A bad situation all the way around....

[intel]

Bird is right
I think the sheriff made the right call 4 or 5 hours to late. I am so tired of supporting lazy, dump people even in my own family. It should be illegal.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The bottom line is they were moving it illegally. I did the same thing a few years back for a poor family with my F-350. My neighbors mother bought some property with a trailer on it she did not want. She donated it to a family through her church and the family had access to some land to put it on. I pulled it, a 12' or 14' by about 70' single wide home, 4 miles or so for free.

We did things a little different. A group of guys readied the trailer the weekend before. The actually serviced all the bearings, tires, added lights, and even added some steel to the hitch area with a welder. I got there at 8 am on a Sunday morning and by 9:30 we were rolling. We chose that time of the week and morning due to light traffic, something these folks did not consider. I drove a sensible route and never went above 35 mph. The only real problems we had was it was raining lightly, making some of the turns on county roads were tough, and it took a Jeep hooked to my truck to get it in place due to the wet and muddy lot it was going in. They had it leveled and water, sewer, propane, and electric all hooked up by 2 pm that day. It was a successful move and all went well but if there was a problem I would have had to deal with the consequences. What we did was illegal also but I was willing to take that risk to help someone out. It could have ended the same way.

Chris

 

[aczlan]

We did things a little different. A group of guys readied the trailer the weekend before. The actually serviced all the bearings, tires, added lights, and even added some steel to the hitch area with a welder. I got there at 8 am on a Sunday morning and by 9:30 we were rolling. We chose That time ob the week and morning due to light traffic, something these folks did not consider. I drove a sensible route and never went above 35 mph. The only real problems we had was it was raining lightly, making some of the turns on county roads were tough

preparation is the key, it sounds like you prepared and you were not in a situation where you warned that "the tires would be loose and they should stop the move" no prep+old trailer+bad choice of routes (if it had been on a little side road there probably wouldn't have been a problem with them taking a day or so to fix it)+loose tires=disaster
overall, they turned the lack of prep work by "Pancake" (what do you expect for $200?) into a great way to make the sheriff look like a callous uncaring SOB on the news when he does his duty and gets the major (for that area anyways) road cleared of the mess that "Pancake" caused.

It was a successful move and all went well but if there was a problem I would have had to deal with the consequences. What we did was illegal also but I was willing to take that risk to help someone out. It could have ended the same way.

from what you said it is unlikely that you would have had the same problems for several reasons:

1. the trailer was prepped and put into decent shape
2. it sounds like you weren't on "major" roads
3. last but not least the family probably didn't have "all their worldly possessions" in the mobile home to overload the axles, the loose tires and generally wreak havoc with the frame.

Aaron Z

 

[Diamondpilot]

You are correct. The prep work done at the expense of the church and its members was first rate. Other than the width and the turning radius moving this trailer was no problem. The guys spent the entire previous weekend getting it ready. All I had to do was hook up and tow it. I was there less than 2 hours which seems like a lot for a 4 mile trip but we took our time and didn't rush anything.

Chris

 

[Bird]

Chris, that sort of thing is undoubtedly done more often than most people realize, with or without the local law enforcement officers knowing about it. While I was living in the west end of Navarro County, some folks about 3 miles from me had their house burn. It so happened that another guy had an unoccupied mobile home sitting in his pasture and he gave it to the folks who had lost their house, and the new owner moved it himself about 2 miles down a farm-to-market road with his own very old Farmall tractor.

 

[KeithInSpace]

...very old Farmall tractor.

There's something to be said about going under 1 MPH...much less stress on the tires, suspension, and frame of the structure. I'll bet a lot less would go wrong carefully towing with a tractor than blowing down the town's main drag with a Dr. Pepper in your hand.

 

[Renze]

I still wonder, if he had enough tractors at hand to destroy this mobile home, wouldnt that as well be sufficient to drag it out of the way with some chains, after the hitch broke off ?

 

[KeithInSpace]

...tractors at hand...

Thought about that earlier. Dick and Pancake must have deliberated this and since they would have to close the OTHER lane of their only road, Dick wouldn't have it.

 

[aczlan]

someone claiming to be an eyewitness posted the following on the carlisleky.com board... quite a different story than the one posted on the news, perhaps between the two we can find the real story... anyways enjoy.

Aaron Z

The 35 year old convicted felon grandmother and her 20 somthing boyfriend have been living in the Headquarters trailer park for so time. She was managing the park, for pay? I am not sure. Both of them are not employed or at least they havn't been for some time. The poor helpless woman has opened her home's to help aid people like convicted drug dealers hiding from the law, persons under indicment for welfare fraud etc. Now that we have established the background for this story allow me to enlighten you to facts..
1. Mrs. Barton contacted, a professional trailer moving company to move here trailer. They told her it would cost them 600.00 dollars. But they would have to inspect the home and the home would have to be empty. Mrs. Barton and her sister in law or what ever who is currently out on bond for welfare fraud for using her food stamp card to buy drugs put the axles under the 20 something trailer herself. At 2:30 pm she contacted a licensed tow truck operator and asked for him to move the trailer. He told her he would do it for 300.00 dollars but it was to late to move it before dark and would be glad to do it the following day in the daylight. She then contacted Pancake and he agreed to do it for 200.00 dollars and the events begin. A fugitive wanted by law enforcement agreed to help her get the trailer ready. at or around 4:00pm the farm tractor was hooked to the trailer and over the hill they went. The intelligent owner locked the door on the home so her lizards, snakes, raccoon, dogs and cats wouldn't jump ship. she left all here stuff inside the trailer (which added weight) and away the happy couple go. The farm tractor with the trailer in tow and pancake at the wheel head towards US 68 via headquarters road. less than 500 yards from the start of this saga a friend stops them and informs them that the tires are wobbling and look loose. The owners of this mint condition 20 something trailer gave the order to thier chosen captain the expert pancake to drive on. The circus the turn left onto US.68 and the first tire falls off, then driving on the next three tires fall off and the driver attempts to pull the now crippled home over to the side of the road. The now tireless mansion on wheels has slid sideways and the body has sliped from the rotted frame. The once beautiful 5000.00 dollar mansion on wheels, became a bull dozer. The able captain in his attempt to get the home off the roadway has turned it in to a earth moving machine that buried it self breaking the expertly installed axles and blocking US 68 in one of the most dangerous sections of the highway. With darkness upon them and the rain falling the group of wirey unemployed pill popping moving crew the owner included begain to determine who should hide before law enforcement arrived. Deputy Sheriff Ben Buckler gets the call but is in Cynthiana at the Harrison Memorial Hospital with his youngest son who was being seen by a Doctor. Sheriff Dick Garrett takes the call and arrives on scene. Sheriff Garrett knowing the dangers approaching with the darkness and traffic, contacted Deputy Buckler and had him respond. Deputy Buckler arrived and so did the rain. The sheriff contacted Roberts wrecker service and told the owner that it would be best to remove the items from the home. While waiting for the wrecker service the owner just walked around smoking cigarettes and complaining. She was told again by Deputy Buckler that she needed to remove the articles from the home in case the trailer fell apart. The wrecker arrived and the attemps began, the wrecker operator stated, the frame was rotten and the body was detached every time he tried to pull it it was pulling apart. Sheriff Garrett contacted another person to bring a portable welder and they attempted to reinforce the frame and that failed, they used air bags to try and lift up the home and place to wheels on and that failed becuase it pushed the frame through the floor. At that time the wrecker driver informed the Sheriff that he could not remove the home. Sheriff Garrett informed the owners and told the to remove the items. I watched as the family and friends removed every thing from the home including the numrous pets and all the food 5 trucks and one cattle trailer provided by Pancake Myers were used. When the last truck load was loaded the Sheriff asked Mr. Gaunce if he had everything he wanted and needed out of the home. He responded, I guess so and the tractor began to try and push the home out of the roadway. Again failure and the home had to be removed. As for the total loss that is bull **** she got he stuff and she has another trailer in her name were she claims residence and it was not the one stuck in the road. (you know that you must report all income in the home right ?) More to Come!!!!!

another post... also good

Why couldn't (or didn't) the Sheriff.... CALL ANOTHER TOWING SERVICE SINCE THE FIRST ONE HAD 2 FLATS. Isn't THAT the bottom line when it comes to an unexpected accidental situation-remove all parties from immediate harm 1st

Tiki2 - the big heavy duty wreckers WERE called to the scene from Lexington. They tried to move it, but the tongue of the trailer separated from the trailer. Other things were tried, including inflating giant air bags underneath the trailer - the trailer was so rusted out that the bags simply split the floor of the trailer when they were inflated. This trailer was in no condition to be moved in the first place. When it first started going down the road, there were pieces falling off it...those moving it would simply stop and toss them off onto the side of the road. That should have been a clue right there.
There is a lot more that happened than was reported in the article (as usual for the media, they only include what makes a good story). But the sheriff and the county did everything possible to move it, but it was simply falling apart more and more.
The family was given lots of time to move their belongings out, including the dog, cat, lizard, snake and more that they LEFT IN THE TRAILER while it was being moved...they filled three truckloads with their personal belongings before the trailer was pushed aside, and the sheriff repeatedly asked them if they had everything they wanted before it was pushed off the road.
It's sad the media doesn't report all the facts....

 

[Ductape]

someone claiming to be an eyewitness posted the following on the carlisleky.com board... quite a different story than the one posted on the news, perhaps between the two we can find the real story... anyways enjoy.

Aaron Z



another post... also good

Well that first one sure sounds like FACT !