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My failed parade attempt

shadow

Member
116
1
18
Location
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
So I tried to be in a local parade but failed. I wanted to use my cannons on the genset trailer but had to dig out the cannons from my large storage unit. It has taken a few weeks to get things together. I had to cut off my trailer hitch and weld it up much higher to fit the trailer height. We had 100 deg temps at the beginning of the week so that slowed me down. I had to work straight through the night and got the trailer loaded and when the sun was coming up I had to weld the hitch fast.

I was running out of time. The parade stages at 11-noon with the parade at noon. I got done welding at 11:35am. I raced to my storage (where the trailer is at) and went to hook it up and had minimum problems attaching it to the pintel. I go to raise the landing leg/wheel and it will not move. I use a large pry bar and it only moves a few inches. The landing leg has been bent and I didn't think anything of it. I failed to realize it needs to swing up and the bent "forks" will not allow it to pivot up. I busted my butt for 2 weeks and minutes before needing to get to the parade I discover this. Huge fail on my part.

I did get pics but didn't bother decorating it. No point in keeping the decorations I bought because there are no more parades to go to. We have the Independence parades about 2 weeks before the 4th and the main town makes you pay and register a month ahead of time. I was going to the small towns free parade.

This totally sucks. :(
 

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swbradley1

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I still give you an A for effort!
Ditto Sounds like my last parade. I was sitting in line behind Pegasus55 and my truck wouldn't when the parade did. Burned up alternator and dead batteries and the dogbone cable fell apart. :-(
 

swbradley1

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I agree, having to PAY to be in a parade sucks
There are valid reasons for having participants pay. One, it allows for the parade planners to get some idea how big the parade will be. and two, LEOs are now charging for parade support. The Miss Ohio parade used to run a long way down Park Ave in Mansfield OH but LEO costs reduced it to a few blocks in the center of town. It happens.
 

USAFSS-ColdWarrior

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HARK ! We have a CANNONEER in our midst !

Nice little collection you've got there!

San Angelo, TX, now has just two optional parade route options in the downtown area - long and short, another down MLK for the MLK Parade, and a VERY LIMITED route along the river with only three intersections to block. It's all about cost savings and manpower commitments. Thankfully, local benefactors countinue to fund any reimbursement to the city for police parade expenses so all of our parades are "free participation" events.
I actually prefer the shorter routes - there's a greater concentration of spectators and fewer "dead spots" to just drive by and look silly with no one along the curbs to see you.

IMHO
 

steelandcanvas

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Southwestern Idaho
Shadow, sorry about the wet blanket, but there will be more parades, save the decorations and use them for the next one.

Some notes on Parades and Displays:
A few of our Club Member favorites are the Memorial Day Parade in Commerce City Colorado, Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Denver, and the Veteran's Day Parade in Colorado Springs. The displays we attend usually draw less spectators, but it's more of a one on one relationship with the public. I enjoy the displays, I answer questions about the vehicles, and wear a period correct uniform to add to the visual experience. As a Club, we don't mind an entry fee, however for a single entry vehicle, the fee may be cost prohibitive to some.
 

shadow

Member
116
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Location
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Thanks for the comments guys. I do feel a little better now.

I still give you an A for effort!
Ditto Sounds like my last parade. I was sitting in line behind Pegasus55 and my truck wouldn't when the parade did. Burned up alternator and dead batteries and the dogbone cable fell apart. :sad:
I'm not sure which would be worse. Not getting to the event ,or getting there and not being able to participate.

I agree, having to PAY to be in a parade sucks
The main town has their "freedom Fest" parade. The costs range from $50 on up. It looks more like a rolling commercial with all the political people, car dealerships, etc. We used to be part of the Freedom Fest when it started back in the 1980's. We would fire our cannons for Freedom Fest on the 4th. After about 15 years of it the new mayor didn't like that and kicked us out. We never asked for a penny and volunteered our time and money to put on the show. She even had the audacity to tell us they had paid out a lot over the years for us and could no longer afford it. She bluntly said the Independence celebration is about 8K races and cardboard boat races, not firing of cannons.

You cant win them all. You need to tow that trailer behind a proper military vehicle!
I know it looks bad using a truck. I don't have the money yet to get the M275A2 semi road worthy to tow the trailer. Of course if it did get used, I would probably have to get a flatbed semi trailer to make a large display with. ;-)

HARK ! We have a CANNONEER in our midst !

Nice little collection you've got there!

San Angelo, TX, now has just two optional parade route options in the downtown area - long and short, another down MLK for the MLK Parade, and a VERY LIMITED route along the river with only three intersections to block. It's all about cost savings and manpower commitments. Thankfully, local benefactors countinue to fund any reimbursement to the city for police parade expenses so all of our parades are "free participation" events.
I actually prefer the shorter routes - there's a greater concentration of spectators and fewer "dead spots" to just drive by and look silly with no one along the curbs to see you.

IMHO
Thanks. :) I also have some small cannons that I didn't put on. Like a Winchester 10 gauge cannon and similar sized ones. The larger cannon is suspose to be an original revolutionary war navel barrel. My dad got it back in the early 1960's. He knew a heck of a lot about cannons but never really had any notes about them to referance. When he died, all the info about the cannon (like where it was, what are the markings, etc) died with him. The smaller cannon is a reproduction "1781" cannon. I think he got it from Barnie at South bend replicas around 1980. The gray cannon is an Army simulator cannon for the M4 tank. It uses propane and oxygen. It is a loud little bugger when the pressure is set right.

Shadow, sorry about the wet blanket, but there will be more parades, save the decorations and use them for the next one.

Some notes on Parades and Displays:
A few of our Club Member favorites are the Memorial Day Parade in Commerce City Colorado, Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Denver, and the Veteran's Day Parade in Colorado Springs. The displays we attend usually draw less spectators, but it's more of a one on one relationship with the public. I enjoy the displays, I answer questions about the vehicles, and wear a period correct uniform to add to the visual experience. As a Club, we don't mind an entry fee, however for a single entry vehicle, the fee may be cost prohibitive to some.
I like the small towns parade better too. It is better having it in smaller areas because of the people ratio. There is not as much "commercial" ad displays either.
 

jbingvtx

Member
529
2
18
Location
Meadow Bridge, WV
With all the guys cutting up M105A2's for bobber projects, you should be able to find a good (and more modern) jack for your trailer. Sorry the parade didn't happen for you.
 

NEIOWA

Well-known member
1,195
126
63
Location
NE IOWA
So I tried to be in a local parade but failed. I wanted to use my cannons on the genset trailer but had to dig out the cannons from my large storage unit. It has taken a few weeks to get things together. I had to cut off my trailer hitch and weld it up much higher to fit the trailer height. We had 100 deg temps at the beginning of the week so that slowed me down. I had to work straight through the night and got the trailer loaded and when the sun was coming up I had to weld the hitch fast.

I was running out of time. The parade stages at 11-noon with the parade at noon. I got done welding at 11:35am. I raced to my storage (where the trailer is at) and went to hook it up and had minimum problems attaching it to the pintel. I go to raise the landing leg/wheel and it will not move. I use a large pry bar and it only moves a few inches. The landing leg has been bent and I didn't think anything of it. I failed to realize it needs to swing up and the bent "forks" will not allow it to pivot up. I busted my butt for 2 weeks and minutes before needing to get to the parade I discover this. Huge fail on my part.

I did get pics but didn't bother decorating it. No point in keeping the decorations I bought because there are no more parades to go to. We have the Independence parades about 2 weeks before the 4th and the main town makes you pay and register a month ahead of time. I was going to the small towns free parade.

This totally sucks. :(
Jot to pay for all those BS porkbarrel building projects somehow.

Come up Oelwein Sat morning (starts 10:30) http://oelweincelebration.org/events/form/editable/EventForm_parade.pdf I think can register morning of. I'm always driving fire trucks so go where we want at the front.

or Independence on the 4th (starts 9:00). Celebrate Your Independence in Independence Iowa » Calendar of Events not sure if they have an entry form.

I'm driving a new custom cab E-One demo rearmount pumper. My guys are driving some of our fire trucks.
 

NEIOWA

Well-known member
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Location
NE IOWA
If you want a REAL small town parade experience come up to Aurora. Parade starts at 1:00 on the 4th. about 6 blocks long thru small town America to the City park/fair grounds. They would love your cannons.

Legion leads the parade. local band a little of everything and very informal HUGE fireworks display (claim to be biggest in NE Iowa. bit tractor/pickup pull all afternoon.
 

SteveKuhn

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Location
Hasbrouck Heights NJ
"...I know it looks bad using a truck..."

Naw. Just tweak the color. Spend a weekend with some camo rattle cans then sneak in behind a CUCV and the average spectator won't pay it a 2nd thought. Make use of the bed, too with a couple piles of faux-cannon balls or something.

The cannon display is really quite unique. You could develop it over time to be like a diorama. A couple mannequins in uniform in proper poses, some landscape...

I like it a lot.

BTW - towns pay crazy money around here for guys to fire their propane replicas. Mebbe that main town might have a change of policy. And you've got all those other suggestions for towns . . .

Just sayin' . . .

Steve
 

shadow

Member
116
1
18
Location
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
....you should be able to find a good (and more modern) jack for your trailer.
I should look for another one. I had 2 trailers and the one I sold and a crank handle and 2 metal wheels on the jack. That would be so much easier then this large wheel.


I will give you credit for a level tow height of the 105.

"NO TOWER OF TERROR RECEIVER!"
I actually was thinking of using those adapters but they were not tall enough. The receiver on the truck was very low to the ground and I would have had to have a 16" tall adapter. The trailer says it's max weight is just over 7K when fully loaded. That would probably twist off an adapter very easy.

I was going to weld on another trailer hitch I had from my other truck but after removing it and getting ready to weld it, I noticed it was only rated for 6k load with a 600lb tongue max. The receiver that was on this truck is rated at 10K with a 1,500lb tongue max.

It still needs a little welding done but it happens to touch both frames. The bed frame hangs over the truck frame so the receiver touches both. Kind of like an upside down L shape. I need to weld some plate along the inside truck frame going onto the receiver. I will be happy with that and trust towing 7,000 lbs.


Thanks for the info NEIOWA. I don't think I can make it though. The nut is stuck so I can't remove the bent jack wheel. It is bent so bad it can only swing back a few inches. In the pic I posted, the clearance you see under the wheel is the max I have right now. There is no way to tow it like that.

I also noticed I messed up my lights. I was in a hurry to connect them back up after welding and I apparently pulled to hard and broke one ground wire and must have done something else because I only have 1 brake light now and no running lights on the bed or tail lights. O, and only the 1 tail light works with turn signals but blinks regardless of which way you signal. The fronts work fine though. lol

"...I know it looks bad using a truck..."

Naw. Just tweak the color. Spend a weekend with some camo rattle cans then sneak in behind a CUCV and the average spectator won't pay it a 2nd thought. Make use of the bed, too with a couple piles of faux-cannon balls or something.

The cannon display is really quite unique. You could develop it over time to be like a diorama. A couple mannequins in uniform in proper poses, some landscape...

I like it a lot.

BTW - towns pay crazy money around here for guys to fire their propane replicas. Mebbe that main town might have a change of policy. And you've got all those other suggestions for towns . . .

Just sayin' . . .

Steve
LOL. That sounds like an idea. I need to repaint the truck anyway. I've used rattle cans on my vehicles for decades. I've never done a camo color. The tool boxes are a good height for sitting on. Kind of like the troop seats in a deuce. Maybe make some ribbing on the ladder rack with a tarp and make it look similar to a covered carrier.

I was looking at using styrofoam balls for cannon balls but the cost at the craft store was too high to get the amount I needed.

Years ago when we fired for Cedar Rapids, we tricked people using Styrofoam balls. We would pass around some concrete balls to the crowd and when they handed it back we would carefully switch off the heavy concrete ball for a styrofoam ball. We held the "fake" balls like they were heavy and let the people see the now "fake" ball in the end of the barrel and then ram it down. The blast totally destroys the styrofoam ball but people would swear up and down they could see the "real" cannon ball going through the air over the city. It was so hard to keep from laughing when people were serious saying they can see it. When they wanted to know where it was going, we would say stuff like the mall parking lot on the other side of town or make up addresses of where a "catcher" is at that retrieves the balls for us. One year we said we were firing into the river bank on the opposite side from where we were at. A few hours later we see kids digging around on the muddy embankment looking for the balls. We of course told the police river patrol right away to go get them out of there so they didn't fall into the water. The kids came back sad they didn't find anything so we gave them some of the concrete balls we had been passing around. They were real happy then.

If I could get the deuce semi passable enough to legally drive on the road (has bad tires, brakes, lights) I would rent a flatbed to use. I like your idea of mannequins. I could probably do that or find some friends to dress up. I also have a replica Cushman Airborne scooter (needs some work) that I could use. I also have a Russian T-72 inflatable tank. It is one of those full size inflatables that would be used to make planes flying over think real tanks were on the ground. I could almost paint it differently and make it look like a US tank or at least a captured tank.

When I first got it, I inflated it right in front of my mobile home in our trailer park. I was checking for the small leaks it had and after about an hour, the police helicopter was flying over (that they did sometimes) and while I was under the tank, I noticed the sound from them and it wasn't leaving. I crawled out from under it and they were circling right above the trailer park over and over. I left the blower motor running to keep it inflated and went inside and watched them. They circled for 20 minutes before leaving. I was sure a cop was going to arrive or something. I would love to have heard what they were saying over the radio about it.
 
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