Along with our new trailer, we purchased a hitch that goes on the back of one of the trailers so we can pull them both using one bike. The intention is not to pull loads, but to arrive at the job with the two trailers and a bike on one trailer and meeting the other driver at the site. There the trailers will be separated and loaded and pulled individually.
Tim hitched up the two trailers and took them around on some errands. He found the trailers just as easy to pull as one but had to make turns a bit wider. Turning around was tricky for with one trailer you can turn left on a dime, but with two the wide end of the trailer hits the towbar in a tight turn making a wide U-turn necessary.
Our new trailer from Bikes At Work arrived in two boxes delivered by UPS on September 24th. Jim and his team at Bikes At Work are quality all the way. I was able to put the trailer together in a few hours using the very thorough directions provided. Everything was packaged so well with all parts wrapped and labeled. John Mau stopped by and helped put on the back cross member. One only needs a couple of wrenches to put these trailers together and even those are provided.
Everything went together so easily. Every hole was exactly where it should be. The quality of craftsmanship is outstanding. This trailer was made 5 inches wider than usual for MOVE IT! by bike so we can fit wider loads on it better. I took some pictures.
Two boxes shipped UPS. Hard to believe there is a trailer in there.
Everything packaged so well.
All the parts laid out.
Middle section put together.
Rear section
All three sections ready to be connected.
All three sections connected and back and front ends installed
Tow bar and wheel fenders installed.
Wheels on. Finger photo bombed this one.
Another angle without finger.
Washers installed on the end of each bar to keep hooks for bungee cords and straps from sliding off. And she is finished.
Ty called on MOVE IT! by bike back when the company was founded a little over a year ago to help move some office furnishings but the move ended up not happening. When Ty needed some things moved into his office he again called on MOVE IT! by bike and this time the moved happened. A desk, side table, lamp, rug, futon, microwave oven, printer and some other things were moved from the 900 block of Saint Ann to the 300 block of Exchange Place a distance of 0.6 miles. The move took 2 trips and two hours.
John with our first load at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. We did not take a picture of the second load.
Barbara purchased a nice sofa/sleeper from a person who lives on Julia Street and needed it transported to her place on Esplanade Ave. So she called on her friend Herb and MOVE IT! by bike. After removing the legs off the couch the sofa was guided through the narrow and twisting path that included balancing it on the third story railing. Fortunately once outside the apartment the way was wider and flat so a furniture dolly was employed. The elevator was just big enough to let the door close with the sofa inside. With the hard part over the loading of the sofa onto the trailer was a snap. The hauling began with a problem however, for the back wheel of the bicycle came loose and had to be reinstalled. So the loaded trailer was unhitched, bike fixed, hitch up the trailer again and off to Esplanade. Once there Tim and Herb brought the sofa into Barbara's apartment. The distance of the move was 2.2 miles and took 2 hours.
Sofa loaded and ready to go.
Stopped for a quick pic in front of the Palace Cafe on Canal Street.
Frank and Ashley are decorating their refurbished home with finds from yard sales, craigslist, resale shops and so on. This time they bought a nice dresser and called on MOVE IT! by bike to haul it over to their place and help bring it upstairs to it's new home. This is the third time Frank and Ashley have used MOVE IT! by bike and is a new record! Thank you Frank and Ashley for trusting MOVE IT! by bike with your found treasures.
Jo returned back to town and got a new place and wanted her furniture to be in it. She called MOVE IT! by bike once again and arranged to get her futon, sofa/sleeper, corner hutch, and a padded chair from her storage place in Arabi to the 1200 block of Louisa in New Orleans. Jo recruited her friend Bill to load and unload. We did this all in one 2.8 mile trip and moved everything in just under two hours.
Miss Brown called on MOVE IT! by bike to help her remove her things form a POD. The things included an electric piano. This instrument was the size and almost the weight of an acoustic upright and had to be carried up steps. Michael and Tim worked together and after a few grunts and groans the piano was in place. The rest was easy in comparison. MOVE IT! by bike helped arrange the furniture and put her IKEA bed together. This all took 3 hours.
Lauren needed a queen sized bed she was given by a friend moved from the 2900 block of Ursulines Ave. to the 1900 block of Constance Street, a distance of 4 miles. Lauren helped wrap the mattresses and load them on the trailer. Tim headed to Lauren's place with the bed in tow. On Orleans Street, stopped at a light, I suddenly was lurched forward almost hitting the car in front of me. It took me a few seconds to realize what had happened and looked behind me to see the car that bumped into me. The driver waved and smiled as if to say "Oops! sorry." like it was no big deal and when the light changed drove off. But on a bicycle there is no back of the seat or head rest to keep your back straight. My back did hurt for a bit but I am recovered now.
Anyway no damage done to the bed or to the trailer so Tim continued on. The rest of the journey went well and the bed and carpet were delivered safely.
A quick stop at Redbeard Cycles for a quick pic before the car bump further along the road.
Ali needed us to move her larger pieces of furniture. She had moved everything else. She made things easy for us by removing the draws from the dresser and the cushons from the couches. All we had to do was move them out, load them on our trailer and haul them to Ali's new place. At her new place she had removed the banister to make it easier to move in. Ali's prep work saved MOVE IT! by bike a lot of time and as a result Ali saved money.
Jo, a cab driver, needed to move a few large items from the 1900 block of Urquhart Street to the 3000 block of Franklin Ave. With the threat of rain we moved fast to load and transport a sofa/sleeper, a cupboard and a futon to their new home. It took two trips and two hours.
Sunshine asked MOVE IT! by bike to help her move from the 7000 block of Hampson Street to the 7000 block of Hurst. Sunshine was packed up and ready to go when our crew arrived. We fist loaded and moved her children's bunk bed, then a sofa sleeper along with a coat rack and then two loads of bags and boxes of books and various other items. We put the bagged items in our bins and discovered three Rouses paper bags fit nicely in them. The move took four trips and a total of three hours.
Lore called MOVE IT! by bike to move a refrigerator from the 4000 block of Baudin Street to the 500 block of State Street, a 4.6 mile trip. As usual the miles were no bother. As usual the challenge was everything else. It is best to keep a refrigerator upright so you do not mess up the fluids in the compressor so laying down the appliance to lower the center of gravity was not an option. The dimensions were also slightly larger than the width of our trailer. So we brought along a section of 3/4 plywood to place on top of the trailer's rails to support the wide load. Moving the fridge out was no problem using our shoulder dolly. The fridge was placed on the plywood platform just in front of the trailer's wheels and secured with tie downs. We balanced the load with bins with our moving equipment in them placed them in the very back of the trailer. The trip to the drop off location was smooth for the most part (New Orleans' streets ARE getting better). Going under the expressway on Carrollton Ave was a worry but the incline down helped build momentum for the incline up and was done with less effort than imagined. At the delivery location, the door we needed to pass the fridge through was to narrow so we took the doors of the fridge off, brought it in, and replaced the doors. This move took two hours.
Alex needed MOVE IT! by bike to move her larger furniture from the 1900 block of Broadway Street to the 3400 block of Robert Street. But the troubled skies of that day warned us that isolated showers may hamper our efforts. It did rain on us three times but all three times we had a tarp over the items on the trailer so everything was well protected. One rain came along when we were moving a load so we movers got wet but our cargo did not. This move took two loads and so two trips. Hopefully soon we will have enough saved to purchase a second trailer so that a move like this can be done in one trip.
Sam called on MOVE IT! by bike to move a nice used leather sofa and end table she bought from the 5500 block of Hurst Street to the 2500 block of Palmer Avenue. With the threat of rain in the air Tim and David worked with speed and care. The sofa was removed from the house just fine through wide french doors and easily loaded on the trailer then transported to its new home. There we were met with a narrow door but managed, with the help of two other movers that were moving things out of the new place, to get it through.
During this move Tim met Kay Morrison who founded and owns Occasional Wife. Quoting from More Magazine "Kay Morrison put a price tag on women's work--the old-fashioned, domestic kind--and turned it into a thriving business helping super-busy people get organized." Here is a link to their website http://www.theoccasionalwife.com/default.asp
Tim and David posing in front of the couch ready to go
Woody Allen is quoted as saying, "90% of life is just showing up." Alexa called MOVE IT! by bike when the mover she hired did not show. Alexa warned us that we may need to lower a couch out a second story balcony so we purchased some rope for this task. Alexa's Father and her room mate was there and helped Tim move Alexa's things. It took all four to lower the couch. We also lowered a box spring as it would not fit through the winding narrow and low stairway. The couch went to a different address than the bed so two trips were made from the pick up location. Alexa just graduated from Tulane in Marketing and is looking to use her talents in New Orleans.
After being lowered down with ropes the couch is loaded and ready to go.
Alexa's roomy took this picture so Tim could be in it. Loaded and ready to go is Alexa's bed.
Gregory called on the crew at MOVE IT! by bike to help him move from his upstairs apartment to a more spacious apartment on the first floor. Key word in this move was stairs. As is usual in our city the stairs and doors were narrow and twisted. All of us got a work out that no stair master can give. Gregory treated us all to a beer after and that hit the spot; especially those spots that were sore and tired.
We moved, elementary school teacher, Jasmine's things to her new place and just as we got going it rained. Fortunately we put a tarp over the load when we saw threatening skies.
Jasmine MOVING IT! (Actually she let Tim haul all her things to her new place)
Andrew's girl friend needed to move a few things from the 600 block of Broadway to the 1100 block of Lowerline. She asked Andrew to move them and Andrew asked us to move them. Smart man that Andrew for she was moving out of a third floor apartment and into a second floor apartment. Lots and lots of stairs but Tim and Stevie got it done. MOVE IT! by bike managed to get everything moved in one load.
Full Sized bed, desk, chair, dresser, book shelf and nightstand.
Laura needed to move her bed and desk from the 7700 block of Zimpel Street to the 1100 block of Lowerline Street. Trouble was Laura is out of the country. So she called MOVE IT! by bike to move them for her. Laura's room mates at both locations let us in and MOVE IT! by bike did the rest. Only problem is that Tim did not take any pictures.
Stella and Mitch were moving from their 700 block Gov. Nicholls St. place to their new place on the 1900 block of Burgundy. They had arranged to have a truck help them with a few things but the truck never showed; so they called MOVE IT! by bike. When they called, Tim had just completed a move and so was ready and free to help out at this moments notice. Stella and Mitch had already spent several trips moving using a hand cart. MOVE IT! by bike moved a bed a tool box and some other small items, things they did not want to move via hand cart. By the way Stella and Mitch are the musical duo that are "Honky Tonkin' Donkey". Check them out at http://honkytonkindonkey.com
