Very nice indeed Redbird!
We’re participating in the second annual Fort Morgan Mardi Gras Parade this Sunday. It was a very small thing last year with like two sort of floats and a bunch of golf carts. We didn’t participate. But this year they asked us to enter again and that night while we were talking about it my wife found something awesome on fb marketplace...
Got it for $140 from a Mardi Gras society in Mobile and drove home (20 miles of that on the interstate). People were slowing down the whole way to take pictures and honk their horns.
I also needed a bigger trailer for my business so after a few days of trolling a pretty nice trailer popped up for $500. It’s an old boat trailer that at some point was converted to be a flat trailer. They welded in angle iron supports under the floor and put two mobile home axles on it. The axles are too far back and maybe next winter I’ll move them towards the middle to get some weight off the tongue. I got it for $400, but I’m not counting that towards the float build since I’ll be using it for beach equipment delivery this year.
Next I built the rails for the passenger area. I used scrap lumber and bent beach tent poles that I cut down.
And yesterday we had a fun day finishing it out. We used stained sheets from our housekeeping business for the sides and an old sign we had laying around for the back. And about $40 worth of garland for the pretty stuff.
We also cleaned up and decorated Mr. Belushi. He will be going on the front of the float but he’ll have to go on the day of the parade since at 9 feet tall he barely fits under my shop door on the ground.
I was a Teke in college so he is now a Teke.
We’ll be doing an Animal House theme with the guys in Togas and the ladies wearing the classic College sweatshirts. There will be a pony keg of beer on the float and it will carry 7-8 people and two people walking along the side. While this would just be an average float at the big Gulf Shores parade we’re expecting it to be a little over the top for the Fort Morgan parade. The organizer said there are only three floats entered this year and the rest are golf carts and walkers. We’re going to show these old folks how to get down this Sunday!
Less the cost of the trailer pony keg and throws I’m into this for less than $200.