A Two Trailer Family

For someone who could not back my pontoon boat down the ramp and into the water without calling on help from my buddy Jesse Bolton, it may seem strange to think that I’ve become the owner of not one, but two trailers.

Most regular readers will know that we bought a 14-foot cargo trailer to be used in our move up here from Florida. It proved to be worth its weight in gold, and though I have had a couple of people asking if I wanted to sell it now that the move is over, we decided to hang onto it because there is always something that needs to be moved around, it seems. Plus, it provides extra climate-safe storage when needed.

When I bought my Kubota BX2680 tractor, I was glad to see that it would fit inside the cargo trailer. However, after using it once to take the tractor over to our son’s house to do some work, I quickly decided that wasn’t going to be a permanent solution. It was tight getting it in and out of the trailer, and I wasn’t completely comfortable with the D rings installed in it the trailer to hold the weight of the tractor. So I decided the smart thing to do would be to buy a flatbed trailer.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking, both online and at a couple of the trailer dealers near us. A week or so ago Terry and I drove out into the middle of nowhere to look at a used 16-foot flatbed that the seller told me was like new. Maybe newly pulled out of the swamp, but that would be about as close as it would come to that description. Most of what I found online was either overused, overpriced, or both.

I was originally looking for a 16-foot trailer, but none of the dealers in Northport or Tuscaloosa had what I wanted. It seemed like everybody had 18-foot trailers. That would work, too, and give me a little bit of spare room. I found one that I was very tempted to pull the trigger on, but I decided to check with Brad Bosch at Tuscaloosa Tractor, where I bought my tractor, to see if he could recommend something. As it turns out, they carry 20-foot flatbed equipment trailers, and he offered to sell me one for less than the 18-foot trailer at the dealer I had been shopping.

I wasn’t sure I wanted something that big, but in talking to some of the other Kubota owners in online forums, they all said that bigger was better just in case I wanted to carry more than one implement with me, which might get tight on an 18-foot trailer and would definitely be impossible with a 16 foot. I also believe in doing business with people I know I can trust, and Brad and the folks at Tuscaloosa Tractor have definitely earned my business in the past, so Friday we picked it up.

When we got back to the house I was not sure I would be able to back it into the spot I wanted because I would have a tight squeeze to get past the big pile of gravel I have yet to spread out on the driveway. But with Terry’s expert guidance, it slid right into place almost like I knew what I was doing. How come it’s never that easy when I have an audience?

Before we went to the tractor dealership to pick up the trailer on Friday, we dropped off Travis and Geli at the Honda dealership to pick up her car, which had been getting the transmission replaced under a recall. They had told us about a place called Brown’s Greenhouses that sells both flowers and vegetable plants. We decided to check it out and were glad we did. This place is awesome, with several greenhouses full of plants, as well as row after row of outside displays of house and garden plants.

They were having a sale on 36 assorted seed plants of our choosing for $10.50. That was a heck of a deal and we got two flats, a total of 72 plants, including tomatoes, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, poblano and jalapeno peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and summer squash. For a guy who doesn’t eat vegetables, I sure seem to be spending a lot of time and effort and money on a garden. I still haven’t seen any pepperoni pizza plants or chocolate ice cream bushes, but I am forever hopeful.

Today is your last chance to enter our Free Drawing for an autographed copy of Callie And Natalie’s Dutch Family History by Darlene Miller. When nine-year-old Callie and her five-year-old sister Natalie go to Pella, Iowa with their grandmother they wear period dresses as they learn about their fourth, fifth, and sixth great-grandparents, who arrived in Pella in 1847. Other true Dutch stories are about more great-grandparents who immigrated in the early 1900s. Enjoy their experiences as they see, hear, and taste “all things Dutch” as they travel through Pella.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. When we saw this in Tuscaloosa the other day, I was reminded that no matter how glamorous a job may seem, they all have their downside.

Thought For The Day – I intend to live forever. So far, so good.