[Vwdiesel] Towing Experience -- ( you have them ? let us in on them ? )

[pmdolan at sasktel.net]

You may be sorry you asked this question.

Long, long ago, when 1.5NAs were current stuff, I built airboats.  Eventually, I had a dealer network that stretched accross the prairies and NW Ont, and I would deliver 3 or 4 at a time with a king sized one ton F350CC with a 6.6 Mitsubishi 6D14T stuffed into it.  Once in a while, I would end up with only one boat that had to go somewhere, and I would do that with my 1979 bunny 5 sp, running 4rth down the Trans Canada.  I got really good at drafting semis, especially in crosswinds where I could use the other lane - peeking out for some cooling air at the very front of the wake when the temp guage would get too high.

One winter, I was taking the very last delivery up to Sandy Bay SK, which is about where the last northbound piece of road on the East side ended in those days.  As can (and does) happen so often at the end of the rice season, a really big storm blew in about a foot of snow.  Well, that meant there was nobody else on the road for about 100kms, and it was getting cold, so I was especially careful to stay between the ditches (which was fun in about 50 feet of vis!).  All was well until I ran itno one hill that was just more than a bunny and a boat could possibly do in 2 WD, and I ran out of steam and traction about 80% of the way up.  Anyone who has driven in extreme conditions knows what happens next - gravity takes it back down - except now I have a brand new boat and no visibility to contend with.

The road was barely one vehicle wide, and the ditches were quite steep.  If I ended up accross the road, anyone coming South in the morning would have no chance to stop on the downgrade and I would get properly centerpunched - pretty much kissing away most of the season's profit.  I knew if I let it go all of the way to the bottom, where there was a little river, the chances of staying straight were about one in a million, and the bridge railing would tear stuff up something awful.  I made the painful decision of inentionally ditching the shiny new boat as soon as I could to minimize the damage, and then I would use ropes to pull the car off and away to get it down to the bottom where I would give the hill a try bare after backing up my tracks on the other side.  

Well, the sick feeling of intentionally doing it to the boat started and I found myself 90 degrees to the road, trailer straight behind and car still on the road surface, still going a fair speed downhill.  What did I have to lose?  I stuffed the brakes on hard enough to slide the car by the boat, pointed the drive wheels down the road and jumped on the power.  The car's momentum carried it AND THE TRAILER right back onto the road surface and I was able to climb back the other side in my tracks all of the way to the top!  The boat suffered absolutely zero, and I spent a thankful night in the car before finishing the delivery a mere 10 hours behind schedule.

Pat

----- Original Message -----
From: "H .  Hagar." <h_hagar at prcn.org>
Date: Thursday, January 13, 2005 12:37 pm
Subject: [Vwdiesel] Towing Experience -- ( you have them ? let us in on them	? )

> McCanless, James 
> 
> I   Hagar the   "hillbilly"    TUNER    ----enjoyed your tale      
> I was going to write about
> glowplug systems and problems.     BUT    we need a few   
> litterary experiences
> to break up the boredom of     set your valves to so and so many 
> mm(thou)
> Long time ago  Loren kind of started the  "Story  telling"    and 
> we had some real duzers
> -- my favorit was the guy who  was chased by the police ---for 
> driving a STOLEN car.
> It was a bank mixup.
> 
> I had a super time in Tennesee    spelunkering    ---so call me a 
> Hillbilly any time   ---no problemo.
> 
> The peaople I met there , was a lot like Nufies.    ----they had 
> time to smell the roses
> and listen to the birds ----not the stock ticker.
> 
> And by the way on my travels I met many a young USAF airman.   I 
> was NATO      Army
> Airforce and Navy     starting 1951.
> 
> It seemed every time we towed something it was "eventful", learning
> experience, memory maker, you get the idea.
> 
> Troy
> 
> Hagar.
> PS :         I would not trade you any amount  Uneventfull    for 
> Eventfull   -----that is what
> makes life worth living.    Like I said my life is FULL of towing 
> that was eventfull.
> and I am  near 73.
> 
> My best one ?   ---I call it "California Dreaming "      -----I 
> promise to tell it.
> (it is a love story).
> 
> Thank you 
> Troy
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