Wooo Hooo!!!! I Updated My Avatar Photo And Posted Pipeline Pictures

Here's a picture of my truck on a string line in North Dakota earlier this fall. I think that's 6-1/2" pipe.

Here's a picture of the job we're on now. 16"x60' pipe on extendable, self-steering trailers. Those are kinda fun. Take everything you know about driving a truck and pitch it out the window. Cut corners short, like a car, and the trailer axle will follow just fine. If you swing wide, the trailer goes waaaaay out there. A little squirrely on the highway sometimes. They can get away from you if you don't pay attention as the rear end almost goes opposite of the front end.

Dude, that's insane. It doesn't look as big in the picture but when you figure that my trailer is 53' and then I would be adding in another 7' to that. Crazy!

Just curious, what does your total weight come out to be with that load that's in the picture?

Not quite 75,000# on the self-steer trailers. If you haul on a standard 48' flat, it's a little less weight but a bit more of a hassle. Have to watch your overhang front and rear and hang flags, etc. It really isn't too bad. What's the saying, "I ain't heavy, just awkward" LOL!

Montana is a pretty good state to haul oversize loads in. The Dakotas, too. Texas is about the biggest pain I've come across when it comes to big stuff. Their DOT picks the route for you and the last time I hauled oversize, down there, they goofed up. They mixed up the names of two towns. The towns had similar names, but were 200 miles apart. We got it figured out, though.

Have you been on the floor of that rig?.. Those thongs are heavy and if you are on pitside you have no room to throw them drill side is a little easier.. I always like doing casing cuz I as the derrick I like to watch the driller and hide in the doghouse..LOL

Awesome pics! Very cool!!!

I've gotta tell ya - I've never heard of self-steering trailers. How does that work?

Awesome pics! Very cool!!!

I've gotta tell ya - I've never heard of self-steering trailers. How does that work?

Ever see a fire department's ladder truck with tiller steering? Kinda like that. Sorta. The trailer has a plate above the kingpin. When you couple up, there is a wedge that sets in the jaws of the fifth wheel that's secured by a big bolt and 2" nut. It's screwed down tight and double nutted to keep it secure. That ensures that part of the trailer turns with the truck as opposed to the trailer. To this plate there are two cables attached. They run the length of the trailer, crossing in the middle, and attaching to the trailer tandems. The tandems are on a swivel turntable. The cables are attached left front to right rear, right front to left rear. There is an alignment pin allowing the tandems to be pinned straight and firm. There are turnbuckles on the cables. When the tandems are pinned, you tighten the cables equally and tightly to set the tracking and alignment.

When the truck turns right, the trailer stays straight. That pulls the left cable (crossed to the right side of the tandem , remember?) pulling the tandems to the left. It kicks the trailer out to the left. When the truck straightens out, it pulls to the right, pulling the left cable, turning the tandems to the right to straighten the trailer back out.

Clear as mud????

That's incredible! I mean, it's like caveman simple. It sounds like a system they would've developed 70 years ago. I'm here wondering:

Is there some sort of GPS system tracking where the tractor goes?

Is there some kind of readout coming from the fifth wheel indicating its angle to the trailer tandems?

No. They ran cables the length of the trailer!

That's awesome. I love old-school ideas like that. I'm a fan of what I call "the simplest effective solution" to anything. If you can do it with two steel cables instead of $10,000 worth of delicate computer components then do it! I drive a '77 Chevy 4WD pickup. LOVE IT! No emissions, no computers, a straight front axle that handles and rides like a tank, and next year I'm putting a new engine in it and replacing the fuel injection with a carburetor. That's how ya do it!

I'd love to see that system sometime. I'll have to check out Youtube. Someone has to have videos of it. That's pretty cool. But I can see how it could be super dangerous at highway speeds. If you wind up swerving pretty hard and that trailer starts wagging like a dog tail it's gonna get ugly in a hurry.

OMG that's awesome! This is what I was picturing:

That ETS system is interesting Brett .

I have worked with potentiometer driven systems that communicate through a smart box to control mechanical movements . I installed gas , brake and steering systems in vehicles for handicap drivers .

Its a niche industry but very creative by necessity . I can imagine the transportation evolving into smarter control systems some day ....but without the ' necessity ' I dont think it will be common anytime soon .

Some of the systems I installed took a Toyota Sienna mini van at its base price and the final delivery was $160k .

Not sure mega corp transportation will take a fleet wide approach to self steer trailers ...mechanical or electromechanical .