mechohaulic

way too often is an under statement. one guy i worked for had a 40's merc sled and a late 50's ford van panel truck. wish i had a dollar for every time some one wanted to buy them. He passed away, son told me when they went to move the vehicles both frames buckled in half . such a waste of history.

as with many objectives in life, the best teacher is experience . the 6 speed that was introduced back then for construction vehicles was to give the low hole start out. many drivers were making them 10 speeds. was it right ; NO but it worked for some. you weren't suppose to split shift each main. even the quad had a pattern , didn't mean it had to be followed every shift, do what works for the moment providing clutch wasn't burning .

Alot of truth behind the story of O&G with the switching brands due to a calendar picture. it was huge money back in the day to buy an entire fleet. Mack could have at least put both fleets in. realize there are only 12 months/ pictures and a lot of fleets nation wide . glad it wasn't me that made the decision LOL

there's four names that bring back the memories =St. Johnsbury,Wooster,Holmes -i could see the tractors in my head ,couldn't remember the name. and Adley. my wife was a secretary there . building the first gear b model new england fleet i had 5 Adley combos. like it's been said= as you age can't remember yesterday but can remember yrs back. in todays world who the H--l wants to remember yesterday yrs back was without question better memories

I didn't say go buy one due to fact wasn't aware they are made . that should be an easy fix. would look better also.

hardware store -buy a length of door screen fab a custom "bug screen" that would give you access with a small broom . don't think it's possible on the new iron to do like bulldozers /construction equipt and turn the fan around so it blows air out . more than likely the truck has a plastic fan besides. larger dozers use to have spring loaded blades. remove one section of iron fan shroud to gain access , push down- rotate each blade. air out for summer = air in for "cab heat". NO you didn't turn the AC on in summer; wasn't any! dozer had same AC as the B model. LOL

the light green was much easier to keep clean , had the gloss clear coat finish. grease /dirt on the flat dark green took some scrubbing to clean with hopes of not taking the paint off. maybe mack had too many barrels of military green in stock. nam coming to an end ; military orders slowed down, had to use the paint some where.

i wasn't there to witness, but talked with someone who was. L G Deflice from north haven CT had a driver they called Barney. he drove a DM800 , he had a huge lowbed with a two axle jeep , backed it down a narrow dirt road with machine on back (don't remember the equiptment) didn't pulll forward once to straighten out. truck had some unbelievable amount of gears . quad with 4 speed aux etc.

back in the day ;'70's wasn't too unusual on the east coast to see a twin stack mack R700 DD powered. rackin the brain to be accurate , seems roadway had some.

yrs back i looked at a '39 mack FK chain drive that was originally powered by a cummins. unfortunately i didn't buy it but should have

now there's a place i'd like to spend alot of time. walking through acres of history gone by. what a shame. we all know the bottom line; don't want to see it go to rust, but can't save them all.

trying to do the math in my head ; that's what's takin so long to type. it's been at least 11-12 yrs since my full time driving day . darn now i feel real old . drove for baskin robbins last. unemployed for 1yr. (long story). mech for coca -cola 7 yrs ; then retired last 2017 - now. at B&R i did relief for few yrs entire east coast. finally got my own rte doing CT into MA. ran I-290every week. back 12+yrs road and people totally different.

in today's world, at least in CT; it takes skill and attention to all your surroundings just to safely drive a car!! never have i seen anything like it , not once or twice every time on the road. how can people be in such a hurry. common to see an ass---le make a 4 lane highway out of what is a three lane. after "politics" came in to my job, shop was closed and ryder came in . boss bragged how they gave him free golf tickets. i was told = your a truck driver or nice knowing you. he thought i was going to quit; not with 25-27 yrs there. drove truck for remainder of my employment there. NO GPS in those days. many hrs with road maps. was supposed to have a conventional with sleeper; too long for city . took a day cab twin screw set it up with curtains and laminated board for sleep with sleeping bag. not too many lay over days. had to show hotel for lay over. they were fun days ; that are long gone.

you know what helps alot in those situations; (besides skill) very slight pressure on the trolly brake. it makes it easier for the trailer to make a tight piviot . in the delivery days, i had one stop in a small parking lot with double row of cars and a loading dock. 45ft trailer . brakes on slightly with trolley and sand on pavement made line up to dock slick. no dock unload meant hand truck many trips up ramp.

i have to chuckle on the "us older guys were grandfathered in" i was grandfathered in for getting a CDL in the first place! before they started this medical card crap also.

off this post a little but speaking of clutches; did a reply ever show up of the truck with a clatter in bell housing area? i haven't seen it.

i first read this post and thought you were joking! a PLASTIC side cover, guess i've been away from the wrenches too long.

shifting without the clutch isn't a bad thing some cases it makes the shift easier. can't go too much. in this case the intermeditate plate was froze on the dowels of the flywheel. truck was basically running on a single disc.

yrs back i did a clutch job for one of my better customers; milk hauler the truck went 7 days a week. hot shot truck driver came in mouthing off " don'tknow why your changing it, i never use it " showed him the disc -- double disc old style not the fancy button disc. one disc like brand new other down to very little left. i said that;s why i'm changing it; use the clutch!

there are those who look at the mona lisa and see something nice ; looking at these pictures i see perfection. great job . the sound is something never to be duplicated by the new electronic junk of today. like the '60's muscle cars the engine sounds of the old truck engines can't be beat.

i sit and read these post finding myself in total awe. so glad i'm out of that work , still keep my CDL active with the hopes of taking an old B model on a road test. challenge is the CDL a medical card is nearing impossible. open heart surgery in 2015 changed a lot of things

at 70 i'm over the hill. i look at my little grand kids ; age 3-5-7 ; for them and many other youngsters i feel sorry for. purpose for moving out of CT after retirement was to try and have some of the SS i paid into all those yrs TN was much better. not my decision to comeback to this rotten state.

seems to me the corrective measure for having PTO operation while moving was to install rear mount PTO on lower counter shaft. did quite a few in the day unless the newer trans did away with rear set up availability ,

an old B-model can throw a rod, throw a belt, or throw a tire cap.throwing codes should be left up to the spies of the world NOT trucks.

is that where the phrase "diamond in the rough" comes from? real ruff . LOL . thanks for the share , never know might be good runner just bad looker