How do you get a 672 lb. rock from Lane Forest Products to your house? You can either pay them $75 and have it delivered by truck to the end of your driveway (and then what?)…or you can put it in a bike trailer and have it delivered to your back yard.
I wanted to make a water feature in my backyard so I purchased a beautiful basalt column from Lane Forest Products a few weeks ago and had them put it on hold while I arranged delivery with Pedalers Express, a human-powered delivery service affiliated with the Center for Appropriate Transport. This was an unusual delivery so I called Lane Forest Products with a question about loading the rock into the trailer. The conversation went something like this:
Me: “Hi, I bought a basalt column from you recently and I wanted to make sure the forklift tines would be narrow enough to slide the rock into a cargo trailer.”
Lane Forest Products: “Definitely, we can do it–what kind of trailer have you got?”
Me: “Uh, well, it’s actually a bike trailer. I’m having the rock delivered by bike.”
Lane Forest Products: “No you’re not.”
Me: “Yes, I am.”
Lane Forest Products: “You’re not going to move a 672 lb rock with a bike.”
Me: “Yes, I am.”
Here’s how it’s done:
Step 1: Buy the rock
Step 2: Load it onto a specially designed flat bed cargo trailer
Step 3: Hire Pedaler’s Express to move the rock. Here’s John gaining momentum…
Step 4: Have Jan give John a little help over the Autzen footbridge!
Step 5: Get some help wheeling the rock into your yard (1″ of clearance!)
Step 6: Enjoy the rock in its new home! (Note the hummingbird about to take a drink)
Thanks to the folks at Center for Appropriate Transport for all their help making this happen.
