The Projects Never End

[Eugen]

Nice post, hope you recover soon from the Shingles!

[DavidBarkey]

I would love to the Diamond T in person , that is a kool piece . That reminds me I need to talk to my doctor about the shingles shot . You sir are a better man than I . I would be turning coal into diamonds in my posterior if I was up there .

[Toolslinger]

Well... The Shingles cleared up nicely. That's good. Now I need to wait until at least March to get that shot so I don't get that crap again hopefully...

The Hydro-Vac came back from the restoration shop. Cleaned, sleeved with stainless, rebuilt and painted. Pricey at about a grand, but something I never have to worry about again. Life time warranty as well. So that went back in the truck last week, but I had to wait until Thursday night to get a neighbor to help me bleed it all. I tried my little cheapy vacuum bleeder. No dice on that. It went right in the trash. I also ordered a pressure bleeder cap for the master cylinder, but it hasn't gotten here yet. Will try that when I do the 3 rubber lines (likely this winter after I don't need to move the truck until spring).

Reinstalled the front tires. Personally I like the Dayton system for tires. They're fast and easy to mount, and you don't need big torque tools to work on them. Yes, you have to pay attention to get them on straight, but that really isn't a terrible thing to do.

With that done, it was time to fire it up, and look for leaks.

As usual, the Hercules engine did not disappoint. It isn't a high power engine in there, but it's built to run forever, and doesn't seem to mind longer periods of inactivity...

Brake pedal felt good, if not perfect. The brakes have a unique sound to them with the Hydro-Vac. The system has an atmospheric vent that runs up in to the cab, right under the driver. As a result there's a distinct sucking sound when you hit the brakes. I did have to torque a couple banjo bolts to get them to seat better. Nothing extreme, just a drop or two of fluid. I'm not stressed about a little air in the brakes at the moment since I'll be opening them again soon.

After 30 minutes running in the barn where it lives, and finding no drips in the brakes, or cooling system, it was time to get it outside in the sunshine for a bit. Did a loop around the field, and parked it out there to let in run for a while. I ran it at a real high idle with the throttle, and went about life to get some heat in there... After a couple hours the radiator was just wrapping up dumping a little coolant out the overflow pipe to find it's happy level. Truck never went over 180. Should be good to go there now.

Just over 76k miles now... It's probably just about broken in.

Put it away in the afternoon after cleaning out the bay it lives in. I put drip trays down in case something seeps after cooling down. We'll see today.

Called the insurance place that used to cover it. The guy had no idea what it was, and couldn't find anything... So with the old policy (glad I didn't throw that out) number he was able to get me set up again. I'm pretty sure they think it's a pickup. I was very clear it's a 15000 gvw truck, but he's just following what they did in the past.

Also headed over to the tag/title shop. Did the paperwork to transfer it in to my name, and get it registered again. With any luck it'll be legal on the roads in a couple weeks. I'm sure I could run it on my road without any issue, but I've waited this long, a couple more weeks isn't an issue. The main thing is it's back together, and mobile, because my leaf frankin-vac is trapped behind it, and that season is almost upon us...

[Harry]

A job well done TS, your truck looks terrific. You can’t beat old iron, I love it! Harry

[JSinMO]

Glad you’re feeling better. The old T is coming back to life!
I know that hydrovac was kinda pricey, but at least you shouldn’t have to worry about it for decades to come now.
I’m really glad you’re bringing the truck back into serviceable condition. With out someone willing to take these projects on, the future for this old stuff is pretty bleak.

[Toolslinger]

No pictures this time, 'cause well, I was busy... Had to push back the edge of a field that has been growing in for decades... Tons of low branches, and small trees along with lots of brial and thorn bushes. Probably a 6 acres or so rectangle. Just about a day and a half. I sure don't need the field, and I really don't need more mowing, but it was pushing in the space outside a horse fence enough that running a tractor around was becoming a pain, plus I put a canopy on my mowing tractor, and don't want that torn up. I should rip the fence out too, but that's not today... Plus there's a machine coming that would make that a lot easier soon, so no hurry...

[MattA]

What did you use to take down the brush?

[Toolslinger]

I just got a Dewalt 20v pole saw for all the overhead, and reaching in to the heavy thorn bushes. I was real skeptical, but I got half way around the field on one 4Ah battery. Actually a very impressive tool. I wish the shaft was a little more rigid, but it was ok...

For the climbing briar, I really like my Stihl pole hedge trimmer. That can take apart any amont of briar, and reduce it to nothing in little time. I wouldn't want to walk in the area after the fact, but it will dry down and crumble under a tire in few months.

Trees obviously are the territory of the chainsaw, and I've been using a little Husky 435 my uncle gave me after my favorite Poulan 2900 finally died after 25 years...

The pushing and gathering to shove it over the edge of the field is via my JD300 loader. The field is a plateau on 3 sides, I can shove over the 2 long sides, and the 3rd has to go to the side, because it's a cliff down to the road. 4th side is kinda flat/uphill a little, so that can go straight in.

I still have a bit more cleanup there. I will be revisiting that after the new toy arrives, and gets some much needed hydraulic hoses replaced.

[Toolslinger]

After the morning bath in hydraulic oil, I headed out to pick up the new wood stove.
There are few projects that can't be helped along by the application of heavy equipment.

Got it over my porch, cut the banding and pallet free, and dropped it on a dolly. Neighbor came by later in the day to help me push it up a wheelchair ramp in to the house so I didn't end up breaking the glass sliding door. Hopefully I'll get this project done Sun/Mon/Tues... Tomorrow I've got an out of state wedding.

Earlier this year I hung an I-Beam, trolley, and chain hoist in my house, and it's just in front of where the stove sits. I believe it will be almost perfectly positioned to lift the stove off the dolly, and on to the hearth within 18 inches or so.

[Toolslinger]

I guess I was a bit vague in the last post there... That's a new wood stove hanging from the loader...

My 35ish year old Vermont Castings cracked the cast iron fire box last year, and ran away. As a result, it warped the back plate, and some other pieces... I probably could have worked out some of those issues, but that stove design was only made briefly due to their tendency to crack, so a new stove was in order...

I settled on an Enerzone unit. (made in Canada by SBI) It's just a touch taller than my VC, and basically the same firebox size. I'm oil heat, so the stove really only handles the shoulder seasons, of if I just need a little more punch when the bottom falls out of the thermometer.

Weather was good today for this... Cold this morning, so working indoors was good, and very pleasant this afternoon, so I can have the doors, and a window or two open to let the bake in fumes out.

The hoist runs parallel to the front of the stoves, so this worked out perfect. Dropped the new stove on cardboard. Hoisted the old on to the dolly, and then moved the new into place. Final position was on the cardboard. Hardest part was getting the cardboard out. That stove weighs more than it looks like.

New stove is in, and burning. Smoke alarm went off once, but the whole house exhaust fan took care of that in a minute.