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Texas governor Rick Perry underestimates Prius as hay hauler

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Ray Moore, Jul 29, 2008.

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  1. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    Rick Perry is all wet: You can put hay in a Prius
    By John Kelso
    AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
    Sunday, July 27, 2008
    While speaking to the Chamber of Commerce in San Antonio, Gov. Rick Perry made the point that Texans will continue to drive their pickups no matter what gas costs by saying: "You can't put a bale of hay in the back of a Prius. It don't work."
    That sounded like a dare to me. A double-dog dare, as a matter of fact. Why couldn't you pack hay into a Prius? Heck, I'll bet you could get a small pig on the back seat of a Prius with a ramp and an electric prod.
    So on Friday, I borrowed a Prius hatchback and took it out to Callahan's General Store in Southeast Austin to see just how much hay you can jam into one of these weenie hybrids.
    The big problem with this experiment was finding the darned Prius. I called the Texas Department of Transportation, since I heard they had some Priuses there. But they didn't seem to want to play along and loan me one for the day. Maybe they were afraid Perry would cut off their funding if they took part in this caper.
    I also called Champion Toyota on the Motor Mile in South Austin. Rick Walter, a sales guy there, said they couldn't lend me a Prius. "No, because they're back-ordered for six months," he said. Then he speculated on how much hay could be loaded into a Prius.
    "I would say half a bale," he said. "I would say maybe a whole bale, if you put the seat down."
    So, it was off to Callahan's General Store in a Prius I borrowed from a colleague at work. When I got to the counter, I explained to the clerk what Perry had said and that I wanted to load as many bales of hay into a Prius as would fit in there.
    "That's cool," said Ivey Kapp. It was as if she deals every day with nutjobs who come into Callahan's and ask to load hay into hybrid cars. She called the store's warehouse on the phone to explain what was going on. "Go back there and ask for Geraldo, and he'll load it in there," she told me.
    I drove the Prius into the warehouse out back, past the live chickens, and parked near the hay bales. Three guys working in the back started to stuff bales of hay inside the Prius.
    I stopped them when they started to remove the baby carrier so they could squeeze in even more hay. I thought that might be a bit much. Although, when you stop and think about it, Cheerios ground into the car mats are even worse than hay, right?
    It turns out the car salesman's estimate was way short. The three Callahan's workers stuffed three bales in the back end of the Prius, then slid another one in through the back seat and stacked it on top of the first three.
    "And we can put one in the front seat," said Maurice Chavez. Soon, the three guys had the Prius absolutely jammed full with five bales of hay. Only the driver's seat remained hay-free.
    Five bales of hay — that's probably a world record for a Prius, but who's counting?
    "I'm glad (Perry) didn't say how many chickens can you fit in a hybrid," said Wayne Slayton, one of the three guys who loaded the Prius. "That would be a lot of mess right there."
    Not that the hay wasn't messy enough. After the guys loaded and unloaded the hay out of the Prius, it looked like a farm had exploded inside the car.
    I took the Prius over to the Genie Car Wash on South Lamar and had it cleaned up. I didn't want the co-worker who owned the car to kill me.
    There was so much hay in the Prius that it clogged up the vacuum cleaner. Of course, I had to explain to the Genie Car Wash guy writing up the ticket what Perry had said, and why the inside of the car had all that hay debris in it.
    "I just thought you were crazy," said Bryant Logan, manager of the car wash. "We get a lot of those, too."
     
    #1 Ray Moore, Jul 29, 2008
  2. EJFB1029

    EJFB1029 New Member

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    Well I'm glad you proved the crook Perry wrong, he has been wrong for a long time for Texas.
     
    #2 EJFB1029, Jul 29, 2008
  3. sophia_frederika

    sophia_frederika New Member

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    Too funny :) That really sounds like something my mother would do. If only there was a pic to go along with it.
     
    #3 sophia_frederika, Jul 30, 2008
  4. micheal

    micheal I feel pretty, oh so pretty.

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    Sometimes, Perry just makes some dumb statements. I wonder how many Texans actually every haul hay. Hauling a couple square bales shouldn't be an issue in the back (as the story said) as long as you lay a tarp or something down for the mess.

    Pretty funny story though. But it really is true that this thread is worthless without pictures.
     
    #4 micheal, Jul 30, 2008
  5. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    Except that what I've been seeing on my roadtrip is that bales
    are now these huge round rolls that weigh about ton per, which
    I don't think would be too good for a prius.
    .
    _H*
     
    #5 hobbit, Jul 30, 2008
  6. biff_debris

    biff_debris WOOF!

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    I did the same thing with wood pellets: six in the hatch, four in the back seat and two in the front seat: that's 12 x 40 pounds = 480 pounds... almost half a pallet, and really only two "typical" passengers! Of course, they're smaller than bales, but... I can load a whole ton in the good ol' Ranger pick-up with the seven-foot bed.

    Rather use the Prius for commuting and listening to loud music. Let the pick-up do what it was designed for!
     
    #6 biff_debris, Jul 30, 2008
  7. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    I hope he got pics.

    I would have guessed only three.
     
    #7 Godiva, Jul 30, 2008
  8. texdon

    texdon New Member

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    Perry is right! Sure any cowboy can put hay in the wife's Prius but will spend hours cleaning it up -impractical demonstration. Toyota are you listening!!!!!! Get busy on that A-BAT!!!!!
     
    #8 texdon, Jul 30, 2008
  9. Kaybob

    Kaybob New Member

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    There IS a photo! Simply go to Rick Perry is all wet: You can put hay in a Prius
    then click on the photo to enlarge.

    And thanks for posting my husband's column! :D
     
    #9 Kaybob, Jul 30, 2008
  10. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Too bad he didn't have a sunroof. Then he could have filled the empty spaces with loose hay poured in from above. :D

    Tom
     
    #10 qbee42, Jul 30, 2008
  11. s1flaherty

    s1flaherty Junior Member

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    I'm always amazed at how much I can fit in the Prius. No hay for me, but I recently bought a small chest freezer to replace an old refrigerator. Lowes wanted $75 to deliver it. I took out might measuring tape and measured it. It was close, but it did fit, with the back seats down. I even was able to close up the trunk. I love my Prius!
     
    #11 s1flaherty, Jul 30, 2008
  12. BIGGDOGG

    BIGGDOGG New Member

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    I was guessing 6 bails but I guess 5 is good enough. A bail of hay is not that big. I bet you could fit a mini horse in there as well. Any one watch the show Rob and Big?? "It's always better when your mini horses doodoo is dusty"... Best quote from the show.
     
    #12 BIGGDOGG, Jul 30, 2008
  13. Godiva

    Godiva AmeriKan Citizen

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    Anyone buying hay bails that big or that many is probably going to have them delivered.
     
    #13 Godiva, Jul 30, 2008
  14. MikeSF

    MikeSF Member

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    my jacuzzi whirlpool tub got in the back of my Prius, as well as a 6 foot long fish tank, as for weight 13 sheets of concrete backerboard when I redid my bathroom, size didn't matter here so much as weight at around 50 pounds a piece.
     
    #14 MikeSF, Jul 30, 2008
  15. Testm0nkey

    Testm0nkey New Member

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    Perry single handedly refueled my out of state family members love of Texan stereotype jokes. Ugh
     
    #15 Testm0nkey, Jul 30, 2008
  16. Rybold

    Rybold globally warmed member

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    I'm sure you could fit a lot more by strapping them to the roof rack on top of the Prius.
     
    #16 Rybold, Jul 30, 2008
  17. joe_g

    joe_g New Member

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    I put hay bales in my old car. Never again, and certainly not in a Prius! WAY to messy, and I wasn't able to get it all out.

    I just make the trip worthwhile by getting enough at once to fill my truck. I figure I'm doing my part by leaving my truck parked most of the time.

    Nope, I pick them up! A big trailer and truck and I can haul 5 at a time.
     
    #17 joe_g, Jul 31, 2008
  18. flutebomb

    flutebomb New Member

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    That was a waste of time. The people that this article is about are taking the idea of putting a bale of hay in the prius out of context. If I were a farmer and had to haul things around, I wouldn't purchase a Prius for that purpose. I'd purchase the must fuel efficient truck I could find to do the load work and there's no way i'd let my husband do the hauling in our Prius if we owned one.
     
    #18 flutebomb, Jul 31, 2008
  19. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    #19 Ray Moore, Jul 31, 2008
  20. samiam

    samiam Antipodean Prius Poster

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    I have a Prius. I have a farm.
    I have had to haul bales of hay in the prius on occasion (no gas in the quad bike, tractor is overkill to take a couple of bales out to the back paddock). Usually I only take two, but I'm not out to proove anything.

    I do regularly haul 3-5 25kg bags of coal, or 25 kg bags of haylage or bags of chaff or other feed back from the store. Why is this so weird?

    I keep the back of the Prius tidy, its not hard.
     
    #20 samiam, Aug 1, 2008
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