Dr.Jass
Pastor of Muppets
With the garage, basement, and certain areas of the house overrun with cars, parts, and other treasures, I started looking into other storage options. I'm not a fan of off-site storage rentals if they can be avoided since I'm terrible about remembering to pay for such things. Besides, I like to keep my hoard close, where it can be fondled and cooed-at.
This place is literally two blocks from my house, but the prices of their sheds seemed a bit out of whack to me. They are well-built and regarded and sell well--heck, their lumber business took a back seat to the buildings years back--but dropping that kind of coin was too hard to justify, especially the difficulty in moving a reasonably-sized shed should I change residence.
At last year's Fall Jefferson meet, held two blocks from 68R/T's house, a "friendor" (a constant vendor who's become a friend) mentioned he'd bought a newer 30' trailer. He said his old 26-footer was for sale if we knew anyone that might be interested. I was, immediately. After a quick inspection in vendor parking lot, a deal was hammered out betwixt us. The original plan was to drive to his place in MN to pick it up, but time and weather were not on our side. We decided to wait until Spring Jefferson '20. He would drive the still-loaded trailer to the show and have his friend haul the new trailer empty. Once unloaded, Stretch and I would collect the trailer and bring it back here, no doubt packed with new purchases. 2020's GCMHE (Governmental Control Mass Hysteria Exercise) prevented that show from happening, so I tried in vain all summer to convince my friend Pete to help me get it. He simply would not do it, owing to some unfounded terror of hauling such a huge trailer without a load-distribution hitch (never mind that the trailer was empty and I've seen him tow more than twice that weight without it). Well, there's always Fall Jeffy, but 'cept GCMHE was still in effect and it too was cancelled. Stretch and I already had the time off, though, so we decided to drive to Minnesota and get the damned thing.
When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find the trailer has four new wheel/tire assemblies, and that the seller had left the cabinets in it, as well as a Snap-On "rough service" tool box (very heavy gauge shell, designed to be moved/thrown in the back of trucks/stepped on by woolly mammoths etc.). His Flexibility--better-versed in such things than I--assures me it's a $500-$800 box as-is and would cost well over two grand new. Interrogation revealed that our friendor Pat had never even bothered to see if the 110V lighting/outlets worked, and that the electric tongue jack had worked at one point but no longer did. When it stopped, he never diagnosed it... he just hand-cranked it for the remaining time he owned it. One hinge pin of the three was (is) broken and the wood on the rear ramp door needs replacing, but those were issues of which I was aware prior to purchase. The RH stop/tail/turn lamps failure to function was the only nasty surprise, needing immediate attention prior to 350 road miles. The wires for the ground and brake/turn function were disconnected under the trailer and easily repaired for the trip (a more-permanent repair is still needed) but we had no RH running (tail) light, which is probably wired in parallel with the LH light inside the ramp door. I'll find out when I replace the door wood. A couple of the clearance lights are out, but based on which ones do work, I believe those are simple bulb/lamp replacements rather than actual wiring issues. There's also a leak at the RF corner of the roof that I have to address prior to the snow. I may or may not get to decal removal this year.
As a storage solution, it's brilliant. It's easily-enough moved if needed and the blight laws that generate a perennial visit from the gendarmes do not apply to a licensed trailer. To boot, MI trailer plates are permanent--they never expire. Take that, oppressive government types.
The closest-sized Beaulier building (linked above) is 12x16 and would set me back almost $13,500 after sales tax. Considering slightly-more square footage, ease of movement, and overall utility, the $2,500 I paid for the trailer was a positive bargain... especially after discovering that the 110V system works beautifully. No lighting or outlets are included in those storage buildings.
Outdoor-facing halogen area light for night work behind the trailer:
This place is literally two blocks from my house, but the prices of their sheds seemed a bit out of whack to me. They are well-built and regarded and sell well--heck, their lumber business took a back seat to the buildings years back--but dropping that kind of coin was too hard to justify, especially the difficulty in moving a reasonably-sized shed should I change residence.
At last year's Fall Jefferson meet, held two blocks from 68R/T's house, a "friendor" (a constant vendor who's become a friend) mentioned he'd bought a newer 30' trailer. He said his old 26-footer was for sale if we knew anyone that might be interested. I was, immediately. After a quick inspection in vendor parking lot, a deal was hammered out betwixt us. The original plan was to drive to his place in MN to pick it up, but time and weather were not on our side. We decided to wait until Spring Jefferson '20. He would drive the still-loaded trailer to the show and have his friend haul the new trailer empty. Once unloaded, Stretch and I would collect the trailer and bring it back here, no doubt packed with new purchases. 2020's GCMHE (Governmental Control Mass Hysteria Exercise) prevented that show from happening, so I tried in vain all summer to convince my friend Pete to help me get it. He simply would not do it, owing to some unfounded terror of hauling such a huge trailer without a load-distribution hitch (never mind that the trailer was empty and I've seen him tow more than twice that weight without it). Well, there's always Fall Jeffy, but 'cept GCMHE was still in effect and it too was cancelled. Stretch and I already had the time off, though, so we decided to drive to Minnesota and get the damned thing.
When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find the trailer has four new wheel/tire assemblies, and that the seller had left the cabinets in it, as well as a Snap-On "rough service" tool box (very heavy gauge shell, designed to be moved/thrown in the back of trucks/stepped on by woolly mammoths etc.). His Flexibility--better-versed in such things than I--assures me it's a $500-$800 box as-is and would cost well over two grand new. Interrogation revealed that our friendor Pat had never even bothered to see if the 110V lighting/outlets worked, and that the electric tongue jack had worked at one point but no longer did. When it stopped, he never diagnosed it... he just hand-cranked it for the remaining time he owned it. One hinge pin of the three was (is) broken and the wood on the rear ramp door needs replacing, but those were issues of which I was aware prior to purchase. The RH stop/tail/turn lamps failure to function was the only nasty surprise, needing immediate attention prior to 350 road miles. The wires for the ground and brake/turn function were disconnected under the trailer and easily repaired for the trip (a more-permanent repair is still needed) but we had no RH running (tail) light, which is probably wired in parallel with the LH light inside the ramp door. I'll find out when I replace the door wood. A couple of the clearance lights are out, but based on which ones do work, I believe those are simple bulb/lamp replacements rather than actual wiring issues. There's also a leak at the RF corner of the roof that I have to address prior to the snow. I may or may not get to decal removal this year.
As a storage solution, it's brilliant. It's easily-enough moved if needed and the blight laws that generate a perennial visit from the gendarmes do not apply to a licensed trailer. To boot, MI trailer plates are permanent--they never expire. Take that, oppressive government types.
The closest-sized Beaulier building (linked above) is 12x16 and would set me back almost $13,500 after sales tax. Considering slightly-more square footage, ease of movement, and overall utility, the $2,500 I paid for the trailer was a positive bargain... especially after discovering that the 110V system works beautifully. No lighting or outlets are included in those storage buildings.
Outdoor-facing halogen area light for night work behind the trailer:
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