So my buddy Mike calls me a couple months ago and ask if I was interested in a couple big trucks. He knew the answer was yes if the location and price was right. So he came by my work and lunch and we went to take a look at them as they were here in town.
Turns out that they are two 51 1.5 Ton's the fella (Joe) had bought them years ago from a guy that was using them to build one good truck out of two. Joe's plan was to build one up to use in his tree trimming biz but he has since retired and wants to downsize some of his stuff.
Truck One was the best of the two, it had a later 235 in it (I haven't run the numbers yet) and a good functioning hoist on it. Plus it's had some body work done and pretty straight sheet metal. The doors shut really nice. It started right up after setting a battery in it and twisting a couple wires under the dash together. Joe claimed that it had a main bearing going but Mike and I saw or heard no sign of it. Overall a pretty nice truck compared to the usual ones I drag home. O yeah also the truck had no brakes at all not even the hand brake worked which I consider to be pretty normal.
Truck Two (We'll call it the parts truck) was not so great, pretty rough body including the drivers door had the common reversed door bend and was about half caved in. The front half of the rear end was gone. Joe said that rear actually came out of the 1st truck as they wanted to swap the 2 speed rear from this truck into it. The truck had a transmission but no motor. But there was a 261 sitting next to it that Mike had already spoken for. Over all the truck had some salvageable parts in it so after much discussion we talked prices and told him that we'd get back with him in a couple days and took off.
Over the next couple days ideas started cooking in my head, I had been looking for a good hoist for my brothers 1947 1 Ton GMC for him and there were a couple other parts on the parts truck that were on my list to locate for some customers. If I could get those deals done I'd end up with the first truck to build into the boomer that I've been wanting and still have the other truck for future projects or parts. I called him back and a deal was set and they were mine.
Fast forward to last Friday (pickup day) I had till the 28th to pick them up but with two sons birthdays, an Anniversary and the ATHS Nationals this month I didn't see any other weekends open to get it done. I had talked to the guy a week ago about picking them up that Friday, and with the trailer already hooked to my truck on my morning break at lunch I called him to arrange to pick them up that night. Funny how peoples attitudes change once they are paid and the deal is done. He was grumpy to say the least, and said that he couldn't do it that night as he was now working nights. I told him that I'd really like to get it done this weekend and asked if I could come over at lunch time to get the first one loaded up. After much grumbling he said be there by 12:30. I get there and he proceeds to give me this big plan on how he's gonna pull it around to the driveway with his big boom truck, and then I back the trailer past him and he'd raise the boom carefully missing the high tension lines and pull it up on the trailer over my truck. Now keep in mind he's talking about my newer truck I bought last summer, the only "New" (just 2 years old) truck I've ever had so I was a little nervous about that concept. So I ask him why don't we just drive it around here and up on the trailer? He says he doesn't wanna tear up his yard, and the truck has no brakes how will I stop it on the trailer?
I asked him won't the big boom truck tear up the yard worse? and I plan on driving it up on the trailer in granny low so I don't think it will likely get over the rail at the front of the trailer. So we started it up and drove it up on the trailer as planned no problem. So I'm chaining down the front of the truck to the trailer and the owner is getting his gas can and battery out of it. Out of the corner of my eye I see him headed towards me when I look he's holding about a 8 inch butcher knife Norman Bates style, it made me jump for a minute then he headed under the hood and cuts the fuel line he had run back to the gas can in the cab, said it was like 3 dollars worth of line. This annoyed me as I knew at this point I was gonna have to spend another 3 bucks to get it off the trailer. Annoyed I headed back to work and then after work on up to our farm (122 Miles) I crashed and Saturday morning I waited till 7:30 for the parts shop in town to open up so I could drive it off the trailer. I headed back out to the farm hooked up the fuel can and battery and fired it right up. My father in law showed up with the truck half off the trailer and commented he was impressed I had brought one back that ran. Ha ha.. I turned right around and headed back to Kansas City, when I got close about 11:30 I called Joe he said come over between 1 and 1:30. At 1:20 I roll in and he starts telling me he had about given up on me and that with the rain we got about noon, he was about to call me and tell me to forget it. I remind him that he said between 1 and 1:30 and he says I did? About that time Mike pulls in and starts walking over to us. Joe looks at him and say's well hello
Fred. Mike and I look at each other and shrug, we can't tell if he's kidding or not but for the rest of the afternoon he keeps calling him Fred and before we leave he calls me
Jim a couple times?
Anyway we start looking at the second truck, it's missing the passenger side wheel and tire but he had it so we start putting it on, that's when I notice there are no spring shackles on the rear end and that the rear has been welded to the bottom leaf spring. I ask Joe what the deal is and he says that's how it was from the rear swap and that he did the welding to keep the rear under it and it would be fine. We get the wheel on and I climbed up in the cab on a chair (did I mention neither truck had a seat) and Joe starts pulling me immediately I hear a big clunk, as the rear end slips off the springs and starts rolling out the back just as I feared. We get the truck jacked up and rolled the rear ahead of the springs and chained it to the frame. Then start pulling again the chains hold but the passenger side (the one that hasn't had a wheel for who knows how long doesn't turn. So we dragged it up through his yard to right behind his drive way. Now the fun part getting it up on the trailer. After much discussion we decide his boom truck can handle picking up the truck so we rearrange the chains and cable and picked up the front of the truck so I can back my trailer under it. By the way the front bumper was already messed up so us picking it up isn't what bent it. Once the front was on we picked up the back and worked the truck forward on the trailer. The next morning (Sunday) headed back to the farm with the second truck. Once there I had a pretty good seat that I dropped in to the first truck so it was a little easier to drive. My plan was to jack up the second truck on the trailer. Remove the broke rear and then back the first truck up on the trailer chain them together then pull it off. We decided to use the big tractor instead and do about the same thing except we chained the truck to the 3 Point instead so we didn't have to put extra weight on the trailer.
Backing up let me talk about the doors on the first truck, someone had done some good work on this truck, the door shut easy and the gap was perfect, it was one of the things that made me like the truck from the start. So I had backed the first truck adjacent and up the hill from the trailer in anticipation of using it to do my first plan. I had left the drivers door open. So when we rolled the broken rear end out from under the second truck. Did I mention it had a disturbing green, gremlin
Face painted on it. As it came off the ramps on the trailer it turned and rolled up hill right towards the first truck (I can see it in slow motion in my head and I swear the gremlin was laughing) It just caught the edge of the door and hyper extended it. It only has a small crease but now the door doesn't close nearly as nice. So something else to fix. I don't know how many trucks I've seen like that and thought "what kind of idiot?" Now I know it's me...
I had the truck off the trailer it was a nice day and still early so I couldn't resist pulling the first truck around to the barn and taking the hoist apart and throwing the boom on. It's only chained and clamped on for now but it gives me an idea what I've got to work with. I might add air and gas tanks right behind the cab as well as a large water tank so the truck can also serve as a firetruck when we burn in the spring as well as for watering trees around the farm.
488 Miles 2 tanks of gas later ends my 3 Ton Adventure.
Thanks for reading.
Steve
"Mongo"
