other dog

I once got A warning ticket in West Virginia running about 77 mph. We were hauling pulp wood from Va. to Chillicothe,Oh. and I was coming back empty one day and just west of Lewisburg I met A cop.I glanced at the speedometer and it said I was running about 77 mph. I was driving A KW T-800 with A 444 Cummins , 18 speed,and 3.55 rears and it would get up and go.The speed limit then was 65 in WV, and when the cop put his left turn signal on to cut through the cross over there,I put my right turn signal on and pulled over.When he got there I was standing in front of the truck with my license and registration in my hand. He actually thanked me for pulling over so he wouldn't have to "chase me down".Then he went to his car with my paperwork,and when he came back with my ticket he said "here's A warning ticket". I said "A warning ticket? what am I supposed to do with that?" He said "whatever you want-you can throw it away,I don't care,there's no points,no court,no fine-just A warning". okie-dokie,thank you officer!

There's some good truck drag racing videos at www.thedieselgypsy.com-trucks pulling equal loads of lumber up a hill side by side,only there's no sound.I saw at least one Superliner on there.Just go to item 14,where it says "complete trip now ready...",the videos are on page 9.

Yeah, Brockway made some neat looking trucks. I like the short hood , tall looking conventional,don't know what model it is.I still see A few around occasionally.Montague-Betts, A structural steel fabricator in Lynchburg,had a couple of Brockway cabovers with the F-model cabs.They went out of business years ago,then Hirschfield Steel moved into their old plant,then they left,now it's occupied by Banker Steel.

Did somebody say they'll probably put 2 ten inch stacks on it? I agree,it looked pretty good to start with,but I think the flat top sleeper looks way better on this truck than that aero-dynamical ( ?...huh? ) one did.

I remember a logging operation somewhere near the house when I was A kid (pulpwood was BIG in the area) and I was checking out the equipment and they had 2 Timberjack 230 skidders running with them screaming Detroits in them.Most of the pulp wood cutters were small operations then-A man or two,couple of good saws,pulpwood truck. Not many people had skidders or loaders.Lots of people used 1 ton trucks,easier to get around and easier to load I guess.Now machines do everything,and A man doesn't even have to step on the ground for anything.

Greetings Gus-we love pictures! (that means I don't know much,but I do like to look at the pictures)

Sounds like A true trucker story to me.

I made those two turns and I'm loaded for Sunday.Went to Zelienople,Pa. Monday then over to Macedonia,Oh. to reload coils for Roanoke,Va.Then I went to Orville,Oh. and over to Macedonia to load coils to Roanoke,Va,where they make truck frames out of them.Even Mack truck frame rails are made there.Usually I'll have three coils,and I put seven chains on them because they are so tall and narrow-about 6 feet high,and 14" wide.I always horse shoe 2 chains,then criss cross 2,plus throw a chain across the top of each one. Now I'm loaded with Kyanite going to Zelienople,Pa. again,and it starts all over Sunday. Stopped by the grocery store on the way home today,just to pick up A few things...how come I can't go in the grocery store,even to "pick up A few things",without spending at least $100?

Hey Barry,I don't know if they'll run the marathon again,but they probably will.They will rerun the whole season they said,starting next Sunday night.The new episodes came on Sunday nights and they would rerun it Tuesday night at 10.I've been taping it for Bill in Canada because they don't even show it up there.

Well,as happens every week it's Monday morning again and back to the old grind.Got to go to the bank,drug store,and post office,then to Lynchburg to unload the load of coils I dropped Saturday morning.Then it's off to parts unknown.I'll make two turns this week,and next weekend I'll have to leave on Sunday. I hate it but my out-go has been exceding my income lately,so I must be off!

Great! I put A lot of the pictures on Web Shots too,look for otherdog's pictures.I was just kind've waiting for Old Bill to finish his page,but now the cat's out of the bag as they say. I had to go look,but that's http://rides.webshots.com/album/5601

Got home yesterday after our safety meeting and went to the garden and pulled up what was left of my cabbage,(saved what I could),squash,watermelons,and A row of snaps.Then I ran the tiller over it and sowed turnips,mustard,and spinach mustard,and sprinkled it with the hose.It's so dry everything I pulled up had done all it's gonna do,so maybe I'll have a turnip and some greens if it ever rains. Then I went to the store and bought A case-the Ice Road Truckers marathon comes on at 1:00,and the Michigan race too,so I might just sit on my a...uh,tail I mean,and take the day off today.

Well I'll be- small world after all I guess!One of the first trucks I drove was A 58 or 59 Ford F-600 with A 4 speed and 2 speed axle.My younger brother,myself,and our friend Mike decided to go into the pulpwood business when Mike's daddy was clearing some land.We figured we'd cut the trees for pulpwood and haul them to A woodyard about 5 miles away and get rich,instead of him just bulldozing them into A pile to be burned later.The truck usually had A cattle body on it,but it was off to haul hay and stuff at this particular time,so it was A perfect pulpwood truck-or so we thought.It still had A flat bed body,and we loaded all the wood ourselves.By hand.It was short wood,5 foot lengths,still green,and very heavy of course.I was about 17,Mike A year younger,my brother a year younger than Mike.We managed to cut and load about 2 loads,maybe 3,then we decided to retire.Back then I think A load payed about 30 or 40 dollars I don't remember,but it was A whole lot of work for the money.

You guys got me started checking out You Tube,now it's on my favorites list.The other morning I was checking it out,listening to A GMC grain truck with A 671 Detroit and a straight pipe,and I came across one called "shifting A Diamond Reo dump truck".It had a 671 too,with a 5 speed and 2 speed rear.Usually I don't even read the comments people make about the videos,but this time I did.Some guy,obviously A youngster,said it was A super ten transmission.I'm pretty sure he was young because he said "dude,I can shift like that without using the clutch".Another guy explained the difference between a super ten transmission and an electric shift 2 speed rear end,with A 4 or 5 speed transmission.And explained it perfectly I might add. Then the first guy said " well,I don't drive an old dump truck,I drive A (don't remember,so and so something or other) Western Star with A 3213 Cat and 18 speed Fuller Eaton pro shift transmission".(his wording) Being the old truck lover that I am I felt like I should put my 2 cents worth in when he dissed that fine looking Diamond Reo- if it were mine I wouldn't trade it for 2 Western Stars! So I just told him it sounded like he did all his trucking in the sand box,'til mama called him in at nap time.

Just as suspected,I see little or no difference in the way the truck pulls. Jeff said "I told ya so,it's the torque-the torque is still 1850 foot pounds,there ain't gonna be any difference".But still,75HP is quite a step,you'd think it would pull a little better anyway. I think maybe the guy that did it has computer skills like me-when he got done instead of clicking "save" he clicked "delete" by accident.

Well,I know I said soon,but Bill (The Diesel Gypsy) said part of his computer was in the hospital,so it'll be A few more days before he gets the truck show page finished.

Hey Paul,nothing on the mixer yet.I don't know where to look,but I haven't seen A name,number,or any identifying marks on it anywhere and nobody's ventured A guess yet either.

Sorry to hear of your heart problem Ray. About tickets,I'm just saying I don't mind getting A ticket I deserve nearly as much when the officer is polite,but sometimes you'll run across those who seem to hate you just because you're driving A truck. I've also run across some very nice police officers. A former Sheriff in Nelson County would sit in the median on U.S.29 and talk to us on the radio when we were going to Boston.He'd been known to sit in the dark and when A truck was going too fast he'd turn the blue lights on and the driver knew he'd just gotten A ticket to go along with being scared half to death!Then he'd just say on the radio "better slow 'er down there buddy" and not even move. And the driver probably wouldn't think of speeding through there again,because of the respect for him,so he was effective in his speed control.Now of course it's not about safety,it's all about money-an overlength ticket in this county cost me $306 last December,but that was written by A state diesel cop,not county.

At least besides the aching tooth and a heat wave that leaves me drenched in sweat every time I chain down A load or tarp A load,and the fact that it's so dry here -my garden just withered away,and I've only cut the grass A couple of times,last time a couple of months ago-I have A little good news.I left the truck at the Cat shop in Lynchburg last night so they can turn the horsepower up from 475 to 550.You would think it'd make A world of difference,but it's hard to say.The last Cat I drove was A 435 and when it was turned up to A 475 you couldn't tell A lot of difference.I know that's not near as big A jump,but I've taken A truck in to be worked on before,they'll put it on the dyno and check it, get you 20 more horsepower and it was like driving A different truck. I hope that's the case this time-it's A big ol' pretty truck,but it lays down like A big ol' dog when it sees A hill.

Just got in ,i've been to Midland City,Al. with A load of beams,reloaded shingles at Peachtree City,Ga. to Oxford,N.C, then loaded Kyanite at Dillwyn,Va. to Negley,Oh,then had a two pick up reload at Ambridge and Leetsdale,Pa coming back to Lynchburg,Va.I was going to drop the trailer in Lynchburg,but I got there at 5:00 o'clock and they went ahead and unloaded me. 'Course I only had 2 beams on. It was still 100+ in Alabama and Georgia Monday,but it was 56 degrees this morning (Wednesday) when I got up in Pa.about 4am and continued on to Negley. I actually turned the heat on for A little while. Had A toothache all day yesterday,but after taking alternating handfulls of aspirin,tylenol,and motrin it wasn't too bad today.Got A dentist's appointment in the morning-actually looking forward to it!

Sorry Paul,you didn't hear? They gave that out yesterday.(yuk-yuk ...kidding of course!)

Barry,this is great! I really like Ray's blog-if I could type with more than one finger (I actually have many more) I could tell many more stories.Somebody will come up with something and it just triggers memories I'd long forgotten,but you never know,somebody out there might find it interesting.

This is A great topic Ray! In almost 29 years of driving I must say that the cops in North Carolina are the rudest and most hateful of any place I've ever been stopped.I hear A lot of drivers complain about Ohio and Virginia,but Ive had little problems with either one.Getting A ticket is much easier to take if the officer is respectful and polite,which they should be anyway,but they're always mean and hateful in N.C.-like they take it personally or something. I'm always respectful and polite to them -not that I get stopped much to begin with-but I don't like to be treated like A criminal just because I'm driving A truck. No bashing,just the facts.