Truckers Rodeo
I made it to TOGR without incident and dropped the poles on the site...the new brakes on the trailer were sure welcome...I dragged the load off the trailer with the Little Green Giant...it's times like this I wish I had a front end loader...sort of...
The next morning was the Appointed Day....after some breakfast with MIL and FIL I headed out to the Ranch to await the delivery trucks...I continued preparing the site to recieve the materials and tinkered with the living accomodations while waiting for the deliveries.
Right on time, I got a call from the "Red Tail Rental" driver...he was at my gate with my fork lift...and since we are old friends now, he knew right where to drop the machine ... had the chains off and was driving it off the delivery truck by the time I drove up to the gate...
Driver gave me a whole 10 min of instruction and turned me loose...so I waved goodbye to Red Tail and drove the lift back to the site to await the deliveries.
I have operated a lot of equipment...but this rough terrain forklift is one of the first I can say is actually FUN...! The electronic controls and 4 wheel drive / 4 wheel steering made this machine as nimble as a goat...those boys at Red Tail have some excellent equipment...
I stayed busy while waiting for the trucks....set up my corner stakes and batterboards and was putting away my sledge hammer when my first load showed up...the steel from Hilco in Navasota...a little later than planned but still on the Appointed Day...
The Hilco driver worked right along side of me to get the steel spread out...I had it packaged in 5 separate stacks so I could spot the materials as close to the work as possible...less time spent by my carpenters walking back and forth to the materials pile is money saved...two stacks of an endwall and half of the sidewall sheets, two stacks of roofing and a stack of trim...
The Driver worked hard and earned a nice tip for his troubles...
Like clockwork, as the Hilco man was finished, the driver from McCoys showed up...
I had flagged my driveway so the drivers could spot it easily from the road, and we have a small sign on the gate with our name and number for 911...so he just drove on in and as I was helping the Hilco guy roll up, a semi-truck just appeared out of the trees...
...I love it when a plan comes together...
A regular truckers ballet began to get the Hilco hotshot rig out, as the McCoys semi rolled in...I designed and graded the driveway for heavy trucks, but just ONE at a time...!
The drivers were great...shoehorning the trucks past each other and onto the site smooth as silk.
The McCoys truck had a three wheeled forklift attached to the back of the trailer, so as the Driver got that rig ready for work, I called Red Tail Rental and set up for the return of the rental lift.
The kid on that McCoys truck was an artist...and it wasn't long before he too was on his way with a nice tip in his pocket.
I will make a point of bragging to these guys bosses...good help is always hard to find...
So now, I had almost the entire frame and skin of the house on the ground...some assembly required. All I lacked was the second load of poles...
While I was gazing over the piles of materials and planning where to run a temporary power pole, my insurance agent called and told me I needed to sign some papers, requiring me to drive about 15 miles to nearby Madisonville...so my day was pretty much done.
Since I am acting as General Contractor, I dont want to simply trust that any subs have coverage...I was pleasantly surprised by the rates for the insurance for the project...$130K of "Builders Risk" and "$1mill of "General Liability" will cost me $1500 for a years coverage...this includes the "Mayan Apocalypse" and "Zombie Apocalypse" riders, and the right to convert the liablility paper to a Farm and Ranch Liability policy at the end of the project BTW...
You can't be TOO careful...
I had tried to get Allstate to write the coverage...but even tho our 20+ year claims record with them is ZERO claims, they just didn't want to cover this job...tho the little local independent broker sure did...I will transfer all my business to the local broker as we move on up from the coast...
Anyway, this agent is particularly noted locally for supporting Owner-Builders and will even write policies on some of the more exotic building methods like straw bale or earth-ships...she came highly reccomended by MIL / FIL and the neighbors...
If you have the backing of the local Church-Ladies, you must be doing something right...
With all those materials stacked up and now, even insured, I spent the evening with MIL and FIL and headed home the next morning for a little bit of Christmas...
Sad thing is they moved closer to downtown and do not have much room to turn around a 20 foot gooseneck trailer.
