Hey Everyone,
So big boy part 2:
Well we started by removing the old dump bed which was totally shot, completly rusted thru, it did raise empty but there was no way I was gonna try hauling anything in it, lol.
After 15 or so gallons of muratic acid, and a few hours with the pressure washer we managed to get most of the lime removed, (sure made it look better).
The first thing we did was go through and change all fluids, complete grease job, replaced all the brake shoes, and a couple of drums, adjusters, actuators, air lines, wheel bearings, a few leaf springs, had the tie rod straightened and the front end aligned, added an air horn, and just basically made sure it would pass inspection, (at one point the Mo DOT stopped me on the way to the mill with a load of logs, and he told me when he was finished that he "Knew" he was going to write me a whole hand full of tickets when he saw me, but when he was done he was so impressed with the condition of the truck he let me slid for being 2500 pounds over weight on the rear axles).
Next came the log bunks, so what we did here was build them using the pivot point for the dump bed and connected the lift cyclinder, (our thinking was we could dump the logs at the mill, or maybe figure out some way to add removal sides and bottom so we could haul rock with it), we never did either, lol.
Over the course of the next 1.5 years we changed out the cab, swapped out the 5 speed tranny with an RTO 916 with overdrive, (gained about 10 MPH on the highway), changed the fuel tank to a 50 gal aluminum mounted on the passengers side behind the cab, moved the air tank down under the frame, added a tool box under the passengers side, (still haven't gotten around to putting one on the driver's side), and put the batteries inside the box, changed the exhaust to a stack, and changed all the wheels to get away from the slpit rims, and put radials all around.
Then we finally caught a deal on the knuckle boom, this changed everything, it made loading so much faster and easier, and when I got to the mill I no longer had to wait in line to get unloaded, I just found and empty spot, fired up the PTO and laid the logs out myself, this cut close to 45 mins off the time it took to deliver a load of logs.
Now around here a typical logging truck is much longer than ours, they have the frame extended, and if they install a boom it is on the end of the truck, we chose to put ours right behind the cab, doing this opened up a new market for us, since we were so short in length and didn't have the boom hangiing off the back we found out we could go MANY places oter trucks couldn't, as a result other loggers for 4 counties started calling wanting to hire us to "Mule" logs out so other trucks could get access, or mule them out and load 18 wheelers, again this was so much faster then them trying to load using front end loaders or dozers with forks.
This worked out rather well for awhile, we were able to make some good money without having to actually cut timber, plus this truck is a bit underpowered and geared really low for running on the highway, so I was able to make more money per day than slow poking our own logs to the mill, but the down side was the abuse the truck took, running over stumps, rocks, and other crap could blow a tire, plus I was using the boom much more which add more wear and tear on the whole system, and sitting up on the boom if i blew a hyd line it would pump 15-20 gallons of hyd fluid out on the ground before I could get down and turn everything off, and then I was usually in a bad spot all alone, and would have to try and find a spot to get cell service and call my buddy to bring wrenches to we could remove the bad line, run to town and have one made, buy more fluid, then go back out and repair everything, most of the time this shot the whole day and burned through the profits for the day.
Bottom line if I got a full days work and nothing broke we did really good, if something broke then not so much.
It finally got to the point where timber prices started falling off and fuel prices were going up, and all the loggers were starting to complain because I was charging a fuel surcharge, and since they weren't getting as much for the timber they were expecting me to lower my prices so they could make more money, they just couldn't understand my position that I needed to cover my costs and make a profit also, i finally got tired of all the whining and said screw it, parked the truck and haven't been out with it since.
It was at this point where I bought the 05 Western Star and started running OTR, which was great until the cost of fuel continued to rise so much, at $2.50 to $3.00 a gallon I was making good money, but from $3.50 to $4.50 a gallon even with a fuel surcharge my profits were shrinking and shrinking each day...sighs.
WOW, reading back over all that reminds me of having to write an essay, lol.
K enough babbling for now, more to come, (pictures that is, lol)!
Enjoy
Paul
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