Air lift Landing Gear Retrofit

THE RISK ASSESSMENT

AIR LIFT LANDING GEAR RETROFIT

by Brian Macanka Loss Control Field Representative, FMIC

The benefits of a new lifting system are very apparent when looking at the costs involved in just one injury. Common injuries include broken arms, wrists, and hands, broken jaws and chipped teeth and a few lost eyes. This can leave you short a truck for weeks to months. With medical costs soaring, even the most minor of these injuries can cost $25,000. Installation should take between 1.5-2 hours per trailer.

FEATURES:

After suffering several of the above-mentioned incidents with his own drivers, Mr. Jimmy Witherspoon, owner of J.C. Witherspoon Jr. Inc., set out to make a safer system that would reduce his driver’s exposure to a spinning landing gear handle. The traditional winch handle with ratcheting locks is replaced with an air cylinder. The driver removes the main pin and simply flips a switch to raise or lower the swing gear. Both raising and lowering the gear is accomplished in a controlled manner. The risk of a landing gear injury is all but removed. The system worked so well on the initial test run of log trailers, the air lift was set up on several chip trailers as well. The functionality remains the same although some of the geometry changes when working with belly dump trailers.

INSTALLATION:

PARTS LIST: - Air cylinder - Small pulley - Cable - Air valve - Air line/ misc. fittings

Loggers being the industrious workers they are, Mr. Witherspoon built a system that is very simple to retrofit onto any log or chip trailer. Installation begins with the landing gear in the raised position. The pulley should be mounted at a 90* angle to the hitch point on the swing gear. The stroke of the air cylinder is determined by measuring the distance from the pulley to the mounting point on the swing gear when the swing gear is in the down and locked position. 2-3 inches should be added to that length when buying your air cylinder.

The air cylinder is installed on the trailer at full extension. Mounting location will vary depending on your trailer’s frame. Once mounted, you can measure for the cable to connect the extended cylinder to the swing gear in the down position, making sure the cable is routed through the pulley. The air valve must be mounted in a convenient location that is easily accessible by the driver. A good location would be the hole left in the frame from the old crank handle. Plumb the air valve to the air cylinder. Air supply to the valve can come from several locations.

Option 1 is to tie into the air tank on the trailer. The only downside to this option is if a trailer is not used in a while, you may have to wait for pressure to build up when hooking up the trailer. Option 2 is to connect to the emergency side (red) airline on the trailer. This option provides immediate air pressure once the glad hands are connected to the trailer.

COST:

The total cost of the retrofit will be in the $700 range. Expect the cylinder to cost $500, another $50 for the air valve, $20-$30 for the sheave pulley, cable and miscellaneous air fittings round out the rest. With medical costs in the 10s of thousands of dollars this simple retrofit can save you thousands in increased insurance premiums.

To see the landing gear in action, contact your Forestry Mutual Field Rep.