Use of dogs and chains

Used to love watching some undo dogs with a cheater bar (Exhaust tubing?) & letting go of it to see how high the sucker would fly.
No, not me sir!

Reminds me of the only time the cheater bar got caught on the handle of a dog, as it was being un-done and it took off.
Had a load of steel boxes on the trailer to deliver to the wharves at Newstead. Each pair of boxes was chained down and I had managed to undo most of them OK.
A crowd of wharfies was gathering around, as it was the change of shift, me, I was on the river side of the trailer and all the wharf rats were on the other side.

Well, this dog grabs the bar, a chunk of ally pipe about a metre and a half long, it heads for the sky with a very distinctive whoop-whoop-whoop sound, me, I just ducked under the trailer and waited for the sound of it hitting the deck to go retrieve it.

I then notice that ALL the wharf rats, had heard this very distinctive sound as well, when it took off, and they were actually running full pelt for the open doors of the sheds.

Me, I just started to laugh, as I had NEVER EVER seen a wharf rat run before, until this very moment.

Oh, the bar ended up in about the middle of the Brisbane river, so no harm done at all, except to the "pride" of all the wharf rats. Oh the indignation, of having to actually run, they must of needed a beer after that exercise.

regards greenie [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

what about a eugenic approach,
relax the anal ohs bull shxt and let idiots kill themselves.
pretty soon (cupla hundred years ),the genepool will be clear of idiot genome.

tidying up one of the sheds at work one day and found a very interesting thing in the corner, a bar made to do up lever binders it has a point one end for your strap winches and a special special slotted end that holds onto the handle of the dog the other. not home made either knurled grips and chrome dipped, works bloody well.

I saw one of those on the weekend. Designed so the the dog handle is free to either snap on or off without taking the bar with it.

They have been around for yonks..
Saves carrying a 'binder bar' (for fabric winches) and a 'cheeta bar' for dogs (lever action load binders)
Some people like them as opposed to a 'Cheeta Bar' (pipe)
The people making the rules...they don't like 'them' either.

Use what you are comfortable with and you will use it confidently and competently..

again...take care

chocs

I have enjoyed readind the many responses to this thread. I have used both over center and ratchet dogs, and find that both have their place with ratchets being more sensitive to abuse in the hands of the careless or unknowing.
I am a Boilermaker Welder by trade, around 20 years in the trade, now working in the underground mining industry. All of my trade life was spent in small workshops - less than 5 boilies, so I am well acustomed to making do, stretching rules and thinking for yourself.
Obviously the change to the mining game has brought rules and a procedure for everything.
To cut a long story short, one nightshift I was driving a Cat AD55B truck to our waste rock dump atop a very high hill, I saw lightning start to break in the distance and decided that I would be able to tip my load but I radioed the next truck not to come up but to dump at the lower stockpile. When I reached the rock dump the lightning was much closer so I made the decision to abort, went back down the hill and tipped at the bottom stockpile.
At the pre shift meeting the following night I was singled out and my leg humped most vigorously, including a special mention from the underground manager. To quote, "that was a marvellous decision not to tip in lightning - we don't actually have a procedure to cover that".
Moral of the story - regulation and rules are nice, but there will always be an unknown or unexpected element, commonsense and a good mentor will always see you through and if you do stuff up, cop it on the chin, (figuratively speaking I hope ) and learn from the experience.
Sadly much of this regulation is being perpetuated by persons who have read a book and written a thesis on the subject, all with perfectly manicured nails that have never seen grease or dirt.
Were the current Nanny State mentality present 50 - 60 years ago nothing would ever have been built or carted.

Hi Fellas
I dont normally bother getting involved with the discussions as i am not a word person. But this one is very close to home. I have been carting steel/pipes/machinery and general freight since i was a kid riding with my father.
Personally we use 2 types of dogs these days, first the good old standby the over centre dog and now the later style with short handle ratchet with the chain and hooks both ends. The later we started to use because the rule makers at certain steel companies insist on them.
We were forced to try the ratchet type with webbing (similar to the webbing straps) and they were a total failure, webbing stretched and had to keep adjusting.
The other, we used for years on heavy equipment on heavier chains the "T" handle type but i find these time consuming to use.
A lot of the incidents you hear about are caused more by people not using the equipment properly which usually gets back to driver training.
The picture of the pipes through the cab from what i can see with my eyes is mor to do with the way he has it secured and the poor quality of his headboard.
Firstly from my experience he shoud have had it strapped over the 2nd row then another strap over the top.
Also with that slippery stuff we also belly wrap as well. With the belly wrap on even if the strap/chain comes loose as the pipe slides forward the chain will anchor it so it only moves forward slightly.
Sorry guys i realise a lot of you probably have as much or more experience than me but it just annoys the hell out of me that some of these employers get someone straight out of uni with a fist full of letters after their name, never worked in this industry or for that matter would even ASK for assistance before putting some of these rules into place.
One of the steel companies we carried for changed their rules on the type of dog we used 3to4 times and each time we had to change our dogs. Bloody expensive exercise.
Lastly before i get off my soapbox, in the right situation straps work just as effectively as chains. EG Most companies we carry pipes for prefer the use of straps rather than chains.
So far we have not had one move or come loose and as importantly never damaged the freight.

Exactly Doug. I have had countless arguments with my workmates in the past regarding load restraint, typically steel sections carried on a tray truck with racks. I would always wrap the strap so that it choked the steel down onto the rack rather than just throwing a strap over. Usually my colleagues including the boss would rubbish me for this - "you're only going down the road, not to Hobart" or "that takes too long". I have even seen a load "restrained" by simply throwing one strap over the bundle BETWEEN the two racks. Bloody scary, one heavy brake application and someone could easily have been killed.

I am with you Karl. In that situation I would probably have a couple choking the load.
Would rather spend that extra two minutes doing the job correctly than kill someone.