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A new pet peeve

General Lee 01

By General Lee 01
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General Lee 01 Senior Enthusiast

General Lee 01

Posted
Posted

Ok let me set the stage...

 

Mom let me drive the X-Terra to and from Charlottesville (2 hour drive) Tuesday (we were working  there).

 

Well, we got off at night and I drove back.

 

The main Highway that takes you from Charlottesville to Richmond (I-64) is quite a fun road to drive on at night. It's kinda like Sleepy Hollow.  :smash:

 

Everybody does atleast 70 on this highway,even the old grannies. :crackup:

 

 

Well, I was doing 70mph, on the right lane (Not a single car in-front of me for atleast a mile), and I see a faint object. Before I even have time to think I'm right on top of it. I swerved just at the right time (A second later I would've impaled the thing).

 

I pass it and I couldn't believe what it was.

 

This little F-350 "Wheel-grabber" Tow Truck (The smallest possible Tow truck you could have) was towing an Asplundh Tree Service truck (If you don't know what that is, ask and I'll show you a pic) without any lights at all. The Tree Service Truck was so heavy, the Tow Truck couldn't go faster than 25mph. (Remember, all the regular motorists are doing 70 or faster)

 

The Tree service  Truck was so big, it was blocking my view of the orange beacon lights on the top of the tow truck.

 

Ok here's my peeves.

 

Why didn't they put either the parking lights or  the blinkers on the Tree Truck? If they couldn't, why couldn't the Tow Truck driver put a beacon on the Tree  Truck? All the tow Truck drivers I know have those beacons that you can  put on the cars that are on the wheel lift.  My understanding is they're not that hard to find around here.

 

Why use a small Truck for a  Big Truck's job? You can't tell me that you can't find a more adequate Truck. I see those  18-wheeler Tow Trucks on the  road all the time.

 

 

Getting off the soapbox now. I guess when something #### near kills you, you take notice. :D

SnakeEyeSS Senior Enthusiast

SnakeEyeSS

Posted
Posted
Yeah, I'm familaiar with those tree trucks, that company was in town for a while. Was it loaded with chopped wood? That'd explain the 25 MPH!!!
awdvkd Enthusiast

awdvkd

Posted
Posted
What is the speed limit through there, that is why they say don't overdrive your headlights.  It may have been a stupid thing for the tow truck to do but you should still drive defensively.  From you description of the road I would bet its a 55 zone.  Just something to think about, at least your still here to complain. ???
MarkD Senior Enthusiast

MarkD

Posted
Posted
In SC there is a law for improper lighting.  He would have been found at fault if you weren't charged with "too fast for conditions" in case of a collision.
cowboy02 Senior Enthusiast

cowboy02

Posted
Posted

The dude that had the tree truck probably called to tow company and told them he had a truck...  Then the dude comes  out and isn't about to leave without hooking up.  What do you think the company would've said if he came back to the shop without towing the vehicle?

 

Like you said......... Anything to make a buck.

:crackup:

SilveradoWV Senior Enthusiast

SilveradoWV

Posted
Posted
I am familiar with both trucks, the tree truck and the F350 wrecker, we have a few around here. They look like a plain F350 with an arm in the back and the necesarry tow equipment. I imagine it would have a hard time pulling a normal truck its same size so I am thinking they are for cars and such so there is no way it should have been towing that tree truck. Also we have I-64 here in WV and the speed limit on I-64 here is 70mph. Its pretty dead during the day and even worse at night.
99silveradoz71 Senior Enthusiast

99silveradoz71

Posted
Posted
I see it at work frequently enough.  The 1 tow company we use is pretty disciplined and takes the time to do it right.  The other...God help us.
General Lee 01 Senior Enthusiast

General Lee 01

Posted
  • Author
Posted
we have I-64 here in WV and the speed limit on I-64 here is 70mph. Its pretty dead during the day and even worse at night.

It's pretty much the same for the stretch of 64 that I was on, except a little flatter. :smash:

 

Basically  people  feel more confident in themselves going faster on I-64 once you get out of Richmond, Because Traffic for the most part is few and far between. But when there's a wreck, it's not pretty.   I counted about 7 Roadside  memorials between Richmond and Charlottesville.  

 

####, if he would've had that thing on I-81,  he would be a  goner. The 18-wheelers will sometimes match speed with the highway number on that interstate. Epsecially at night.   :crackup:

General Lee 01 Senior Enthusiast

General Lee 01

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I've got another "Un-orthodox towing Strategy" story for yall.

 

The names have been changed cause I don't remember them. :D

 

Prepare to laugh.

 

We were at my relatives' "Weekend place", A campground for camping trailers, and we hear a crash. So a bunch of us go check it out. Remember, this is a  weekend, so some of  the people that went to check it out were "Gusssied up".

 

A dump Truck Flipped over, and this Mini van towing a new-ish boat ran into somebody in the melee.

 

Mind you,the  front was ust messed up on the Mini-van just a tad, but the Rear of the van, the Boat, and the Trailer were all intact.

 

Well, Bubba's Towing shows up in this roll-back. Jethro steps out, has a looksie, and says: "Welp, we gotta git this trailer here of dat dere vehikle so I can tow it." Well, the trailer tongue is locked  onto the van's hitch via Dead-Bolt lock.The mini-van's driver, couldn't tell anybody which one of the 500 keys on his chain unlocked the trailer cause he was en route to a hospital.

 

So Jethro says "Aw screw it, I ain't got time to fudge around

with keys, let me get mah tools!", walks to his truck and picks up a sledgehammer, and starts banging away at the lock.

 

Meanwhile, Davis's Recovery service shows up in  this state-of-the-art Truck recovery tow truck. While Jethro is still banging on the trailer, they back up to the dump truck, hook up a  winch, put the  dump truck on it's wheels, hook it up, and they're ready to go. All while Jethro keeps sledging away  at the trailer.

 

5 minutes later, the  shaft part of the trailer chasis that runs from the A-frame to the Tongue is taking the shape of a V, but (As you might guess) the Master-lock is still doing it's intended purpose, and staying locked.

 

At this point, our Drunk on-lookers start yelling obscenities at poor Jethro, pointing and laughing, making fun of him. But he takes it in stride, that is Until he turned around, and notied the cops and firemen were pointing and laughing at him too.

 

 

 

So, that was the last straw Jethro has had it! He hops in the ol' Roll back, backs up  to the van, puts the ramp down, puts the van on  the ramp, rolls the ramp back up and he's ready roll... with a boat trailer in-tow at a 60 Degree angle, still attached to the Mini-van.

 

We watched in amazement as Jethro pulled away in a blaze of glory. Blaze  as in the sparks flying off the boat's screw  scraping on the pavement as he left.

 

 

 

 

And yes, all of this is True!

 

 

 

:crackup:  :smash:

knuts Enthusiast

knuts

Posted
Posted

Well, Bubba's Towing shows up in this roll-back. Jethro steps out, has a looksie, and says: "Welp, we gotta git this trailer here of dat dere vehikle so I can tow it." Well, the trailer tongue is locked  onto the van's hitch via Dead-Bolt lock.The mini-van's driver, couldn't tell anybody which one of the 500 keys on his chain unlocked the trailer cause he was en route to a hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You ain't Jethro is ya? ? ? ? ? ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

KK

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