After 2 weeks of advertising on Craigslist and Ebay with no results, I put the Mazda out on Portage Rd with a for sale sign on it and sold it the very next day. As a fool and his money is soon parted, I found an enclosed 26ft race trailer on craigslist that I decided to make an offer on. A couple of months ago I had a local landscaper clear some trees and install what I call my landing strip to give me more legal parking on my land. The City of Portage requires that any vehicle or trailer has to be parked on an "improved surface", meaning concrete, asphalt or driveway stone. As the first two options are exorbinantly expensive, I had them make a 70 by 26 foot area with driveway stone. Even so, the whole thing cost $4200. But now I have enough parking for several cars and trailers.
So anyway, now I have the space for a trailer, and some cash, so time to go find one. An ad on Craigslist leads me to a guy who used to run a concession business and he hauled it all over with a ex-penske moving van rental and a 2001 Haulmark 26' enclosed trailer. He's asking $1800 for the van and $4000 for the trailer. The trailer is still full of all his business equipment, deep fryers, fridges, shelving etc. I didn't really want the van but if I can get it all cheap enough I can sell the van and get some money back so I offer him $4500 for it all. He's gotta talk to the wife and comes back with $4600 and we have a deal. After he unloaded his stuff I brought the whole rig home. As I pulled up in front of my house, a moving van pulled up. Turns out the guy had seen me driving home (with all the for sale signs still on the van) and as it happens he is in the market for a moving van so he can go into business for himself so he followed me back. He has a 1997 extended cab Chevy 2WD pickup and wants to trade straight up. We will be exchanging vehicles later today.
