Went to Mow the Grass

[rosco]

View attachment 522081View attachment 522082View attachment 522083View attachment 522084View attachment 522085View attachment 522086Along about the middle of July, I got things together to go up to Central, where I've had a cabin for 40 some years. Its been a dozen years since I have been there, and thought the grass might need mowing by now. As it was, I found 5" trees in the driveway. Its pretty remote, so I had to take everything I might need. I knew, the house was literally falling in, the wall tent is traditional, and a weeks stay warranted a fridgerator, small heater & plenty of bug dope. The rest was pretty elementary, which is my style. The mobility box was fantastic, for keeping small stuff, stuff dry & clean. It rain alot & there was dust & mud. The blue barrel is potable water. The generator is a '49 single cylinder diesel, 3000KW Onan, which I built the cage for w/fuel, battery, etc., making it self contained. Of course, I had the forks, which made the palleted stuff, easy.

The Road part: Its about 250 miles from home. The last 75 is on gravel. From Fairbanks, there are three sizable passes to pull (the 1st picture is Eagle Summit), where one's gear shifting skills will prevail. I had to learn about low range & using it. Of course, once you get to the top, the down side is just as important, and its best to keep things under control as a Deuce is capable of Mach 2 there. The truck has a re-done brake system and the service brakes work well, with the trailer doing its share of the work. The trailer is full air with spring pots, being a recent rebuild. I'm more impressed with the trailer's brakes, then I am with the trucks, but there is no way to control them when parked, on a Deuce. When I would stop to stretch, I'm just not real confident with a mechanical drive line brake, holding the whole outfit, but would like to see those spring pots on the trailer, holding too. A Tractor Protection Valve is in order next. Pulling the grades, I don't like stopping till I get to the top. On the 1st grade, the temp gauge showed I was getting hot. There is a brand new radiator, and knowing Wreckerman's opinion of the accuracy military fuel gauges, I didn't want to believe the temp gauge either. There was plenty of heat, and at the next chance, I dropped the side panels, which did wonders, and that relieved much of it. The Outfit did well & I made reasonable time & speed for the conditions. Of course I was heavy, as some might note, but in the Old Days, on the old road, I pull the same kind of loads with a 211 gasser (that was when I didn't know any better), thus the multi-fuel with a turbo is a real step up. Other little things were some loose oil blowing around. There was never a slobber tube & that did much to remedy that. The compressor belt started squealing when I would start the engine, but regardless of tightening it, I had to change it out (yes, I have the wrenches).

The best part of the Trip, were the looks I got on the road! A lot of double takes!

 

[rosco]

MaybeI tried to load too many pictures at once, sorry that I messed it up.

 

[Wildchild467]

Sounds like a fun trip. The accuracy of your gauges is easy to check. Just check it with an infrared thermometer. Grounding with the gauges is critical. All of my gauges work spot on. People that have gauges that don't work correctly probably have not done the proper troubleshooting to fix them. That is just my opinion. All respect to people that have non working gauges, but you cant slam the instrumentation if no attempt was made to check and make sure each component is working the way it should. I hope that does not sound like a rant or anything but I know the system fairly well and have checked my gauges with mechanical gauges and they are accurate for what they are. I am very picky and would not want something faulty. Check all your grounds on the gauge panel and fuel tank. I would suspect that your gauges are not properly grounded. if you add a daisy chain of grounds from one gauge to another, that might fix your problem, or it just might be running hot pulling that big load. with your skill set working on things, I know you can handle verifying the gauges. Again, I hope it does not sound mean what I just said, but these gauges can work good. They were originally all Stewart Warner Gauges and were the best there is at the time. Don't get me wrong, on a trip like that, I would still bring extra fuel no matter how good my gauges work.

I like your trailer a lot. I just picked up a M1061A1 not too long ago. Just waiting to recover it! What model is that one? Great pictures by the way!

 

[nchittendon]

I love the tire chains hangin off the front. Looks all road-warrior-ish.
Great write up and pics! Thanks!

 

[rosco]

The gauges work "pretty good", but but weren't close to the top of the list. I run a hot thermostat, hottest available, and there is not much room between boiling, and just running. Just so its not boiling. I'll bet your right about the grounds & will attend to it when I have the dash out next. That will be soon, as I intend on installing a tractor protection valve. The trailer is an M989 Ammo Trailer. Real nice, but it needs a rub rail on the sides too.

I ment to include this picture too. When you go, you go Fixed!.

 

[nchittendon]

What is the extra panel hanging on the passenger side?

 

[rosco]

What is the extra panel hanging on the passenger side?

Tail Gate in storage. Its used in one of the pictures.

 

[RAYZER]

Great high adventure!
Concerning tractor protection valve. On my deuce road tractor, I just installed the pp7 and tp3 valves, i also added a trolly brake and double check valve using all dot rated compression fittings with polly air brake line, cost of about $300.00.
Of course this setup gives me the ability to lock up spring brakes on the trailer by cutting glad hand air, and the trollybrake allows control of
trailer brakes
seperately from the truck making it possible to stop the rig in case of brake hydrolic failure, the protection valve also protects against complete air loss in case of trailer brake away.
This system might work nicely for your application!

 

[rosco]

Great high adventure!
Concerning tractor protection valve. On my deuce road tractor, I just installed the pp7 and tp3 valves, i also added a trolly brake and double check valve using all dot rated compression fittings with polly air brake line, cost of about $300.00.
Of course this setup gives me the ability to lock up spring brakes on the trailer by cutting glad hand air, and the trollybrake allows control of
trailer brakes
seperately from the truck making it possible to stop the rig in case of brake hydrolic failure, the protection valve also protects against complete air loss in case of trailer brake away.
This system might work nicely for your application!

Back in the Old Days, I put a trolly brake valve on my 211 tractor & have thought about them alot. The trailer & Deuce brakes are nicely balanced now. When I did the brakes on the Deuce, I re-used all the shoes on the rear axles, because they had virtually no wear. Maybe when I get my List worked down some, I will add a Trolly. As a side issue, they can be abused. Using it on long hills, overheating the trailer brakes, then in an emergency stop, the trailer brakes are less effective, and one must rely mostly on the truck/tractors brakes, instead of the balanced combination. But surely, they can be very useful too. Where did you mount the valves, in the cab?

 

[RAYZER]

The pp7 valve on the dash and tp3 and double check valve I mounted beside the air tanks.

 

[rosco]

The pp7 valve on the dash and tp3 and double check valve I mounted beside the air tanks. View attachment 522228View attachment 522229View attachment 522230

At 1st, I couldn't remember what the PP7 valve is - sure, it controls the TPV! But there is NO WAY, that I was going to have a red knob in Medusa. I have far too many good salvaged black knobs, but they screw on. Most of the PP7's use a roll pin - I found one that threads, but don't remember the number now.

 

[M543A2]

We pull an 18 ton Ferree tandem axle air brake trailer with our deuce and 5 ton trucks. When we want to winch a dead vehicle onto the trailer we disconnect the trailer and turn the truck around to use the winch. Disconnecting the glad hands sets the brake chambers on the Ferree, locking it down so it does not move while winching vehicles or machinery up onto it. You can disconnect the emergency air glad hand, right side, when you want to securely park the rig. This sets the trailer brakes. When ready to move again re-connect it. You can do this until you get the time to install the devices mentioned in other posts.
Regards Martin Sacks

 

[71DeuceAK]

Sounds like a fun Deuce road trip! Seeing your location...I might be moving to Delta Junction around August-ish myself, and possibly be a Deuce owner by then. (Found a place there we might buy). Question: do people hate seeing Deuces on the freeways there with the relatively low top speed? (I've been to Fairbanks before). I'm wondering since I might have one, as a daily driver and frequently driving between Fairbanks and Delta...

 

[dmetalmiki]

Totally amazed. Great outfit and great getaway. Frankly you go more distance on dirt than we go on highways to places.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Oh, Alaska has plenty of freeway too!

 

[Katavic918]

Looks like a fun trip. I'm confused. Did you stay in the tent or the cabin?

 

[rosco]

Stayed in the tent. A standard white wall tent, is often the shelter of choice, especially in the summer. A wood floor of some kind, makes them into a palace. A little Yukon stove will keep them toasty, about anytime, and you can stand up in them to put your trousers on in the morning. (hint: skip the mosquito netting, windows & zippers - if you get one).

The cabin was history, 20 years ago. It had a cribbed in basement of sorts, all built on the ground, then back filled. It was built in the late '40s so dry rot, took its toll. Actually, in the Spring at Break-up, the ground water would creep into the basement area. Dry Rot is the way most early cabins go. They're only good for 20 or so years.

 

[71DeuceAK]

Interesting. Is it the tin-roofing-sided structure in one of the pics you posted?

It's interesting how different things are in different regions of the state, here in the Southeast park of Alaska it's all wet rot with as much rain as we get!

In fact, the house we're looking at in Delta appears to have NEVER had siding, even though part of it was built as far back as 1977! The plywood sheeting (no tar paper, etc) still looks in decent shape, just bleached by sun.

 

[TB58]

That is an awesome trip. I can't wait to get back to Alaska. When I was driving around up there no one seemed to mind me going slower than the rest. Usually got thumbs up and waves. I did pull over for traffic every time I found a safe place and tried my best not to hold up traffic any more than I had to.

 

[71DeuceAK]

When are you heading back? Heading back to the Fairbanks area? If so would be you be interested in potentially trying to meet up? Would love to meet some other Alaskan Deuceophiles.

Yeah, that's just the courteous thing to do, anyway. But yeah, I'm sure a lot of thumbs-up and waves are involved...but also the occasional middle finger LOL.