Have you tried fitting a new treadmill into an Odyssey?
I‘m so used to the grand amount of cargo space we have in our Odysseys (mine’s the 2016), that I often don’t give it a second thought when picking up something big.
Well, this big something was a Sole f80 treadmill, all of 300 lbs in weight. And I showed up at Dicks for their sidewalk pickup service with even the two middle seats still in place!
Seeing my Odyssey, the supervisor immediately insisted there was no way it would fit... even if I didn’t have the middle seats with me. He was extremely insistent, and so was his sidekick... “the treadmill can’t possibly fit... we’ve had so many minivans come, and they're always too small. You‘d best rent something bigger.”
It was a little intimidating... the threat was that, if they brought it out, I’d be stuck with it... if it didn’t fit in the vehicle, their policy was to not take it back into the store!
Well, I’d driven 40 minutes to get this treadmill (they‘re in big demand, rarely more than two or three in stock in the entire state!), so I used that excuse to persuade the employees to let me double check things by measuring the box. I understood the shipping package to be 7 feet long, 18 inches high, and 3 feet wide.... that should fit fine, I knew. Heck, I’ve had a dozen 4 x 8 boards in the van and closed it! Even a 16 foot long wrought iron fence, 4 ft wide and 6 ft high at the (right angled) end!
So they let me look at the package, and I assured them I’d take responsibility.
So, you know how this ended, right? After removing the two seats, that thing fit very comfortably, and the seats fit just fine on top, with the back door closed. Of course, I coulda gotten TWO of those treadmills in my Ody!!
But it sure was heavy. The (very muscular) worker very admirably loaded that thing in my minivan all on his own. But it was more of a challenge to get it out once I got home.
I backed up to the garage once I got to the house, so that got the rear a little closer to the ground inside. Next, I pulled the treadmill box out far enough to support it at one end. I didn’t want to scrape the Odyssey landing area above the bumper. So I next unpacked some of the parts to reduce the weight a little, then I supported more of the treadmill using wooden beams before driving forwards to finally extricate the entire box.
So if you’ve any doubts, my experience might make you more confident. Just leave the middle seats at home.
Oh, and how did I single-handedly get the 300 lb treadmill upstairs? Hoists and ropes. A Harbor Freight deer hoist is supposed to cope with up to 400 lbs. But don’t rely on it alone... we‘re talking about a serious accident if that thing falls down the stairs.
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Got it up there! And we use it every day. No need to go to the gym. Thanks, Honda!
I‘m so used to the grand amount of cargo space we have in our Odysseys (mine’s the 2016), that I often don’t give it a second thought when picking up something big.
Well, this big something was a Sole f80 treadmill, all of 300 lbs in weight. And I showed up at Dicks for their sidewalk pickup service with even the two middle seats still in place!
Seeing my Odyssey, the supervisor immediately insisted there was no way it would fit... even if I didn’t have the middle seats with me. He was extremely insistent, and so was his sidekick... “the treadmill can’t possibly fit... we’ve had so many minivans come, and they're always too small. You‘d best rent something bigger.”
It was a little intimidating... the threat was that, if they brought it out, I’d be stuck with it... if it didn’t fit in the vehicle, their policy was to not take it back into the store!
Well, I’d driven 40 minutes to get this treadmill (they‘re in big demand, rarely more than two or three in stock in the entire state!), so I used that excuse to persuade the employees to let me double check things by measuring the box. I understood the shipping package to be 7 feet long, 18 inches high, and 3 feet wide.... that should fit fine, I knew. Heck, I’ve had a dozen 4 x 8 boards in the van and closed it! Even a 16 foot long wrought iron fence, 4 ft wide and 6 ft high at the (right angled) end!
So they let me look at the package, and I assured them I’d take responsibility.
So, you know how this ended, right? After removing the two seats, that thing fit very comfortably, and the seats fit just fine on top, with the back door closed. Of course, I coulda gotten TWO of those treadmills in my Ody!!
But it sure was heavy. The (very muscular) worker very admirably loaded that thing in my minivan all on his own. But it was more of a challenge to get it out once I got home.
I backed up to the garage once I got to the house, so that got the rear a little closer to the ground inside. Next, I pulled the treadmill box out far enough to support it at one end. I didn’t want to scrape the Odyssey landing area above the bumper. So I next unpacked some of the parts to reduce the weight a little, then I supported more of the treadmill using wooden beams before driving forwards to finally extricate the entire box.
So if you’ve any doubts, my experience might make you more confident. Just leave the middle seats at home.
Oh, and how did I single-handedly get the 300 lb treadmill upstairs? Hoists and ropes. A Harbor Freight deer hoist is supposed to cope with up to 400 lbs. But don’t rely on it alone... we‘re talking about a serious accident if that thing falls down the stairs.
Got it up there! And we use it every day. No need to go to the gym. Thanks, Honda!
