You can't win!
Finally got around to renting a firewood splitter for 4 hours this
afternoon. It's the type with a nice little Honda 5.5hp motor that
splits going both ways and is licensed as a trailer for the road.
First problem...it has a 2" coupler while I have a 1&7/8th" hitch ball.
Figured what the heck, I'll wrap the safety chain a bit tighter and
drive the short distance at 40 km per hr.
Squeezed the unit past my sailboat and into the back yard where I had a
pile of large ash branches cut up after a storm.
Went well ..even the 20" diameter stuff, although the pieces were heavy
lifting, carrying and placing on the splitter.
When taking back the unit I slightly overshot their driveway so I tried
to back up. What a stupid thing to do with a trailer I couldn't see
behind me.
Yep..I jacknifed, dented and scraped my van hatch door and broke a
backup light. (I believe it's all one unit with the taillight)
Think I need a drink.

"Don White" wrote in message
...
You can't win!
Finally got around to renting a firewood splitter for 4 hours this
afternoon. It's the type with a nice little Honda 5.5hp motor that splits
going both ways and is licensed as a trailer for the road.
First problem...it has a 2" coupler while I have a 1&7/8th" hitch ball.
Figured what the heck, I'll wrap the safety chain a bit tighter and drive
the short distance at 40 km per hr.
Squeezed the unit past my sailboat and into the back yard where I had a
pile of large ash branches cut up after a storm.
Went well ..even the 20" diameter stuff, although the pieces were heavy
lifting, carrying and placing on the splitter.
When taking back the unit I slightly overshot their driveway so I tried to
back up. What a stupid thing to do with a trailer I couldn't see behind
me.
Yep..I jacknifed, dented and scraped my van hatch door and broke a backup
light. (I believe it's all one unit with the taillight)
Think I need a drink.

Sorry to hear about the mishap. You try to save some money by cutting and
splitting your own wood and this happens.

Ouch.

" JimH" wrote in message
. ..

"Don White" wrote in message
...
You can't win!
Finally got around to renting a firewood splitter for 4 hours this
afternoon. It's the type with a nice little Honda 5.5hp motor that
splits
going both ways and is licensed as a trailer for the road.
First problem...it has a 2" coupler while I have a 1&7/8th" hitch ball.
Figured what the heck, I'll wrap the safety chain a bit tighter and
drive
the short distance at 40 km per hr.
Squeezed the unit past my sailboat and into the back yard where I had a
pile of large ash branches cut up after a storm.
Went well ..even the 20" diameter stuff, although the pieces were heavy
lifting, carrying and placing on the splitter.
When taking back the unit I slightly overshot their driveway so I tried
to
back up. What a stupid thing to do with a trailer I couldn't see behind
me.
Yep..I jacknifed, dented and scraped my van hatch door and broke a
backup
light. (I believe it's all one unit with the taillight)
Think I need a drink.

Sorry to hear about the mishap. You try to save some money by cutting and
splitting your own wood and this happens.

Ouch.



Yeah, a few years back I loaded the pick up with wood that we had cleared
from a building site. On the way out, the converter caught an edge of a
small tree stump, it was original equipment, all welded together....the
weak point was the exhaust manifold, which cracked. That half cord of wood
ended up costing me about $400.00

"P Fritz" wrote in message
...

" JimH" wrote in message
. ..

"Don White" wrote in message
...
You can't win!
Finally got around to renting a firewood splitter for 4 hours this
afternoon. It's the type with a nice little Honda 5.5hp motor that
splits
going both ways and is licensed as a trailer for the road.
First problem...it has a 2" coupler while I have a 1&7/8th" hitch ball.
Figured what the heck, I'll wrap the safety chain a bit tighter and
drive
the short distance at 40 km per hr.
Squeezed the unit past my sailboat and into the back yard where I had a
pile of large ash branches cut up after a storm.
Went well ..even the 20" diameter stuff, although the pieces were heavy
lifting, carrying and placing on the splitter.
When taking back the unit I slightly overshot their driveway so I tried
to
back up. What a stupid thing to do with a trailer I couldn't see behind
me.
Yep..I jacknifed, dented and scraped my van hatch door and broke a
backup
light. (I believe it's all one unit with the taillight)
Think I need a drink.

Sorry to hear about the mishap. You try to save some money by cutting
and
splitting your own wood and this happens.

Ouch.



Yeah, a few years back I loaded the pick up with wood that we had cleared
from a building site. On the way out, the converter caught an edge of a
small tree stump, it was original equipment, all welded together....the
weak point was the exhaust manifold, which cracked. That half cord of
wood
ended up costing me about $400.00



It really hurts when you try to do something yourself to save money (whether
or not you need the money saved) and it backfires on you.

Don White wrote:

You can't win!
Finally got around to renting a firewood splitter for 4 hours this
afternoon. It's the type with a nice little Honda 5.5hp motor that
splits going both ways and is licensed as a trailer for the road.
First problem...it has a 2" coupler while I have a 1&7/8th" hitch ball.
Figured what the heck, I'll wrap the safety chain a bit tighter and
drive the short distance at 40 km per hr.
Squeezed the unit past my sailboat and into the back yard where I had a
pile of large ash branches cut up after a storm.
Went well ..even the 20" diameter stuff, although the pieces were heavy
lifting, carrying and placing on the splitter.
When taking back the unit I slightly overshot their driveway so I tried
to back up. What a stupid thing to do with a trailer I couldn't see
behind me.
Yep..I jacknifed, dented and scraped my van hatch door and broke a
backup light. (I believe it's all one unit with the taillight)
Think I need a drink.

Thanks for the try - "O/t". As computer are, they can't tell the
difference between O/t and OT.

I made the change.

BTW - trailer balls are cheap. I wouldn't have taken that chance. I
converted my utility trailer to a 2" coupler so everything is the same.

Dan

I did the same exact thing with a small motorcycle trailer a few years
ago. It was dark, I was in a rush, bike wasn't loaded so I couldn't
see it at all. I'm backing up, backing up...like an idiot and crunch.

Oh well, live and learn. It's just nuts and bolts.

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:12:16 GMT, Don White
wrote:

You can't win!
Finally got around to renting a firewood splitter for 4 hours this
afternoon. It's the type with a nice little Honda 5.5hp motor that
splits going both ways and is licensed as a trailer for the road.
First problem...it has a 2" coupler while I have a 1&7/8th" hitch ball.
Figured what the heck, I'll wrap the safety chain a bit tighter and
drive the short distance at 40 km per hr.
Squeezed the unit past my sailboat and into the back yard where I had a
pile of large ash branches cut up after a storm.
Went well ..even the 20" diameter stuff, although the pieces were heavy
lifting, carrying and placing on the splitter.
When taking back the unit I slightly overshot their driveway so I tried
to back up. What a stupid thing to do with a trailer I couldn't see
behind me.
Yep..I jacknifed, dented and scraped my van hatch door and broke a
backup light. (I believe it's all one unit with the taillight)
Think I need a drink.

Did not hurt break anything but the trailer. Towing a gas powered arc
welder, tongue broke off. Hear this grinding noise and look in the truck
mirror to see a welder rolling along the street by itself. Safety chain is
still attached to the tongue and tongue is still attached to truck. Nice
thing about gas power arc welder. You can weld the tongue back on in the
middle of a neighborhood street in the middle of Berkeley, CA.

"Charlie Brown" wrote in message
...
I did the same exact thing with a small motorcycle trailer a few years
ago. It was dark, I was in a rush, bike wasn't loaded so I couldn't
see it at all. I'm backing up, backing up...like an idiot and crunch.

Oh well, live and learn. It's just nuts and bolts.

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 20:12:16 GMT, Don White
wrote:

You can't win!
Finally got around to renting a firewood splitter for 4 hours this
afternoon. It's the type with a nice little Honda 5.5hp motor that
splits going both ways and is licensed as a trailer for the road.
First problem...it has a 2" coupler while I have a 1&7/8th" hitch ball.
Figured what the heck, I'll wrap the safety chain a bit tighter and
drive the short distance at 40 km per hr.
Squeezed the unit past my sailboat and into the back yard where I had a
pile of large ash branches cut up after a storm.
Went well ..even the 20" diameter stuff, although the pieces were heavy
lifting, carrying and placing on the splitter.
When taking back the unit I slightly overshot their driveway so I tried
to back up. What a stupid thing to do with a trailer I couldn't see
behind me.
Yep..I jacknifed, dented and scraped my van hatch door and broke a
backup light. (I believe it's all one unit with the taillight)
Think I need a drink.