Hmmm, interesting! I seem to remember reading that the Emergency brake in LOCK position for long periods of time was not real good on the brake system but I need to research that again. However, about the PARK, I think it all depends on what you are doing.

For example when I haul my wheeler in the bed of my truck even with tie straps I keep it in PARK. I have observed that these things do bounce and shift side to side even tied down REAL tight. STRAPS DO and WILL loosen. Thats why its always a good thing to anchor them down solid with several straps (front and back). Everyone's setup is different I am sure. But even when I use the trailer I will put it in PARK. Its going to take alot to convince me NOT to use PARK when hauling and trailering. When I do trips they are all DAY trips and I have to ride out about 2hrs. plus every time.

My concern about only using straps with NEUTRAL is what IF you forget and start unstrapping and then have your Wheeler coming back on ya, rolls back or down, etc. I think it is a SAFETY issue nonetheless. -- IMO

Regards,

R'

 

Highoctane I never thought about the things you mentioned but it makes sense...thanks!

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: upnort

I put mine in P, lock the brakes, & do not tie down unless going on a long trip. My trailer has 18" racks so would have to flip to come out.</end quote></div>

Not a good idea at all UPNORT. If you would wreck your sending an 800+ LB. bowling ball down the road and who knows how many people it could kill! Hate to say it but it can happen very easily. About a year ago, a constuction worker in Pittsburgh failed to properly hook up a wood chipper and it broke loose killing a family of 3. There was also one where a trailer broke loose and killed the driver, and also injured her friend and the friends 5 year old daughter. Even if hauling a short distance it could happen just as easily as hauling a long distance. Traps are cheap and dont take that long to hook and unhook. Something to think about for all of us the next time we load up...

Back to the OP. I do the same as all the others. Tie down, lock brake, put in Park in that order. Working good so far.

 

Yea, eventhough things seems tight N,W,E and South, you never know when someone could hit your
trailer or you jackknife sending the wheeler out of its harness so to speak as a moving 700-800 lbs plus
object in any direction. I agree with Rowe!

Very respectively,

R'

 

I use 3 heavy duty ratchet straps...2 in the rear and one in front plus I hook my winch cable to the trailer as an extra precaution.....I also put the quad in park and compress the suspension quite a bit so I don't get the bouncing around.......

John

 

Guess I've never really put a lot of thought into this issue - but I did lose a quad off a trailer a number of years ago. Had it strapped down - but obviously not tight enough. Hit a bunch of frost heaves - got to the lake for a day off ice fishing and there was not quad on the trailer. Retraced route and thank god found the wheeler upright on the side of the road - with no other vehicle's involved. After that I installed a chain across the back of the trailer as extra insurance in the event the straps came undone the quad would not roll off the trailer, but since that time I have tightened my straps better and have had no issue.

Anyway - I now put the quad in PARK, set the parking brake, and strap four corners.

HO comments do bring up some questions though. I have worked with hydraulics and do know fluid can leak by seals. So while you are not losing any fluid from the closed system - you are losing it from the sides of the valves holding pressure.

.Rowe - Excellent point for strapping the quad down. It would be bad enough to have an accident - but to launch a 1000lb quad and kill somebody would scar me for life.

 

i lock mine into park when i trailer it w/ no issues as long w/ strapping it and using the winch.

 

I think maybe we have lost sight of the original post and the issues I stated about using Park..using Park while trailering is FINE..as long as that is not the only means of restraint..if you strap it down as you should anyway for safety in the even of an accident putting it in park is fine..
The reason I would not just put it in park,besides safety, is that is high load to place on the park components of the transmission IMO..notice the machine will rock back and forth in park..some of that play is axle,prop shaft and diff,but some is in the trans itself..so say with no other restraint you accerate from a stop the machine rolls back..now for what ever reason you need to stop rather quickly the machine rocks forward under quite a bit of force...not much different than putting it in park before coming to a complete stop. Will it break something..maybe and maybe not..but why do it..if you don't buy the Park issue at least strap it for safeties sake....
So my point was use straps..as for straps loosening if you do it right and use ratchet straps they won't....those pull type straps are garbage for securing an ATV IMO. And I always check them after a few miles to make sure they are tight after everything has been given a chance to settle so to speak. It takes 10 seconds to hop out at a stop sign and adjust the straps if needed.
Setting the brake for a few hours is ok..as I said though I wouldn't leave it set long term...the key to minimizing bleed off is setting it properly IMO.

 

I agree Highoctane....That's what made me re-think trailering in park at all....My straps loosened a bit and the quad sat back there bouncing and rolling back and forth against the slack in the tranny...NOT GOOD!
I've never had the straps let off that much before,don't really know why it happened,but it only takes once to do damage!

 

One thing I learned is to not take up too much slack before you ratchet the straps. Best to have a few turns on the spool before you tighten it down. Another thing is to make sure it's locked, make sure you get a solid click and the handle is all the way down.