June 19-21, 2021

Saturday, June 19, 2021

I was up at 6:30, packed everything up in my van, and met him at 7:30 at the truck. We had several things we needed to do before we could leave. The trailer was tracking about 4″ to the driver’s side when we used it last. Now that we are 10′ longer, it may track about 8″ left. When that happens, we are virtually 8″ wider, which makes those tight construction barriers more difficult to navigate, and we often slop out of our lane.To adjust that, we need to change the length of the steer tube.

To accomplish that, we must pull the pin, which in this picture is in the shade, as if I was going to manually steer. Then we loosened the collar, which is that rusty looking ring on the near end of the tube with a pipe wrench, and then spin the tube one way or the other with that pipe wrench to lengthen or shorten the tube, being careful to line the hole in the tube up so the pin will fit back in. Then we put it all back. Simple.

Well, we could not budge that rusty collar, not even with a 4′ pipe wrench, with a six foot pipe on the end of it, after heating it with an acetylene torch! It was not going to move! So we gave up, and decided that we will have to live with whatever it does. We packed a cable system for securing the load to the trailer, and some other odds and ends, and we pulling out by 10:30.

It was so nice to see through a clear windshield! What a HUGE difference from the sand blasted one I just replaced. Not to mention the 15-20 dings and 8′ of cracks!

We were on the road 20 minutes, and had gone almost 14 miles, when WHAM! I got my first ding! I couldn’t even make it one hour! AND, you can see it there between the clouds, which is pretty much in my line of sight, too!

About 2 hours later, I got a second one which is on the passenger side and shaped like a half moon and the size of a golf ball. Those are fine, because they don’t  spread. So my $700+ windshield is a used windshield now!

We made it out of MN before noon curfew with about 4 minutes to spare, and went about 400 miles to the same rest area near Avoca IA where we were last weekend. We pulled in by suppertime, and parked behind 4 wind blades. We locked theyrailer up so he could disconnect and get some fuel. As we made the U turn and headed back one exit to the truck stop, I shot this video as we passed by. You will see our little red trailer after the 4 wind blades.

 

All the hotels in the area were booked, so he decided to sleep in his truck at the truck stop, but I was concerned about the fact that I know my new generator has an oil leak, and it was also supposed to rain a lot tonight.

So we tried something new. I plugged into his inverter, but the surge to start my generator kicked his breaker. So I it tried a different way. I plugged my AC into my own inverter because it is much bigger, and then plugged just my battery charger into his inverter. That worked!

So it was a quiet, and enjoyable night with the rain pattering on my roof as the AC kept my van at a comfy temperature!

Sunday,  June 20, 2021

It was an early morning, so we could get to the load site in time to stretch the trailer out before dark. We also wanted to be there early enough to get out and on the road before those wind blades did!

We were on the road just after sunrise, and no one had showed up at the wind blades yet. It was a great travel day, stopping once at a rest area,

and pulling into the tiny town of Fredonia Kansas after 314 miles. The local policeman was intrigued by our rig, so was happy to stop traffic for us as we made the final turn onto the road where the plant was. We parked in front, and stretched the trailer.

The foreman of the plant just happened to drive by, so he and his passenger stopped traffic again so we could relocate the truck to the back side of the plant where we will load in the morning.

We rode together in my van to a bigger town to check into a hotel, and have supper at a small restaurant before they closed.

Monday, June 21, 2021

We pulled in to their plant building just after 6 AM when they all arrived for work. It was about to be a simple process of setting the huge tank onto the trailer, BUT. . . . .

got complicated very quickly!!!

Though our drawings clearly showed length and width and height, it did not show the exact location of the saddles it was sitting on. I was concerned about that before we left, and brought that up to my driver, the dispatcher, and the owner. But they are far more experienced than me, and assured me everything would be fine.

Well, the saddles were placed at the extreme ends of the tank, so though the piece would fit between the front and rear of the load area, the saddles had no floor, (cross members) to sit on.

So there is no way to hold the weight of the tank! Not even close. The only solution is to lengthen the trailer by about 4 feet.

We are scheduled to leave today, meet MO Troopers at the line tomorrow morning at 9, deliver on Friday, and the next two loads are scheduled tightly behind this one. There is no time to drive back and change the length of the trailer. That would take 4 days.

So what are we going to do?   !!!!!

. . . . . . . . .TO BE CONTINUED. . . . . .