Sept 9: Heavy load

Sure, we've all had those days, when thru no fault of our own, some idiot causes us to be the butt of jokes and possibly even puts us in, might I say, a dangerous position. In this case, this poor horse has been asked to pull a heavy load, but not just heavy, but badly loaded. Oh, to get my feet back on the ground! Beast of burden for sure, but if this load needed to be moved in North America, Dobbin would be left in the pasture and the family work truck, the North American pick-up or some other truck would have been put to good use. And if you've been paying attention to the ads, you can see that they can pull almost anything.

Question. Why is it that in all the ads bragging about what a Ford, Chev or Ram can pull, they are shown with this similar load.........

You got it, in each case the ad says that this truck can pull a million tons and they show it pulling a tractor of some sort. Are there that many tractors that need moving? Now, I've seen lots of pick-ups pulling lots of varied loads, but rarely an excavator or some other piece of construction equipment. Just wondering, that's all. But that is simply a side observation, what I'm getting at, is plan the load and pull what your equipment is meant to pull.

Great ad, but unlikely we'll ever see a Touareg at Frankfurt airport pulling a 747, but you get the point. Right? (what is the point, anyway?)

But what about when some poor soul hasn't gotten the point?

Moving can be expensive, but this old Pontiac might be giving its all with this one last load, assuming of course that it even makes it. What, no friends with a pick-up? Maybe no friends at all. Wonder who's got his mattress?

But stupidity, or should we say optimism, isn't restricted to North America. Think the Poncho above was being strained to its limit? Nothing compared to this Russian merchant, saving some coin by making his family sedan the work horse for his thriving fruit and vegetable business.

Might be tough getting up to speed even on a sidewalk, but that's a worry for later. Better he should invest in a truck that is better suited to the job at hand, like this one.......

Putting those blind spot monitors and back up sensors to good use (ie: the folks riding on top), as this heavy load wends its way to wherever. Might be a good idea, if the dude at the top puts out his cigarette or whatever they smoke in his corner of the world.

No matter the extreme load, these guys used a vehicle suited to the task, even if the manufacturer never planned it that way. Creativity or necessity is being shown here......

Obviously the local transit system is using one vehicle to carry parcels and transport their paying customers. In our city, we use trucks and buses to perform these tasks, but not everyone has this luxury. Maybe this pic wasn't taken in North America?

 No pick up or other truck available and the local horse was already out of commission?

Yes, I know it seems strange and possibly even cruel, but have you priced out a new pick-up lately? Put a few tasty options on one and the $50k figure rapidly disappears in the rearview mirror. So, your bike is the only option. Obviously it helps when the jars are empty. Heck, any one of us would be up to this task.

A couple of other over achievers and under thinkers..........

For god's sake, would someone haul out the manual and check out the gross vehicle weight capabilities and see if, just maybe you've over estimated the toughness of your work truck. I mean, what is wrong with these guys (and I assume that they are guys)?

I always say, use the best tool for the job at hand. Well, maybe I don't always say it, but it's implied. This smart car owner thinks like me and is not over estimating what his tiny car can do........

......while this Ram driver knows exactly what his big bruiser can accomplish......

......and again with those tractors. So think about it folks. You've got a heavy load that no beast of burden can possibly move for you (nor should it), then turn to the most capable vehicle available and don't put your poor horse, your old truck or the family car thru hell, just because you want to save a bit of coin.

Another life lesson, courtesy of the Wheel to Wheel blog.

Until next time.......