Busy two weeks

[poppi]

 Been a little while
2 weeks ago I had a mad dash to get the bus ready.........
  new air bags and bumper stops replaced
  add supports to the hitch.
  get the fridge ready and headed down to Gillette Wy. to compete at nationals for a week. (national saddle
  club/omoksee)
  Loaded up the horse trailer and headed home. 900+ miles total

   With some 90+ temps the roof AC was paramount.

   Have some leaks to take care of and adjusting shifting points a little better before labor day.

   All in all the bus did fine and fun was had by all

    Thanks to Brian for showing me all sorts of useful bus information  (the added mounts really helped)

  Skip

   

[Dreamscape]

Doesn't it feel good to take her out and stretch her legs! Glad everything went well, I'll bet you're already planning the next one.

Paul

[poppi]

Paul,

    It was great! 9.8 mpg and it didn't even bother me going slow up the passes
   I need to get the bathroom and the kitchen working before labor day!
    Orders from headquarters (no power, showers or water for that one) we will need them


   Thanks
SKip

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Skip,

Headquarters?.... Ahhh...OK, I get it now. I'm a little slow today!

Glad you had a great trip in the bus.
Nick-

[Jeremy]

Nice to hear from someone using their bus as a basis for their competing in sports, rather than merely for holidays and such. My bus was largely bought for the same reason, and as it happens I made arrangements earlier this week to compete in a Worlds in summer 2011, which will also serve as the ideal deadline to get my bus finished(ish) and back on the road. In fact it's nicely symmetrical, as the last event the bus went to before starting the conversion was at the same venue. That time it was a Europeans and I had a fantastic 10 days tin-tenting, overlooking the water and only 200 yards from the club (most people were paying fortunes for accommodation in a town some distance away).

Jeremy

[Dreamscape]

Skip,

I know all about orders from Headquarters! I'm an expert at answering that one!

My last order was, "Finish the Kitchen and Lounge then you can finish and redo to exterior paint". I'm not moving to fast on that one!

Our next planned trip is an Eagle Rally in Kansas then onto TBR in October. We're having fun now!

Paul

[poppi]

Jeremy,
    Sports and a bus (pretty demanding mistresses don't ya think) It's hard to juggle between the two though I lost
10 lbs. working on the bus none stop which I am sure my ponies appreciated Worlds......sure and I'm just at the national  level.... good luck to you in both endeavors

  Nick......just think I'm one step closer to the east side of the Missippi
     Slow is not much a problem as long as there is forward movement............some days I need to drive
a stake to see the movement!

  Paul,
    Golly Gee when ever headquarters issues a mandate I seem to loose the memo  (hee hee hee)
     Good thing I have someone to remind me! Still need to make it to Texas to visist relatives how is oct? down there?

   Skip

[Dreamscape]

Skip,

Much cooler in October, and the threat of hurricanes is past. That's why I moved TBR from Sep. to Oct. Come on down, we'll kick a tire or two and enjoy some Texas Style BBQ!

Paul

[eaglekelly]

Skip
This may be a dumb question, did you pull the horse trailer with your bus?  I have wanted to several different times but I was afraid the fumes from the diesel would bother them.  How many horses did you take?

Mary

[poppi]

Mary,

   I pulled a 4 horse trailer with three QHorses. The front stall had 10 bales in it. The trailer is
5600# dry. When Brian D. stopped by he suggested I add more rotational support to the the hitch.
I did and am very happy I did. going up the hills I slowed down to usually 45mph. 25 on th Bozeman pass. when
the down shift was too slow and was below the good side of the rpm torque range.

I really didn't get in a rush and push it. Watched the temp like a hawk
temp ran 175 and on the steep hill let it climb to 190 max

If I do a lot more horse pulling then I will probably beef up the engine frame.
 I had some pretty good side winds at times and the bus pulled better than my 1 ton pickup

  My pickup has the exhaust on the drivers side (horse head side) also and I believe diesel exhaust fumes are not as nasty as gas exhaust fumes.
    FWIW.......   When driving the bus I don't like to belch black smoke anyways

an eagle may have different issues than my MCI
There is a lady from Canada that has a prevost and pulls a 4 horse all over. Green and the trailer matches.
Hope this helps.

  Skip

[eaglekelly]

Skip

Thanks for info. that was what I needed to know.  I really have been a coward on this one subject.  I had followed Bryan in the car when we brought the bus home and the front had diesel crap all over it so that was why I was worried.  He has done a lot of work on it since.
Thanks
Mary & Bryan

[Brian Diehl]

Skip,
I'm glad the trip went well.  How did the structure look after you got home?  Did it look like anything moved?

How about the actual event?  How did you and the family do?
-Brian

[poppi]

Brian,

   We had lots of fun. Here are a couple of pics One of me and one of Maria. Please remember these events
are done at the horses top speed
http://www.stockmansequestriancenter.com/PhotoAlbum.html
  I placed in the bottom end 7,8,9,10 placings. Placed in 5 events so we did pretty good.
  Maria took another notch up in her riding. Riding for 5 to 6 hours a day has a habit of improving one riding.

The reciever tube had some movement so I will be adding another support right at the tube. The rest of the hitch was rock solid.

    I thank you so much for the help and really enjoyed your visit!
    AnnaMaria is already asking when you guys will be back through.

Skip