rustystud
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That's how I was able to buy one of my 1954 REO trucks.back when i was a highway super we had a very-nice 1967 Cat 12F grader with a turbocharged big & deep 4-cylinder .. The machine was a powerhouse compared to the I6 non-turbo sitting in their previous grader .. After i left they sold it to a junkyard (for maintaining a mile of driveway and the yard roads) where i saw it one day .. Made conversation with the owner about how great a machine it is and how those old Cats don't like being wound out cold right out of the gate, but he already knew that. A week later i stopped by and learned his kid had not listened to him and thusly blew the engine within 5 minutes of firing it up
The Oregon forest Service had a Deuce REO for sell. The engine was bad. That was all it said. I bought it sight unseen and went down there with my good buddy to tow it home. When we arrived, I was able to talk with the shop foreman about the trucks history.
I asked how the engine was destroyed since they had already removed it. He said this new hire kid was told to start-up the Deuce and when it was warmed up bring it down to the staging area. This kid got into the Deuce, started it up and without any warm-up drove it at max RPM down the hill. It got about 500 feet before throwing a rod through the block. They were unable to find a new engine, so the truck went up for sell.
I guess the moral of these stories is we should keep stupid young kids from our equipment until they get a few years under their belts.