[New BMT Blog Entry] Paul's Tales - New Day

[WattsMack]

I realized today that I haven't posted in a while.

Not much to report.

Good progress on my B-67 frame. The rebuilt rear axle is

mounted and lined up, with the new springs and maxi cans.

The front axle is mounted and lined up, but still needs rebuilding,

to include king pins, bearings, tie rod ends and seals.

The clutch linkage is this week's job. New bushings thru the frame

are probably going to have to be made. Mack doesn't have any, and

the original shaft is pretty worn. So I thought I could true up the shaft,

then have bushings machined to fit exactly.

Not much money to spend on the cab right now, so work on the frame will continue,

and the cab will have to wait for the building business to get back in gear, or some other

source of funds becomes viable.

Interesting times.

I run a small 60 year old family owned building business with an outstanding reputation.

We have never been out of work - until now. My pride has kept us afloat at times like these

in the past, when a smart person would have filed for bankruptcy and just closed up.

This time, however, pride isn't going to cut it, and we are in deep trouble.

By mortgaging our homes, I think my brother and I can satisfy all of the debt,

but we will probably have to close the doors. And that just plain sucks.

And it means I'm in the job market for the first time in thirty years. Scary stuff.

I have never collected unemployment or assistance of any kind, and do not intend to start.

I am working on a bunch of ideas, and have a number of offers. Some better than others.

Funny how fast things change.

One of the ideas that has really just become an option is the buying and selling of used equipment

and old trucks from our shop. I would really hate to lose the shop, and am ready to do anything

necessary to make it pay for itself.

I am ready to sell all of my Mack stuff, trucks and parts, except my B-67. I've got some pretty rare parts including

diesel engines, transmissions, B model power steering unit, new engine brake kit for the 6 cylinder diesels, and a bunch

of miscellaneous pieces.

And we have a Caterpillar 3412 with a big generator that can go, along with a KW W900-A with a big Cummins

KTA-525 in excellent running condition. Also have a Walters Sno-Fighter with about 32,000 original miles

and a very rare supercharged Cummins Iron Lung diesel in it, and a big Michigan loader with a 318 Detroit,

and some old tractors including an Oliver HG-42 in beautiful original condition.

Lots of good stuff.

I'll put the inventory together and post it ASAP.

Kind of a sad time in a way - but looking ahead to something new and different.

View the full blog entry