have sliding deck,to me be the only way to haul a bus, detach low boy or drop deck, can be pretty high to get a bus on without a bunch of blocking, had to drag of a lot of hungup equip. becouse the trucker might have got it loaded in good spot, but gave no thought how they was going to get it unloaded.

luvrbus · June 16, 2013, 06:03:05 AM

Tom I had a folding goose neck Hyster 3 axle drop deck before I bought the McIntyre removable goose neck never I owned a Lanoll type the John Deere dealer had one that had the folding hydraulic rear ramps it was kinda neat too,some buses are just to high for the Landoll type most wrecker services have then you need the big guys lol

lvmci · June 16, 2013, 07:39:05 AM

Thank You Guys, you all provide the best network of friendly, the most well intentioned, the best advice, short of having a Dad in the bus business, available anywear. The best of luck to technomadia in solving his breakdown, lvmci...

Dave5Cs · June 16, 2013, 08:37:24 AM

Tom, Clifford, thanks for the info. Didn't mean to get you 2 going, who had the biggest Truck thing!... ::)LOL

Dave5Cs

oldmansax · June 16, 2013, 01:20:29 PM

Quote from: luvrbus on June 16, 2013, 06:03:05 AM
Tom I had a folding goose neck Hyster 3 axle drop deck before I bought the McIntyre removable goose neck never I owned a Lanoll type the John Deere dealer had one that had the folding hydraulic rear ramps it was kinda neat too,some buses are just to high for the Landoll type most wrecker services have then you need the big guys lol

I just can't outdo you no kinda way, can I? LOL!

I bet I have backed up a tractor trailer more miles in one single stint than you!! LOL

I backed mine from Providence, R.I. to exit 1 in Mass one time. Snow storm shut down the whole state!

TOM

Dave5Cs · June 16, 2013, 01:23:30 PM

Oh come on Tom wasn't there a Nor'easter at the time also with 5 flat tires and a wheel bearing going? LOL

Dave5Cs

Emcemv · June 17, 2013, 05:50:23 AM

Look what I started now!

you guys are a riot.....at least we all learned a lot about towing, now when it happens to me I will know what to do!! Lets all keep pulling for Technomadia, hoping for a simple solution.

Linda-XL40-FL · June 17, 2013, 09:34:24 AM

In 2004, transmission went out and we were towed 30 miles or so. Front wheel lift, rear axle removed.