The Bonfire week is one of our most hectic. This year we did 5 events in 4 days. Now we plan carefully and we carry spares for almost everything, but with the miles we are covering we expect some trouble on the way. This year everything went perfectly until the 4th event at Glossop.
Reaching the venue, Renny (who had arrived earlier) noticed a burning smell, 'probably the clutch' I said thinking of the hills we had just climbed. 'Nope' said Renny, probably that wheel hanging off!!! When I looked a wheel on the ride I was towing was indeed at an odd angle. Now wheel bearings dont fail often, but we carry spares for them and can change one in about 15 minutes so I wasn't worried. Stripping the wheel down I couldnt undo the locking nut, so I applied a bit more force. Crack!, the stub axle the wheel attaches to snapped. We definitely don't carry spare axles and this was late on Saturday afternoon so there was no chance of being able to source one.
The decision was made to carry on with the event and sort the wheel afterwards. The Glossop fireworks display was one of the best we have seen and the night was very successful. After dismantling the attractions we hit upon the idea of calling the AA to recover the trailer mounted ride. After about a 2 hour wait a miniture breakdown lorry arrived, 'That wont fit mate' declared the driver (bleeding obvious really), 'I'll send for our biggest breakdown wagon'. Another hour later dinky toy 2 turned up, 'That wont fit mate' declared driver no.2 (what is this, state the bleeding obvious week), 'we will have to tell the AA we can't do it. 10 minutes later the AA rang to say that the ride was 12 inches bigger than they had to carry under the terms of our contract and they could arrange recovery for £650-00 plus VAT. For a 70 mile round trip that was nearly £10-00 a mile.
We decided to attempt to reach our base on 3 wheels, it was by now the early hours of Sunday morning, we had an escort vehicle and the road over the Woodhead pass was pretty much deserted. A fraught 20 mile an hour journey ended in us successfully reaching home and another crises was over.
Reaching the venue, Renny (who had arrived earlier) noticed a burning smell, 'probably the clutch' I said thinking of the hills we had just climbed. 'Nope' said Renny, probably that wheel hanging off!!! When I looked a wheel on the ride I was towing was indeed at an odd angle. Now wheel bearings dont fail often, but we carry spares for them and can change one in about 15 minutes so I wasn't worried. Stripping the wheel down I couldnt undo the locking nut, so I applied a bit more force. Crack!, the stub axle the wheel attaches to snapped. We definitely don't carry spare axles and this was late on Saturday afternoon so there was no chance of being able to source one.
The decision was made to carry on with the event and sort the wheel afterwards. The Glossop fireworks display was one of the best we have seen and the night was very successful. After dismantling the attractions we hit upon the idea of calling the AA to recover the trailer mounted ride. After about a 2 hour wait a miniture breakdown lorry arrived, 'That wont fit mate' declared the driver (bleeding obvious really), 'I'll send for our biggest breakdown wagon'. Another hour later dinky toy 2 turned up, 'That wont fit mate' declared driver no.2 (what is this, state the bleeding obvious week), 'we will have to tell the AA we can't do it. 10 minutes later the AA rang to say that the ride was 12 inches bigger than they had to carry under the terms of our contract and they could arrange recovery for £650-00 plus VAT. For a 70 mile round trip that was nearly £10-00 a mile.
We decided to attempt to reach our base on 3 wheels, it was by now the early hours of Sunday morning, we had an escort vehicle and the road over the Woodhead pass was pretty much deserted. A fraught 20 mile an hour journey ended in us successfully reaching home and another crises was over.