We should have seen the signs from the beginning, putting aside the lack of real planning prior to the trip, A very groggy and tired nathan and I some how manage to lock the keys in the truck before we ever leave the driveway. Once transcending past this issue, we leave with out the keys as the truck doesnt need them to run.

Finding spare keys proves to be difficult on 3 hours of sleep in complete darkness at 5 in the morning.

Ok, we are on the road again, but we need gas..........4 or 5 gas stations we finally find a station with diesel....brilliant concept for a gas station along side the highway.

From this point on things roll relatively smoothly. We are both able to relax, and I can finish my pot of coffee.

just outside of bloomington, il we make a pit stop. Upon pulling into the service station we find out 1 of the 6 trailer tires is completly flat and shreading. "No problem, I'll just call a tire center and we will take it to get fixed and be back on the road." This would have been much easier had our fine piece of farm engineered machinery hadnt been built with mobile home tires. Turns out not a whole lot of places carry these things.

Plan b) lets just take the tire off along with the one on the otherside to balance it.

Stopped along side of the road, we get out....a quick glance at the radar informs us that it is a balmy -12 degrees F. -32 with wind chill....yes this wind is chill, as a matter of fact it is beyond chill. It's quite painful. Perfect environment to pull 2 tires off in.

Upon further inspection of the tire we thought was ok, it is missing its bearings. I nice kick of the shoe brings the tire falling to the ground.....nice. Now we run into the zenith of this tire issue. With the tires removed, the axle now lay lifeless on the ground, completely preventing any forward motion by the vehicle.

After a brief moment of contemplation while gathering warmth in the car we decide to chain the axle up off of the ground. This is a bitch in -12 degree arctic tundras.

It took 10 minutes roughly to chain the axle up. Upon getting into the truck, Nathan's fingers are beginning to turn black. The first sure signs of frost bite. And i find myself with complete loss of feeling in my fingers and toes. I know how what it feels like to be an amputee.

It has now been decided we need to retreat and return home at once, before something else falses off.

The trailer began handling strange, so i stop to check everything. Looking at the tires i find 2 glaring problems....
Number 1. every tire is completly dry rotted. some completly bald. This is not good for optimium traction and performance.
Number 2. The recommended pressure for a mobile home tire as stated on the cracked sidewalls is 70 psi. A quick check with a tire gauge revealed the tires were running 10-20 psi. Dangerously low.

From this point on, things seemed to go smoothly getting home. Took longer. Driving 50 miles an hour down the interstate drastically increases travel time.

Lessons Learned.
Dont let your father send you out with a trailer that he hasnt even seen in daylight.
When borrowing a trailer keep in mind. Moe's idea of road worthy, is not the same as everyone elses.
Drinking a pot and a half of coffee makes you pee ALOT
Drinking a pot and a half of coffee means you never stop talking and you get real jittery.
Mobile home tires should not have any part of a trailer.
-12 is really fucking cold
when driving 2 states away to pick up hay, just take the trailer that you know works, even if it is 4 feet shorter.
the beginning stages of frost bite suck


A wonderful display of chain wizardry by nathan.



This would be what an axle with no hub looks like



Note the obvious warning telling us how bad of an idea this was...if only we had found this sooner



Spare parts...so to speak