How to blow $500

There are 2 ways to blow $500...

The first way is the easiest,

rent a car hauler from u-haul.

A 5-day one way was $472 pretax and insurance.

Yea right...

The second path takes a little more work.

First search craigslist and look for car haulers.

Not much in the sub-$500 category,

however this gem was the perfect start for $300...

Time was fleeting,

so a family gathering doubled as project day.

Which also spread child labor to anyone under 16.

Hey they teach everything you need to know 

in nursery school!

Jaxon was my right hand man,

a two day job took 6 hours.

While I knocked out the metal frame,

he cut and treated the cheap lumber.

I used my dad's welder back in 1991,

making a rear shock mount on my '53 chevy,

and also filling holes in the engine bay.

Probably the first welding project.

If I'd only known...

I ended up running out of wire as the light faded,

leaving about 1" of unfinished weld.

No single bulb for this project,

but we did have two iphone lights!

In a way that worked out for the better,

as this winch would have been welded on,

an unnecessary extravagance.

Sure looks purty with the red stain huh!?

That lasted about a day!

The best christening is a 2750 lb scrap load.

That's how it works,

build something to pay for itself!

The baby 13" tires were screaming for mercy,

hundreds of pounds past their weight capacity.

After overloading the trailer,

I realized there was no way 

this could haul Chief 1000 miles.

Back at the shop,

I torched off the fenders and found some 15" rims.

Used trailer tires were $50 at the local llantería.

That decision led to this pic...

I'd also fabbed up some ramps,

but ran out of daylight to make proper hooks.

I had time to paint the wood red though!

Doh...

Fortunately the kids were there to help,

and fortunately Chief is made damn strong.

The trailer made it up no problem.

The LA 5 was a brutal potholed mess,

there were times I bumped down to 40mph!

The rest of the way the van 

forgot the trailer was back there.

The first 2 weeks the investment paid off.

I'd have dumped the load if using uhaul.

Yea,

the bike was there the whole way too!

Later on the package was stashed 

among other trailers.

The car cover repeatedly blew off,

but a local guy kept covering it up.

I didn't realize til weeks later,

just figured it was a dang good design!

Finally a real windstorm hit,

and the cover was blown a 100 yards away.

I was lucky it snagged on a tree,

as it woulda flown into the river.

It took about 3 minutes to tie it down,

using scrap line from the van.

All buttoned up for the once a year snow...

It was time to finally finish this project.

Two hours and ramp hooks were welded up,

using scrap angle iron.

The keys to the castle...

The grand total was about $485 -

trailer/tires/wood/jack/metal/paint...

less $240 from the scrap aluminum and steel,

and absorbing the dozen work hours,

this was a way better deal.

Now to get chief off that trailer!

TP