Comin' Over the Mountain

I loaded my trailer full of SIPs in Bennington, VT. I figured the load of SIPs at about 3100 lbs, plus 875 lbs trailer weight: just under 2 tons. A small load by road standards, where a tandem semi-trailer might weigh up to 40 tons. Still, if a 2 ton load fell on you, you'd know it. So I treated the load with an appropriate dose of respect.

My friend Sue Bates has offered me a plot of land on which to park my trailer to build my tiny house. The building site is in Ashby, Massachusetts, a nice little spot behind Sue's barn, next to the garden. To get there, I need to haul my fully-loaded trailer 90 miles. We would travel VT Route 9, from Bennington up over Hogback Mountain to Brattleboro, and then into New Hampshire to Ashby. This stretch of road, full of twists and turns, up & down the Green Mountains, happens to be my all-time favorite road; I've driven probably 200 times in my life, and I haven't gotten sick of it yet. I never pulled a trailer over the mountains, though. I was looking forward to it!

Though my trusty diesel Jetta serves me well as a work-truck, this load is a little beyond what Sparky could handle. My father, Bob, kindly volunteered his Toyota Highlander for the job. Though he feigned reluctance at times, I know that he actually loves playing trucker (he does have reason to be a little gun-shy: he once blew up the transmission on a borrowed truck, driving a horse-trailer halfway across the country; I did everything I could to re-assure him that his Toyota could handle it). He drove over to Bennington to meet me in the yard of Timberline Panel Company, we secured the load with ratchet straps and pulled out onto the road, the Toyota Highlander, the loaded trailer, and Sparky as the chase car.


The load towed quite well going up the mountains. We passed our friends Fred & Roberta, headed the other way, on their way out to vacation. We pulled over to say hi and check the load. Our packing job worked well, and the load had not shifted at all. The trailer was handling its maiden voyage admirably!


We had good weather on the way up the mountain, but as we crested the Green Mountains at Hogback Mountain, the sky was darkening, and as we headed down the other side it began to rain. On the way down the mountain with the trailer pushing from behind, the load "wagged the dog" according to Dad, and gave a bit of a ride to the tow vehicle.

In Brattleboro, after driving through the rain for 30 miles, we decided to pull over in the Fire Department parking lot to tarp our load (of course, it promptly stopped raining). The underside of the load was dripping wet and dirty from road dirt. It made me sure that I would have to weather-proof the underside of Cubit.

The load made it all the way over the mountains with no mishaps. The next trick was to get the trailer into its yard, between the barn and the fencepost, which were about 8 1/2 feet apart (the trailer is 8'-1" wide).

After turning and backing and pulling forward and backing and turning about 28 times, and sinking into the soft soil of the flower bed, we decided to break open the load and hand-carry the panels into the yard (not my favorite choice, as some of the panels were upwards of 200 lbs). But that's what we did, with the help of Herbert Bates (it was a good thing that he happened to be there, otherwise we'd still be backing and pulling forward and backing again). Once we lightened the load, we were able to back the trailer into place. Who knew that after 90 uneventful miles, the last 150 feet would take the most work?

It was exciting to get the trailer to where it will be built, and the panels staged and ready for cutting! Here's a photo of the yard:


Now I have a bit of work prepping the yard and setting up tools, and then I start cutting the panels!