[rescue] How to move an IBM SP using a minivan..

[Francois Dion]

On 7/18/06, Patrick Giagnocavo <patrick at zill.net> wrote:
> On Tue, 2006-07-18 at 08:56, James Fogg wrote:
> > > Also known as "how to have fun at midnight on a Saturday
> > > night in West Lafayette, Indiana."
> > > http://computer-refuge.org/compcollect/ibm/rs6k/sp-dan/
> > I wonder if he made it home before tires started blowing out from
> > highway speeds while overloaded. If he did have a blowout, I wonder if
> > the jack was able to lift the vehicle. And then there's the whole issue
> > about temp-a-spares.
>
> Actually the Chrysler minivans have always been pretty tough vehicles.
>
> I once had about 4000 pounds (80 boxes @ 50 apiece) on one and took it
> from Buffalo NY into a location 2 hours into Canada.  Had it up to 70mph
> or so as well during that time.  This same minivan took daily pounding
> often with 1000 lbs or more loaded.
>
> Another time I took a loaded Auspex NS7000 from Ann Arbor, MI to PA.
> That was just a lot of driving, though the full size rack fit in the
> back and it did weigh a few hundred pounds.

The tires looked scarry tough.

If you think about it, a minivan is designed to move 8 adults + stuff.
Assuming 200-250lbs per person, that is definitely more than that
server. 7 or 8 seater wagons tend to make good haulers too.

Since we are sharing "how many elephants in a volkswagon" stories:

I've moved a loaded Sun e5000 rack in the back of a 91 Peugeot 505
wagon turbo (I dont have a picture with me but this is the same car,
mine is just a darker metallic gray):
http://www.delest.nl/media/img/DCP_4627.JPG

This is a car roughly the size of a Ford Taurus wagon (but longer,
more square and higher ceiling which means huge cargo space (bring it
on!):
http://vikingautobrokers.com/photos/inventory/1992_peugeot_505_sw8/MVC-501F.JPG

We (4 guys that work in a shipping department and myself) slid the
e5000 rack in fully loaded, on its side, and closed the hatch with
plenty of space left. I tied it down with ratcheting straps and hit
the road.

E5000:
http://sunsolve.sun.com/handbook_pub/Systems/E5000/images/E5000.gif
With some humans, for scale:
http://physics.bc.edu/System/intro.html

The 505 wagon is an 8 seater and I had left the seats in too, just
folded. The suspension is designed for heavy loads and one could not
have figured that there was something heavy in the car from its stance
(except that you could see the server through the windows obviously).

The interesting thing was really once I got home: How do I unload
this... Way too heavy (bent my hand truck rated at 1200lbs) to do this
by myself, so I backed to the garage and used my cherry picker to lift
the back and pull it out, then 3/4 of the way lowered it, blocked the
wheels and hooked the cherry picker to the top and pulled to get it
vertical.

I've also moved a loaded Compaq rack, hydraulics, 2 V8 engines etc in
that car. Australian readers know all about this popular backcountry
hauler. African readers are probably yawning tough, as taxi drivers in
Mali and Zaire beat everybody in that regard as I've seen Peugeot
loaded with 12 people and the roof rack packed 4ft high with luggage.
Here's one with a light load of 8 (look at the ground clearance, this
is a 2wd car):
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=91178075&size=l

Finally let me conclude on this picture. Before the Subaru Baja, the
Chevy Avalanche or the Honda Ridgeline was the 505 pickup Gruau (sorry
the picture doesn't have the canvas cover for the back):
http://membres.lycos.fr/cit43/Autoshorsserie_2/Peugeot_hors_serie/505_PU_profilD.jpg

Hmmm... you can load big iron directly in the back without having to
put them sideways. Now where is that acetylene torch again...

:)

Francois