other dog

Yeah...I love my job!

Yep,that's it!

Handsome chaps you got there Joe-but the one in the little hat looks like he's dreaming about driving a tri-plex-what's up with that? What are their names? One looks like a Bill and the other looks like a Tom.My name's William Thomas by the way.How about Joseph William Paul Van Thomas Scott.. ? No? well,it was just a thought.

You are exactly right,on every point you made.There is a difference between "immigrant" and "illegal immigrant" that a lot of people don't seem to get. And we had a pile of broken chain binders at the shop in the floor-not bent,broken-that said "made in China" on every one of them. The ones that say "made in USA" might bend,but they do not break.These Red Wing boots i'm wearing right now are a couple of years old and I just had them resoled,so they should be good for a couple of more years. Everybody on welfare in this country,unless they're disabled,ought to HAVE to (I don't know how to underline,but anyway...) do something,whether it's picking up trash along the highway or cleaning at the school or courthouse,instead of popping out babies and collecting even more money. A lot of people say "why SHOULD I work,when the government pays me to sit on my fat a** and do nothing?",so that's exactly what they do. Maybe if they had to work anyway,they'd get a real job and be a productive member of society instead of a parasite to everyone else.I know some people need and deserve help,but too many people just take advantage of anything and everything they can-it's not about the common good,it's what's good for ME! Me,right now!..oh yeah,I could go on and on...

I'm just waiting to stop talking about them, get them finished, and post my own truck pictures for the calendar.

Congratulations on yours!

Paul VS

Thank you Paul...thank you very much.

Way to go Joe!...and you said they're eating like little WHAT'S?!!...Wait 'til they're teenagers-you might want to buy Food Lion stock now,so you can get a discount on your groceries.Are they boys or girls? Or perhaps one of each?P.S.-Way to go Joe's wife too!

nice choice,that red with black fenders.

I'm tellin' 'ya-that turkey,taters,onions,and celery-it's really good!

I only got three days,but i'm sure i'm a little fatter! Gotta leave for Fremont,Oh. as soon as I take a shower.

it's good.She always made it out of the leftover turkey. It might be better'n poke salad,but i'm not sure.

I could almost guarantee that somebody here could do that conversion.

sounds like you work at a wood yard

Thanks Joe-hadn't heard from you for so long I thought maybe you'd transferred to an unknown location somewhere near the arctic circle-either that or you were at the hospital.

I'm thinking that what we need to do is organize a Mack and cook-out event.

Maybe at Watts Mack's anniversary show in September.

I think it would be blast.

Paul VS

Absolutely! I'm not much in the kitchen,but when it's outdoors it's a different story-i've got 4 grills,all charcoal,in various sizes,the smoker stove,and the stew pot. My good friend "Big Jim" lives in Reynoldsville,Pa. and he's a master griller-and just happens to have a big brand new gas grill.He would be a member here,but his PC has been down for a long time.He took it in to be checked out and found there's nothing wrong with the computer,but his phone line was messed up,so he just uses his cell phone.If Barry think's it's a good idea to cook out too,i'm gonna volunteer Big Jim to bring his grill. I'll tell Jim he's been volunteered too-he'll think he's back in the Marines.

Thanks Paul,it WAS good! I started cooking it on the lowest rack in the oven,but if i'd raised it up 2 levels,which I had room enough to do, it probably wouldn't have gotten so brown.I put the extra drumsticks on the top rack at first,then flip-flopped them later. I coated it with olive oil and then coated it with a rub before I put it in the oven too,so that's why it's so dark .And even though it looks very well done,i've never smoked a turkey out doors that was dry-it's like it dries or seals on the outside.The first time I ever used one of these ovens I cooked a hind quarter of venison,kind of as a test run.I expected it to be too tough to eat,but surprisingly it was very tender and juicy.I think I cooked the turkey about 5 hrs.before the timer popped up,and I let it stay in a little longer.I like to check it with a meat thermometer too,just to be safe.The old leg bone test is still about the best way to tell for sure if it's done-you grab the end of it and twist it a quarter of a turn and if it feels like it's gonna pull off in your hand,it's done. I made 4 sweet potato pies too,and they were about the best I've ever had.Got 2 of them in the freezer.

We're about in the same boat - I'm 5'11 and 225#, up from about 185# not too long ago.

The doctor says I need to go back there. or look at blood pressure and cholesterol medicine.

And I don't want to do the medicine.

Just the same - I'd like to know more about the sweet potato pie.

Thanks,

Paul VS

I'm glad you asked- I just cook the sweet potatos,you can boil or bake them,peel them and put them in a mixing bowl,put in about a quarter stick of butter,couple of eggs,brown sugar,about a half cup of milk,vanilla-or I used to season them with bourbon,but found the Captain Morgan's spiced rum is good in them,instead of using vanilla.The alcohol cooks out of course,but it leaves a nice flavor.Doesn't take much,half a cup maybe for a couple of pies.Mix all this stuff up good and pour it into pie shells and bake 'em 'til they're done.This is all right out of my head,I can find you a "real" recipe with exact amounts if you want,but this is close.

Got the word this week from Kevin All that the H-63 has a spun rod bearing. Too bad.

I am lucky enough to have a good 673 diesel to replace it. Just wish I didn't have to.

On a more positive note - he thinks he has found a new cab jack for the truck.

The intent with the cab-over is to keep it in very original spec. A nine speed overdrive transmission

should give it enough road speed so as not to be too conspicuous. It's a ten speed direct drive now.

Radials and maybe some little cab air bags might help the ride enough to avoid an air suspension.

Especially with a trailer behind it.

We've been studying the internet looking at every H-63 picture we can find.

Also looking for factory service and parts manuals, or reprints, if anyone has any.

PVS

Hey Paul,don't know if it'll help you any,but I did take lots of H-model pictures at the Troutman,N.C. ATHS show.They're all posted on the diesel gypsy's site. And of course Hank's truck pictures has hundreds...no,thousands... maybe millions of pictures. Tom

Gee...Paul sorta took the words right outa my mouth!

I know what you mean,I made the same mistake in telling the body shop man " no hurry " one time.My mixer used to be solid red,and I wanted to get the fenders and top of the hood painted black. I parked it at the body shop in Appomattox right after the Railroad festival parade in October and it sat there outside the shop for weeks until I finally told him that I would like to have it done before Christmas parade,so he finally painted the fenders- the weekend before the parade.Never did get the hood painted.

Sounds like you've been busy, and getting ready for Turkey day. I dread it we gotta do our thanksgiving shopping on monday. I'm just glad I don't have to work this year.

Yeah it kind of snuck up on me, I didn't realize Thanksgiving was next week,thought I had another week to go for some reason.I just bought a turkey so I could smoke it,haven't done that since last year,and they're really good smoked.My Dad brought me a box of sweet potatos that he grew when he came up to the stew last weekend.I'll get some Captain Morgan's for flavoring and make some sweet potato pies.

You guys are bad for my weight !

Sounds like work has picked up pretty well for you. That's good.

Paul VS

We're bad for my weight too! I'm 6 feet tall,and I got up to about 230 lbs. at one time,then after my wife passed away I lost down to under 200 but now I seem to be going the other direction again,at a rapid pace. A good sweet potato pie is hard to find anymore,so I make my own-they're real easy to make. I wouldn't give 5 cents for a punkin pie,but I love sweet potato pie.Some people say there's no difference,but there most certainly is.

Sounds like you've been busy, and getting ready for Turkey day. I dread it we gotta do our thanksgiving shopping on monday. I'm just glad I don't have to work this year.

Yeah it kind of snuck up on me, I didn't realize Thanksgiving was next week,thought I had another week to go for some reason.I just bought a turkey so I could smoke it,haven't done that since last year,and they're really good smoked.My Dad brought me a box of sweet potatos that he grew when he came up to the stew last weekend.I'll get some Captain Morgan's for flavoring and make some sweet potato pies.

Hi Paul,was your H-model's picture on oldmacks.com ? they had one listed for sale a while back,but I see it's not on there anymore.Just wondering.Never drove an H-model,but they had right many of them at the antique truck show I went to in Troutman,N.C. in July.There was a trucking company that still ran a lot of H-models up until the early 80's at least,I used to see them all the time,but I can't remember the name.Seems to me it was either Harrisonburg Motor Express or Spotswood Trail Express.

I don't think our H-63 was on Dennis Meahan's OldMacks site. I could be wrong though.

There is a guy in North Carolina who has several H-61 and H-63 tractors. Brad Wike is his name. He has a good website, although it takes some time to download. (Lots of photos) www.bradsclassictrucks.com I think.

The early Mack cabovers, other than the W series, seem to be concentrated on the East coast, and specifically in the Southeast.

From what I see, there are not too many of these H-63's around. Appears to be more H-67 cabovers.

We are pretty excited about this newest find.

The trouble with getting another project truck is that I want to start that project, and I am not even close to finishing the one in the shop.

Probably just like everybody else - what I really need is a lot of money, a huge shop and a very understanding wife.

My shop is pretty good, and my wife is pretty understanding - I just don't have any money.

Ah Well.

How's your work doing - any busier?

Hello Paul,i've looked at his site. I think some of the H-models at Troutman were his.A lot of companies around this area ran H-models,but I don't know the exact model no.I know they weren't the tall cherry picker cabs,I hadn't seen one of those until the first year I went to the Troutman antique show.They were a little before my time of course .Our work's been pretty steady lately,but i'm still in the same "ain't got no money" boat as you.

Oh well,I thought I didn't stick or burn anything because I knew what I was doing,but after I read all that info I found out it's because the pot is designed to be pretty much idiot-proof,just what I need! I think it was money well spent,good for large gatherings.I've made at least one stew in it every year since i've had it,usually more.That's all i've ever cooked in it except one year I made chili.

I think I'd better get one.

Thanks,

Paul VS

I think it's money well spent,i've really enjoyed mine and gotten lots of use out of it,and it should last way longer than I will.

Oh well,I thought I didn't stick or burn anything because I knew what I was doing,but after I read all that info I found out it's because the pot is designed to be pretty much idiot-proof,just what I need! I think it was money well spent,good for large gatherings.I've made at least one stew in it every year since i've had it,usually more.That's all i've ever cooked in it except one year I made chili.

That looks like a really good iron stew pot. And I re-season my cast iron frying pans each time I use them, too.

I am curious, How do you keep the fire slow and low enough to let the pot simmer while the stew cooks?

I normally cook my stews and soups on the stove in the kitchen, but this looks like a great idea, if the fire can be controlled.

Paul VS

Hi Paul-I ordered that pot from Cabela's,probably 7 or 8 years ago...maybe more,I don't remember.I think it cost $179,but i'm not sure about that either. It's a 30 qt. pot,and at the time they had smaller ones and some bigger ones too,but the price jumped way up for the next bigger size which was a 36 qt. and I figured 30 qts. was big enough anyway,and it is for me.I don't know if they still carry them or not,I don't see them in their catalogs anymore. The pot has 3 legs on it that you can't see in the picture because it's sitting on the stand.I used to set the legs on some bricks or something and make a fire under it or around it and it was hard to regulate the heat,but a friend of mine made the stand for me so it's up off the ground high enough to work with it now.I closed the sides in on 2 sides and when I start I put the meat,potatos,and onions in first because that's all the raw ingredients,and let them boil 'til they're done.As the fire burns down I just put just enough wood on it to keep it going the rest of the way-i'll use long pieces of wood so I can pull them out if I need to,or as they burn off I can just push them in further.If the stew looks like it needs more liquid,i'll leave the liquid in the vegetables when I pour them in,if I want to thicken it up i'll just pour the liquid off first.I like to have it boiling when I put the first gallon of vegetables in,that cools it down some,and when it comes back to a boil I put the next gallon in.By the time I put the corn in ,which is always last,i'll have very little or no fire,and it'll stay hot all evening.If it was real cold i'd keep the fire going,but like it was Saturday I just let it go out and the stew was plenty hot enough to eat when I emptied the pot. My brother has a pot that'll make 3 or 4 of mine,but he uses a gas burner under it. You can read all about the pots here-I guess mine is the 29.8 qt. model. http://www.thecellarstore.com/potjiepot.html I just googled "potjie pots"