1958 F.W.D.

Put in for Friday off from work yesterday.

They still race on Front Street (now Columbus Blvd) and on Packer Avenue in Philly- but it's all young stupid kids (stupid in the sense that they dont have the respect for horsepower/torque and machinery in general that you and I had growing up) in souped up rice-burners.

I concur with your statement, however how can I appear "professional" when the professionals (Penndot/PSP) don't even know WTF they are talking about?

Regarding trucks weighing in excess of 26,001lbs that are tagged/titled as ANTIQUES in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and CDL requirements; I personally have done extensive research on this topic for my own knowledge. My FWD GVWR is 28,000, however actual dry weight is 16,500. Additionally as it is a privately owned antique, NOT IN COMMERCE (that is, hauling freight or performing a service or delivering goods for a profit) YOU DO NOT, I REPEAT, YOU DO NOT NEED A CDL. I went through the PENNDOT wringer as well as the Pa State Police wringer regarding this. NOT ONE SINGLE SOUL could give me the same answer twice, and barely anyone could give me similar answers. At first, everyone was like "uh if the GVWR is 26,001+ you need a CDL. I would then say "what if the actual weight is 16,500, certified by the CAT scale, and its a privately owned antique vehicle that is not within commerce?" People would then say "it doesnt matter." So then I would say "Ok, what about all these tour-bus sized privately-owned RV's that weigh 50,000+? Do they need a CDL?" Folks were all unanimous- "No." So then I would say "Then why in the hell do I need one, for a vehicle with a GVWR of 28,000, never mind the fact that its actual weight is 16,500??? Can you cite the code section out of the Vehicle Code that specifies why I would have to have one and not the guy with the 50,000lb bus?" I could then hear them all scratching their heads as they were saying "uhhhhhh, uhhhhh, ummmmm I'll have to call you back." And the calls would never come. Same deal with any phone calls to the PSP- only they would get irritated when I would ask for the code section. You could always tell the Trooper on the other end of the line wanted to say "How fucking dare you question me!?" I finally had to contact my state representative (Charlie Dent) to get their office to call Penndot and/or the PSP to say "Hey guys, what the fug?" I received a letter in the mail about 5 weeks later. Letter was written by the Commissioner of Penndot at the time. Basically says "Privately owned vehicle that is tagged/titled as an antique in the Commonwealth of Pa.- operator does NOT need have a CDL, however needs to have the class B endorsement on their NON-CDL drivers license. To this day I keep the letter in the glove box of the truck.

So uh....What size are those? That.....The tank I mean.....Uhhhhhh.......Yeah the tank?

If anyone likes to read, try the book "Report from Engine Company 82" by Dennis Smith. He was a fireman assigned to the busiest fire station in the world in the late 60's/70's- Engine 82/85 and Ladder 31 located at Intervale Ave & E 169 in the Bronx. These guys were in the middle of the arson spree that burnt down the South Bronx. It's a good read not just for firefighters, anyone would enjoy it- gives a good insight to the urban blight and the problems of the decay.

Tastes like chicken

Give Interstate Truck Equip (Formerly Hagerstown Mack) in Hagerstown Md a call, they used to have a big NOS of Mack firetruck (especially CF) stuff......

U-Models.....Three wheelers....vehicles that tip....Am I seeing a theme here or am I paranoid?

We run Humats converted over for use with 5" LDH. This pic about 15 years old. Big water drill with the Montgomery County LDH Task Force- which will guarantee a minimum of 1000gpm for one mile. I was driving when this was taken, I can't remember the exact numbers but I was moving lotzza water.

My wife used to use that stretch all the time to get to Conn. I tried for years to get her to use the Throgs Neck and go up that way but she's one of those women who used to be afraid to try new directions. I always made sure she had the phone number to a buddy's firehouse- Rescue 3, located at 176th & Park....Told her if she ever broke down the FIRST phone call was to the firehouse, THEN to me. Now she'll go anywhere with a GPS unit and takes the throgs neck.

Nope. Not the CBE. If it was, ANY removable metal would have dissappeared too.

Got to drive one of these when I was a Firefighter at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Oshkosh had a field office there for their people who were assigned to APG TECOM (test and evaluation command) and being into trucks naturally I got friendly with the guys there. Let me take one of these around the test course for a couple of laps- WOW. Can't see a damn thing from them, but who cares, if you hit someone or something you aren't going to feel it.........

"Outside Vent Man" also known as the "Vent/Enter/Search" man.

Many of these ex USAF fuel tenders did indeed go on to civilian fire department service as water tankers. And many, many of them became victims of roll-overs- but not just for poor driving: they were designed primarily to operate on flight lines their entire lives, never meant for road speeds or conditions. Just miles of perfect flatness and speeds rarely exceeding 25mph. The tanks on these had little to no baffles. So when they started filling them with water (which is about 2 pounds heavier than a gallon of JP8) they were overweight. Then throw in curves and no baffles.....bad things man, bad things.

Funny you mention that, me and a buddy of mine were just discussing Philadelphia and the St Patricks Day Parade, the Columbus Day Parade, and the Von Steuben Parade- all of which go off without a hitch and are attended by peaceful law-abiding citizens who dont cause any trouble. However.....The Peurto Rican Day Parade on the other hand, is well-stocked with the Philadelphia Police Dept's finest, many of whom are on overtime, many of whom are called to duty to clean up after the non-peaceful and non-law abiding citizens who cause MUCH trouble.

If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!!!

Also make sure you run "Disk Defragment" once a month or so.......kinda like changing your cap, plugs, points, condensor, rotor and plugs.....lol

NAH NAH NAH NAH NAHHHHH NAH!!! I wasn't taking a sip that time!!!!!!

Unfortunately.....You are correct.

Yes, those useless things were regularly installed in Hayward Macks all the time.

Sounds like it got corrupted somehow. Do you have an updated virus scan/protection package?? Get someone who knows what they are doing to reboot it in SAFE MODE for you......Set the internal clock backwards by several days, then light it back up in regular mode. Make sure your virus software has all been updated and then run it. Then make sure your virus protection is set to run automatically at night (dont ever shut off your computer) every other night or so. I highly recommend NORTON 360 PREMIER EDITION. Look around on the internet, it lists for about $100 in stores but you can usually find it for $40-50 bucks if you shop around online. This is a great package because it comes with an online backup site to store the entire contents of your hard drive elsewhere. Get someone who knows what to do to help you set that up. Or I highly recommend a big external hard drive that you can hook into your desktop and/or laptop and backup all your files onto. Also, download MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE (The FREE version.) Make sure you run that at least once every other night. This should keep your system fairly clean.

I should know by now not to be sipping a beverage when viewing BMT.com.....Dammit now I have to clean off the flatscreen......again.....shit!

I have to disagree with my esteemed colleague for one item in his list: The Halligan. Not widely used in the fire service until the 1970's. I would replace it with a claw tool.

I think that Denver tool is just about as worthless as a pickhead axe but that's me. I usually ride the OVM seat if I am not driving which means I grab a six foot roof hook and a halligan.