Written by the Pro-Tow by FleetEasy Team
Offering heavy-duty recovery services in Washington and throughout the Pacific Northwest
Pro-Tow by FleetEasy offers heavy equipment recovery and towing. We operate our own fleet, including several heavy-duty crane wreckers. These big rigs have massive tow-truck chassis and 360-degree rotating booms that deliver incredible lifting power. Our equipment, combined with our operators’ skills and experience, lets us get commercial vehicles and heavy construction equipment out of sticky situations.
We’ll get more into that later in this article. First, we want to tell you about an older John Deere backhoe that found itself stuck in a ditch and ready to roll.
Real-Life Heavy Equipment Recovery in Spokane
An older John Deere 310 backhoe was stuck in a construction zone in our Spokane, Washington service area. It was petering on a pile of rocks and could tip if winched without roll protection.
These machines are incredibly heavy. Their operating weight is about 12,400 pounds, but depending on the configuration, it could weigh closer to 16,000 pounds. A crane wrecker can lift between 25 and 75 tons (50,000 – 150,000 lbs), so we were the right ones to call for the job.
Because a backhoe like this one is so heavy, it’s very tippable. One wrong move and the entire thing could flop over, damage the equipment, and require a more complicated recovery. With that in mind, our Pro-Tow operator rigged a highline to keep it from rolling, and a low line was bridled to the front axle to tug it out of the ditch. Fortunately, we winched it out of the hole without incident and got that backhoe back to work!
Pro-Tow Trucks are Ready to Lift
We can rig heavy equipment and commercial trucks using our rotators. Rigging multiple lines at different angles lets us control our position, ensure balance for the vehicle in question, and provide a safer, more precise recovery. Our rotator can spin in a full circle. That means we can lift from the side, front and rear without having to reposition the truck. And we have multiple trucks, which really comes in handy in complicated recoveries, like a flipped-over, jackknifed semi, for example.
Beyond the lifting power and 360-degree rotation, the wreckers have multiple winches to help us secure and upright heavy loads. When doing so, our hydraulic outriggers act as stabilizing legs, planting firmly into the ground to prevent the wrecker from tipping during those extremely heavy lifts!
What Kind of Heavy-Equipment Recovery Jobs Do We Handle?
Pro-Tow can get your commercial truck, trailer or equipment out of tight spaces and complicated situations. Our operators are highly skilled experts who understand physics, towing, and lifting dynamics, and can create detailed recovery plans on scene. Here are some jobs our team and equipment can help with:
Commercial Truck Recovery: We are experienced in uprighting flipped semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, transit buses and dump trucks. Whether they’ve flipped in a ditch, need to be fished out of a gully or are stuck in deep mud, Pro-Tow can help.
Tough Extractions: This backhoe was teetering in a rocky ditch, but we’ve dealt with far worse. Once, we needed four wreckers to pull an excavator that was almost entirely sunk in deep, heavy mud! For accident recoveries involving semi-trucks and loaded trailers, we use two wreckers to pull the casualties back onto their wheels for safe transport.
Crane Lift Services: Sometimes customers need heavy things lifted! We can help lift and move construction materials, load cargo on flatbed trailers, or lift commercial vehicles and equipment onto trailers for transport. We can also deliver your cargo. For example, we recently lifted and delivered a large pallet of construction materials for a residential customer. In another case, we helped lift a classic car over a fence and out of a closed-off yard!
Whether you need heavy-equipment recovery or heavy lifting and moving, Pro-Tow and our fleet of wreckers can help!