Wha'cha gonna do now?

[FirstBubba]

Running down the road, smoke catches my eye in the rear view mirror.
Sure enough! Bearing on the right front trailer hub is "SMOKIN'" hot! 😖 ....and I'm about 40 miles from home.
Nearest repair is 20 miles --- behind me!
The trailer axle has leaf springs.

Whaddya do now? 🤔!

[FirstBubba]

Can the trailer handle the weight on three wheels? If so, yank the smoking one and limp on home.

But you can ruin the drum if it hits the pavement.....or doesn't clear the pavement.

[jhjimbo]

Somebody said they had a flat.on trailer and no spare. Solution, take the flat off and strap the hub up - come along, ratchet strap. etc.

[franchi20]

Is it a guessing game? You're prolly home now. What transpired?

[FirstBubba]

Ok.
Fortunately (?), I have a flatbed and a big old tool box on back.
I keep two small blocks of 2×4 in the tool box.
When faced with that problem, you simply remove the tire on the offending axle.
Then, jack (it's a farm truck, I have a Hi-Lift jack) the other axle up until it clears the ground.
The 2×4 blocks go between the spring shackle and the trailer frame.
When you put the wheel back down, the blocks prevent the shackle from leveling out and holds the offending axle up off the ground.
OR, as jimbo suggested, you can chain the axle up.
The way my trailer is constructed, i can't ratchet the axle up. There is no place to tie it off.

Outcome!
Got a call from my youngest.
Moving three rolls of hay, the front passenger hub got too hot to touch more than a couple of seconds.
Snatched the front wheel off, blocked the rear shackle to lift the front axle, reduced speed and toddled off home.
No harm, no foul....other than it was over 100° on the side of the highway! 🤢

[DakotaMan]

I had that happen once long ago. I saw flames in the rear view mirror about 30 miles from home where I had spare bearings. I parked the trailer on the side of the highway and made the trip. Ever since that time, I carry spare bearings in the boat. That makes it easy. However, in over 50 years I've never needed them because I pay a lot more attention to my axle grease and bearings. I've trailered my boat a LOT over the years and don't like that happening on the highway.

[FirstBubba]

I've changed a bearing on the side of the road, but I still had 80 miles to go and the trailer was fully loaded.
Had the trailer been empty, I'd have blocked the axle up and hooked it.
Would have been quicker than changing out the bearing.