Burken Boys’ and Girl’s Journey

[wjburken]

A little update. Took a chance on using some Harbor Freight wheels that said they were rated for 400 lbs each. Guess that was a lie. Got a call from Joseph saying the wheels broke on his little trailer. Said he thought the bearings worked themselves out of the hub. Nope! Whole hub assembly separated from the rim on both wheels! Was able to buy some better wheels with a better design and get him back up and running again last night.

 

[89Suburban]

A little update. Took a chance on using some Harbor Freight wheels that said they were rated for 400 lbs each. Guess that was a lie. Got a call from Joseph saying the wheels broke on his little trailer. Said he thought the bearings worked themselves out of the hub. Nope! Whole hub assembly separated from the rim on both wheels! Was able to buy some better wheels with a better design and get him back up and running again last night.

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OMG what pieces of crap!

 

[89Suburban]

Have had to shift from auto mechanic work with Joseph to trailer fabrication. Joseph wanted a flat bed trailer to pull behind his rider so he can haul a push mower and other lawn care accessories as he runs his lawn care business. So we have been working on making one out of some scrap steel I was able to get from work. Not finished yet, but thought I’d share what we’ve got accomplished so far. I’ve been doing the welding and he is getting the hang of cutting and grinding. It’s been a fun father/son project. Once it’s all fabricated, it will be painted red to match his rider and get a wooden deck with some side boards.

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I missed this awesome cart build!!!

 

[iamdub]

A little update. Took a chance on using some Harbor Freight wheels that said they were rated for 400 lbs each. Guess that was a lie. Got a call from Joseph saying the wheels broke on his little trailer. Said he thought the bearings worked themselves out of the hub. Nope! Whole hub assembly separated from the rim on both wheels! Was able to buy some better wheels with a better design and get him back up and running again last night.

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Super clean break. Clearly a welding fault. Probably done by the same people or equipment that built their jack stands. They should have a 90-day warranty on them so you could get your $30 back. Or keep them to re-weld (another father-son teaching project) or mount to separate hubs. This would at least prove valuable to Joseph as a lesson that an unwise dollar saved could cost many wise dollars elsewhere.

 

[wjburken]

Super clean break. Clearly a welding fault. Probably done by the same people or equipment that built their jack stands. They should have a 90-day warranty on them so you could get your $30 back. Or keep them to re-weld (another father-son teaching project) or mount to separate hubs. This would at least prove valuable to Joseph as a lesson that an unwise dollar saved could cost many wise dollars elsewhere.

Yeah-they are going back for a refund/credit. It’s a poor design having the hub only welded to one half of the split rim and then a poor weld job on top of it. Went with different wheels that have the bearing pressed onto both sides of the split rim.

 

[adventurenali92]

Really awesome work!! He’s gonna make some bank roll with that little trailer!

 

[wjburken]

Really awesome work!! He’s gonna make some bank roll with that little trailer!

Yes sir. He has 10 lawns right now and is averaging at least $25 a pop so that’s about $250 a week and when the grass really gets going, it’ll be closer to $500.

 

[Sam Harris]

Yes sir. He has 10 lawns right now and is averaging at least $25 a pop so that’s about $250 a week and when the grass really gets going, it’ll be closer to $500.

Haha!! Get it!

 

[wjburken]

So yesterday Joseph asked Javier if he would mow my dads yard while he was helping me hang drywall. Usually Joseph just drives the rider over to my dads but Javier wanted to use the trailer Joseph bought and pull it over with the truck. I have to admit, I have not taken the time to shoe the kids how to back up a trailer so as I pull into our cul-de-sac, I see Javier backing the trailer in along side our garage and I was curious as to how it would go and I’ll tell ya, for a first time attempt, he nailed it. Never jackknifed it, never had to pull forward to re-align and just got it done. Pretty cool watching my son do this all on his own. When he got out, I asked him where he learned to do that so well and he said, “Well, the trailer just goes the opposite way of the truck so I just took it slow and wiggled it back into it place. It was pretty easy really.”

 

[Sam Harris]

So yesterday Joseph asked Javier if he would mow my dads yard while he was helping me hang drywall. Usually Joseph just drives the rider over to my dads but Javier wanted to use the trailer Joseph bought and pull it over with the truck. I have to admit, I have not taken the time to shoe the kids how to back up a trailer so as I pull into our cul-de-sac, I see Javier backing the trailer in along side our garage and I was curious as to how it would go and I’ll tell ya, for a first time attempt, he nailed it. Never jackknifed it, never had to pull forward to re-align and just got it done. Pretty cool watching my son do this all on his own. When he got out, I asked him where he learned to do that so well and he said, “Well, the trailer just goes the opposite way of the truck so I just took it slow and wiggled it back into it place. It was pretty easy really.”

Awesome! There’s a large number of adults, who fail to understand this concept! [emoji1787][emoji106][emoji106][emoji631]

 

[George B]

Good stuff!

 

[adventurenali92]

So yesterday Joseph asked Javier if he would mow my dads yard while he was helping me hang drywall. Usually Joseph just drives the rider over to my dads but Javier wanted to use the trailer Joseph bought and pull it over with the truck. I have to admit, I have not taken the time to shoe the kids how to back up a trailer so as I pull into our cul-de-sac, I see Javier backing the trailer in along side our garage and I was curious as to how it would go and I’ll tell ya, for a first time attempt, he nailed it. Never jackknifed it, never had to pull forward to re-align and just got it done. Pretty cool watching my son do this all on his own. When he got out, I asked him where he learned to do that so well and he said, “Well, the trailer just goes the opposite way of the truck so I just took it slow and wiggled it back into it place. It was pretty easy really.”

Dang your kids are smart as hell! That’s awesome!

 

[iamdub]

Awesome! There’s a large number of adults, who fail to understand this concept! [emoji1787][emoji106][emoji106][emoji631]

No worries- just tuck your ******** in your ass crack like a Ken doll and buy a $70,000 truck that does it for you.

 

[HiHoeSilver]

So yesterday Joseph asked Javier if he would mow my dads yard while he was helping me hang drywall. Usually Joseph just drives the rider over to my dads but Javier wanted to use the trailer Joseph bought and pull it over with the truck. I have to admit, I have not taken the time to shoe the kids how to back up a trailer so as I pull into our cul-de-sac, I see Javier backing the trailer in along side our garage and I was curious as to how it would go and I’ll tell ya, for a first time attempt, he nailed it. Never jackknifed it, never had to pull forward to re-align and just got it done. Pretty cool watching my son do this all on his own. When he got out, I asked him where he learned to do that so well and he said, “Well, the trailer just goes the opposite way of the truck so I just took it slow and wiggled it back into it place. It was pretty easy really.”

I'm not sure why, but the first few lines of this had me anticipating a disaster story. Shoulda known better. It's one of Wade's boys. Duh.

 

[wjburken]

So every year the Des Moines Register sponsors a week long bike ride across Iowa from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River called RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). It is basically a traveling party with stops each night in different towns. This year, the final stop is in our town. In honor of that illustrious distinction, they gave out a bunch of old bikes for folks to make art out of to display around town. Javier is busy making his contribution. He loves art and has wants to get a job where he can weld so here he is in his element being creative.

 

[adventurenali92]

So every year the Des Moines Register sponsors a week long bike ride across Iowa from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River called RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). It is basically a traveling party with stops each night in different towns. This year, the final stop is in our town. In honor of that illustrious distinction, they gave out a bunch of old bikes for folks to make art out of to display around town. Javier is busy making his contribution. He loves art and has wants to get a job where he can weld so here he is in his element being creative.

He has welding skills too?!?! Geez! That kid is gonna go places in life! Lol

 

[Sam Harris]

So every year the Des Moines Register sponsors a week long bike ride across Iowa from the Missouri River to the Mississippi River called RAGBRAI (Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). It is basically a traveling party with stops each night in different towns. This year, the final stop is in our town. In honor of that illustrious distinction, they gave out a bunch of old bikes for folks to make art out of to display around town. Javier is busy making his contribution. He loves art and has wants to get a job where he can weld so here he is in his element being creative.

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That’s awesome! Man, I so appreciate the old town type of atmosphere y’all have there. That’s rare anymore.

 

[Tonyv__]

So yesterday Joseph asked Javier if he would mow my dads yard while he was helping me hang drywall. Usually Joseph just drives the rider over to my dads but Javier wanted to use the trailer Joseph bought and pull it over with the truck. I have to admit, I have not taken the time to shoe the kids how to back up a trailer so as I pull into our cul-de-sac, I see Javier backing the trailer in along side our garage and I was curious as to how it would go and I’ll tell ya, for a first time attempt, he nailed it. Never jackknifed it, never had to pull forward to re-align and just got it done. Pretty cool watching my son do this all on his own. When he got out, I asked him where he learned to do that so well and he said, “Well, the trailer just goes the opposite way of the truck so I just took it slow and wiggled it back into it place. It was pretty easy really.”

Personally I think smaller trailers are a pain in the ass. They’ll jackknife in a second..which makes it all the more impressive. my 24ft trailer was extremely easy to back up compared to a car dolly. that thing was the worst. I actually prefer to wheel then into place by hand then hook up lol.

Your kids are doing great

 

[Sparksalot]

Personally I think smaller trailers are a pain in the ass. They’ll jackknife in a second..which makes it all the more impressive. my 24ft trailer was extremely easy to back up compared to a car dolly. that thing was the worst. I actually prefer to wheel then into place by hand then hook up lol.

Your kids are doing great

My teardrop is a good example. I always had shorter wheelbase tow vehicles until thecopcar. The tongue length made it very difficult to back up, plus I never was confident in the strength. So, shortly after I got thecopcar, I bought a longer piece of steel, and lengthened the tongue by almost 2 feet. Mo better now.

 

[wjburken]

Had the day off so thought I’d get some more parts swapped over from the donor truck. The wife is getting tired of it being in our driveway.

Removed the old rusted through bumper off and the hitch with a seized up ball mount and put the bumper and hitch from the donor truck on.
Everything was rusted up so had to cut off all the bolts.
You can see from the pile of debris, that the truck is a little lighter now.