Back in IL ... For a Minute

I left FL - grudgingly - last Monday and headed back north. My two weeks there was really nice even with the weather being colder than usual. But that's been the story around the country this winter - which officially ends next weekend! WOO-HOO!

As I mentioned before, I am really liking this new load board I'm using that features vehicles (mostly cars but some trucks and bikes) that need to move. There are a ton of loads available going almost anywhere I want and many of then are Cash on Delivery -- SWEEEEET!

I loaded my motorcycle for the first time on my new trailer. It was a challenge and took almost 2 hours. This trailer sits almost 4" higher than my old one. Doesn't sound like much but that increases the angle of the ramp so the bike bottoms out more quickly at the transition onto the deck as well as being more steep. Add to that the wet grass from the early morning dew makes for spinning rear tire as I go up. The real kick-in-the-ass was I did not have all the parts of the ramp with me.

My mcy ramp is two parts. The 8' main section I brought down from IL with me last November when I hauled the bike in the back of my pickup truck. There is a 4' extension that I forgot about (didn't need it to load into the truck) and left in IL. Sure could have used it here! For you non-geometry types, the longer ramp reduces the angles and flattens the incline.

But ultimately I got it done - as usual. In fact my creativity got another work-out a few days latter when I went to pick up a load that turned out to be 'not as advertised.'

I loaded a Mercedes from Sarasota, FL going to Savannah, GA about 2 miles from my parents house. Because my bike was also on the trailer now, I did not have enough deck space left to add a second car. Oh well, that's the price I pay for the benefit of taking my fun with me.

I spent two nights with my parents and found a Chevy pickup truck going to Columbus, OH. I also found a 4 wheeler going the same direction and actually loaded it first. When I got to my 'pickup truck' it turned out to be a medium duty cab and chassis truck with a sleeper. It was way bigger than I had planned resulting in the 4 wheeler not fitting on the trailer - either lengthwise (3' too long) or sideways (about 6" too wide).

Two and a half hours latter I had it figured out. I put the truck on first and then backed the 4 wheeler on as far as it would go. The front tires of the ATV were still on the flip-up ramps. I used some wood blocks to raise the ramps 12" off the ground thus raising the front of the rear-facing ATV off the tail of the trailer. Next I took the two wood ramp-extensions I had made and stacked them together so that the right-angle triangle shape of each formed a square box. I used these to block the belly of the ATV off the tail of the trailer. (A picture is worth a thousand words). At this point the weight is off the front tires so the ramps were loose. I strapped them up to the ATV to keep them from dragging the ground. And away I went!



I am happy to say it rode perfectly. The ATV came off first, that evening actually, and then it was on to OH. Thursday morning I delivered the truck; loaded an auction car; drove 40 miles west and added a Honda 'crotch-rocket' motorcycle destined for Japan (does anyone else see the irony of a Honda going to Japan?); and then headed for 'my bed' in Belleville some 450 miles further down the road. It was a VERY long day. But at 9:30 that night I was walking thru the back door.

Yesterday I delivered the two vehicles. BTW, the Honda was going to a guy in the Navy serving in Japan. I made arrangements to get my truck serviced Monday morning and then went to dinner at some friends. My oldest son joined me, I'm happy to say.

Today, I am suppose to be going to the St. Patricks Day parade in St. Louis. In fact, I have less than an hour to get there. Cya next time.