I'm a 5 tonner now :)

[tobyS]

Mikey, your crane avatar picture reminds me... here is my crane. I have 51' of stick. I've had it 25 years and it's about time for a full truck rebuild (and a dry home). My wife reminds me how we spent honeymoon money to buy it.

I'll bet you find your crane really handy! I do. Do you have a building it's kept in?

I've bought 7 (sold 5) 5 tons myself. Latest is an M817 dump with 17k mi. I certainly agree about the features of the newer five tons with air brakes and Alison's, now that I shift and pray for no brake failures.

I think I liked the 84 A1 about the best because I like the 250 size engine. The only thing I want to do is make an electric blower with heated air for the intake, at least for cold starts but also some power gain. And make it a dump bed. And build a knuckle-boom in the middle with remote control. That's the plan for my 925.

Have fun in the hobby of the 5 ton iron vets, you were warned of the addictive nature and apparently choose to get a truck instead of new jewelry for the wife.

 

[mikey]

Toby, that is an awesome collection! I've been following a lot of your posts about the dual batteries for the 939. Very nice pictures and input on that. I'll probably switch to 2 batteries also. Thanks!

I have my eye on a deuce dump truck up the road from me. It's not officially for sale, but my neighbor offered it to me for a fair price. It sits in his barn, so I can take my time on that one. I think that will complete my collection, but then again that's what I said when I got the wrecker. I prefer the mutlifuel engines because parts are readily available and cheap, I'm familiar with working on them and I can run WMO. But the 939 is my new cruising toy. I will not mod it at all. Eventually I'll be getting a trailer for the ultimate RV build. I feel much safer taking the 939 long distances than I do the deuces.

I used the wrecked around the yard a lot. She needs some work before she's road ready, but there are ALWAYS projects for the wrecker, whether it's moving a full 250g tote or pallets of firewood around the yard. It's definitely a fun and unique toy.

My 939 does not start in the cold, but I'm looking at the $75 block heater from NAPA to resolve that. We've had two weeks of temps below 20f with a few below zero. The 939 is not a happy camper. But that's probably a good thing. Gives me time to get the title and register it without wanting to drive it undocumented.

Thanks for the warm invite. The hobby is addicting. I was warned when I bought my first deuce. I just figured those guys were nuts and it wouldn't happen to me. Now I realize we've all got a screw loose or two.

 

[tobyS]

Thanks Mikey! They don't really like the cold so I'm not forcing the issue.

I've sold the A1 (third pic)...it is very nice. I plan to make the 925 (fourth) into a rock, timber or tree Y section hauler, some quite large.

Now I have the paint source for doing more painting at reasonable cost. The dump is first. At the risk of being a shill for Home Depot, the Behr Ultru exterior flat in green 383 (FSS 34094) and brown 383 (FSS 30051) with black (FSS 37030), are great paints for reasonable cost.

 

[mikey]

Isn't this site awesome???? My Home Depot Behr special

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?66973-Exterior-Latex-Acrylic-House-Paints&p=1155342&viewfull=1#post1155342