Full Version: I Fixed It!
Creative hitch repair:
Red Green would love ya.
So I was driving along the other day and a fellow had lost his hitch and scattered a load of building supplies across the road.
His utility trailer was badly overloaded, but I was on my way home having just emptied mine, so I stopped to lend a hand.
I had spent the morning breaking up a concrete sidewalk at our church and had a sledge hammer and concrete saw in the back of my van. Another guy stooped to help who happened to have a ratchet set.
Once the building supplies were rounded up and loaded onto my trailer and into my van, we took a look at how to get this fellow back on the road so I could follow him to drop off his supplies at his house. His hitch on the trailer was so badly mangled that it was obviously never going to couple to a ball again. It had to come off. Too bad the welds were so good, 'cause there was no way he would be able to do that at the side of the road... except - yup, I had a fiber blade for the gas-powered concrete saw.
Fire up the saw and 5 minutes later the coupling was cut away and a clean end of the tongue was waiting for a new coupling to be welded on. Just one problem... No coupling available. Right about then a third truck pulled up. The guy stopped and said he was repairing his trailer and on his way to Canadian Tire to buy a new coupler 'cause he'd picked up the wrong size. Was there anything he could pick up for us and drop off on his way back?
His "wrong sized coupler" was our "right-sized coupler" so the hapless motorist bought it off him on the spot. Too bad the coupler didn't fit nicely over the tongue of the trailer.
Out came the sledge hammer and with a few carefully placed blows, the coupler was "press fit" onto the tongue of the trailer. It was good that it was on there, but there was no way it could be reliably fastened without a welder... unless...
The concrete saw was put back in service, and very carefully I ground out a hole on either side of the tongue. Then the guy with the ratchet kit found a long bolt in the back of his truck and we through-bolted the coupler to the tongue of the trailer with a pair of bolts.
About an hour after we'd started, the trailer was hitched back onto the car, and rolling along nicely. One of my better pieces of pound to fit and paint to match engineering.
His utility trailer was badly overloaded, but I was on my way home having just emptied mine, so I stopped to lend a hand.
I had spent the morning breaking up a concrete sidewalk at our church and had a sledge hammer and concrete saw in the back of my van. Another guy stooped to help who happened to have a ratchet set.
Once the building supplies were rounded up and loaded onto my trailer and into my van, we took a look at how to get this fellow back on the road so I could follow him to drop off his supplies at his house. His hitch on the trailer was so badly mangled that it was obviously never going to couple to a ball again. It had to come off. Too bad the welds were so good, 'cause there was no way he would be able to do that at the side of the road... except - yup, I had a fiber blade for the gas-powered concrete saw.
Fire up the saw and 5 minutes later the coupling was cut away and a clean end of the tongue was waiting for a new coupling to be welded on. Just one problem... No coupling available. Right about then a third truck pulled up. The guy stopped and said he was repairing his trailer and on his way to Canadian Tire to buy a new coupler 'cause he'd picked up the wrong size. Was there anything he could pick up for us and drop off on his way back?
His "wrong sized coupler" was our "right-sized coupler" so the hapless motorist bought it off him on the spot. Too bad the coupler didn't fit nicely over the tongue of the trailer.
Out came the sledge hammer and with a few carefully placed blows, the coupler was "press fit" onto the tongue of the trailer. It was good that it was on there, but there was no way it could be reliably fastened without a welder... unless...
The concrete saw was put back in service, and very carefully I ground out a hole on either side of the tongue. Then the guy with the ratchet kit found a long bolt in the back of his truck and we through-bolted the coupler to the tongue of the trailer with a pair of bolts.
About an hour after we'd started, the trailer was hitched back onto the car, and rolling along nicely. One of my better pieces of pound to fit and paint to match engineering.
QUOTE (Chrs P @ Sep 30 2009, 02:01 PM) 
About an hour after we'd started, the trailer was hitched back onto the car, and rolling along nicely. One of my better pieces of pound to fit and paint to match engineering.
Whether it was the right way to fix it or the wrong way to fix is not my place to say. But, there's a special place in the afterlife for people such as yourself that are willing to stop and spend an hour helping a total stranger that was badly stranded. You deserve a hand!
QUOTE (Chrs P @ Sep 30 2009, 02:01 PM)
So I was driving along the other day
Great anecdote, caring and can do. The world needs more of this and people like you.
Thanks!
QUOTE (Chrs P @ Sep 30 2009, 05:01 PM)
His hitch on the trailer was so badly mangled that it was obviously never going to couple to a ball again.
Out came the sledge hammer and with a few carefully placed blows, the coupler was "press fit" onto the tongue of the trailer.
About an hour after we'd started, the trailer was hitched back onto the car, and rolling along nicely. One of my better pieces of pound to fit and paint to match engineering.
Out came the sledge hammer and with a few carefully placed blows, the coupler was "press fit" onto the tongue of the trailer.
About an hour after we'd started, the trailer was hitched back onto the car, and rolling along nicely. One of my better pieces of pound to fit and paint to match engineering.
Sorry to chop up your retoric, I loved the whole story, but it just goes to prove that "When all else fails, get a BIGGER hammer".
I don't believe Red Green would ever, no never, use anything other the duct tape.
QUOTE (Donna D. @ Sep 30 2009, 08:42 PM)
Whether it was the right way to fix it or the wrong way to fix is not my place to say. But, there's a special place in the afterlife for people such as yourself that are willing to stop and spend an hour helping a total stranger that was badly stranded. You deserve a hand!
I catch your candor Donna and totally agree - as an empty utility trailer it was a "good-enough" solution to a tough problem. Obviously it wasn't a permanent fix though, and the trailer did need the hands of a competent welder/mechanic to make the fix permanent.
QUOTE (Chrs P @ Oct 1 2009, 08:20 AM)
I catch your candor Donna and totally agree - as an empty utility trailer it was a "good-enough" solution to a tough problem. Obviously it wasn't a permanent fix though, and the trailer did need the hands of a competent welder/mechanic to make the fix permanent.
Yes, you are right, a more permanent fix is needed... The point is that due to a good Samaritan he got on down the road.
I hope there is one out there when I need him/her...
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