other dog

I've driven A couple of Freightliners in my time along with IHs,Macks,KWs,and Peterbilts.The first was A classic XL flat top,the other was A mid-roof.Both rode and drove as good as any other truck I've driven,and I had little or no down time with either of them.The flattop had an N-14 Cummins 460,the mid-roof had A 475 Cat.All in what you order I guess,they were both left lane trucks.

Hmmm...hobbies,yeah,I remember those-I had bikes,got a 360 Honda as my first vehicle,sold it,bought A 500 Honda,sold it and bought A 750 Kawasaki,traded it in on A 1000 Kawasaki (absolutely an awesome piece of machinery I must say),dabbled in drag racing with my street cars,had A warmed up '72 350 Nova and A '70 Chevelle SS with all the goodies,then later I got into mud bogging with A Chevy powered International Scout,sold all that and bought A '65 Mack cement mixer...huh? Anyway,I'm too old to fool with all that other stuff and just like to look at my old Mack and drive it sometimes and go to antique truck shows when I can. I do have a beagle named"other dog".Seems like the older I get the harder I have to work,and it's hard to get A day off anymore to do anything.I even remember fishing...

After the Christmas parade last year I left my truck at Cumberland Auto Service,because I had to leave for Fremont,Oh. right after the parade.Since it was parked there anyway I got them to do A full service on it,and picked it up the next weekend and drove it back to Concord,Va.where I keep it parked at F.L.Moore and sons,where I work.Ran great! But last weekend when I put some LED brakelights on it I parked it in the usual spot and ran the mixer to dump the rainwater out of the drum. It started running rough all of A sudden and then cut off.I started it and it would run A few seconds,then cut off again.Checked all the throttle linkage,shut-off,etc.and everything on the pump appeared to work like it was supposed to,but it was obviously not getting fuel.My good friend Larry Wales was looking at the secondary fuel filter canister on the pump side,and I told him the filters were new. I took the top off of it anyway,and as soon as I saw inside I said "this ain't good". Absolutely the dirtiest filter I have ever seen.I had changed the primary filter myself shortly after I got it,but I'd never changed that secondary filter.Apparently nobody else ever had either. So I ordered A new filter(the primary had been changed to A spin on type,this was the cartridge type that went in A steel canister,and A bolt holds the lid on) and when we installed it Thursday Larry came over to help in case we had to bleed the lines or anything.We took the breather hose off so we could spray ether in it,and after almost,but not quite, starting we took the top off again to make sure the canister was still full of fuel.It wasn't so we refilled it and repeated this process several times.When we finally got it to run on it's own the filter canister was leaking around the top.Larry tried to tighten it some more,then the bolt got looser,turning easily.Took the top off again,I looked at the canister and saw that the brass thing that the bolt screwed into (I don't know the technical term,so I just call it "the brass thing the bolt screws into")was cracked in three places.Evidently when we tightened the bolt it would separate and the bolt would pop loose.Then we called Mack in Roanoke and Watt's Mack and they both said the same thing-better look for A used one,there's no new ones to be found.Had to come up with A new plan,got A show this weekend.So we took the canister off and got one of the mechanics in the shop to braze it.I used to be A welder,but my eyes aren't what they used to be,but nonetheless I should have done it myself.When he was done it looked like bubble gum around the piece,and lasted about as long as Pat stayed in the Army.(I have no idea what it means either,Jobyna says it all the time-apparently Pat didn't stay in the Army long at all though).We put the canister back on ,hooked the lines up and it was still leaking just A little bit-as soon as Larry put A wrench on it to tighten it I heard it pop,and the top almost blew off the filter.Then I decided our only option was to bypass the secondary filter altogether.After pondering the situation and deciding which lines to connect ,disconnect,and reconnect we went and got all our fittings and performed the bypass.It cranked and ran fine ,then we saw A line was leaking,had A pinhole worn in it-no problem,we got'er licked now,so we went back to Appomattox and got A new line.Went to put that on and the fitting broke right off the end of the line.Now the parts store was closed,so we went to Truck Enterprises,the KW dealer in Lynchburg,to get another hose.They had plenty of line but only one fitting,so we went back to the shop and recycled our old fittings and assembled the line ourselves .We finally got it all together about 8 o'clock last night,and everything worked fine.I went to the shop today to wash it and it started pouring rain.I washed it anyway and took it over to the show and parked it.Besides,what else could go wrong,right?

Yep,can happen to anybody.I unloaded a load of coiled steel in Harrisonburg,Va. on a Thursday evening,called headquarters,they said to go on home,they didn't have any loads.So I did,thinking I'd have A long weekend but they called at A quarter 'til 5 and told me to go to Salem,Va. and load A load of steel bar joists going to Whitehall,Md.Geez-15 minutes 'til beer time,and I gotta go! The usual-be there at 7 AM.Went to Salem and loaded and when I got to the jobsite around 3AM Iwas so tired all I was waiting for was for the wheels to stop turning so I could jump in the bunk.BUT-when I turned in there was A ditch on the right that I didn't see,it wasn't marked or anything,I just felt it when the trailer wheels dropped into it.I came to A very abrupt halt,pushed the clutch in,and the truck just rocked back and forth A couple of times,and I remember thinking,"gee,this sumb*** is gonna turn ov-"...and then it turned over!

WOW!

Yep,I've done that before on that 'ol 300 F-model.It actually does work better than the stick and chicken bone method,but a little dab'll do you or you can burn the top of the stack off! I mean,I've seen it done-I wouldn't tamper with the pump on a company vehicle-well,maybe just enough 'til the top of the stack turns a little blue,not enough to burn it plum off!

stupid computers?!! I know that feeling very well!...or maybe the computer says that about me,I just don't know.

I know that feeling!

You know Mackmixer,I have often wondered that myself-I don't know if it's A Rex,Macneilus,or what.I don't see A name on it anywhere.It's A chain drive mixer,works off A crankshaft driven hydrualic pump,and I don't know what cubic yard capacity it is either-being that it's an older unit I figured 7 yards,but I don't know.You've probably forgotten more about mixers than I know,which is ...well,nothing,pretty much!

Well I finally got some pictures posted! Actually,it was much easier than I thought it would be...I quit trying and just mailed them to Barry.Now I won't tell y'all another long,boring story...for now. Thanks A lot Barry.I'm sure everyone else thanks you too,because I have many long boring stories!

Good story,and it may be true,but it's way too long! Next time go with the condensed version...oh,it IS the condensed version? never mind then.

I can't get my pictures to cooperate,so I'll tell you another story...it might belong in the nonsense category,but it's all true.This week I took A load of pipe up near Fairmont,W.V,and when I got off of I-79 and started to the job site on a very narrow road,I thought about about the $300 Mack hat story.This road was so narrow the right side tires were hanging off the pavement,and the left side tires were on the center line.Also had 20 and 25 mph curves,and I had only gone A little ways when I saw A sign saying 'CAUTION,ROAD NARROWS AHEAD" I thought they should have had A sign at first saying "NARROW ROAD" and the second one should have said "CAUTION,ROAD GETS EVEN NARROWER".I went on,and it must have only gotten about A half an inch narrower,because I really didn't see any difference.Then I turned right on A still smaller road and on to the job site,where they unloaded all the pipe by hand.But the thing of it is,I was perfectly legal on these roads,it was even marked on the map as A truck route.The road I got the ticket on is two lanes,but it's A big wide road,wide shoulders,and no sharp turns anywhere,no problem at all staying on your side of the road.So I thought maybe ...no,it couldn't be- or could it?- that the state just used it to generate revenue.I thought the exact same thing some years ago in Pa.I had unloaded A load of lumber somewhere around Allentown or Bethlehem and had to go to Fairless Hills to reload A load of steel,and had to be there by...I don't remember,4 or 5 o'clock probably,and this was on A Friday evening.So instead of going back north and hitting the interstate then going down the turnpike extension,I just went south on the road I was on,which I knew would take me to I-95 a bit north of Philadelphia. After A while I came upon A sign that said "9 ton bridge ahead".So I thought"...hmmm-there's A 9 ton bridge ahead".When I got to the bridge there were no signs saying "truck route" or "truck detour" or anything else.There was A road turning off to the right before I got to the bridge,but again,no signs saying "all trucks" or even where the road went.What to do?Nobody in sight ahead-nobody behind me-so I proceded across the bridge..I hadn't gone a quarter of A mile when I met A cop,hammer down,lights and siren going.I thought"gee,wonder what kind of emergency he's off to?" Then I looked in the mirror and he was turning around,and I realized that I was the emergency.I pulled over and he told me I couldn't cross the bridge I had just crossed.I asked if if there was some kind of alarm on the bridge,since he was there so quickly,but he said no,he saw me and knew I had to have crossed it,since there was nowhere I could have turned around.Of course I knew this was B.S. and lies,because no policeman is on routine patrol running at A high rate of speed with lights and siren on for nothing.But I didn't say anything,and was nothing but polite and courteous to him.He had me follow him down to A park,where his back-up met us.Got the portable scales out of his trunk -another bad sign perhaps? these were not state police,not DOT,but local cops-carrying portable scales with them ?Anyway,they proceded to weigh me with my empty flat bed then pulled out a really thick book,must have been about 8500 pages,then started to tell me about the fine,how it's figured,etc,blah,blah blah.while I'm thinking 'JUST WRITE THE TICKET,I'VE GOT A LOAD TO PICK UP".When he got to the part about the fine in this case was $3000 I almost fainted.That's right,it was over three THOUSAND dollars! They escorted me to the police station ,one in front and one behind so I couldn't make A break for the border,and told me the truck was impounded until the fine was paid-in cash.The officer took me to A Western Union office so my company could wire the money,then to the biggest grocery store in the area so I could get the money order cashed,then on to the proper town office to pay the fine.If I didn't get it paid in full,in cash by 5 o'clock,I was going to spend the weekend in jail.IN JAIL! For crossing the bridge! I got the money in time,my company was very understanding,paid the fine and they told me I was free to go.I didn't even get A ticket-once they got the cash,they were through with me. The officer took me back to my truck after the fine was paid,but I still had to ride in the back seat. I figured that bridge was this town's "golden goose".Another lesson learnd,A very expensive one too! I don't remember the name of the town,but it was Bucks County.Haven't been there since!

Barry,you're A genious! I think...wait,I haven't tried it yet,just checked back in-see ya in A bit!

...And I still haven't figured it out!...#$@%&**! it!

Rats! foiled again!I need to change from bitmap to jpeg to post scanned pictures...if I can't figure out how I'd better go buy some stamps...

I did it,I did it! I actually posted A picture in my gallery!Quite an acomplishment for me...now I'll get the other ones back from Teresa and work on getting them in.

I'm gonna try to post the rest of the pictures this weekend,but if I can't I'm just gonna send them to Barry to post for me.Barry knows everything.And I might get some Bulldog flaps if I can afford them-got home late last night and got a phone bill,credit card,insurance,electric,and direcTV bill this week.Good thing I went ahead and ran that third trip Thursday instead of delivering Monday!

Thanks guys-The truck has a 673 thermodyne in it and a quadruplex trans,I have no idea what ratio the rears are.Top speed is about 55 mph,but I suppose if I stood on it long enough I might get 57 or 58 out of it.The cab was red when I got it,but I had the fenders painted black because I liked the way they looked on Diesel Gypsy's B-61,and was going to have just the top of the hood painted black too,but it has some dents in it and I thought they would be more noticable if I did.I painted the mixer drum at home,in the yard,with rollers,brushes,and hardware store implement paint.The stripe didn't turn out exactly like I wanted-I wanted the corkscrew look,couldn't really afford A professional to do it,and that's what I ended up with,but all in all not too bad looking I guess! And thanks A lot Barry!

I agree totally,Automatic Mack.Horrible thing to be locked in a room,no defense at all ,while some lunatic...just makes no sense.

I don't own the company I drive for or anything and I'm to stupid to make big decisions,but fortunately my truck owner and I were friends long before I started driving for him.In fact,I drove for his Grandfather first,and we're both ATHS members.We run flatbeds all over the eastern U.S. and I usually make two or three trips into Ohio A week and back to Virginia.I load out of Sharon and Pittsburgh A lot to Lynchburg,Va.and if anyone needed something moved in this area.I feel like he'd be glad to help also.If it's just parts,or something that'll fit on the trailer with a load of coils and pretty light,he'd probably charge little or nothing.I mean the truck's going there anyway,right-and I'd be doing all the work!

Freighttrain,your video is great,I saved it on my computer and watch it again from time to time,but speaking of the "Trucks With Two Sticks" video,which is also great,Long Road Productions also has an ATHS series of videos,with no instruction,just old trucks- looking at them,talking about them,then hitting the road for a drive.They have volumes one thru seven I think,there may be another out by now,but whatever truck in particular you like,they probably have it on one of them.The website is on the 'TWO STICKS" DVD,that's where I discovered the antique truck series.I checked it out because I loaned my original "Trucks With Two Sticks" DVD to another driver,and when I got it back it looked like he had used it to scrape rust off of the inside of the frame rails of a 1982 Pitts log trailer,so I ordered A new one.Go figure-some people have no respect! Dr.Bill Comcowich's W-71 is on one of them,either volume IV or VI,they both have A W-71 on them.I have volumes 1,4,and .6 and watch them often-I love the sounds of the old 6-71 GMC,and I'm waiting for A V-8 Mack.

I gave Teresa Moore some Mack truck pictures to scan and send in,but she couldn't get her scanner to function properly (couldn't get it to work either) so I have no pictures in yet.I can scan them and e-mail them one at a time myself so yesterday when I went to Moneta,Va.to pick up a load of treated lumber I stopped and took some pictures of an A-40 Mack sitting in a field,and when I got back to the shop I took one of my concrete mixer to finish the roll of film.I took the film to Wal-Mart today to get it developed and their printer was out of comission too,so I can't even send those in! Someday,though...soon I hope.

I like the looks of the B-models and R-models too,but I drove F-models in the early 80's.The '77 model had a 300 and 5 speed and would pull 25 tons of fertilizer in a van up Christiansburg mountain (that's a bit south of Roanoke on I-81) in 4th gear.It was a bit slow taking off,but once you got'er going it had all kinds of power.But the V-8's then were just an awesome piece of equipment! We used to haul wood chips from Dillwyn to Covington,Va.and the company trucks had 237 and 300 Macks,290's and 350 Cummins,and a few 903's in them.But Al owned his truck and had a V-8 325 F-model Mack with a little extra fuel (well,maybe a lot of extra fuel pressure-if anyone ever did manage to pass him,he'd just turn it up a little more!) Al would let us leave the woodyard first whenever a bunch of us were running together and when we got on I-64 at Lexington,Va, he would pass everybody then pull off on the exit ramp at exit 50,wait for everybody else to go by,then catch and pass every one of us before we got to the top of North Mountain.He had a straight pipe on it that turned out and just barely cleared the top of the cab,and sounded great.We had no AC then,so the window was always down.A V-8 Mack with a straight pipe-nothing else like it,and one of the sounds I miss!

HELLO R609,WELCOME AND DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE NOT MUCH COMPUTER TIME.I THINK THERE'S LOTS OF US IN THE SAME BOAT.AT LEAST ONE MORE THAT I KNOW OF ANYWAY!

pictures should be on the way-I gave Teresa Moore (who is much more knowlegable about this than I am) A stack of Mack truck pictures yesterday to send in,including the mixer.