Moving The World To A Greener Future
MOVE IT! by bike has been serving New Orleans by moving stuff since August of 2013 using a bicycle and a trailer that can haul 600lbs.
Monique needed some things moved that would not fit in her car so naturally she thought of a bicycle to move them. LOL Scott and Ishmael moved a bed, a dresser, a table, a couch, a love seat, and various smaller items. This move took two trips and four hours.
Muna needed a refrigerator returned to Home Depot because it would not fit through a space in her apartment to get it to the kitchen. Home Depot refused to transport the refrigerator back to the store so Muna called on MOVE IT! by bike. Tim showed up with his newest moving toy, an appliance dolly. But even with the dolly the refrigerator was to much for Tim. Fortunately a crew from Celtic Carpentry was working next and gave Tim a hand moving it down some steps and onto the trailer. Never again will we try to move a large fridge by ourselves. The move took way longer than estimated, but in the end MOVE IT! by bike did get the fridge to Home Depot with out a ding nor a scratch.
Matt & Chelsie were moving into town and needed their rented truck unloaded. They hired a crew of 3 MOVE IT! by bike people. Diana, Stevie and Tim got everything out and into their new home with the help of Matt and Chelsie in two hours. What took so long? Well, the bed would not fit up the stairs leading to the bedroom. So we hoisted it up to the second story balcony and in through the French doors.
Marcos needed a bed moved a few blocks and called MOVE IT! by bike to do the job. Marcos and Miranda helped move and load and unload the bed while Tim hauled it on the trailer. The whole job took just under an hour. Marcos is busy promoting his documentary movie "By Blood" which chronicles American Indians of African descent as they battle to regain their tribal citizenship. Here is link to the web site http://www.bybloodthefilm.com/#new-page
Captains Bed loaded and ready to go.
The move took me past the neighborhood pub Pal's Lounge
Tiffany called looking for a mover for her friend Natalia. Natalia's land lord had raised her rent by $500.00 and could no longer afford to live there. She found a new place and needed her bed and bicycle moved. Trouble was she was moving from Metairie (Almost Kenner) back into New Orleans (a distance of 11 miles) and the St. Pats Parade was blocking the shortest path. Long story short, MOVE IT! by bike came through for Natalia. Tim's broken collar bone prevented him from lifting anything so Natalia's friends did all that but Tim was able to pedal the bike to pull the trailer. Tim arrived at the moving from location at 6:30PM and all was moved in at 9:15 so the whole move took 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Jasmine a former client (see Teacher on the Move) recommended MOVE IT! by bike to fellow teacher Kerinn. Kerinn had found a great apartment and needed to move her things to it. David and Scott moved the large items she could not move with her car with included a bed, dresser, sofa, two over stuffed chairs and a tall chest of draws. Tim was there as well but failed to take pictures.
Lielah called on MOVE IT! by bike to help her move to her new place. We delivered our reusable bins that fit and stack so nicely on our trailers the day before her move so she could be packed and ready on moving day. Tim and David managed to move all Lielah's things with two trailers in one trip. The whole move took 2 hours.
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.
0.6 miles
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.
We can move inside some places trucks can't
Jo with her furnishings
A 2.8 mile trip
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.
A 4 mile move.
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.
