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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / Stupid Question - Trailer towing balls

« on: November 13, 2009, 10:22:15 AM »

Does anyone know why there are so many different size towing balls?  Does a 2" ball really have more towing ability than a 1-7/8" ball?  I hate having to switch back and forth, anyone know the history of such mundane things?:rolleyes:

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / enclosed trailers

« on: November 13, 2009, 10:16:54 AM »

Merton,

Actually, the construction industry in Michigan has been bad for a couple of years, and 2010 isn't looking better.  The reason they are selling the trailers so cheap is they have already deducted all they can off their books for them, and it's time to replace them with new ones.  The basically just want them out of their storage yard.

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / enclosed trailers

« on: November 12, 2009, 05:27:48 PM »

I thought it seemed like a steal to, they were posted on craigslist for about two weeks before I called.  When I found out they were still for sale, I jumped at the chance.  It is not a new trailer, and it has it's share of cosmetic defects, but everything is fixable, and all the major components are there.  They told me about 15 people had looked at the trailer before I bought it and most complained it was too much money, or needed too much work.  I couldn't wait to get them the $1000 as I have been shopping for over a year, and $1000 doesn't buy much of anything anymore.  It's not even that old, with a 1997 manufacture date.  I'll try to post a photo when I get it home, plan on picking it up on Saturday.

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / enclosed trailers

« on: November 11, 2009, 03:36:37 PM »

I finally bought an enclosed trailer, just this morning.  I have been looking for almost a year and ran into a deal I couldn't resist.  It is from a local construction company that had four 30-foot enclosed goosenecks that they were pulling off the road after several years of service.  It's a triple axle with a 14,500 GVW.  It a little rough, and needs TLC, like most of my tractors.  It came with an Onan generator and is hard wired with internal and external plugs, and electric heaters.  Only had to pay $1,000 for it.  Will be brining it home on Saturday.  For some reason my wife doesn't share my excitement...

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'round the pot-bellied stove / Fall Hunting Trip

« on: October 02, 2009, 09:23:46 AM »

Gene,

You can never go too far to shoot pheasants, as far as I'm comcerned, it's one of the most fun & relaxing activities you can do.  My boys are 12 and 9, the oldest one can legally hunt in SD this year (he has been able to hunt in Michigan since he was 10).  They are both very small framed kids so I have a small 20 guage that the older one uses, the younger one goes along for moral support (and to skip school for the week).

Yes, there are pheasants in Michigan, but nothing like the Dakotas.  I have been heading out there to hunt for the past nine years, I started going out west because I never found the time to hunt in Michigan, alway something else to do. Now when I'm in the Dakotas, I only have one thing to worry about and it's a yearly pilgrimage that I hope will last for many, many, more years.  I usually spend on week in SD and one week in ND, it's the only vacation I take from February to December.  Just typing about it is getting me all excited

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'round the pot-bellied stove / Fall Hunting Trip

« on: October 01, 2009, 02:33:44 PM »

I head west in two days, there is nothing better than chasing those little funny colored birds.  Hopefully the weather will hold out for me and the boys.  I just found out there is going to be a decent Oliver auction when I'm in ND, maybe I should bring the trailer after all...

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / ATIS List

« on: October 01, 2009, 02:31:21 PM »

The way I see it, this has become our own personal spot to solve all the worlds problems I guess it's a fine line between not having enough participation and having tons of unrelated crap like you get on some of the other web sites.

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'round the pot-bellied stove / Snow Plow Questions

« on: September 24, 2009, 09:32:43 AM »

Thanks Charlie,  I'm finding that it is cheaper to buy a whole plow truck, than it is to buy just a plow for my truck.  In a way it's frustrating because I really don't need another truck sitting around (and hoped to get rid of one), but since I don't need to put plates or insurance on it, it doesn't cost much (other than the purchase price) to keep around.  I have my eye on a 1-ton 4X4 dodge with a plow and crane on the back on e-bay right now.  At least I could use the crane to move tractors around the yard when I get bored.

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / enclosed trailers

« on: September 23, 2009, 09:55:12 AM »

Dave,

You have to admit that there is some amount of faith that everything is still tied down even with an open trailer.  I am constantly checking the side mirrors to see that everything is secure, but you can't see the whole trailer.  I suppose once everthing is tied down inside, you could always stop once and a while to check (I do that with my open trailer anyway).  You could also install a camera in the trailer with a viewer in the truck, as those things are getting pretty cheap now a days.  I like the ease of loading my rusty finds with an open trailer, but once you get one up and running nice, an enclosed trailer seems to be the way to go (especially if you want a place to sleep without paying for a hotel/motel).

It's fun to dream...:rolleyes:

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'round the pot-bellied stove / Snow Plow Questions

« on: September 23, 2009, 09:48:57 AM »

I have an old 1978 Dodge snow commander with a Meyers plow on it.  It came from the factory with the plow.  Anyway, I'm tired of all the fluids leaking from every orface on the truck and it needs to go away.  I only use it to plow my driveway so it doesn't have to work that hard.  After pricing out new plows, I was wondering if I could just buy a new Meyers plow mount that fits my truck 1997 F250, and use the old plow with it?  I think it would be too much work to modify the old dodge mount to fit my ford (I measured last night and it wouldn't be easy).  Does anyone know if it would even be possible to do something like this, or have the plow styles changed so much over the past 30 years that a new mount would never work on an old plow (from the same manufacturer)?

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / enclosed trailers

« on: September 15, 2009, 10:01:59 AM »

Charlie,

The smaller golf-cart size trailers seem to go for almost as much money as the bigger ones.  I have a brand new 6X12 enclosed trailer sitting in my yard right now.  The boss decided he needed to have one for work, so after he bought it ($3,500), never used it, and let it sit in the parking lot for a year, I got tired of looking at it and brought it home (he knows it's there).  I don't expect it to move anytime soon, fortuantly I have plenty of room to store things like trailers, I just wish I could have convinced him to buy a 20 footer so I could get some use out of it.

I also like the idea of being able to haul things plated as an RV without the watchful eyes of the road patrol.  I have been looking at race trailers for quite some time, but now I have my eye on an older 30-foot four house trailer with a camper in the front.  It's 7.5 foot wide and they only want $3,000 for it.  I might go look at it after work today, I think it would be wide enough for most tractors.

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / ATIS List

« on: September 15, 2009, 09:55:03 AM »

Could it be possible that we are all just getting bored with each other? I look forward to reading all the messages and have learned quite a bit from all the list members over the years.  My recent post has generated some discussion, which I think is great.  Sometimes I feel like an idiot for asking as question, but I can't stand the "silence" and like to know I'm not the only one out there.  The reality is everyday presures make it harder and harder to do anything with my tractors, so about the only relieve I get is to talk about them on the internet with my friends, kind of a virtual tractor shop.  I'm full of stupid questions, so if nothing else, you might see more and more questions from me.

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / enclosed trailers

« on: September 14, 2009, 03:43:24 PM »

Merton,

All my tractors are in the H farmall to Oliver 77 size.  If I got what I really want it would be a trailer with sleeping quarters in the front.  My wife said I could buy one when the house is paid off (2-3 years), but it's still fun to look.  I'm thinking in the 38-40 foot range.

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / enclosed trailers

« on: September 14, 2009, 01:49:32 PM »

Anyone haul their tractors in an enclosed trailer?  I am thinking about getting an enclosed gooseneck that will double as winter storage for my car.  I wonder how hard it would be to tie things down so they don't move around when your going down the road.

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ATIS General Tractor Discussion / ATIS List

« on: September 14, 2009, 01:46:01 PM »

Is the main list down, or just really slow?  I haven't gotten an e-mail for three days.  I hope the tractor world didn't cease to exist and I missed the memo.