Spring is finally in the air here in Maine and its time to get to wok outside.
Time to put away the plow truck and fire up the summer truck.
Truck earned her keep today. Used the winch to help drop two big trees that were leaning too close to the barn and hauled the tops to the burn pile in the field. Throwing mud all the way.
Without the winch I would have dropped the trees onto the barn for sure.
Good clean fun.
Jim Jefferson
Searsmont, Maine www.knockabouttoys.com
'54 M37 "Billy Goat"
'54 M37 "Nanny Goat the plow truck"
It's great to see a truck actually being used to haul a load, now and then. I see far too many "Cowboy Cadillacs" and "Redneck Limousines" on the road these days. Nice pics, and don't drop one of those rocks on your big toe!
Jim, just noticed in your pictures that yours has the 100amp radio service charging system, does all that still work? I remember the worst thing about the 230 when it was in mine was that the little 30 amp generator could never seem to keep up!
Hey Josh
Yes the 100 charging system still works. The bearings on the generator whine a little bit but only under a big load (using the warn winch with a heavy load) But for the amount of use the truck gets - fixing the generator hasn't made it to the top of the list.
I actually have ac delco 10si 24vdc one wire alternator (free!) that I have debated installing, but might save it for the plow truck instead. Just need to fix the plow pump bracket first. So many things so little time.
Truck came with the winch. Old fire / brush truck from midcoast Maine. From what I have been told it sat inside the firehouse for close to 30 years. Until one of the volunteer fire fighters bought it, right about then I entered the picture and bought it off of him.
The winch works pretty good - had to fix the engage / free spool gizmo a few times but besides that it works good. I have hauled alot of trees with it and pulled myself out of the mud a few times. Would prefer a PTO winch but beggars can't be choosers.
True it is a good winch - but with my merchant marine background I am always slightly distrustful of batteries. I have seen too many battery banks die, or someone drain the batteries below a healthy level. Or some ding a ling deck hand leave a bilge pump running over night and come morning the skiff will not start.
Of course that can all be avoided with proper battery monitoring and the like.
It is really nice it use the winch for a quick tug with out turning the truck on.
I can have one truck parked in the barn and pull the second truck inside without filling the barn up with exhaust.
Off topic - were did you finally plant your new compressor. I had issues with mine this winter in the unheated barn - for the first time ever the moisture would freeze up in the drain plug, the hose ends, and the drain on the filter.
Automatic drains and/or sump heaters work OK. Keeping wall lines running downhill with drops at the outlets helps also. Don't forget to leave a drop at the tank outlet. You can place quick lever valves at each drop and leave them open when the compressor not in use.
Home 
