Full Circle- Back to where I started (almost)

[Crummy]

I'll start this here, even though it may have some thing not related (trucks, equipment, cranes, logging....). I not too fond of threads by 'ILoveMe' that are pretty much "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of my own awesomeness". So if nobody is interested believe me when I say I'll understand. But, yeah, I've done a lot of really interesting & varied stuff over my career and I'm looking forward to some really cool things coming up. Ouch, my arm. Patting yourself on the back isn't as easy as it used to be.

OK, here goes-
I'm pretty stoked right now. I FINALLY got rid of my lowboy (10 months for sale!) so now I can say I'm out of OTR trucking and going back to fabricating/repair/mobile service. That's the full circle part- 30 years ago I started doing it as a 'side job' and now decided to just go full time. The trucking thing didn't work out for me, loved the driving all over the country but no $ in it anymore & too much admin/compliance/cost BS being an Interstate Carrier with your own #'s. I still have to sell the Kenworth, but I'm not worried about that- it's kind of the holy grail of trucks right now & I need to do some work to it before I sell it & hold out for the $$$$.

I had the trailer listed "or trade for service truck" ended up trading for one & getting a bunch of cash too. I'm still a little giddy over that deal. The service truck is just like most of the other rigs I've had over the years- start with a POS rig with solid bones & build it to what I want. I really enjoy doing it, though it's kind of sad when one of them goes down the road- like the trailer this weekend "dang, that's a nice rig- I put a lot of work into that". I'm sure I'll feel the same with the KW.

So if anyone is interested, I'll show progress on the service truck project & projects after I'm done with it. And maybe some "jobs/rigs from the past" stuff.

 

[redneckracin]

Heck yeah, I enjoy seeing the customization of people's rigs. I'd love to do some modifications to my international 4700 but I just don't have the money or the time right now with building a house.

 

[Junkyard]

Absolutely, I'd like to see it take shape. I know what you mean about being awesome. Oh wait I mean I know the feeling of not coming across like a pompous narsassistic a$$hat! I debated before I started my own thread. I'm actually up to something myself, similar to you, that should prove interesting. Good luck!

 

[Crummy]

Heck yeah, I enjoy seeing the customization of people's rigs. I'd love to do some modifications to my international 4700 but I just don't have the money or the time right now with building a house.

That's what I ended up with- 2000 IH 4700

I'm headed out this afternoon for step #1- steam clean the you-know-what out of it.
When the guy offered it as part trade I had to really think about it as it had 3 things going against it-

1. Crew cab
2. Little crane- Auto Crane Econo-Crane (2000lb)
3. 3/4 lid over the body (Knapheide)

When he told me how much $ he'd give to make up the difference I said "SOLD!". And it was time for that wagon to GO AWAY.

So far though I'm feeling "I can make this work". Crew is kind of nice, thinking of taking the seat out of the back & making a little "office". The little crane & lid- we will see how that works out, I don't really want to do bigger stuff and it would be nice to have a dry area to work. If it comes to it & it just doesn't work I'll cut the lid off & buy a bigger crane from Ritchie Bros.

On the plus side: ex-SoCal muni rig with only 2100mi on it since 2014, air brakes, BIG Boss PTO compressor, T444E so it's pretty much the same as my 2001 Superduty, Allison auto, and 25,500GVWR so no more IFTA, drug testing consortium, etc.

 

[Crummy]

The trailer-

 

[redneckracin]

That's what I ended up with- 2000 IH 4700

I'm headed out this afternoon for step #1- steam clean the you-know-what out of it.
When the guy offered it as part trade I had to really think about it as it had 3 things going against it-

1. Crew cab
2. Little crane- Auto Crane Econo-Crane (2000lb)
3. 3/4 lid over the body (Knapheide)

When he told me how much $ he'd give to make up the difference I said "SOLD!". And it was time for that wagon to GO AWAY.

So far though I'm feeling "I can make this work". Crew is kind of nice, thinking of taking the seat out of the back & making a little "office". The little crane & lid- we will see how that works out, I don't really want to do bigger stuff and it would be nice to have a dry area to work. If it comes to it & it just doesn't work I'll cut the lid off & buy a bigger crane from Ritchie Bros.

On the plus side: ex-SoCal muni rig with only 2100mi on it since 2014, air brakes, BIG Boss PTO compressor, T444E so it's pretty much the same as my 2001 Superduty, Allison auto, and 25,500GVWR so no more IFTA, drug testing consortium, etc.

I actually like the crew cab! I got the bigger motor a dt530E and a md3060 allison with air ride. I'm curious how that T444E engine runs, I've found myself looking for some more oomph going up some hills but i never felt like I didn't have enough truck to stop anything I was hooked too. I did have to go to the local transmission shop to get 6th gear unlocked. I think we need some pictures though!

 

[Crummy]

I actually like the crew cab! I got the bigger motor a dt530E and a md3060 allison with air ride. I'm curious how that T444E engine runs, I've found myself looking for some more oomph going up some hills but i never felt like I didn't have enough truck to stop anything I was hooked too. I did have to go to the local transmission shop to get 6th gear unlocked. I think we need some pictures though!

I'm pretty sure it won't be like the 550 CAT in the KW. Or the Superduty with the same engine. Hopefully not as bad as the little Isuzu turbo diesel 4-banger box van I had, that thing was a slug.

 

[Crummy]

Day 1 & the spiral notebook is getting filled up with need-that's & want-that's.

 

[Junkyard]

Not bad at all. Don't forget to make sure the wheel chocks are in their little cubbyholes! Safety first! If the motor runs worth a flip it won't be too bad getting around. My poor old F-350 was waaaay overloaded and it wasn't bad. I never did weigh it, figured pleading ignorance was my best bet if the man ever wanted to bother me.

 

[Crummy]

Cleaning it today I noticed it's got a CARB-compliant Donaldson DPF retrofit system on it. Top of the to-do list new muffler & going right in the scrap bin.

 

[hvy 1ton]

Burn the trashcan afterwards. Forever unclean.

 

[Crummy]

But..but...the children!
I found a monitor unit for it that must have been attached to the dash that was stuffed under the floor mat which, coincidently, all the little red warning lights stay on. It will be interesting to see what all horse manure is involved with this system since I've never seen one installed. I'll take a regular 'ol muffler as I have never seen one that required warning lights.

 

[redneckracin]

I'm pretty sure it won't be like the 550 CAT in the KW. Or the Superduty with the same engine. Hopefully not as bad as the little Isuzu turbo diesel 4-banger box van I had, that thing was a slug.

No its certainly not either of those. I think that the IH version was a more reliable motor as well. Do you happen to have an exhaust brake or transmission brake? I had a switch that was disconnected on mine for the exhaust brake but the transmission brake actually works pretty well! I'd like to try and get the exhaust brake working again so that I could have the option of using either one. Definitely need to ditch that emissions garbage. The truck will live alot longer without it! Do you happen to know what HP numbers you're looking at?

 

[Crummy]

No its certainly not either of those. I think that the IH version was a more reliable motor as well. Do you happen to have an exhaust brake or transmission brake? I had a switch that was disconnected on mine for the exhaust brake but the transmission brake actually works pretty well! I'd like to try and get the exhaust brake working again so that I could have the option of using either one. Definitely need to ditch that emissions garbage. The truck will live alot longer without it! Do you happen to know what HP numbers you're looking at?

The tag is punched 190hp
Lots of bodybuilder switches on the dash- I have no idea where they all go right now! No trans/exh brake. I drove a Freightliner with an auto & trans-brake pedal (left foot feed style)- the trans temp would go to the moon when you used it.
I'm not a huge fan of the 7.3's so I ask myself "how do you keep ending up with them"? Who knows how much damage was done running it with all the DPF system warning lights on. Wonder if a 3406e 1MM would shoehorn in there....

My buddy stopped by yesterday afternoon- "What have you gotten yourself into now? You getting into the tree business? It looks like a chip truck with that lid." He went away shaking his head. Yea, well I'll show you when it's done. Some kind of friend you are.

 

[Crummy]

Don't forget to make sure the wheel chocks are in their little cubbyholes! Safety first!

And make sure to carry a cone to put behind the rig when you stop at MickeyD's. You learn something new every day- I thought those rubber triangle thingy's were for holding down tarp corners when it's windy.
I'll come up with some use for those- maybe put doors on & ice in the bottom + a half-rack for those hot days.

 

[redneckracin]

The tag is punched 190hp
Lots of bodybuilder switches on the dash- I have no idea where they all go right now! No trans/exh brake. I drove a Freightliner with an auto & trans-brake pedal (left foot feed style)- the trans temp would go to the moon when you used it.
I'm not a huge fan of the 7.3's so I ask myself "how do you keep ending up with them"? Who knows how much damage was done running it with all the DPF system warning lights on. Wonder if a 3406e 1MM would shoehorn in there....

My buddy stopped by yesterday afternoon- "What have you gotten yourself into now? You getting into the tree business? It looks like a chip truck with that lid." He went away shaking his head. Yea, well I'll show you when it's done. Some kind of friend you are.

Ooh switches are fun. I think you are supposed to add lights, winches, sirens, and chicken lights for all those switches. I've never driven a truck with the peddle like that. Mine sounds like its air controlled? I've never looked into it to figure out how it works. I can't get any of my temp gauges very warm. They do all work though. I was thinking a M11 but hey why not go for broke! The lid may be challenging for loading something heavy, but I'd rather have a trailer for something like that! If you could put a little bench in there to work out of the elements it sure would be worth it!

 

[crane operator]

Is the little back door for the bed just the steel x frame lattice door, or is there a actual roll up or swinging doors also. That would really help with redneck's bench idea, keep you out of the rain/snow.

I've got a little crane boom on the back corner of our ford superduty (450). It barely got a 6v92 with allison attached up into the bed, but it did get it in there. (I think mine is a 4,000 max capacity)

I also noticed that most of the trailers out west are mechanical detach, and here in the midwest most have hydraulic detach. I could see the mechanical saving weight, but needing a pretty flat spot to hook and unhook? I've never run a mechanical.

I share your opinion on transmission retarders, I've only run them in cranes, and that's the fastest I've ever seen a temp gauge go up.

 

[Birken Vogt]

Transmission retarders were common on fire trucks when I worked there and if you had a big enough cooler on the 4 digit series transmissions, they would stay cool even on long grades. And we have some long ones here.

The old 3 digit transmissions had much smaller cooler hoses and could be heated up faster.

Anyway I doubt anyone who was so cheap to spec a T444E instead of a 466 would have opted for a transmission brake.

 

[Crummy]

Is the little back door for the bed just the steel x frame lattice door, or is there a actual roll up or swinging doors also. That would really help with redneck's bench idea, keep you out of the rain/snow.

A lattice door only. I may do something different there later. So far the big "Hmmm..." with the lid setup is where to put the welder.

I've got a little crane boom on the back corner of our ford superduty (450). It barely got a 6v92 with allison attached up into the bed, but it did get it in there. (I think mine is a 4,000 max capacity)

Econo-Ton IIR so only 2k/lbs. Enough to pull your pants up and that's about it.

I also noticed that most of the trailers out west are mechanical detach, and here in the midwest most have hydraulic detach. I could see the mechanical saving weight, but needing a pretty flat spot to hook and unhook? I've never run a mechanical.

Pretty much the same as a HGN on the flatness. Just getting back under it loaded in the mud/snow can be a trick. Mostly HGN's out here too, that's part of the problem I had selling it- they're really Ag trailers & that's who I ended up selling it to; someone who is moving their articulated JD tractors where they have to take the outer duals off & load on the f/r decks. The advantage to that MGN is 29'6" in the well + 10' front deck + 8' rear deck, a 48' trailer, and 5-7000lbs lighter than most HGN's.

 

[DMiller]

I am still 'Shopping' for a decent truck and trailer assembly so I can justify another track machine(SHHHHHH! she may hear the letters typed) while being able to work my machines elsewhere(Br In Law's farm) but that is possibly a really good dream! I am Jealous!!