Last week, Tom and I headed south to Wilmington, Ohio to Tegtmeyer Trailer Sales.  We are working on being ready to head for North Dakota at the end of June and we needed a tow dolly for the Prius.  We want to have a car to drive during the three months we are in North Dakota and we didn’t want to drive each vehicle separately out there.  Our choices were a tow dolly or a trailer.

A tow dolly is the less expensive and heavy option.  We will drive the Prius on the tow dolly so its front wheels are resting on the axle.  Then we buckle the Prius tires down and drive away with the Prius on the tow dolly following.  Although we still have a little time before we go to North Dakota, we didn’t want to put off getting the tow dolly any longer.  These days, with so many shortages in RVs and related items, we were afraid we wouldn’t be able to find one.

To get a tow dolly, we had to drive to Wilmington to Tegtmeyer Trailer Sales.  It is about 80 miles from where we are.  We were surprised that we couldn’t buy a tow dolly in Columbus, but there weren’t any available at any of the places we called.  Another reason to buy one now when we could find it.

We found Tegtmeyer Trailer Sales without any problem, beside State Route 68 north of 71.  The new-looking building was surrounded by all kinds of trailers:  tow dollies, horse trailers, and big trailers for heavy-duty hauling.  We went into the building where we were met with a surprise.  Instead of trailers, the front of the building was full of vintage toys, motorcycles, and cars.  It was like an antique toy museum with everything on display packed together.

We were greeted by Terry Tegtmeyer who said he and his wife had been collecting all the stuff for years.  Instead of showing us around, however, Terry was all business.  He quickly wrote up the purchase agreement and had his service man, Mike, pull the tow dolly off the lot.  Mike put on a spare tire and showed us how to attach the car.  Mike also told us to be sure to read the manual.

We went back inside to pay for the tow dolly, getting a few more instructions.  Terry also reiterated that we should read the manual.  He also asked if we wanted them to take some air out of the tires.  Without a car on the tow dolly, it is very light and bounces.  Because the tires are filled with nitrogen, we declined his offer.  We don’t want to go get the tires re-inflated before North Dakota.

Driving home with the tow dolly attached was more of an adventure than Tom and I really wanted.  I-71 is in horrible shape south of Columbus and I-270 isn’t much better.  Even though Tom kept our speed between 50 and 55 mph, the tow dolly bounced all over the place.  It stayed attached to the RV, but there were plenty of times it was airborne.  We don’t plan on taking the tow dolly anyplace without the car on it again.

We appreciated the ease of buying the tow dolly at Tegtmeyer Trailer Sales.  Although they are a little farther away than we would have liked, they had what we wanted in stock.  Hopefully the tow dolly will allow us to tow the Prius without any worry.