Rob

Red "X" for me also. Rob

Hi Bobo, I have the cap for that breather and it is now back on the truck. I do have an R700 that needs one if the offer is still good. Thanks for the bday wish!! Rob

Thanks again for the birthday wish there Mark! I didn't get the shovel but did get a "Mack" satchel bag from the "Mack Store", and a Garmin GPS with a nice friction mount for the dashboard. Seems "Momma" gets disgusted seeing my prior worn underwear up on the dashboard when I return from an overnight outing/scouting for trucks!! Ask her just what the hell am I supposed to do cause you don't want em on the floor, and I about "got the shovel" upside my head. I refuse to carry a suitcase. Such unfairness I am forced to live with. Rob

Yes, that is very true. I've never really been around driving one of these things daily although I've had a lot of wreckers both large and small. In any case there is not a lot of weight on the drive tires with these tandem things when empty. I tend to learn with one mistake and it don't take bashing my skull, (sometimes)! I was speaking with David yesterday morning and I think I'm gonna put an 8000# Tulsa winch on the front of this tractor. It has at least 125 feet of cable on the drum and works well. Incidently, the truck I call "Fred", I've had that on since August 1985. Started out as a single axle tractor and I purchased it to move my 14X70 mobile home from the Navy base in Millington, TN to "Momma's" momma's property when I was transferred to Norfolk. I liked the truck enough I've always kept it. Took a job at a manufacturing outfit upon discharge and they had this old S-160 IH truck with the crane bed on it. They gave me the truck, and I used their bridge crane to set this one up. Never did get around to stretching the frame but ole "Fred" has served me faithfully for many years. If he'll crank, he'll start! Anyways, this truck is what started my loyalty to "Tulsa Winch". By choice I'll never have anything else. I had two industrial "Warn" brand hydraulic drive winches on rollbacks, and both exploded the planetary housings off the ends. Both were warranted by Warn, but who needs the downtime? Never did convert them to another winch as both trucks were sold off as I exited the market segment. I also like a "Holmes" split winch but they are not the same as they were....... Worm drives are always best when power is what you're needing. Rob

And Jo's number is: Rob

And a Happy Birthday to you too! Rob

Hey!! Today's my birthday???? Hell, does that mean I'll finally get some dignity and respect around here?????? (Lying is acceptable) "Momma" says I got something "special" coming my way. The wondering has kept me up all night in anticipation. It could be a prized gift from the Mack Shop, Watts' Mack, Mutual Wheel, or a nice non stick coating aluminum shovel to clean up dogshit in the yard. I have no idea. Rob

I've misplaced her cell number. Please forward as I have some important information to convey.......... What are friends for???? Rob

I wouldn't have received a lecture from my grandpa. Instead he would have pulled up a lawn chair, sat down wearing winter coat, boots, furry hat with pull down ear flaps, and gloves, popped a "Falstaff", and laughed at me!! Oh the fun, (at my expense) he would have had. Actually there was a very valuable lesson learned here. I've never had a semi trailer and certainly never operated one in the winter, off road. I had no idea how easily this truck "stuck" with the trailer hitched up. I've been over that same area in all four seasons with my trucks and never been stuck once. Oh well, I know what not to do again so I suppose that's positive. I also did discover about the truck something that displeased me. I think the power divider needs rebuilt. Sometimes it would hold both axles together, but most of the wheel spinning was done only on one axle. It does not have the air interlock but rather the automatic one. Sometimes the truck would spin tires on both axles however. Also was able to figger out where the slight exhaust leak was under the cab. It was so cold outside I could see just a trace of exhaust escaping from a rub hole under the cab. So small I couldn't feel it with my fingers but it would put exhaust into the cab without the floor mat in place. I thought it was the flex pipe from the turbocharger but it looks good. The leak is dead under the cab floor and on top of the fuel tank will little room to run through. After I got back up on solid ground I went down the road about a mile to see how the truck pulls. To my surprise it is amazingly smooth through the acceleration up to highway speed. I then turned around and headed back to the shop and as I mentioned earlier the smoke was dark gray to black from the stack. I've never seen this truck really smoke under acceleration due to no weight back there. I may drive a truck up on the deck later in the week and go for a cruise. During the winching I was standing outside of ole "Fred" at all times. Once I got off the clutch to start pulling I just guided the R model around the trees "Momma" planted last spring. They are just sapplings so would flatten easily then that's a whole nuther set of problems! I was always gonna build me a set of scotch blocks for "Fred" but never did and have never had a way to anchor him down under a pull. He is actually a small crane, but does a fine job winching especially when he's all you got for that task available. I'm going to head out to the shop in about an hour to get a look at the brakes and start pulling the front deck boards off. There was some unknown rust issues in the 5th wheel plate area needing addressed myself and the seller are working out to have rebuilt. Rob

The rain bonnet is on the front seat. I had to take it off cause the truck when stuck was about 250 feet from the shop and needed a shot of ether to get going. It was 2 degrees outside overnight and this thing has a 1500 watt heater on the engine. Too much current to pull through extension cords that far. I don't like to ether engines but it fired right off. Rob

Thanks Mark. The truck is a 1948 Federal. I really don't know what is going to happen with that one yet. Rob

I'm hoping it will thaw out overnite. The trailer was pulled from Manchester NH on Monday and I received it on Wednesday night. Cold weather all the way. The building is 100ft deep and the truck and trailer are backed up to the front of the brown R700 with an R model cab in back of it. The trailer is 42', and the tractor has about a 220" wheelbase. It was kinda neat to see black smoke from the stack under acceleration too. Means some heat in the exhaust and will surely clean up the innards of the engine. The fuel in the truck is at least four years old. Rob

One more. Rob

Got it winched out this afternoon by backing ole "Fred" up against a tree to keep from pulling back. The hill was so slick I had to winch up to flat ground as under the snow is plenty of ice. Here also are a few photos of the trailer hooked to the truck. It is all now in the building warming up so I can diagnose the brakes tomorrow. Rob

I had never experienced any hop at all without a trailer. It also does not hop at all if starting off in low gear. Also If I let the clutch out slowly in 1st, (second to me) it doesn't hop either. Of course there is no load on the trailer. Rob

The trailer does not have spring brakes. There is a plastic looking valve the air tank feeds and has four hoses attached that run to the service chambers. These hoses do not have any air applied to them so no "S" cam action, or brake application. I don't know if the pilot line is supplying air or not at this point, or the valve is stuck. I got the truck winched out of it's predicament and put it inside the building to warm up. Rob

Naw, really don't think it would be that. I've replaced too many drivelines to punish my own. Actually I've never torn one up, even in a car. This one is not bad, Once I got the clutch used a few times, the hopping stopped. It accelerates fine, just a couple slight hops or "torquing up" when engaging the clutch. Rob

Sorry you missed the tropical weather we've been having inside around here. Rob

Must be the triangle head tool used to "rock" the reveal moulding clips back to release the aluminum garnish mouldings? Those were very useful as long as a gorilla didn't caulk the seam full of butyl to compensate for a windshield that should have been cut out and reset. Back in those days glass was not an integral part of the structual integrity, or part of the engineered "crush zone" new motor vehicles are subject to. One used to set clean glass on butyl ribbon, and snap the mouldings back on; done. Nowadays, you remove the glass, shave back the existing urethane bedding, prime both the glass and existing urethane, lay an adequate bead for effective "squeeze out" for adhesion, attach the vinyl moulding to the glass if not preset, set the glass on the bead and center in the opening, clean up the excess that squeezes out the sides and hopefully call it good after setting about an hour. Ever notice all new vehicles have black shading around the perimeter? That is a shade as the UV radiation from the sun breaks down urethane much the same as tires and could cause failure, (theoretically). Rob

The glue separates from the fabric with the application of heat and the tape lets go. That is about the only fault I've experienced. It is however, a very good product. Rob

I'm right there with ya buddy. This website right here is my favorite Barr None. Nice people, great humor, appropriately administered, rigorously adjusted to fit the memberships' needs. A big thanks to Barry for the job he does, and the support of Watt's Mack for the opportunity provided. The ATHS website is just a bit too "Right Wing" for me. There too are some very nice people I miss speaking with. However, the administration needs adjusted, (my opinion) as the membership is nowhere near receiving the service the cost of membership should be providing. Funny thing is when asked; problems are always "blamed" on someone else. Nobody seems willing to take initiative for correction/modification. Again, these are my opinions, (cherished and valued only by me) but I'm following the same path of progression as you. Rob

I hitched up last night to the trailer for the first time. Had a hell of a time cause it don't have no spring brakes, the service brakes do not seem to work, and I hadn't blocked the tires: Anyways, I've noticed when I let the clutch out in 1st gear, (second to me) the trailer causes the truck to "buck" or torque up until it gets rolling. It did this a couple of times and when I place the trans is low gear, (1st to me) the truck starts off really easy but runs out of gear shortly afterward. All the bushings are tight meaning transmission bisquits, engine isolators, torque links, trunion, and saddles for the springs. Once you get rolling, the upshift is very smooth. I haven't been far enough to test downshifting yet. I then went back to my property, was attempting to turn around in the dark, and while performing the swing got the trailer tandems dropped into a depression with the tractor sitting on "glare ice". In other words, everything stopped right there. I can't go forward, or backward, so there she sits in the back yard. Of couse not having my other winch truck, (Fred the crane) running for over a year, he won't start. I then called Jamie in from home, dug ole "Fred" out of his own ice chest he was buried in, and pushed him inside the shop to warm up. There has got to be a valve under the trailer either stuck, or frozen as there are absolutely no working brakes whatsoever. Going back to the shop shortly. Will get "Fred" up and ready to perform, (as usual), winch the tractor and trailer back onto a grippable service and pick up where I left off....... Rob

And your trip went alright? Rob

I'll bet it was looked at as simple cause most everything else at that time had two sticks and varying shift patterns for each manufacturer. Rob

I suppose if you wanted to test the seal on the CB antenna mounted through the roof, You'd need to fill it complete. Never really thought about it thataway, but it would work. You just need adequate flow volume through the filler to overcome the other possible leakage points. Rob