heavyhauler

Scared the crap out of me but as a teenager, I bought used tires for all of the old cars I drove and blow outs were common. Maybe that experience saved my butt! John

My latest acquisition, Mr Dick Best's RD all steel front RD long wheel base straight truck. Left front tire exploded on the drive home-truck went sideways into the hammer lane but, fortunately, nothing beside me. Blew out the headlight, fuel and air lines, beat up the battery box pretty good, other minor damage. Got control of the truck and limped to a rest area one mile away. I was assured all was well with the tires-my fault I guess. No one hurt, PA State Troopers, heavy tow, local fire engine and first aid folks arrived at about the same time. Quite a circus really but all went well. Nice old truck especially built for the R. D. Best Co-so it says on the steering wheel horn button. I'll bring the truck to next meet. Cheers! John

Firemack: The truck is approximately 25 ft long, about 10 ft high and weight about 27,500. Cheers! John

I need to get my B-813SX to the ATHS National at the end of May. The Procter Mack will be part of the indoor truck show and I have too many other things that I must take. Of course, I will pay whatever it takes to get it there and back. Let me know. Cheers! John

I could not make it either. I am just too busy trying to finish off a new office/warehouse well before the snow starts to fly. Maybe Gerharts. Cheers! John

The plan is to lock the tiller steering system so that it simply becomes a somewhat ordinary aerial trailer.

I hope to have Philadelphia Fire Dept's Ladder 20 from the 60's with the 1950 American-LaFrance 100 ft aerial ladder/tiller. Just not sure-here is a pic when it was with the Oaklyn Fire Dept .

International shipping costs have gone stratospheric in terms of cost and the mud flaps have some weight to them. I will check for you. John

It has been discussed-I cannot say anymore.

Here is another being hauled to the Pine Creek Railway

Can't make it this year-too much happening and too close to Hershey. See ya! John

Very rare!

Here are just a few more before we get ready for Macungie!

Looking forward to meeting you Vlad. Hope you brought some of that Russian vodka with you! Cheers! John

A wonderful story and congratulations! Keep up the good work! But truth be told, at that truck show last week in Yakima, there were a lot of folks who could easily not eat for several weeks and I would guess that they had all of the ailments that you described plus hip and knee problems. The point is-its not easy to lose that weight. Its damn tough but it's really, really worth it!! John

I will need to re-size a few more. The Ford pickup in the set of photos above has a Hall-Scott in it. It was some tight fit and he had to build a small dog house in the cab to shoe horn it in. The red LJ also has a Hall-Scott in it and the green 1946 LF logging truck has the original single disk pump in it. The other LF logger (red) also belongs to the Hall Lumber people and it is a 1952. Both were in very nice original condition. Just a few more.

More pics as requested! Enjoy!

No, Vinny, I did not see any U models. Not surprisingly, it was a Pete and Ken show for the most part and the pics of the Macks that I did post were far and few between. Anyway, I'll post some of the many logging trucks that were present plus a few more that I thought might be of interest. John

I think Barry might have a problem with storage on his servers if I were to upload all of those photos. Besides, they all need to be re-sized and that takes some time. I will post a few more if the consensus is positive. John

Here are some of the almost 600 pics that I took last week in Yakima, WA truck show.

There are several guys who use their truck for daily transportation to and from the hotel. The guys who usually do this try to get to the show field early next day to get the same spot. Just sayin' what I have observed. John

I'll be there but with no truck. I hope the weather is good. John

No tiller man required unfortunately because we really have not yet started on the trailer. Matt Pfahl is planning on hauling just the tractor along with a few other pieces. I am not sure what else he is bringing but I am hoping the former P.F.D. 1962 B-85F will impress. We are on schedule to finish the restoration just in time for the show. John

Will be there but not sure with what-maybe Philly fire truck. See ya there! John

Move onto to what? The end of Mack Trucks in a build sense is very near. Marketing will continue with the usual BS but I fear its very close to the end. So it ain't so, Joe! John