Friday's entertainment

On Friday evening, our neighbors came over to make sure we would be okay if they drove their Smart car over part of our lot as they were loading it for travel. The lady said that it may be "entertaining" so Carl went out to take pictures and videos.

Smart car parked behind their 5th wheel

Getting the ramps into place for putting it onto the tractor.

zoomed in so maybe you can see the wheel chocks/stops on the far side of the tractor bed

Directing her husband backing up to the ramps.

Continuing to direct.

She has it positioned where they want it at the bottom of the ramps, now he just has to go up a little bit.

Once she got it lined up and he backed up a little ways, she attached a winch to something on the back of the car (we didn't get a picture of that) - it would need to be part of the frame.

She has gone around to the other side of the tractor to get a better perspective on the passenger side mirror - I think she said that it had been damaged at one point in their travels.

Almost to the bed of the tractor...

Back wheels are on...

He can continue to steer it a little as the winch is pulling it up (through the window).

It is on! They still need to secured with tire straps to make sure it won't go anywhere.

A couple of videos of the process - above and below.

That is a REALLY big tractor (in our opinions). The fellow said that they don't always take the Smart car off; they only unload it they are going to be at a campground for more than a few days. They were loading it a couple of days before they are checking out because rain was predicted and they don't like loading it if it is raining or the ground is wet - concerns about the ramps being wet or the car's tires being wet. That means, once it is loaded or if they don't unload the car, their "daily driver" is the tractor... not our idea of a good time! The tractor is licensed as an RV (because it has the sleeping compartment, not sure what else is required for that licensing), so no special license (other than what the state may require for RVers) is required to drive it. They were on their way back from South Dakota - they had been in South Carolina for a few months (she had a temp job) -- they got their vehicles re-licensed in South Dakota, having determined for their setup, that was the most economical option. I'm glad they have found what works for them!