The U-Haul Saga
As mentioned in a previous post, we moved our “new” shed. The process started about 8:30 am on a Saturday and finally ended Sunday around 5pm…a 32.5 hour marathon of deconstructing, poor decision making, digging (lots of digging), mud, cold, and heroes.
It took less time that expected to deconstruct the shed so I wanted to get it moved while there were four of us there to load. This is where the lesson begins. Patience is a virtue. So much value in this short cliché, and so many ways to go against it. Long story short, I had a flatbed truck lined up & the guy was willing to load the shed, haul it, and unload it — problem was he couldn’t get to the site until 4pm. 4pm! That was hours away! No way. I would just go rent a truck and we would get this thing delivered to my yard before 2pm. So I picked up a 17foot U-Haul.
Here is where it gets good. The shed was in the back yard of property to be cleared for commercial space. All our cars were parked in the backyard near where the shed had been so I pulled right on back with the U-Haul. Everything was great until the truck stopped moving but the tires kept going…right into the holes they were digging into the wet earth. I wasn’t worried at this point — we had another little truck and the four of us to figure a way out.
First, Jerry hooked up a chain to his two wheel drive pickup but it just pulled the U-Haul deeper. Deep as in halfway up the wheel wells. Steve began chiseling away at the dirt with a scraper that he had brought for the shingles. Everyone joined in to dig out the ruts using what limited tools we had...then it was “almost”, “so close”, and “you almost had it.” We dug, we pushed, we spun the wheels and finally…we knew we were up against something larger that what scrapers and broken shingles could overcome. Jerry and Steve both had prior commitments, so they had to leave. Ben….poor Ben…he stuck with it.
So we called people with big machines, some towing companies (one quoted us $1200 – uh, no thanks!), friends, family, people I haven’t seen since I was in high school, etc. As you might expect on a Saturday afternoon, most people didn’t answer their phones, said they could help later, offered to help for a large sum of money to tow us out, or just plain said no. What? The world doesn’t revolve around my shed project on a Saturday afternoon? Our small army eventually included me, Ben and Erin…armed with four shovels and (at first) plenty of confidence.
We started digging and digging and spinning the tires and digging. We gathered gravel and wood chips from a city project site about 500 feet away for traction. We pushed the truck. We leveled out the ditches with shovels. But, of course, we mostly just deepened the ditches by spinning the tires. Did I mention that it was below freezing and windy and getting dark? Well it was. It was time to call it a night. The drive home was silent but if thoughts could talk the noise would’ve been unbearable.
Then I had the bright idea to call that guy from Craigslist who was originally going to haul this stuff to see if he can get us out. Sure enough & no problem (he said). Took Ben home, rounded up Jack & Kevin to help load the truck once it was out. Also borrowed a shop light (it was dark by this time) So craigslist shows up with his big ol’ (emphasis: old) F250 4 wheel drive truck, a chain and a lot of confidence. Well, at least his truck looked stronger than a shovel. He started pulling on the U-Haul but the truck just got deeper than it had ever been. Up to its axles and the bumper was 3 inches from the ground. We’re shoveling like crazy, covered in mud so F250-guy decided all we needed was a little tug on the front end.
So he drives around, locks the chain on the frame of the uhaul, gives one good pull and….and guess who gets stuck next? That’s right…the F250. (Did I mention that this guy had a breathalyzer attached to his ignition? Not making that up. He did). Anyway, he proceeded to dig two 20 feet long 2 foot deep ruts in the yard, covering us with mud as we tried to push his truck. His comment? “Hey, I’m just the guy from Craigslist”. Ha. Yeah, buddy. After an hour or so, when it started to sound like the transmission was going to drop out of his rusty old truck, he called his brother (with another F250). We’re standing around shivering until his brother shows up, drags him out and they take off. It was getting really cold and late. I had held everyone captive long enough.
Next morning I call K & H towing (another craigslist find) at 8:30 in the morning. Robert answered the call sounding half-asleep…but “no problem”. He would bring “Clifford the Big Red Tow Truck”. Erin & I get dressed and drive up north for the 4th time in less than 24 hours. Robert pulled the truck around back, hooked up a winch, and yanked the U-Haul out – took him 10 minutes. K and H towing is awesome! Best part? For a Sunday morning pull out, he charged us $65! So now the truck was on solid ground. So all we had to do was get the truck loaded (“we” at this point, being just myself and Erin). I just want to say that my wife simply amazed me with her determination.
We unloaded the U-Haul, washed it down and got it back by only one day late. The delivery of the shed costs us our entire weekend and approximately $250 to move. Thanks to Ben, Jerry, Steve, Erin, Kevin, Jack, “craigslist-guy”, k&h towing, and Kristen for fighting the good fight.
