wreckerman893
Possum Connoisseur
- 15,612
- 1,984
- 113
- Location
- Akenback acres near Gadsden, AL
Wednesday was the day I had arranged to pick up the bolster trailer I had won from GL a few weeks ago.
The adventure started Tuesday night. After spending the better part of the day at the VA hospital I was too keyed up to sleep so I left for Livina, Tenn. about 11 PM.
The deuce performed flawlessly on the trip up, running a mixture of UMO and gasoline.
It was about a 280 mile trip and I made it to a truck stop near the pickup point about 5:45 AM. I treated the deuce to a tank full of real diesel and caught a short nap.
About 7 AM I headed over to the site about 20 miles distant. I missed a turn and went on a short detour but was rescued by one of the National Guard guys that worked there.
I met up with Mike, the GL rep, and we headed over to the storage yard. We found my trailer and checked it over. I had known it had a flat and came prepared with all the implements of destruction needed to change it.
Mike picked it up with a forklift and I put a jack stand under the axle. In short order the spare was in place and I pulled it over the Guard repair facility and borrowed their air hose to make sure all the tires were at the right pressure.
Total time on site was about an hour and a half. Mike was a pleasure to work with, helpful and professional.
The site was also user friendly. No guard on the gate and the guys there were friendly and helpful.
I headed back home and made good time. The truck was still running great despite the 4000 pound trailer she was pulling. I took the scenic route a lot but when I was on the divided four-lane I used the “redneck cruise control” and held about 50 MPH to save fuel.
The only incident worthy of mention was when I was going through a small town in Alabama. There were only three traffic lights and I was pacing them trying to catch them green. One and two went well but the third one turned yellow. I was still a distance back so I slowed down and waited for it to change, the right lane was clear and a car was in the left so it looked like I had it made. At the last minute a silver Beamer convertible with the top down (yes, in Alabama you can do that in December) and a blond driving whipped by me an jumped over in front of me. She stood on the brakes and stopped at the light just as it changed to green.
Did I mention she was taking on the cell phone (headset) and putting on her makeup?
The rearview mirror was turned to the “make applying position” so I guess she had no idea that about twenty thousand pounds of green iron was approaching her hinny.
The green light did not come to her attention until a long blast from the deuces horn got her motivated. It also caused a massive makeup malfunction when she ate about half of the lipstick she was applying. She looked like Bozo the Clown in the rearview.
The guy in the right lane had been ogling her (also blocking traffic but for a good reason) and he was laughing so hard when he pulled away his cap flew off.
She laid about twenty feet of rubber as she took off and rendered me the single digit salute but it was clear that the victory was mine.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I stopped in Gadsden and showed FreightTrain my new prize.
I made it home about 4 O’clock, put the tools away and parked the deuce and trailer in the back yard.
The trailer is a pretty cool piece of equipment, it has a beam that unlatches and stretches out so you can haul long poles or metal beams. Watch for pics soon.
The adventure started Tuesday night. After spending the better part of the day at the VA hospital I was too keyed up to sleep so I left for Livina, Tenn. about 11 PM.
The deuce performed flawlessly on the trip up, running a mixture of UMO and gasoline.
It was about a 280 mile trip and I made it to a truck stop near the pickup point about 5:45 AM. I treated the deuce to a tank full of real diesel and caught a short nap.
About 7 AM I headed over to the site about 20 miles distant. I missed a turn and went on a short detour but was rescued by one of the National Guard guys that worked there.
I met up with Mike, the GL rep, and we headed over to the storage yard. We found my trailer and checked it over. I had known it had a flat and came prepared with all the implements of destruction needed to change it.
Mike picked it up with a forklift and I put a jack stand under the axle. In short order the spare was in place and I pulled it over the Guard repair facility and borrowed their air hose to make sure all the tires were at the right pressure.
Total time on site was about an hour and a half. Mike was a pleasure to work with, helpful and professional.
The site was also user friendly. No guard on the gate and the guys there were friendly and helpful.
I headed back home and made good time. The truck was still running great despite the 4000 pound trailer she was pulling. I took the scenic route a lot but when I was on the divided four-lane I used the “redneck cruise control” and held about 50 MPH to save fuel.
The only incident worthy of mention was when I was going through a small town in Alabama. There were only three traffic lights and I was pacing them trying to catch them green. One and two went well but the third one turned yellow. I was still a distance back so I slowed down and waited for it to change, the right lane was clear and a car was in the left so it looked like I had it made. At the last minute a silver Beamer convertible with the top down (yes, in Alabama you can do that in December) and a blond driving whipped by me an jumped over in front of me. She stood on the brakes and stopped at the light just as it changed to green.
Did I mention she was taking on the cell phone (headset) and putting on her makeup?
The rearview mirror was turned to the “make applying position” so I guess she had no idea that about twenty thousand pounds of green iron was approaching her hinny.
The green light did not come to her attention until a long blast from the deuces horn got her motivated. It also caused a massive makeup malfunction when she ate about half of the lipstick she was applying. She looked like Bozo the Clown in the rearview.
The guy in the right lane had been ogling her (also blocking traffic but for a good reason) and he was laughing so hard when he pulled away his cap flew off.
She laid about twenty feet of rubber as she took off and rendered me the single digit salute but it was clear that the victory was mine.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I stopped in Gadsden and showed FreightTrain my new prize.
I made it home about 4 O’clock, put the tools away and parked the deuce and trailer in the back yard.
The trailer is a pretty cool piece of equipment, it has a beam that unlatches and stretches out so you can haul long poles or metal beams. Watch for pics soon.
