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You forgot Poop!

Don't be a dumbass like me. A friend of mine came in the fire house one winter day with his new scooter. I asked him if I could spin it around the lot and he handed me his helmet. I promptly hit the only ice patch on the lot, dumped the bike and tore up my knee. Bike was fine; I was out of work for three months.

One of the neat things Mack did on their fire trucks was to put junction blocks at about every six feet down the frame. That way it's pretty easy to trace a wire and/or add something to a circuit.

Let em spray right after you lube it and than wipe down the undercarriage with a varsol rag. Try to cut down on how much grease you pump into them to begin with.

I used "cloth" covered wire for the 52 to keep it original, so I couldn't get pre-marked stuff. I did buy different colors/threads to try to match the original Mack color scheme. But, having the circuits ID'd at each termination would be nice.

Oh well! I can't justify that for a couple of re-wires. It might be a good thing for someone to set up at a show and print shrink to order for those of us that are re-doing a rig.

Damn; Just saw your last post. Where did you get the printer? I want one.

Yep; I do it the same way. I solder the wire directly to the terminal and than wrap it in a shrink tube. Goes back to my aircraft training I guess.

Love it. Nice work. So far I have filled a five gallon bucket with all of the old wire I've pulled from mine. I soldered all of the connections when I re-wired it, but I tend to be a little bit anal.

Old, and even this new, apparatus doesn't command much money. Don't know why, but the used stuff just doesn't seem to go for a lot. Most FD's that could afford to pay what its worth will buy new. Given that the tank is stainless you would probably make more at the scrap yard. My bet is they don't get one bid at the 25K minimum they are asking. But, if I had 25k burning a hole in my pocket and a strong need for a divorce, I'd sure love to have it.

That seems to be the best way to make money with a dump. Buy 'em old with low miles and keep 'em going a long time.

Nice rig. Did it start life on the left coast? It seems like the west coast guys like those wheels.

A quick search on "antique distributor repair" turned up several contractors that repair old distributors. It might be worth a couple of phone calls to them. I'd also check the Hemming's classified ads.

Boats and marriage; it's always cheaper to charter than it is to own.

Don't be shy about asking any questions of the seller that you want. Any reputable Ebay seller wants to answer any and all questions before the sale so there are no surprises when the sale is completed. If you want to know the reserve; ask him. The worse you can get is an "I won't tell you" reply.

I still think it's connected to an FD or maybe a fire apparatus maker, possibly Mack. The pic is identified as a Mack yard tractor, but there is no obvious markings that identify it as a Mack. I wonder if the title is meant to indicate it is a yard tractor used at Mack, not a yard tractor made by Mack. (although I'm sure it would have been a Mack in that case) Anybody recognize the building in the background as being the old Mack factory in Allentown where they assembled the fire apparatus?

Have you looked at the community colleges that offer these courses? I see a CC in Maine that offers a 2 year degree and several more located around the country.

There should be an ID plate located near the officer's seat. It is most probably a Type 45. If you can ID the engine model and the pump capacity I can give you the model. The chassis number is also on the front right frame horn and may be listed on the registration card if you have one. As soon as you find the chassis number write to the Mack Museum with the number and they will send you an owner's manual and any delivery pictures they have of the rig. A suitable contribution to the museum for this service is appropriate. Where are you in MD? Have you joined SPAAMFAA or the local chapter of SPAAMFAA? I am going to try to get to the ATHS show with my rig. I should be at Macungie as well. Do NOT run non-detergent oil. Use a good quality 30 weight for general use. If you cannot locate an oil filter send me a PM. I know someone who has several of them.

I also don't have any specific advice on what to look for, but my bet is it something relatively simple. My experience when troubleshooting almost any issue is that something serious jumps out at you and that we all tend to look for the most serious problem we can imagine if the problem is not obvious. Often the real problem is something so simple we overlook it while we convince ourselves that whatever is wrong must be something serious and costly. I think you are correct in re-evaluating the tires. If nothing else they should be the simplest to check. Any chance you can borrow a set of tires from someone to try? In one post you imply that the truck has done this since you have owned it. If this is correct have you tried to contact the previous owner to see if he had the same issue? If not, the obvious implication is it is something you did when you were preparing to put it back on the road. Change of tires? Rotation of the driveshaft out of it's original yoke positions? Tighten or loosen spring shackles? Etc.? Good luck.

Do you have any of the old parts? If so, you will probably be able to match them with another non-fire truck Mack of a similar vintage. If all else fails try asking another C model owner to look for the parts numbers for you. Mack is really good about putting PN's on everything. My bet is they used the same assemblies on their commercial rigs. Beautiful rig. You should try to get to the Apple Blossom parade in Winchester, VA with it this year. You may want to keep your eye out for a parts truck. A pretty rough "C" model sold in VA last year for around $1500.00. It would have made a great parts truck.

It'll be 40 years this summer. Still the best thing I ever did.

Almost every fire truck or ambulance gets delivered with automatic (on-spot) chains these days. I see them on E-bay for a song every now and again. If I were driving full time in an area that gets ice I'd keep my eye out for a pair. They aren't good for running in deep snow over a long time like real chains, but they are the hot lick for getting out of a situation like you ran into.

I can afford the trucks; I can't afford the divorce!

With my Mack I have found that I need to pause quite long in neutral with the clutch out when upshifting in order to shift smoothly. When downshifting I found that I need to wait for the road speed to fall back to about the top end of the next gears goes to before shifting. I have to raise the RPMs quite high in neutral with the clutch out as well. It is odd, but most Mack fire apparatus from this era does not have a tach on the dash. Mine has a splitter on the pump panel tach drive cable, but a tach was never installed on the dash. I miss it, since I was so used to driving something with a dash tach to help find the shift points.

Nice! Make sure you are venting the area when welding galvy. The zinc will do nasty things to your lungs.