- 4,808
- 742
- 113
- Location
- Liberty Hill, SC
Just wanted to share me and JP (EMD567's) epic warpspeed m270 recovery from Texarkana, TX to Hopkins, SC (or in reality, Winnsboro, SC to the RR museum.) We were also supposed to pick up a forklift for the museum in MS, so I figured buying a trailer out west would kill two birds...
We were supposed to leave Monday Night, or early Tuesday. Was having issues with the purchaser of my m172- needed to finalize it one way or another to pay for the recovery. Finally heard from the original ebay bidder, who overnighted a check on Tuesday. I had waited because one of the follow up possible buyers was in AL- I didn't want to run out past there bobtail just to have to bring the lowboy out at a later date.
So around Noon I figured out what was going on, loaded the m172 ramps and all my chains, jack, etc in the m101 trailer, hooked it to the m915, waited to say hello to Angie for about 20 min after she got home from her business trip, and headed out. Ran down to Aiken, SC, to pick up JP, then we headed west.
Got lucky through Atlanta, hit it at rush hour but it wasn't too bad. Made it all the way to Little Rock, AR before getting a no tell motel for about 4 hours, 3 of which was sleep (maybe) The roads in MS and AR are sooooo bad.... we were thrown around and knocked into other lanes. I swear we were totally airborn more than once. that poor M101 has grooves worn in the pintle top and bottom... one of the blackout lights on a 90 degree bracket next to the rear tail lights on the m915 SHEARED OFF because of the bouncing. The other one is about half sheared. Couldn't sleep a wink, you would just nod off then be awoken thinking the truck is careening off a rocky cliff!
Woke up the next morning, and drove 2hr to Texarkana. After some hiccups with the facilities fees (cost $1209 for the tow and 28 days of storage at $30 a day...
) we hooked up, loaded the m101 on the trailer, bled the brakes (air over hydro) and we were off. Got down the road about 50 miles, re-chained the m101. All the hubs on the trailer were reading 98 degrees or less- so we rolled on.
Stopped for the night in Fulton, MS. The place with the forklift was less than a mile away. Got up (got about 7 hours of sleep that time!) and went over to load- the guy was running late...
Got the forklift loaded, and tilted the mast down. Measured it, and it was 13' 6.5"
So we said, if they pull us at the weigh stations, they pull us. The first one we went through, they waved us up to the building. Uh oh, here we go... they just wanted to take a look, and waved us right through. Whew! JP was supposed to be back in SC to drive to Ashville, NC that evening- yeah, he made it, but didn't get up there till late... He drove the m915 like a man possessed, and had the hammer down from Fulton, MS to SC, so that is what killed our mileage.
So we left around 1330 on thursday, and rolled East. Dropped JP just inside the SC line, and I continued on to the museum. Dropped the trailer, and got home around 0030 Friday morning.
Total Miles:1895 miles
Total Fuel: 387 gallons
Total Hours: 58 hours
I only got a few pics with my phone, of the trailer pickup and of the forklift pickup.
We were supposed to leave Monday Night, or early Tuesday. Was having issues with the purchaser of my m172- needed to finalize it one way or another to pay for the recovery. Finally heard from the original ebay bidder, who overnighted a check on Tuesday. I had waited because one of the follow up possible buyers was in AL- I didn't want to run out past there bobtail just to have to bring the lowboy out at a later date.
So around Noon I figured out what was going on, loaded the m172 ramps and all my chains, jack, etc in the m101 trailer, hooked it to the m915, waited to say hello to Angie for about 20 min after she got home from her business trip, and headed out. Ran down to Aiken, SC, to pick up JP, then we headed west.
Got lucky through Atlanta, hit it at rush hour but it wasn't too bad. Made it all the way to Little Rock, AR before getting a no tell motel for about 4 hours, 3 of which was sleep (maybe) The roads in MS and AR are sooooo bad.... we were thrown around and knocked into other lanes. I swear we were totally airborn more than once. that poor M101 has grooves worn in the pintle top and bottom... one of the blackout lights on a 90 degree bracket next to the rear tail lights on the m915 SHEARED OFF because of the bouncing. The other one is about half sheared. Couldn't sleep a wink, you would just nod off then be awoken thinking the truck is careening off a rocky cliff!
Woke up the next morning, and drove 2hr to Texarkana. After some hiccups with the facilities fees (cost $1209 for the tow and 28 days of storage at $30 a day...
) we hooked up, loaded the m101 on the trailer, bled the brakes (air over hydro) and we were off. Got down the road about 50 miles, re-chained the m101. All the hubs on the trailer were reading 98 degrees or less- so we rolled on.Stopped for the night in Fulton, MS. The place with the forklift was less than a mile away. Got up (got about 7 hours of sleep that time!) and went over to load- the guy was running late...
Got the forklift loaded, and tilted the mast down. Measured it, and it was 13' 6.5"
So we said, if they pull us at the weigh stations, they pull us. The first one we went through, they waved us up to the building. Uh oh, here we go... they just wanted to take a look, and waved us right through. Whew! JP was supposed to be back in SC to drive to Ashville, NC that evening- yeah, he made it, but didn't get up there till late... He drove the m915 like a man possessed, and had the hammer down from Fulton, MS to SC, so that is what killed our mileage.So we left around 1330 on thursday, and rolled East. Dropped JP just inside the SC line, and I continued on to the museum. Dropped the trailer, and got home around 0030 Friday morning.
Total Miles:1895 miles
Total Fuel: 387 gallons
Total Hours: 58 hours
I only got a few pics with my phone, of the trailer pickup and of the forklift pickup.
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