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Largest vehicle you've operated?

Started by kurumi, June 26, 2019, 11:25:45 AM

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kurumi

More an exhibition than a competition, as David Letterman used to say. What's the biggest machine that moves where you've been behind the wheel?

For me, not that big: on Grandpa's farm in NW Iowa when I was 8. He probably worked the pedals, but I definitely steered. It was in the grass, not among the crops. (This photo is same make, but not the same tractor; as close as I remember)

(Also, some moving trucks might have been bigger, but the tractor's more interesting)

My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"


Max Rockatansky

#1
I drove a couple Mack Trucks around a race team automotive garage back in the 1990s.  Essentially they were trying to teach me so I could eventually apply to get a CDL...which I didn't want to do when I turned 18.  I did try armored cars for about a week in Arizona in between jobs in my career field which had a similar feel to the Mack Trucks I drove before. 

berberry

In 2007, I drove a 22' Ryder van from Jackson, Mississippi to Los Angeles, via Amarillo and Albequerque.

kphoger

Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

triplemultiplex

A bulldozer.
Not a huge one, but it could move some dirt.
"That's just like... your opinion, man."

PHLBOS

U-Haul moving van.  I believe it was a 20-footer.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

kphoger

The driver of an 18-wheeler once asked me if I wanted to drive his rig in the Chicago suburbs.  I worked the dock, he saw me walking back to work from lunch while he was on his way to make a delivery to us, and he gave me a ride to work (he was one of my regular drivers).  He offered to let me drive, but I turned him down.  I can't remember now if it was FedEx Freight or Roadway or Yellow (the latter two are now one company but weren't back then).
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

LM117

#7
A 17ft. Ryder that I drove in 2009 when moving from Goldsboro, NC to Farmville, VA. I hated it. The transmission was fucked up and the engine drank diesel like a baby drinking milk from a bottle.

There was a bumpy ass bridge on I-95 near Emporia (I think it was the one over the Meherrin River) that literally threw me out of my seat with each bump. My poor grandma was riding with me and it didn't do her any favors, either.
“I don’t know whether to wind my ass or scratch my watch!” - Jim Cornette

Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

tchafe1978

I drove a 20 foot U-Haul a couple times while moving my mother in law. I also worked a summer job on a golf course on the grounds maintenance crew for a few summers during college. I drove a 1-ton dump truck a few times. Also just while on the course I drove a couple different tractors, John Deere, don't remember the exact size or model. One was pulling the Bush Hog rough mower, and the other had a loader bucket, along with a Cat end loader. Unfortunately I didn't get to use the backhoe part of it.

amroad17

I don't need a GPS.  I AM the GPS! (for family and friends)

Beltway

http://www.roadstothefuture.com
http://www.capital-beltway.com

Baloney is a reserved word on the Internet
    (Robert Coté, 2002)

pumpkineater2

A Thomas Saf-T-Liner HDX passenger bus.(About 40ft long) They're most commonly used as school buses, however I'm not a school bus driver. The ones I drive are customized for transit.
Come ride with me to the distant shore...

MikeTheActuary

I think the largest I've operated is a 52-passenger streetcar

(Local trolley museum...)

ce929wax

Big rig in trucking school.  Unfortunately, I couldn't pass the class.

1995hoo

A Penske rental truck from Brooklyn to Fairfax County in 2001 moving some furniture. Don't remember which size, but it was not the smallest size truck they offered.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

ET21

The local weatherman, trust me I can be 99.9% right!
"Show where you're going, without forgetting where you're from"

Clinched:
IL: I-88, I-180, I-190, I-290, I-294, I-355, IL-390
IN: I-80, I-94
SD: I-190
WI: I-90, I-94
MI: I-94, I-196
MN: I-90

roadman

Back in 1994, I drove a Ford F350 utility truck with a bucket arm attachment.  We were doing overhead sign structure inspections on a section of I-95 (128).
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

corco

26' box truck.

In terms of regular operation, I used to drive a 15 passenger van around Tacoma and Seattle for work. I got quite good at navigating it in tight spaces

cjk374

Runnin' roads and polishin' rails.

jon daly

Some sort of armored personnel carrier.

Jordanes

53' semi. I drove for Prime Inc. over-the-road for about 3 years total.
Clinched 2di:
4, 5, 12, 16, 22, 24, 26, 35, 39, 40, 44, 59, 64, 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 74 (both), 75, 76 (both), 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 84 (both), 85, 86 (both), 87, 88 (both), 89, 93, 95, 96, 97, 99

Almost clinched (less than 100 miles):
20, 30, 43, 45, 49, 55, 57, 71, 77, 80, 90, 91

Duke87

Once when I was a kid the captain of a paddlewheel steamboat (you know, the kind that used to be used as riverboats on the Mississippi and whatnot) let me play with the steering wheel for a bit. Does that count?
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

yand

Largest (by footprint) that I've operated multiple times... 36x27ft...

(ok its a 2400lb plane :bigass: )
I make videos for Full Length Interstates. FullLengthInterstates.com redirects to my channel at youtube.com/FullLengthInterstates

formulanone




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