CaptainCrutch

If nobody takes it, my SO absolutely adores it just from the one picture you’ve sent... might take a little bit to get the money together for it though... she’s never been this excited about a truck before, not to say she isn’t into the ‘hobby’ but this one just especially caught her eye this time I guess... it’d be fun to paint it a nice blue after we’ve sorted it out mechanically, luckily it seems like funding for our firetruck repairs are generally taken care of, so that would leave a project like this to fill that gap... we’ll see how far that goes I guess!

Individuals are typically much more trustworthy than big corporations, you have to watch what you say when you don't have a multi billion dollar industry so powerful they're capable of changing laws to get you put of trouble, let alone using the court of public opinion, the public opinion that is their goal to influence, to then make things go the way they want. When you're a lonely guy in a studio with a handful of other people just doing what you can to keep the studio running, you have to watch what you say because the monopolies want you to disappear as it is, no need to give them a reason... already they've changed laws in Germany so that a small live stream host has to have a license to broadcast in the nation, even if you're using a medium like YouTube and not just radio transmissions. Kills the Ben Shapiros and Steven Crowders of the world who need those mediums to survive. For now though they can still post videos in these countries just can't live stream. But that's not guaranteed either, many political channels on YouTube and whatnot have had their revenue taken away or have been banned, recently a Scottish man was arrested and fined because he made a video where he turned his dog into a Nazi so his girlfriend wouldn't love her dog so much and could focus on him. It was a joke... one big joke... and the court ignored the fact it was a joke and said it was supposed to inspire antisemitism, essentially the court claims the video making fun of Nazis was actually secretly in support of Nazis... understandably the man refuses to pay the fine! And if context doesn't matter then just reporting on it would mean you support the Nazis apparently, so nobody paid much mind to it besides when the video first gained popularity online and they were trying to claim it fostered antisemitic discussions, thus sparking the trial to begin with. If you want to do more of your own research you can look him up, Count Dankula. It's a prime example of the media and politicians trying to silence their 'opponents' instead of debating them.

I dunno, we got our fully working CF, minus a busted drain valve, for that price back in the 90s... I don’t think it’s too far fetched now, especially since it probably doesn’t run very far with that busted alternator. I’ve actually seen them lower!

I’ve stoped watching the news all together these days, everyone has an agenda and will curve stories to fit their’s or they won’t share stories they can’t curve... there no unbiased source anymore except the sources for the media, which is where I get the news. News is only useful for knowing big important events like another terrorist attack or something of the sort... sometimes when it seems like there’s no real source for something I check what everyone is saying from all sides and only accept what they all agree on and take the rest with a wheelbarrow of salt until it’s independently reviewed and confirmed... the media and politicians thrive off divisiveness, people are more likely to donate when they’re more passionate and the media gets more views the crazier they can make a headline which gives them more ad revenue... a prime example is when MSMBC said they found Trumps taxes when everyone was running a round saying he had committed tax fraud and it turned out it was nothing but they really hyped it up to get viewers... it’s like that with everyone unfortunately... this is why the loudest voice today on both sides the most extreme one, the divisiveness gets boosted so that everyone profits, meanwhile it makes a laughingstock of our country and the hardworking people who everyday bust their asses protecting the average Joe or working to make someone else’s life a bit better see nothing from it all... I still believe we wouldn’t have such a problem if we didn’t have political parties to begin with and everyone could think for themselves instead of having to align to the two main parties which have proven countless times they alter their own policies not to reflect their true beliefs but instead to make sure they oppose the other so we all stay divided. But I don’t think any of us will see politics parties either increase in how many are major enough to be recognized or cease to legally exist all together... but that doesn’t mean I don’t pray it happens some day!

Saw this little model locomotive in the museum and the truck it’s based on is sitting right outside!

Still that protest right outside the gate was better than most, they made themselves sen and cleared outta the way, I’ve seen far to many where a poor guy has to push through them because they’re blocking the road he uses to get to work. I just hope they get they’re contracts sorted soon, they can’t exactly work without one, and besides I’d like to see more Macks piggy backing Macks when I’m going down the highway... Also I didn’t see anyone use the test track this year! I didn’t get there til 10 and left at around 1, but in my experience people are running trucks around off and on pretty much all day... it was nice and all but from the sounds of it there were gonna be more people there, unfortunately like ours the trucks wouldn’t go this morning. Well there’s always next year, and hopefully next year there’s two old green and white firetrucks sitting there and racing’s round the track... hopefully...

Well dad saw this LTL today and just adored it, he also commented that a Superdog also caught his eye... so clearly he’s still very much looking at getting one of these! Like I said it’d be something nice to be able to haul the firetrucks to shows like this even when they’re not capable of reaching the destination under their own power, seriously I’m beginning to think we’re cursed or something, it’s one thing after another with these trucks! I also know that I was a personal fan of this B model that was there... aswell as the Superliner in the other pic, these are just ideas of what we’re looking for.

It’s pretty small this year, the strike probably scared some people off...

If it's an older Mack Transmission I know some had syncros so if it was put together wrong it'd probably be out of sync which would cause it to grind and not shift. If everything is put together right all I can tell you is practice...

Will do when I get back to it, still gonna replace the old fuel filters though, we’ve been meaning to do it anyways, if it still doesn’t start we’ll try your idea!

It’s a diesel, and to be fair we were just trying to squirt a little up through the small air inlet on the side which began leaking out back out after a bit... i think it hit the air cleaner and refused to go any further... it ran perfectly fine on Saturday and then Wednesday it wouldn’t even start.

One last thing I just remembered, the carb on the L needs to be rebuilt, so if anyone knows of a good place we can send that out to let me know! It’s an old 707 and after inspection and some research we realized that if we rebuild that carb we’re gonna be in good shape. I’ll also be in Strasburg, PA for the show over the weekend but evidence by the back firing and the need to rebuild the carb, unfortunate my truck won’t be there... I’ll be sure to take plenty of pictures to share though!

Shut off isn’t stuck and the pump was pumping, and no leaks can be found, we spent an hour looking for the simple things we could think of, that’s what leads us to believe the filters are clogged, we haven’t had the time to check yet, we also added more fuel to the tank to try to pressurize it some, nothing came of it but the fuel gauge rising... it’s been kinda stressful this week and we haven’t had the time to check it yet, plan is to do some more investigating next week. Just wanted to know if there was something small we over looked, we’re not mechanics after all, just enthusiast fire engines with basic maintenance knowledge.

It’s fine we checked that, it’s a manual component, and was actually one of the first things I thought of... really the only electrical components on that engine from what I read are the starter and alternator...

That old L tiller tractor is pretty cool, if I had it I'd just clear coat it that way and use it to haul the R they've got in front of it now. Best AC system out there is just having no roof! That Green L is also pretty slick. I'm also quite fond of that little green B model with the gooseneck trailer. Great pictures overall!

Well now that the L is in almost perfect mechanical condition the CF has quit on us. Seems like it's not getting any fuel because it turns over and keeps turning but doesn't do anything else. I'm at work right now and had some time to write this up to go ahead and see if anyone has any idea what the issue could be. I can't remember what motor it is right now just that it's a 6 cylinder Mack engine. I should add that it smelt like an electric motor burnt out to me but the fuel pump is mechanical and seems to still be working but we're not sure. We even tried kicking it over with starting fluid but not even a spark. Current thought is that the 19 year old fuel filters are clogged but who knows, it hasn't been run that much in that time. Plans for the future with it include having the hose bed rebuilt and the whole thing repainted, it also had the pump panel and fenders rebuilt by 4-guys so replacements of those are a hope for the future, as well as replacing a few valves so she'll pull a draft again. Only other thing I can think of that needs to be done is fixing the front suction valve that apparently never worked and they just kept a butterfly valve on the front, so either fix the valve or find a new butterfly. Over all it's never given us any problems until just yesterday so I hope it's nothing too serious.

Well bringing it to the firehall for the funeral made us realize she needs to be tuned again, we were going up South Mountain at 15 MPH back firing like crazy the whole way, so on the way back home we dropped her back off at the shop she's been spending a whole lot of time at lately, and then the day of the funeral the CF, which has never had any problems starting, refused to fire up after an hour and a half of trying. She tuned over just fine but it seemed like she wasn't getting fuel... If anyone has any clues on what that could be let me know. It's a shame that right after my grandpa passed both his dogs are now sick...

Latest news is I had my SO contact someone from the old fire company at Greystone and they said they don't know who owns it but they're certain it went to a collector so I pray it's still out there. I really hope I can bring her back to Frederick so she can join her sister once again. At this point I care less about owning it myself and more about just knowing it's in good hands. That being said I met a few guys at my grandpa's funeral yesterday that would love to either have her themselves or at least help bring her back to her former glory.

Pulled all the old hose out of the hose bed and it’s nice, got them both ready for the funeral on Wednesday, he’ll get to ride in them one last time like he wanted to.

Yeah I saw that too, just labelled it they way they did for a minute... the builder's plate says it's an RD not a DM...

That or the owner had second thoughts about selling it... pretty understandable, it was a pretty sweet rig!

Looks like a good truck for running daily, no sleeper though... not mine. https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=9951&acctid=6250

Nicer old pumper that can't pump anymore. Not mine... https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=1&acctid=16353

Looks like a good rig to be turned into a tractor, only problems I see are minor things other than the dump bed being toast, also its labelled as a DM... Not mine, obviously... https://www.govdeals.com/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=51&acctid=6308

From what I know the cabs do tilt forward on H models.