Licensed to kill

Reminds me of a time years ago when I took the wife's '28 Model A TUDOR to town. Parked on the street to go get something and a guy came up as I was getting out of the car and said "Nice car but why did you put a SBC in a Ford car?", I replied, "what kind of motor did you put in your Model A?", he said "I don't have a Model A", I said "exactly" and turned and went into the store. Main reason I RARELY put anything in car shows (I have but only to support those putting on the show), I don't own them to please others and don't really care what others think.

Always thought those MANN and SCANIA trucks were butt ugly and putting a blue oval on the front does nothing to improve the locks. There is just not enough chrome and/or accessories to dress up those pigs IMO, but, again, that's just me. My heart lies with a well appointed 379L but, again, that's just me. For those that like the "European" look, good on ya, the new Ford will be a fine addition to the stable.

Yes Henry was wrong but Edsel saw that Ford was being left in the dust by all the other manufacturers and hit it out of the park with the Model A. In fact, the new car was such a departure from the previous that they decided to start back at "A" again rather than calling it the model "U". While I have never driven a model T I am somewhat familiar with them and concur with your conclusions. Since we live 30 miles from the nearest town, every time we take out our "A" fordor, we put at LEAST 60 miles on it and a couple hundred miles trips are not uncommon. I. fact, we had a wedding to go to this fall which was 500 miles away and had planned to take the Model A but time constraints killed that plan since it would take twice as long to get there and back. Interestingly, we also have a hotrodded pickup as well but ours is a '31 Model A with a SBC. Our Fords are the "A" team and the Macks are the "B" team.

That's cute.

Well, when Edsel was designing the Model A, Henry was NOT impressed as he thought the model T to be the perfect car and needed no changes so..............As far as that truck goes, I could only drive it in the dark as I would be embarrassed to be seen driving such an ugly POS.....but that is just me.

I think you are right. Those turnpike doubles carry more than a super B I would imagine but backing one up any distance or around a corner…………I dunno

See, now that is just stupid. I suspect that the politician that came up with that rule owns shares in a tire company. Not only does it require operators to buy excess tires but they will scrub like a. Bastard and wear quickly. Lawmakers never make laws for the good of the people or society, they make them to line their own pockets.

Someone saw the guy with 6 axles and raised him 2. Yup, saw what appeared to be an end dump gravel trailer with SIX dually axles, thing was literally all tires. Must be hauling gold or lead or bismuth or something to require all those tires. South Dakota has some double grain trailers but unlike the super B’s that we have, these looked like two 40’ grain trailers with a triaxle converter. Interesting stuff.

Seeing lots of unusual (to me) axle arrangements down here. LOTS of trucks with that goofy little single wheel lift axle between the drives and cab, lots of trailers with a similar single wheel lift axle at the very back, lots of trailers with spread axles of 5 or 6 feet it appears. Even passed one guy pulling a trailer with 4 dually axles like a doubled up tandem. THAT has got to be hard on tires. Very few combination trailers though and no super B’s as of yet. I gotta tell ya, this is a crazy country😜😁

And so we sit in Albion Nebraska with a growling front wheel bearing waiting to have it changed. 3rd trip to OK for booms, 3rd time with bearing issues. Don’t know why but Dodges are hard on front wheel bearings.

The first trip we made we had a flat tire in South Dakota. Went to a small tire shop to have it fixed. While there I was chatting with the receptionist and she asked where we were from and where we were going. When I said Oklahoma she said “so you are going through Iowa and Missouri then?” I Sadie I don’t know, just following the map on the phone. That evening I get pulled over by the DOT. The officer comes to the pass window and starts grilling me on what was in the wood box strapped to the trailer, where I was going etc. The other officer walks up and I see him look at the back of my truck, comes up and says “farm plate” and the first guy stops in mid sentence and says “ have a nice day”. WHAAAAT? Before he leaves I ask him if I will need to stop at scales when I am loaded, he replies that I have to stop even empty. Then says “any other questions?” I say “ yes, are we in Iowa or Missouri?” He smiles and says “you’re in Nebraska”. I said “NEBRASKA?????didn’t even know we were going to be in Nebraska” I suspect when he got home he told his wife about the dumb Canuck that thought he was in Iowa or Missouri.

Actually, I’m picking up 3 sets of booms for John Deere sprayers. They are made in Tonkawa so don’t see much of Oklahoma. This is our 3rd trip but first since the COVID debacle and the first coming through Montana. I am a dealer for K&S booms. Don’t have time for sight seeing, gotta get back, too much work to do on my Mack and want to try to get it done for spring. Every time we come we say we are going to take our time and make holiday out of it and every time we just hammer down and do it in 3 days each way.

On our way to OK to pick up some sprayer booms. In Salena KS tonight. Came through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas so far. Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, S. Dakota and N.Dakota on the way home. So far, best fuel prices and best roads have been Kansas, worst roads have been Colorado and highest fuel prices Wyoming. We will see what the trip back north brings over the next couple days. Fuel prices have been as bad or worse than Canada which is unusual, highest $4.80 and lowest $3.50 (diesel).

But, like HK said, that 6spd trans would have a Maxidyne in front of it, not an econodyne

Which works fine as long as you don’t close off the crossover line. If you were plumbed like that and you closed off the crossover (like BMack did) the tank with the return would overflow. What I am going to do is basically the same system that Ford and Chevy did for years in the 70’s and 80’s with their pickups with dual selectable tanks except I can choose both tanks or no tanks, and the valve is manual and does not switch the gauge as well.

I think there was something else going on as I have diesel that is 6-8 months old all the time and one of my b61 had 39 year old fuel in the tanks and I have never seen it turn black. Of course the 30 yo stuff was stale and i would never use it ( used it for fire starter) I have never had an issue with 6-8 month old fuel on the farm, equipment with fuel nose than a year old in it is not uncommon. Be that as it may, my setup is different than what you describe. First, with the tanks not under the cab, a crossover line is not practical but, more importantly, I will be set up to be able to choose right tank OR left tank OR both tanks simultaneously where your setup you can only choose left tank or both tanks. If I was in a situation like you describe, I would fill both tanks, run one, then refill it at the end of the day and use the other the next day and switch back and forth. I could keep the truck full at all times and never have yo screw around trying to fill/top up both side at one time. I appreciate your sharing of your experience, if I was setting up my system similar it would have saved me from potential grief.

A cross over line would be impractical for my set up. The tanks are not located under the cab.

Been searching for parts and have found several in Australia that I have not found anywhere else. With their $ pretty close yo par for ours, the prices seem on par, more or less, with parts in the US comparing the Oates that I have found in both countries. However, shipping is bad within Canada and horrendous from the US. However, shipping from China can be downright cheap (go figure) so the shipping from the far side of the world is not necessarily going to be prohibitive. In fact, shipping from China is cheaper than shipping within Canada🙄. Anyways, has anyone brought in parts from the land of OZ and, if so did the shipping seem reasonable or typically high. The place I am finding users is here if anyone has experience with them also. Thanks

One gauge for each air tank (a dual gauge for that) plus another for the adjustable air ride that I am putting on the steer axle. Two fuel gauges because I am running two tanks independent with a manual valve to choose so for local running around I can just run one tank and use the second only for long trips but always be able to see what is in each.

I said I would post pics when I did the holes for the additional gauges and today was the day so here is how it went. I started by plugging the lighter hole. I will relocate it to the dash somewhere. I cut out a plug Then welded it from the back first, then from the front and dressed it down flush with the panel. I then cut out the gauge holes with the new 2-1/8" hole saw (cut a practice hole in some scrap first to make sure the size was right). Unfortunately, I had to drill from the back because that damn light bracket was in the way to mount the panel right side up in the vice and the first hole ended up about 1/16" or so too high so I had to "move" it down. PITA but it is what it is I suppose. I'm used to having to fix my F-ups. Holes all cut and the first one moved to where it was SUPPOSED to go 🙄. I will likely plug the headlight switch hole as it is too close to the far left gauge for my likeing. "Mack" put it in line with the start button but I will probably move it left to line up with the upper hole. (not sure I am keeping that upper hole yet, not sure what I would use it for.

I had wondered why you located it there but now understand. One of the trucks I have had a 3" pyro mounted below and between the two gauges on the left where the engine operation plaque was. It is the same cluster panel that had a 4th gauge added to the right side but put it slightly inboard of the one above to clear the lighter.

And yet, after spending about an hour searching for that gauge with no luck, I showed the picture to my wife and in 5 minutes (literally) she found it. What REALLY baffled me is that she found it on a sight that I had been to and did not find it there. Unfortunately for me, turns out it is a 3" gauge and I need 2 -1/16" so as cool as it is, it doesn't fit my needs. That and it is $340USD which would be $466CAD plus shipping so about $500CAD so....that is a hard NOPE.

A few things to consider if you are going to do an engine swap. First, as I recently found out, there is a significant enough difference between a "maxidyne" and "Econodyne" engine (their torque curve specifically) that they require different tranny's to perform properly. 5 or 6spd for the Max and 12 Spd or more for the Econo so unless you plan to change the trans also OR don't care about performance, make sure both the engine you are taking out and the one you are putting in are of the same series. Second, again, this is related to getting the best performance, you can not take an engine designed for an "up front" air to air and just put a tip turbine on it without changing injectors and likely the turbo. The "tip turbine" is less efficient and therefore will provide less air to the engine than what the injectors and turbo were designed for. It will run OK but you will likely be "rolling coal" as it will be overfueling to some extent and MAY run into EGT issues when pulling hard.

Back when my Dad started "legally" driving commercial, all that was required in Alberta was to go to the DMV, pay $15 and get a "Chauffeur" button (I have two of then sitting on my desk). The buttons I have are for 1954 and 1955. That made you legal to drive anything in the province if I'm not mistaken. I am something of an "old soul", I do not like all the modern stuff and prefer old, that is why I shoot flintlock rifles, drive Ford model A's and am doing up a B-61. A couple things on my "HIGHLY unlikely to fulfil" bucket list are a steam locomotive (I would LOVE to have one as yard art) and a bi-plane. Always threaten to get a bi-plane (easier to come by, use and transport home than a steam loco) and my wife says "You can't fly a plane!!!". I tell her "Sure I can, I have a class 1 license that says I can drive anything except a motorcycle AND I have my "air endorsement". She just rolls her eyed and says "well you won't get me up in it". No worries, I plan on getting a single seater.

I like that gauge Larry. However, like everything else these days, can't find one anywhere on the net. I swear, 15-20 years ago whatever you wanted just type it in and up it would come. Now, search engines are so screwed it doesn't matter how vague or specific a description I type in I get page after page of shit that isn't even related to what I am looking for. "No problem" says my internal "common sense" "I'll just go to the company web sight". I can not remember that last time I went to a company/business web sight that was the least bit user friendly or useful. I can't believe that companies actually PAY people to create these worthless webpages. Now, to be fair, after wasting an hour searching for something and coming up empty, I usually tell my wife what I am looking for and within 5-10 minutes she finds it. I ask what she typed in and it is ALWAYS the exact same thing I typed in word for word but the sights/pages that come up for her don't come up for me. Probably why I am so happy to drive my model A fords and will be happy to drive my B-61 Mack and any vehicle with an ECM is to me like sunlight is to Dracula. THESE things I understand.