Opinions on Unloading a Transported "Problem Child"

[Stretch]

With 2x12 I hope you don't have any unsupported area on the wood. If there is any bridge of any distance it will not sustain the load. You might get by with solid oak or ash.

[Tigerhaze]

Thanks for the input- I wouldn't ever try to bridge an air space with it. The plan is to have the bed of the transport trailer directly abut flat ground at the top of the slope. The 2"x12"s would only be to get the crawler to slide across the ground if there is too much friction from the ground surface like DiggerLarry proposed. If I can't get the trailer to completely abut the ground, I will use my working crawler to cut the slope to match.

[jdjoe_indiana]

My 420 was the same as your 2010. We used a large JD skid loader and was able to lift the crawler up enough to get 2x10x10 OAK plank under the tracks, then slide it on the trailer. When I got it home, we hooked a chain to the drawbar and skidded it off on the plank just fine, didn't use grease as I wanted to save the plank. I would suggest wetting the deck and boards with water, just keep the side the tracks are on dry, and it will slide easy, Joe

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

We used to use a Ford L8000 rollback with a steel deck. Stuck crawlers would slide right on it. Ours was cool in that the bed could go flat on the ground if needed. It only had a 26,000 pound pick-up rating flat (as opposed to 32,000 tilted), but it worked great for anything 'stuck'.

Perhaps you can find a commercial hauler that has one of these kinds of trucks and make your life that much easier.

Stan

[Oldhousehugger]

My 2cents worth.
I was thinking how nice 2 pieces of "C" channel or purlin would be under the tracks. If you could find pieces wide enough so that the tracks would fit in the channel, you could then burn some holes in the flanges to chain the tracks to them.
Then you would have essentially put it on skids.
I am sure the driver isn't going to want his nice aluminum body all scared up so you can then use your greased board/plywood to get it off the truck. Once off the truck if you can get any lift in the dead machine, you will have reduced it's coefficient of friction and added mass to your machine and it aught to pull it just fine. Just remember mechanical advantage!
John