How to tie down heavy equipment

If you work in haulage or with heavy mining equipment, you’ll already know that, according to the Australian regulations, the responsibility for securing heavy equipment loads rests firmly with the driver hauling the load.

As a driver or business owner, then, it’s incredibly important that you know how to tie down heavy equipment safely and securely, to prevent both an accident and a fine. At National Plant & Equipment, we want you to have all the information you need to secure your loads, so we’ve put together a simple and comprehensive guide to securing heavy equipment.

It’s important to check all of the bolts on your flatbed to make sure that they’ve not been damaged by rust, they aren’t racked, and they haven’t come loose. Check all of the lug nuts in your tyres, and make sure that these are properly inflated with appropriate tread.

When you’re loading your equipment, the weight of the load needs to be spread evenly over the flatbed to make it safe and secure.

The securement specifics for each piece of equipment will be different, but there are a number of factors that need to be considered:

• You need to know the load rating of the trailer as well as how heavy your equipment is.
• Loads that are heavier than the legal load limit – usually around 80,000 lbs – will need specialised trailers and permits.
• Don’t overload the trailer or any individual axles.
• The weight of your equipment will determine the number of tie-downs you need, as well as their capacity, but the general rule is that tie-downs must have a combined strength of at least 50% of the load you’re securing.

Pay attention to the securement points on your machine – on trailers it’s usually obvious where to tie your equipment, but on the equipment it’s usually more difficult. If you do tie it wrongly, you can damage the equipment, particularly where weight distribution over the axles is concerned.

The best tie-down angle is at 45 degrees, because it’s at this angle that the chain will perform to its maximum designed working load. A flat chain doesn’t offer much strength, so although it may prevent the load from moving sideways, it may not clamp it down very well over a long distance.

At National Plant & Equipment, we not only provide tie-down load restraint equipment, offer heavy equipment rental, and have heavy equipment for sale for a variety of purposes. We aim to provide you with reliable advice and equipment, which is why we not only hire out first-class equipment, but also focus on preventing production disruptions and streamlining your labour.

We have a huge selection of equipment ready to hire, for all of your loading, hauling, grading, dozing, digging and mining needs, so contact us today.

This is only a basic guide to securing your equipment, so if you’re unsure, make sure you abide by all of the safety regulations in your location, and seek advice if necessary.