We had everything ready to go and I was doing the final hook up when I noticed that the right side landing gear leg would not move. I had just moved it a minute before, but now even though the motor was running, the leg did not move up or down. NOT GOOD!
I took the cap off and saw that the crown gear was turning, but the main shaft was not. I thought I had a sheared pin, but no, it turned out the shaft itself had snapped. I had just replaced that entire leg last October when we got back to the ranch from our big trip out west. The same shaft had failed last year, but this was a brand new leg.
I will not go into any more detail, but I ended up having a machine shop build a replacement shaft. I even had them make a second one. Now I am carrying enough parts to rebuild a leg when I have another failure. Notice, I said WHEN. I am sure that these legs will keep giving me problems.
We ended up spending another night at the ranch in a fairly unlevel trailer, but no big deal really. At one point I was getting a bit frustrated and needed to make the walk out to the shop for a tool. I am sure that Kim was dreading my return, but on that walk I thought to myself, "At least you are not working". I was in a much better mood when I returned.
We did make it to the lake on Tuesday with the Ti. Shannon and Amelia joined us that evening. We were able to get our favorite Site #8. This awesome site is only $18 per night.
This site sits out on a point with Beaver creek behind us and the main lake to our left. We used to come here before I retired. I have spent many a night sitting on that picnic table thinking and dreaming about being able to spend all of my time living in my trailer in campgrounds like this one. Now my dream is reality. YEAH!!!
On Wednesday, we went back to the ranch to get the boat. The days are getting very hot with highs close to 100 degrees with stifling humidity. The only place that is comfortable is in the lake.
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| Kim, Shannon and Amelia |
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| Kim with some strange lighting and her new short haircut. |
Amelia is the youngest of our 8 grandchildren. All 5 of her siblings could not be at the lake with us, so we got some much loved one on one time with her. She seems to like the boat. She is not too sure about the life jacket, but she will grow into it.
Kim and I both did a little water skiing. This is only my second time skiing in the past two years. I was pretty sore after my first time two weeks ago, so I decided to take it easy and ski my way back into shape. That is my story and I am sticking to it. Shannon took some video to document the event.
It is going to be hot here at the lake for the next couple of weeks. We are fairly close to Springfield, so I am hoping to have some other family and friends come out and spend some time playing in the water. We will hang out here for the next couple of weeks. Kim is going to make a trip to Texas with Shannon next week for a few days, so I will be here by myself for a few days. I guess I will have to get out the kayak and do some fishing. It is a rough life, but someone has to do it.
Nothing better than a house on the lake!
ReplyDeleteYep, you should come visit.
ReplyDeleteAre you raising the landing gear too high, Shawn? I did that once and sheared a pin. Then I noticed the black mark the previous owner had painted on the landing gear to tell him when to stop. :)
ReplyDeleteGood question Jim. I did not give a full explanation of my issues with the landing gear, but early in my RV life I did raise them too high and now have carefully marked both legs below the normal stopping point. I think my problem is that I purchased a leg that looked like my old leg, but it did not have the same weight rating. The strange part is that in both failures the shaft has broken before the pin sheared. After spending some time doing research, I think I now have a handle on the problem, but am also ready to fix a failure if it happens again. Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDelete