My old R Mack is covered with snow and ice. Probably won't go for another ride until spring.

It's the only one thaty had to stay outside this winter, and I feel bad about it.

I'll pull the batteries out of her this week for charging and store them in the shop. so they don't freeze.

Just another case of the PreChristmas Blahs.

On a Brighter Note:

We got the H-63 inside Dennis' heated barn, so it's good until spring. We did get all of the Mack Museum

info on the truck, along with a shop manual reprint. That's always such a cool service from the Museum.

Turns out that the truck was sold new in Tennessee to a Mack dealer as part of a ten truck "stock" order.

Apparently early in its life, it went to Georgia, where it remained until this past summer. We have the name

of the most recent Georgia owner, and will try to track the ownership history back one step at a time.

The B-67 should go under the knife next week for the cab roof and back panel transplant. Then it's on with

the reassembly. I'm getting anxious to put that together. Right now, my cab is on a wheeled wood frame, so

you can move it around the shop and on or off a trailer with just one person. The rear end should be finished

next week, and the front axle should be sandblasted and primed in a few days. Just need to take the springs

out to a shop for some normal work and replacement of several broken leaves in one of the rear stacks.

I do think I will use the Superide air suspension crossmember, which lets me use the original springs and rear end housing.

I'll rebuild the front axle and brakes on the truck - I just want the truck back in one piece as soon as possible.

It looks like my Eager Beaver 25t lowboy is sold and leaving right after Christmas. So I am seriously on the hunt for

an affordable drop deck flat bed. Apparently there just aren't any cheap, decent lowboy trailers around, and this is a good one.

So it sold to the first person who came to look at it.

Interesting that I just got a good line on a B-61T from a local freight company who used Macks for years. The truck

is complete and was running within the past few years. It's another single axle diesel tractor. If I can get it to answer

to a whistle, I'll see if it can come home with me.

And Tom - After cooking up a fresh turkey last Friday, I tried my own version of Turkey Hash.

Onions, celery, potatoes and carrots with the broth from boiling the bones and scraps for two nights.

Used some of the broth to make stuffing which I put in the hash along with a couple pounds of chunked up turkey meat.

So it wasn't very soupy, but really moist and tasty.

Fantastic! Thanks for the idea.