Long day that was filled with bad luck!!

After I had chores done I decided to haul a load of soybeans for a customer. The ground needed to be frozen to load out of his bin. There is a big snow drift in the drive way that still has not melted so we set the auger the other way so we could load out in the field until the snow melts.

I also took our longer trailer as I wanted to be able to legally haul a 1000 bushels on the belt trailer. They are a heavier trailer so we bought a new tri axle one last year. We are allowed to gross 86,000 lbs on it on all the state roads. Not in the Federal interstates(I-80,I-380,I-35)

I have not used this trailer much as the one driver usually takes it. I usually get the shorter trailer that works better in the smaller yards I usually deliver into.

So I start to load the soybeans. I had the third axle in the down position so the air scale works correctly. All of a sudden I hear a loud BANG!!! It takes me a minute to figure out where the noise came from. It was from under the trailer. I get to looking and find one of the brake air chamber brackets broken off the trailer's lift axle. This bracket also is used by the axle air lift. It had broken in two pieces. the axle was fine in the down position but one wheel would not have a working brake. So I finished loading the trailer. I knew I would need to fix it at home anyway. I called on the way home and found out they do make a new improved weldment but it is five hundred dollars plus freight. So I get the trailer in the shop and start to take the old weldment out. I had all the pieces and could easily weld them back together. It also was easy to see what had made the old one break. The lift axle was using the bracket as an up stop if you drove over too high a spot with the axle raised. So you add that force along with the air brake chamber pushing on it and it failed. I rebuilt the bracket and reinstalled it. I then made two separate up stops that catch the axle before the brake/lift bracket hits anything.

I just was about done with this when my wife called an told me her car died when she went to pick up the one grand son from pre-school. She said the battery light came on and then shortly the car died. This is Saturn Vue. I just replaced the battery a few months ago. So I assumed there was a problem in the charging system. I told her I would be there with the pickup and jump start the car. I would charge up the battery enought to get the car home.

I took my 1990 Dodge pickup truck as the jumper cables where already in it. This truck is a five speed. About 2 mile from my house I shifted into 4th gear and the gear shifter broke off about four inches above the transmission. So I was able to take a pair of Vice grips and use them to drive back home to get a different vehicle to jump start the car.

Got the car home and found out the alternator had bit the dust. New one is right at $400 my cost. I am going to take the old one to a repair shop tomorrow.

Pulled the shifter boot off of the Dodge pickup. The threaded part on the short stub that sticks out of the transmission broke off. It was 14 MM. So I removed the shifter out of the transmission and was able to just weld a bolt on the lower shifter. Then screwed the long part of the shifter onto the bolt. The good thing??? Cost?? about two dollars. 10.9 bolt and nut and some welding wire.

So I finished the trailer and delivered the load of Soybeans to Cargill in Cedar Rapids. Loaded up a load of pelleted soy-hulls and hauled/delivered them on the way home.

SO the day in summary:

1)Trailer that is only 18 months old broke and found out the company will not warranty anything on the trailer after it is one year old. Was able to fix and repair it with just some time and labor. Saved $500 plus.

2) Fixed the pickup shifter relatively easily and with little cost.

3) The car is still out of service but I hope my Sparky expert can save the day and me some money. If not then about broke even for the day. The profit made hauling the beans and feed will just about cover the repairs.

So I worked all day and really did not "gain" anything. Maybe I should have just stayed in bed. LAMO

i remember when my wife,then gf,jumped in my truck and for some reason the gearshifter just broke off,down by the floor.just one of them things i guess,luckily we were in 2nd gear and made it home...

I always figure On a day like this if at the end of the day I am not dripping blood the day has been a success! Over the weekend I have been trying to figger why I lost the verticle mounting bolts from the starter from the engine on my C 20 work van with the 6.2 diesel engine! I feel your pain! Armand Ps This too shall pass (I hope!)

I'm happy if I can break even around here.

yes,but thanks to you ,Old Ben had a good day reading the magazines and newspapers you sent for him,and maybe he even ate some peanuts!

You definitely had a Murphy's Law day!

Sorry you had a bad day. Just out of curiosity, are you able to weld on the brake chamber pot and still be able to pass a safety inspection if you are pulled over and get inspected?

I was talking to the wife of one of the elders at church Saturday. I noticed that she was driving a different car, and she told me how the engine went twice and that the newer one has given her trouble too, and how they have bad luck with cars. I told her about spending $21,000 in repairs on two vehicles in two years and she said "Well our luck hasn't been THAT bad."

I can't see the man with the bin having seriously uneven ground there. So do I understand that the trailer can't handle anything but smooth roads? Sounds like design problems.

Hope you get the alternator fixed. Some years ago a friend started a alternator-starter repair business and I helped him occasionally rebuild GM alternators, back then they were quite simple. He would put in new brushes, bearings, regulators, etc., for less than $30. I don't know what they look like today. I would definately want new bearings put in while it ii out of the car.

KEH

I've always noticed things like this follow a full moon. My wife says I'm crazy! But being in the maintenance field for over 30 years you do see a pattern.

All that and you didn't wave while you were in CR ?? lol

My wife who taught 30 years at a residential treatment facility always knew when it was a full moon, not by the calendar, but by the students behavior...wild days!

The brake chamber was fine. What broke was the bracket it bolts too.

I put an alternator on from a chevy cavalier on my 2.2 in the Saturn VUE used from a junk yard three years ago. The chevy price is lower so I have been crossing parts as I need them. Saturn parts are expensive. Ours has 223,000 on it now Repairs have been minimal. 4cyl 5 speed no rust looks just like we drove it off the lot in 2001.

I was driving bus one day and had that happen. Up shifted to pull into a lot, let go of the stick, and she dropped to the floor. I bet the look on my face was priceless. I just picked up the stick and showed it to another driver through the windshield. She about had a laughing fit. Dumb Fords.

Sorry you had a bad day, but truly glad you all made it home SAFE!!

Take care!
John

Are you sure you're not in Aviation? We have days like this.

Things will go perfect or go completely off the rails. When it rains it pours!