Heavy duty towing is a job that needs to be performed by experts with the proper experience and equipment, like the heavy duty towing team here at Chicago Towing. Amateur attempts at heavy duty towing can cause serious accidents or injuries. Here’s a valuable guide describing some important heavy duty towing tips necessary for any safe heavy duty towing operation.

Ensuring the Proper Equipment is Used

A non-negotiable point in heavy duty towing, the proper equipment MUST ALWAYS be used. If the proper equipment is not used, any sort of sharp stop or sudden turn can cause tons and tons of material to come crashing down, which can cause devastating damage.

• Ensure that you have all the proper equipment for the heavy duty towing job before you start it. Make sure you are totally familiar with the configuration and type of all items to be moved, as well as their physical dimensions and weight. Make 100% sure that the towing vehicle you want to use has the proper gross weight rating to complete the job.
• Figure out if you will need oversized permits to move the equipment.
• Make sure you have all necessary tie downs and special equipment – and check all tie downs and equipment for damage or degradation before starting the job.

Always Secure Equipment Before Towing

• Use chains to tie down heavy equipment.
• Make sure the load is placed correctly in order to eliminate or limit potential movement as much as possible.
• Never allow equipment to come into contact with the hydraulic lines or brakes of the towing vehicle.
• Always fully pad all edges of the towing bed in order to ensure that tie downs don’t get damaged from friction or weight during operation.
• If the load to be towed has wheels, use wedges or chocks to prevent them from turning during the towing operation.
• Make sure to check that all tie downs are tight and that the load is fully secure before moving the towing vehicle. We recommend periodically rechecking during the towing operation to make sure that the load has not slipped at all, and that tie downs are still perfectly securing the load to the truck.