Almost as entertaining as a boat ramp.

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TrailBeast said:
Oh, so you are kind of new at it then.:D



I started driving heavy equipment real early as we had 4x4’s, wheeled tractors, caterpillars and a road grader.
We had property in the Sierras north of Tahoe, and I was the oldest, so my Dad involved me in everything.

I know some of my life happenings are somewhat unbelievable to some.

My Mother and I cleared the area where our new house was to be built with and old McCormick Deering tractor while my Dad worked day shifts at the Susanville correctional facility.(aka prison)

My Mom drove the tractor while I wrapped the chain around the base of sage brush to pull them out.
We also dug the foundation trenches for the house in decomposed granite.
My Mom dug the septic tank herself.

This is going to sound kinda nuts, but in the winters I used to get up around 11pm and go out to build a small fire under the crank case of the TD cat so I could crank start it.
I had to be down at the paved road (a mile or so) to drag my Dad in his VW bug through the snow back up to the house when he got off work.
One night my foot slipped off the frozen pedals and I back that cat almost to the windshield on his VW before I could get it stopped.
He jumped out and yelled WTF?!!!
I jumped off the cat and took off running for the house, ran in my room and locked the door. (Crying of course)
Awhile later he knocked on my door and told me to open it.
I thought I was in for it, but he just laughed and handed me a piece of the VW’s chrome bumper and said “I thought you might like a souvenir”
Then I really lost it, but he hugged me and said there wasn’t a 10 year old in the world he would trust more.

My Father was an exceptional man.
6 foot 4 and 250 pounds of pure muscle.
Yet kind but firm.
I watched him slowly deteriorate into a frail old man with dementia that couldn’t go to the bathroom by himself.
He’s gone now.
Click to expand...
RIP He sounds like he was a great man. I was probably 8 or so when I got to drive my uncle's old Chevy grain truck out in the corn field. Sit on the edge if the seat so I could push the clutch in. Granny low was a good beginners gear. Double clutch into second. :thumbsup:
 
Another ting that's "fun" to try to back up is a car on a dolly.

You basically can't do it. A few feet straight back...if you're lucky.
 
YY1 said:
Another ting that's "fun" to try to back up is a car on a dolly.

You basically can't do it. A few feet straight back...if you're lucky.
Click to expand...
That operates similar to a farm wagon. It takes a different part of your brain to do it without wadding it up.
 
TrailBeast said:
My Father was an exceptional man.
6 foot 4 and 250 pounds of pure muscle.
Yet kind but firm.
I watched him slowly deteriorate into a frail old man with dementia that couldn’t go to the bathroom by himself.
He’s gone now.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry to hear that.

My Dad is 89, and he still gets around quite well.

About a month ago the secondary heat exchanger in his furnace plugged-up. I was able to get a new one under warranty, as I did the original installation 18 years ago. Replacing the HX should take a "good" Tech about 4 hours, but Dad just had to be involved with everything, so it took me all damn day.

On the way home I caught myself grumbling about it......but then I realized that some people my age don't get to ***** about their father's being a PITA and getting in their way. It was a humbling realization, and I hope I'm able to ***** about my Dad "getting in my way" for years to come.
 
toolmanmike said:
That operates similar to a farm wagon. It takes a different part of your brain to do it without wadding it up.
Click to expand...

...except...there's caster built into the dolly, and it will turn... and turn to lock...quickly.

...and once it goes to lock, then the dolly fenders want a piece of your car on the dolly's fender.

I've debated installing thick, removable hitch pins through the pads to the frame.

At least that would keep it straight (or a straight as possible).
 
toolmanmike said:
RIP He sounds like he was a great man. I was probably 8 or so when I got to drive my uncle's old Chevy grain truck out in the corn field. Sit on the edge if the seat so I could push the clutch in. Granny low was a good beginners gear. Double clutch into second. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

So familiar.
One day Dad says “come on, I need your help”
Short of it was this.
We stopped at a machine supply and he bought 6 5 gallon buckets of 90wt oil.
It was snowing and I was wondering what the hell?
We pulled up to a property with an old road grader and he says “Time to find the drive chains”
3 feet of snow and we are digging and kicking up the huge frozen to the ground chains.
Like a bicycle chain, but links 4 inches wide and 6 long (each link)
We built a fire and drug the chains by it so they would flex enough to install.
Took us about 4 hours to get those drive chains in the cases and around the sprockets.
About froze my *** off, and actually wondered if my fingers would ever work again.
Then we drove it the 12 miles back home in the snow.
No windows of course.
Mom drove us back to get the truck.
That’s the day we got the road grader.
ProjectBazza said:
I'm sorry to hear that.

My Dad is 89, and he still gets around quite well.

About a month ago the secondary heat exchanger in his furnace plugged-up. I was able to get a new one under warranty, as I did the original installation 18 years ago. Replacing the HX should take a "good" Tech about 4 hours, but Dad just had to be involved with everything, so it took me all damn day.

On the way home I caught myself grumbling about it......but then I realized that some people my age don't get to ***** about their father's being a PITA and getting in their way. It was a humbling realization, and I hope I'm able to ***** about my Dad "getting in my way" for years to come.
Click to expand...

Absolutely know what you mean.
My Dad needed a lot of help when he got towards the last few years of his life, and it was the same.
Any little thing took forever,
but time spent with him was worth it.
Sometimes I would just write off the whole day to it.

One day I went to see how he was doing and when I walked in the door he was completely naked except he was wearing his 38 special.
I asked what was up, and he said he was “gonna go get some pu**y”

Uh,,,,,
I told him I didn’t think that’s how it was done.
Ended up talking him out of it.
He didn’t know it, but I had taken the firing pin out of that gun awhile back.
 
Well I was just born and then kicked my dad outa the driver seat, drove home pulling a boat, and backed it into the driveway! There ya go!!

Now if you want to watch something funny, you could come to my house and watch me try to back my 24' enclosed car hauler into my detached garage. The trailer is 31' overall and my garage is offset from the house and 30' behind it so you have to get it backed off the road, angle it to miss the house, then enter the garage at just the right angle and cut it at just the right time to straighten it out in the garage. Oh what fun it must be to watch this comedy!! My driveway has marks all over it to prove how many corrections I make getting that thing in there. Oh, and you can also clearly see where the trailer exits the driveway and visits the lawn. This jubilee goes on EVERY TIME I have the trailer out!!
 
Last edited:
TrailBeast said:
So familiar.
One day Dad says “come on, I need your help”
Short of it was this.
We stopped at a machine supply and he bought 6 5 gallon buckets of 90wt oil.
It was snowing and I was wondering what the hell?
We pulled up to a property with an old road grader and he says “Time to find the drive chains”
3 feet of snow and we are digging and kicking up the huge frozen to the ground chains.
Like a bicycle chain, but links 4 inches wide and 6 long (each link)
We built a fire and drug the chains by it so they would flex enough to install.
Took us about 4 hours to get those drive chains in the cases and around the sprockets.
About froze my *** off, and actually wondered if my fingers would ever work again.
Then we drove it the 12 miles back home in the snow.
No windows of course.
Mom drove us back to get the truck.
That’s the day we got the road grader.


Absolutely know what you mean.
My Dad needed a lot of help when he got towards the last few years of his life, and it was the same.
Any little thing took forever,
but time spent with him was worth it.
Sometimes I would just write off the whole day to it.

One day I went to see how he was doing and when I walked in the door he was completely naked except he was wearing his 38 special.
I asked what was up, and he said he was “gonna go get some pu**y”

Uh,,,,,
I told him I didn’t think that’s how it was done.
Ended up talking him out of it.
He didn’t know it, but I had taken the firing pin out of that gun awhile back.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that's how it was done back in his day lmao.
Thanks for sharing Greg! :thumbsup:
 
I realize some think some of the stuff I tell about my life is BS.
That said, I guess some people’s lives were so boring and mundane they couldn’t imagine anything else.

Here’s another part of my past.
I was Forman on a Ranch that my first Wife’s family owned.
I rode horses and wore a 6 gun every day on the job.
A firearm was mandatory due to the amount of predatory animals that were constantly around.

The owner of the ranch was also president of the Fresno CA. Corvette club and had 15 classic vettes.
Upon the successful graduation of any of his 4 children from high school, he would allow them to pick one of his collection.
My wife picked a 1963 split window.
One day he asked me if I would put a new clutch in his 66 4 speed 454 stingray.
I told him I would do the job if I could drive the car.
A beautiful metal flake midnight blue car.
He agreed to my surprise, and I got to spend most of the afternoon running around the backroads of Atascadero CA. With it.

He (Ed), also had a 1953 Corvette serial number, I don’t remember how many zeros there were, but the last number was 3.
Serial number 3 white car with the OE red leather seats, chrome wire headlight baskets and the original aluminum Hurricane inline 6 cylinder.
I only got to sit in that one, as he said it had not been started in over 20 years.

My oldest Daughter Athena is from that marriage.

Ok, enough for now.
 
Even though I feel like I'm pretty good at backing a trailer, I still find great joy at watching others attempt (and fail) at backing trailers. It's kinda just one one of those things that if you know how tricky it can be, you've earned the right to judge others at their shortcomings.
 
Neighbour has a teardrop trailer and after seeing him struggling backing it in with his wife directing him, I mentioned that it's easier to back in from drivers side vs the pass side. Advice not taken lol. :eek:
 
I find it hard to watch some so-called 'professional drivers' who can't back up if their lives depended on it. I've been driving since the age of 10, though I didn't have to back up any trailers until I actually had a license, and been a commercial driver for 35 years now. What messes me up a little is going from a 30 foot trailer to a 53 footer and back again. Takes a little bit of getting used to.
My little utility trailer is all but invisible behind my Bronco, jacknifed it once.
 
The only one I've struggled with until I got the hang of it was when we bought our 5th wheel camper. I'd only pulled tag along trailers until then and 5th wheels and I imagine goosenecks act differently.
 
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