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Jury Riggers Unite!
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omg! first!
lol at the tiny screw
Only in Michigan.
Are they pulling THAT with THAT? Decapitation to follow.
At least they used the proper stabilization technique of anchoring the handle with a clockwise rotation of tape.
This will fail only because that’s not duct tape.
Vise grips and duct tape–if there were enough of them in the world, we’d have peace in the middle east.
Electrical tape??? That’s some serious under-achievement right there.
I wonder if that thing they’re towing was offered to them for free on craigslist.
Is that a beer funnel the woman in the background is holding?
I need to buy a vowel here. What exactly am I looking at? I mean I get the fix and love it, but I have no idea what is it they are carrying.
Is that supposed to float somewhere, or sink? What is its intended level of malevolence? Who is its target? The fact it’s in Michigan just makes me wonder, as I’m adjacent. I’m staying on dry land for now.
@Gargomon
you beat me to it!
@Badgirl
That’s special Vice/Vise/Versa tape! Even stronger than airframe/1000 mile per hour tape!
well that only works in michigan
Daniel – I’m not sure either so I’m going with: it’s the tall part of the super-structure for the death coaster ride at the redneck festival. It puts the ‘weeeeeeeeeeee’ in we’re going to die.
thats freaking great xD
right now, nothing (or nobody) works in Michagan.
I’m not 100% sure, but given the high redneck factor inherent here from the surroundings I am going to say the things being hauled a set of the floats for a pontoon boat. If they are I can only hope we get to see a pic of what they get cobbled onto before it ends goes under the waves.
Those are pontoons, I’m pretty sure. Given the, ummm, “decking” laying on the ground and the dee-luxe accommodations in the background, I’d say they’re building a houseboat.
That hitch ball looks like it was welded to the receiver using about 2 dozen Bic lighters.
Dem thar be Yoopers
I like the fact that they hooked up the safety chain on the trailer just in case the vice grips fix doesn’t turn out that well. That shows forethought right there.
It’s two steel pontoons from an old pontoon boat, on a regular boat trailer that is too small, secured to the tow vehicle with the vise grips an electrical tape. I need to see the ‘fix’ after this trailer ends up in the ditch…
so the telephone pole or whatever looks like it broke in half, now they’re just about to move it, after they tie it to the trailer with more electrical tape
I’m going to guess it’s some kind of farm equipment.
it’s been a hard day of fastening your huge rusty tubes on wheels to your trailer hitch with a vice grips wrapped in electrical tape. now comes miller time.
looks like the two hulls of a sail powered catamaran to me.
Okay. Although I’m no detective (but I play one on TV), here’s my take on this sordid affair:
#1- Those thing-a-ma-gigs (those are layman’s terms, mind you) are not nautical in nature. They are rusted, which indicates an above-water location. And since they have more legs than a centipede, I believe they’re kinda heavy (otherwise, why not legs at each end instead of every 20″ or so?) and therefore meant for an on-ground installation.
#2- WTF are these leviathans? I’m almost inclined to bribe Tom K. (the submitter) to solve Daniel’s query (and unload one of his many vowels in the process) and tell us what these mysterious metal tubes are.
#3- To think they loaded these on a trailer and held the ball clamp in place with a pair of vise grips (note proper spelling of vise vs vice)is nothing short of shocking.
#4- Which, naturally, explains the use of electrical tape.
Whoa, whoa… I’m so sorry. My mistake.
Since this is Michigan,is it possible that this could actually be a salvage operation of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald? Of course, National Geographic would totally lose credibility (and funding)due to both the woman in the background with the beer funnel and the guy in the foreground with the Mickey Mouse gloves that’s so psyched to finally get this (s)crap off his property. But still, doesn’t the very thought of it tickle your Gitche Gumee?
Given the likely condition of the car, I’m waiting for when they drive off and the entire towing hitch falls off.
Instead of cobbling such a mess together, there’s a good solution for this fix:
1.) Say:”No, that won’t work, definitely!!”
2.) Cut this mess with a blowtorch or an angle grinder into handy parts.
3.) Load the scrap onto a SAFE trailer and transport it to a junkyard.
4.) Sell it there and use the money to buy new and safe stuff.
5.) Have a nice day!!
Whatever it is, I’m glad I won’t be driving behind them when the ship hits the sand.
WWII torpedo prototype digged out of Lake Michigan?
No No! This is NASA’s solid rocket booster recovery team hard at work.
This actually looks pretty workable to me. These are pontoons from a houseboat. The vice grips are holding the tab that keeps the hitch on the ball, so it’s not a load bearing situation, just used to replace the sheet metal toggle that normally holds that tab in the ‘up’ position, with some electrical tape to make sure it doesn’t vibrate loose. As long as they take it slow, it should be OK.
Since some areas of michigan currently have 15 percent or more unemployment, you take what you can get. Free houseboat parts? No problem. Bolt some scrap lumber between those, give the whole thing a coat of paint, and you’re all set to go kegging on the lake.
Andrew
From the heart of rural michigan (da UP, eh)
who’s the hottie in blue in the left foreground? hubba hubba!
As a Wisconsinite, and thus a true resident and proper citizen of da UP (since everyone knows da UP is merely an extension of “Up North” Wisconsin anyways), I feel I am an expert in these matters.
For you lay people, “da UP” is the 51st state, the Upper Peninsula of, ahem, Michigan…even though it’s obviously part of Wisconsin. Someday we will reclaim what is ours.
Carrying on…these things are definitely pontoons. Notice the bracket thingies for attaching the floor board, or more properly, DECK? And how the front of the left one is shaped aerodynamically (hydrodynamically???) to facilitate stealthy stalking through the blue-gill infested waters?
But wow, these pontoons are the longest damn pontoon boat pontoons I have ever seen! And made of steel since I think I can see a bit of rust (they’re usually aluminum)…definitely old school. One heck of a martini/fishin’ boat.
Lastly, the proper term is “beer BONG”. And while yer at it, fetch me another round of barley pops while yer up yet, dere, hey.
Go Badgers!
Eeew! Back Boobs! (gag!)
catamaran boat hull. look at shape. front end has a sharp vertical edge just like a boat hull.
the fact its rusted doesn’t mean its not a nautical device….
V not B.
Please tell me “There, I Fixed It” is going to give away some sick Darwin awards at the end of the year.
@dono1
Your awful puns have caused more than one aneurysm in my head, but I respect a man who can correctly spell “vise grips.” May other, less informed, commenters look to your shining example.
Once I didn’t have a cotter pin to put through the hitch lock, so I used a screwdriver and lashed it with electrical tape, but this is ridiculous!
Paddy, I bet you were glad to get that fixed. Welcome back cotter pin.
@Badgirl
She’s on fire! Don’t stop her now!
I thought I smelled smoke – dang
@Paddy and Badgirl
Get a room.
That would be Wisconsin.
@Jacker
Damn straight. Former Wisconsinite here.
Looks like gaffer tape. Looks like these people aren’t that smart. Everybody knows the only thing that can handle such a job like that is duct tape.
They might as well be towing a tree-chipper full of razor blades.
Wait! I have a hitch – and some razor blades….
Ugh, I was almost killed on Route 95 when some d-bag didn’t hook his trailer up right and it came off while we were doing 65 in 5 lanes of full traffic. I had no hope of stopping or swerving anywhere and hit it dead on, launching off of it and doing a 540, destroying all 4 corners of my car but miraculously not hitting anyone else. So yeah, this picture kinda scares me.
@Fixit
Amen, brother. This actually falls under the category “too dangerous to be funny”. A friend of mine’s car-transport came off while on the freeway, the transported car decapitating a teenager driving on the otherside of the median. Also screwed up my friend for life. Tragic.
I’d feel differently if the tape wasn’t necessary (let alone electrical tape – hardly better than scotch tape). In potentially lethal kludges like this people need to take as long as necessary to make them non-lethal.
Everyone knows that two things solve all problems
WD40 for when it isn’t moving when you want it to
Duct Tape for when it is moving when you don’t want it to
Jacker, you bumped your head hard. The UP never belonged to the packer state. It belonged to OHIO, and was traded to Michigan. Oh and Brett Farve LEFT Green BAY for the Vikings!! Too everyone else these pontoons went safely @ a mile up the road to scrap heaven.
@Bager, read your history, the UP DID belong to Wisconsin. The federal government gave it to Michigan to avoid a border war with Ohio over (of all places) Toledo as both states claimed Toledo as theirs. I think Michigan came out ahead on the trade, and both Wisconsin and Ohio got the short end of the stick on that trade!
@Gargomon yes. yes, only here in Michigan
this isnt really that dangerous of an idea. those vice grips are probably stronger than the cheap rivets that were holding the clip in place already. what that clip does is keep the trailer from coming UP off of the hitch, which would take a pretty good bump at fairly high speed to come off. and they have the safety chains on the trailer. I wouldnt be afraid to drive this setup a few miles.
I think its one of those things that are used to remove weeds from the bottom of the lake.
Believe it or not my dad has done that with a hanger and no ductape with a trailer behind instead o_o, not the best trip when you have to ride in the back X_x
I’ll be watching for this on on the Darwin awards.