Mike Blais

Bow season starts here Oct. 5. They've been bow hunting in N.H. for two weeks!

Vinny - There's a very beat up black single axle U pulling a short single axle trailer still running in the Boston area. I just saw it going down 93 yesterday. I've seen it on Rt. 16 in the Everett area. Maybe someone more local has some info on it.

My hometown had a 1966 Model S. This is how it looked when I found it last September.

I went to work for the farmer down the road in my early teens, for free, because I was so bored! His wife made this stuff called Switchel, I think it had molasses in it.

They said the brakes failed after the engine stalled. Did the truck have a brake booster of some kind? Don't you still have some kind of brakes even without it?

All wheel drive Fleetstar 2050-A at the local IH dealer. Allison automatic, the interior was mint. Ex - Walpole, N.H. I think.

Good for you. I like to see history like that being saved.

Technically not a Vermont Mack, but based in Vermont and driven by a Vermonter. 1999 CH 613 hooked to a 1997 Great Dane 32' reefer. I was delivering milk at the Shaw's supermarket in Randolph, Vt.

Is there anything like the Spring Melt that is in the New England area?

Those old loaders have alot of character! You can almost make a face out of the front, the headlights look like eyes with eyebrows. Mine is coming along, the radiator, grille, and hood are back on.

According to the parts manual my loader is supposed to have 13.00 x 24 tires. It has 14.00 x 24 on it. I'm trying to find a couple of used ones. So far all I am finding are 14.9 x 24. I assume these are too wide. For paint, Michigan yellow is no longer available by the gallon. I found a company that custom mixes paint and puts it in spray cans. I had them send me a can of Mich yellow and tested it against Cat and JD yellow. It's almost the same as the JD, Cat was more like mustard.

Does your friend have any R model IHs that he sells for parts?

Yes no brakes seems to be common on these. I live on a hill so I have to have them. They had the rear axles all torn apart so they put in new cylinders and lines. Got a new master cylinder, had to get it from Mexico. $$$$. The front brakes we are are going to flush out the old fluid and hook them back up. The parking brake works on the front wheels and it's disconnected. That will wait for another time. None of the work would have been possible if I didn't have the original manuals.

Progress. Engine and torque converter back in. Radiator recored. Rear planetaries, brakes, and steering rebuilt. The place does good work, but they are slow. I was hoping to get some paint on it, but it is way over budget now. Hopefully when I get it back home I can do it a little at a time myself.

Is that in Vermont?

Thanks for the pictures and sharing your family's trucking history. The early trucks with the vestibule type body caught my eye. We had a local trucking company that had a Brockway with the same type of body. I always wondered who made the body. I believe this truck was sold to someone in the Boston area.

That is sad if Nashua has really folded. It always put a smile on my face to see one of their rigs going down the road. I still see a black single axle U model with a single axle trailer in the Medford/Everett area of Rt. 16 when I haul out of the produce market.

It only moves in reverse.

Found another one, this could be a twin to yours.

I have all of Lidsey's DVDs. If they were tapes I would have worn them out! The two stick one I have loaned to "friends", but I have a hard time getting it back, so I got another one.

Nice tractor. The cast radiator is something you don't see too often. I thought the B-73 and B-75 were Cummins powered?

I am fairly new to the site but I will say welcome from a fellow New Englander. I had to look on a map to find Huntington.You have plenty of Mack friends in the area. The guys who run the Western Mass ATCA chapter know as much about Macks as anyone else. Oh, very nice truck (tractor), too!

Good for you Vin! Always feels good to run one when it's been awhile.