Sparks Fly in Fernley
Mar. 8th, 2015 07:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeWe are nearly out of firewood, and while this (alas for the lack of rain) early spring means we're close to no longer needing any more wood, we figure we need one more pallet to see us through the season. However, my minivan is in the shop, and Lisa determined that someone must have (long ago) stolen the trailer hitch from the Big Orange Van. So we went to Big R yesterday and bought a new variable-height hitch.
Except it wouldn't fit. Although it's nominally a standard size hitch, and all of the other hitches we have (like the heavy-duty one she used to tow the trailer from Oregon) are the same size and fit, the new one was just barely too big.
Lisa broke out the heavy grinder and protective gear (goggles, ear protection) and tackled grinding off a millimeter or two of the new hitch.
My job was to stand well clear with a bottle of water (and a fire extinguisher) in case any of the copious sparks generated from the job set something on fire, and also to apply water to the hitch to cool it down after she worked on it.
After several attempts — it wouldn't do to grind off too much! — Lisa got the hitch installed and the utility trailer hooked up. Then it was over to Big R to buy a pallet of firewood. Lisa is glad that we have all of this hardware that we hauled down from Oregon, including grinder, welding tools, saws, etc. for situations like this.
It took so much time and effort to get the utility trailer hitched up that by the time we got home with the pallet of firewood, we were both too tired to unload it. It can wait until tomorrow.
Except it wouldn't fit. Although it's nominally a standard size hitch, and all of the other hitches we have (like the heavy-duty one she used to tow the trailer from Oregon) are the same size and fit, the new one was just barely too big.
Lisa broke out the heavy grinder and protective gear (goggles, ear protection) and tackled grinding off a millimeter or two of the new hitch.
My job was to stand well clear with a bottle of water (and a fire extinguisher) in case any of the copious sparks generated from the job set something on fire, and also to apply water to the hitch to cool it down after she worked on it.
After several attempts — it wouldn't do to grind off too much! — Lisa got the hitch installed and the utility trailer hooked up. Then it was over to Big R to buy a pallet of firewood. Lisa is glad that we have all of this hardware that we hauled down from Oregon, including grinder, welding tools, saws, etc. for situations like this.
It took so much time and effort to get the utility trailer hitched up that by the time we got home with the pallet of firewood, we were both too tired to unload it. It can wait until tomorrow.
