Bus Disposal - Part 3 - The End! 🚌

This all started about 4 months ago and if you missed it please see Part 1 & Part 2.

I had made 2 trips to the recycling center over the last couple of weeks. It was not the best approach, but sometimes you don't have a choice and need to do things that make you uncomfortable just to get it done. The only trailer I have that could haul them with is a new aluminum trailer which I didn't want to damage hauling these pieces. Of course the pieces were too wide to fit between the fenders so I needed to figure out a way to keep them above the fenders. I cut a couple 8"x8"to fit between the fenders but it was still about 2" too low, so a couple of 4"x4" on top of the 8"x8"s gave me a few inches of clearance. Next obstacle was how to get them on the trailer with dragging them on. We accomplished this by picking from the sides with a skid steer and a backhoe. Once we had it high enough I just backed the trailer under it and we lowered in onto the timbers.

Special care also was needed to strap the piece down as chains and chain binders weren't an option with the aluminum trailer. When you are hauling things on a trailer it is very important that the load can not come forward if you need to do a sudden stop and slam on the brakes. The last thing you want is for the load to come through the back of the truck. Since I can't chains and really bind them down, or even strap them super tight without damaging the aluminum trailer rails I decided to strap it in an 'X' pattern from side to side. This would provide additional holding and not allow the bus section to just slide from under the straps

Needless to say, the trip was very stressful. Coming down out of the mountains on the winding roads is no fun, but then the normal road I take was closed for repair of a wash out this spring. The detour was a very narrow road with quite a bit of traffic due to the detour. It took about 2 hours and boy was I glad it was over when i got home.

Win - Win

After procrastinating to only doing one trip a week, with two sections left, I got a text from a good friend who had helped me some last year with clean up asking if I wanted help taking the scrap metal pile to the recycling center. I had just made arrangements a few days prior to have the recycling center drop off a roll off container for me to fill with all the scrap metal. There was no way I was going to make double digit trips to haul all the smaller metal debris to the recycling center, nor was a flat bed trailer going to be useful for such an endeavor. However I still had those 2 bus sections so I jumped on the offer for help. Her and her husband have a tri-axle trailer and moved some truck bodies to my house last summer. Since covid she has been out of work and being home with 3 small kids was starting to drive her bonkers. The money I had been getting from the recycling center was not worth the stress I went through getting the stuff there. With her trailer I figured we could get the last 2 pieces in one trip and she could make a few bucks for her effort. She informed me she wasn't interested in the money and only reached out to help. That wasn't acceptable to me and said it was her time, truck, fuel, insurance, .... and she WOULD keep the money.

So yesterday was the day and I figured we could have her loaded and out of there in 1/2 hour. WRONG!
Backhoe wouldn't start so the picking and backing under was a no go. Instead we used the skid steer to put telephone poles under the section and push them up the ramps and onto the trailer. About 20 minutes into the job the sky opened up and it just down poured. We where too far in to turn back and I was determined to get rid of both sections that day. Working in the mud and everything being wet just provided more challenges to the loading. The skid steer was slipping on the ramps and the sections had to keep being adjusted the whole way up. It took us 2-1/2 hours to get them both loaded and strapped down, but we did it! The pictures were taken after we pulled out onto the road to strap the sections down so you don't get a true feeling for the mud we were working in.

And away it goes!

Here is the great friend that stuck it out in the pouring rain, mud and continued to smile throughout the ordeal. Couldn't have done it without her. True friends are priceless and never forget that....