Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck

KdeB · May 16, 2023

The second good thing about our 24-year-old water heater crapping out a month ago is that today we got to haul it out of the basement with our XLT.

(This is a followup to my April 16, post “Our First "Haul,” Wherein We Use It Like A Truck”)

Our township has its annual "Spring Cleanup" opportunity for residents this week, where they'll dispose of just about anything you can haul to the municipal center, no cost. So the old broken water heater had to come out of our basement somehow.

Gotta admit, I thought my husband was insane to do this with the Maverick ... but hey, it's his truck, and we don't have the lifting/pulling power ourselves that we once had.

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck IMG_2024

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck IMG_2026

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck IMG_2027

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck IMG_2028

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck IMG_2032

Turns out it was a piece of cake. Only casualty was my daylily bed, located in the path of the truck. (It was either that, or flatten my single heirloom rose.)

I apologized to the squished daylilies, and urged them to pop back up.

NextTruck · May 16, 2023

Truck stuff

VICKY · May 17, 2023

KdeB said:
The second good thing about our 24-year-old water heater crapping out a month ago is that today we got to haul it out of the basement with our XLT.

(This is a followup to my April 16, post “Our First "Haul,” Wherein We Use It Like A Truck”)

Our township has its annual "Spring Cleanup" opportunity for residents this week, where they'll dispose of just about anything you can haul to the municipal center, no cost. So the old broken water heater had to come out of our basement somehow.

Gotta admit, I thought my husband was insane to do this with the Maverick ... but hey, it's his truck, and we don't have the lifting/pulling power ourselves that we once had.

Turns out it was a piece of cake. Only casualty was my daylily bed, located in the path of the truck. (It was either that, or flatten my single heirloom rose.)

I apologized to the squished daylilies, and urged them to pop back up.

OH NO, not like a truck, I put a tarp down on my bedliner to get a bag of mulch once? Congrats

KdeB · May 17, 2023

And in case anyone is inclined to question the wisdom of putting a tow strap around a hitch ball to pull something behind ... That's not what's going on here.

Although the photos don't show it well, we used a gigantic double-hooked two strap, with each hook snapped into the rings on either side of the hitch. (Part of the hitch receiver, I believe.)

So really no danger of anything snapping off.

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck Tow2Hooks

WNYEscapee · May 17, 2023

Always better to work smarter than harder; and most important as we advance in age or come to suffer other impairments which make task more dangerous.

KdeB · May 18, 2023

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck TrailerTow1

A REAL TOW FOR THE OLD WATER HEATER

Satisfactory ending to our water heater replacement saga, with three stages of Maverick involvement: Bringing home new water heater from the store, pulling the old water heater out of the basement, and this afternoon, doing a proper tow job with our utility trailer to take it to our municipal Spring Cleanup for disposal.

(Along with my father's 60-year-old mattress and box spring. I kid you not. Yeah, it was time to replace those ... My mother, bless her departed sole, was ultra frugal...)

Oh, and first time out with this trailer and the Maverick. Connected the trailer wiring, and it lit right up. (Well, had to tap the side lights a bit, but not the Mav's fault.)

Used "Tow/Haul" mode for first time ... Real sense of accomplishment today. (Hey, it doesn't take much for us...)

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck TrailerTow2

AutobahnSHO · May 19, 2023

KdeB said:
And in case anyone is inclined to question the wisdom of putting a tow strap around a hitch ball to pull something behind ... That's not what's going on here.

Although the photos don't show it well, we used a gigantic double-hooked two strap, with each hook snapped into the rings on either side of the hitch. (Part of the hitch receiver, I believe.)

So really no danger of anything snapping off.

Fine for a short drag of something not super heavy, but people need to be really careful of how they use the straps and hooks and rings...

KdeB · May 19, 2023

AutobahnSHO said:
Fine for a short drag of something not super heavy, but people need to be really careful of how they use the straps and hooks and rings...

Yep, fully agree.

TheWizziard · May 19, 2023

KdeB said:
And in case anyone is inclined to question the wisdom of putting a tow strap around a hitch ball to pull something behind ... That's not what's going on here.

Although the photos don't show it well, we used a gigantic double-hooked two strap, with each hook snapped into the rings on either side of the hitch. (Part of the hitch receiver, I believe.)

So really no danger of anything snapping off.

Just a suggestion for the future.

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck 1684509663471

https://www.harborfreight.com/d-ring-receiver-hitch-66212.html?_br_psugg_q=receiver+hitch

tozalazz · May 21, 2023

that's what a truck should do.

XLent · May 22, 2023

No option (other than hitch/4 wire) XL towing about 1600 lbs from 1200 ft to 4700 and about 220 miles. Towed great. Mileage went from 31 typical daily to 28 for the little trip.

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck C8E9FB2E-DD75-4381-8FEA-2118949B4C7E

Ford Maverick Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck 8E246324-778C-445D-9811-B767B69DDBB3

GPSMan · May 23, 2023

KdeB said:
The second good thing about our 24-year-old water heater crapping out a month ago is that today we got to haul it out of the basement with our XLT.

(This is a followup to my April 16, post “Our First "Haul,” Wherein We Use It Like A Truck”)

Our township has its annual "Spring Cleanup" opportunity for residents this week, where they'll dispose of just about anything you can haul to the municipal center, no cost. So the old broken water heater had to come out of our basement somehow.

Gotta admit, I thought my husband was insane to do this with the Maverick ... but hey, it's his truck, and we don't have the lifting/pulling power ourselves that we once had.

Turns out it was a piece of cake. Only casualty was my daylily bed, located in the path of the truck. (It was either that, or flatten my single heirloom rose.)

I apologized to the squished daylilies, and urged them to pop back up.

You know.... they are lighter when you let the water out first.

Our First “Tow,” Wherein We Use It Like a Truck

KdeB

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NextTruck

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VICKY

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KdeB

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WNYEscapee

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KdeB

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KdeB

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TheWizziard

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tozalazz

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XLent

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