Calling Dr. Bombay!

Or maybe that's Freud I'm needing.

I had a pretty vivid dream that even now, sixteen hours later, I remember. For whatever reason, I had to drive Dad's old hot rod, the 1949 F6 Ford. It only had a partial load of wheat, but I still had to take it to town. There was some completely logical reason - I was going to bring it back out the next day - but that part escapes me.

So, I'm cruising along and the old warrior was just chuckling along. In fact, I wasn't even on the gas, and it was running right at 55mph. Since the normal speed limit was a far safer 45mph on gravel, particularly considering the aged, weatherchecked tires, well, this was beginning to concern me. Also, the road was becoming more and more neglected. Not only were the road ditches covered in weeds and overhanging trees, the road itself was gradually becoming covered in vegetation that needed mowing.

And here I am just cruising through all this crap effortlessly.

I started down a slight grade when I noticed little rivulets of water running down the road, cutting tiny paths in the dirt between the grass and weeds.

So traction was gonna be an issue. Didn't seem to bother the ol' girl, she just kept chuckling on.

I could see my corner was coming up, but I could in no way shut this thing down in time. I went through the interection and with some effort brought the faithful steed to a stop. I was gonna have to back up.

Suddenly, a girl appeared at my window to help me - I didn't need her help, I had a perfectly funtional mirror, but I accepted her commands.

Then the alarm went off.

When I got to work, my truck's batteries were really down, and I had to spend about a half hour jumping the thing to get 'er to go.

The trailer I hooked to has issues - it's feeding application air back out a bleeder valve in the dash. Can't hear any air leaks outside, and it's the trailer, but it's weird. Some sort of valve somewhere is screwed. I also started dragging a chain that had partially fallen out of a box behind my crane.

Ea.ch of these instances required that I stop and mess around for ten or fifteen.

Then, as I was passing a chicken hauler, I heard a disturbance on the radio. Since we were running away from channel 19, I switched to hear what he had to say. He thought I had a flat tire on that trailer.

I was about ten miles from a tire repair shop, so I kept on. I had one that was down to fifty or sixty pounds. We pump 'em to a hundred. So, I aired it up.

Then road construction help me up for at least an hour total today. I pulled into Bismarck ND with about a half hour to spare before I'd completely have to be off the road, and my logbook is screaming foul.

My tire was still up, and we'll see if the Mighty Binder starts in the morning.

Wish I was able to finish that dream, dammit.

Well, Crud!

My old DROID2 has been giving me a few fits lately, so I knew it's days were about done. A lot of times, the touchscreen would refuse to work unless I shut down the display, then opened it up and unlocked it. So it was getting flaky.

It was acting like a new battery was in order - not a big deal to buy on eBay, but a pain. Hey, guess what?!? I had one in an old laptop case - I always order a spare battery when I get a new phone, but it was in the house. One more thing....

I really think I just got it wet - I had it sitting on the kitchen counter while rinsing dishes, and noticed some droplets on the screen. I guess the dern thing sucks up moisture like a drypak, because it started opening apps, buzzing all the time (every time you open something, the vibrator lets you know you opened it), and I couldn't get the return button to close anything. So I pulled the battery, and when it rebooted, the phone managed to call a number I should have probably deleted - the Mennonite who organized the cleanup of the old burned out farm. I was disturbing his Sunday, dang it. I tried pulling the battery several times for hard reboots, but the final straw was just watching it open apps with nothing touching the screen.

I'd sure been looking and had decided on a Samsung Galaxy S4 but I kinda wanted to keep my outdated all you can eat data plan. Which meant I'd be buying the thing at full list price. Which I don't have today. I was able to put off buying it - it will show up on my next bill. Whee. But - I seem to be unable to live without a smartphone while trucking - Google Maps and the internet for finding motels and such is very very valuable to me. If I couldn't have this one, I'd be getting some sort of smartphone. My credit with Verizon is good, though.

So, I had to go to a 2gb data plan, but looking at my past usage, not gonna be a problem. Not gonna have to buy the all share plan, because PDA.net works on this phone like it did on my old one - so using it as a hotspot won't cost extra every month. The old memory card dropped right in, so all my pictures and ringtones were right there. All my chargers and USB cables work on this phone, too. Major plus.

And I can tell you this thing is bloody fast compared to the ol' Droid. It has 4G service, plus a ton more computing power, so it really is responsive. I found myself getting irritated with the Droid for about the past year because it was getting sluggish.

I also popped for an Otterbox - cell phones in my possession tend to lead hard lives, and something to help with the shock of being dropped sure has helped me in the past. So, really, I just had to cough up for the phone and the Otterbox, and no memory cards or charging equipment. Had I decided to go to the dark side and get an iPhone, all that would be required.

So, it's new toy time for a while, trying to figure out all the goodies this thing has!

This Puppy Haz Axles

This is a "B"Train grain hauling setup. Most of the grain haulers "up north" just have a shorter front trailer with a ring and pintle hitch for the rear trailer on a dolly (fifth wheel on an axle with a tongue hitch), but this one has a whole series of axles that act as one unit at the rear of the front trailer. This one did have a hitch of sorts separating the front and rear gangs, but it was a solid shaft that only allowed transverse swiveling - movement in only  the vertical plane. There were five or six axles there, so I'm sure that's an advantage on rough terrain - if it were solid, the torque on the trailer would probably be excessive and it might crack. This way, stress is relieved.

I hate how my phone camera makes things seem further away - I had to put the thing down to keep control while pulling beside him. Literally, this was a last second shot, and I wasn't going much faster than he was.

And I was so wrapped up in trying to get this shot that I missed the northbound tank haulers coming at me! They weren't ours - who knows who they belong to. But, they're all part of a steady stream of tanks going up US 83 every day headed to the Bakken, which is where I went. The Montana version thereof, that is.

Mirrors. Use Them.

As I was driving through Oberlin, KS today, I saw a flatbed pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer pull out from one of the little truck stop/convenience stores there. So, I figured I'd be catching him, and sure enough, I did.

As I got closer I could see it was a single wheel double axle trailer - it wasn't tandem wheeled. From the looks of it, it probably should have, since it had been rode hard and put away wet about six hundred too many times. At any rate, as I got even closer, it seemed that the left rear wheel was leaning inward at the top. Then smoke started rolling out in little streams. I could see the driver's face in the mirror, so all it would take would be for him to actually look and he could have seen it as well.

Nope, wasn't happening. The wheel started to develop a sharper list, then suddenly the grease cap blew off in a shower of flame, sparks and chunks. I note at this time that the sound, could I have heard it, would have seemed like an M-80 being set off in a dryer full of gravel running full steam.

Which Mr. Oblivious failed to see. So, I slightly pulled out into the other lane and started honking, waving at him and pointing at the trailer. I guess he couldn't hear me honk with my AIR HORNS. And of course, he completely ignored the large truck with the large load hanging off his bumper.

The wheel was listing over even more - hell, he could have seen the bottom sticking out HAD HE JUST LOOKED, but, alas, it was not to be.

I determined that the worst place for me was right where I was, considering I was probably about to have a loose wheel in my face. I was just hopin' and prayin' that it didn't come off into oncoming traffic - no telling where it would go or how much damage it would cause. So, I backed off quite a bit.

When the cap blew, it was because the outer bearing blew. I saw fire and sparks bellow from the hub one more time. That was the inner bearing flying completely apart. Several hundred yards later, the remnant of the hub let go from the now ruined axle stub, and the wheel was ejected.

I've seen these before, and usually the wheel doesn't just roll like you think it might. No, it's like when you bounce a tire out of the back of your pickup - it's gonna be a wild ride. It finally settled down right on the zipper as I went by - I was afraid I'd run over the damn thing, but I didn't.

Meanwhile, Our Genius kept on driving. The brake assembly wasn't dragging the ground - the rest of the suspension kept it up. Anyways, he finally did notice something was wrong and pulled over. The shoulder was muddy, and I couldn't go around him to the left because of oncoming traffic. I about had to stop.

I just drove on by. Stupid sonofabitch wasn't gonna get any help from me if he didn't have any more sense than that.

Recurring Nightmare

I can guarantee you I've had nightmares about this. Two fiberglass tanks were loaded way too high and hit the overpass - you can see tank number one on the left. I'm not sure how these were loaded, but I'd assume they were loaded vertically just like they'd sit on the ground. Normally, we send out all of our tanks loaded on their sides. Ten foot tall tanks - maybe load them like this - that usually puts us at under 13' tall. Fifteen foot tall tanks, which these appear to be, loaded vertically would be seventeen to eighteen feet tall.

Supposedly there was a pole car in front - and their stick didn't hit. That means the pole car operator screwed the pooch - you are supposed to set the stick slightly higher than the load, so if it hits, you may or may not fit the load under, but you'd damn well better stop and check carefully.

Most overpasses seem to handle sixteen feet of clearance okay, and lots aren't posted if they are over sixteen feet. These things were just too damn tall to be on the interstate system, period.

This happened just west of Sterling, ND on I94 east of Bismarck, and I got it from a page on Facebook I follow: Bakken Oilfield Fail of the Day. They have a lot of photographic proof of recto-cranial inversions.

Ahhhh, Sweet Memories

Saw this on Facebook tonight, and it really brought back memories. I used to drive a single bunk version of this very truck with much the same paint scheme. And yes, I had it shined up like this one as well.

Sorry about the quality of the image - it's off an elderly Tripod website I set up years ago. Now when I sign in, I cannot access the original images. I can only copy the thumbnails. But go there if you wanna see some of the trucks I used to drive as well as my ol' Vette and other personal vehicles. I did get a Hooter's waitress to pose in the Batmobile (that is what little kids called my car back in the day), and those pics are there as well.

At any rate, this particular Ford CLT-9000 had Detroit two stroke power in the form of a Silver 8V-92 rated at 475hp. The regular ol' green ones were rated at 435 tops, but this series was supposed to be new and improved, and had a high mileage warranty on it. Which we used, since some o-rings failed and started dumping the contents of the radiator into the crankcase. Detroit stood behind it and rebuilt it into a smoking shadow of it's former self. Never ran right again.

But when it ran, boy did it run good. I could really piss off the Caterpillar boys. The famed 3406B had come out, and people were cranking on the fuel pump hard for that "little extra help" in the HP dept. This sucker could out drag them. It had a ten speed direct (no overdrive) and 370s, so it didn't run much faster than seventy five or so. This was back in the 55mph days, so that kind of speeding was kinda risky anyways.

I'm sure I've told this story before, but what the hey. Back in the good ol' days, National Carriers really was "The Elite Fleet" like you see on their trailers to this day. Back then, the tractors that leased on with the company had to be nearly show quality and fairly new. And they all drove fast as well, fuel mileage be damned. One guy had several yellow Petes with V8 Cats and sidepipes. They'd go blowing by me in one of the far lesser trucks I started in and just rumble on by, sucking out my windows whilst I putted along. That generally happened in an older Ford cabover with a 350 Formula Cummins turned up to 400 and worn down to the point where stock 350 Cummins would outrun the thing. It also had a nine speed - the Chicken Hauler Fleet Truck Tranny.

But not the Blue Beast. I and a compadre were idling through Kingman, KS, eastbound on US54 one fine day and we could hear some Critter (old slang for National Carriers) drivers talking. We were in the left lane at the last stoplight in town, and they pulled up next to me in the right lane. Peterbilt 359. Cat with straights. Big walk in sleeper.

Yeah, we'll blow off these grain haulers here in town, then when we get outta town on the four lane, we'll do some serious motoring to get to the Air Cap (Wichita).

Uh huh. I let out on the clutch and went to hammering, and slamming my way through the gears. Left him in the freaking dirt. Truly it was sad. What was even worse was my compadre, who was piloting an older and pretty rough looking IHC 4300 conventional pulling doubles cranked him as well.

We cruised on out of town where the four lanes ended, then after a couple miles, it opened back up to a four lane all the way into Wichita. After about five minutes, one of the lead Critter's partners asked:

Why aren't we blowing off these grain haulers? I thought we were gonna stroll into Wichita?

He started grumbling about not running what other people wanted him to run, and not being forced into something he didn't wanna do, or some such drivel. He was pissed that his doors were sucked out, and didn't have the sense of humor to deal with it.

At any rate, that damn truck required more screwing around than I wanted to put into it. All the air lines were Ford specific, and not what you'd find in any other American made Class 8 vehicle. This truck was old enough that there were a ton of air leaks, and every air line required special adapters. The HVAC system was cobbed from their automotive division, where all the switches activated vacuum motors. Vacuum motors to switch from heater to vent to defroster. Vacuum motors to vary the water valves for more or less heat. And so on.

Vacuum goodies that were designed to be in carbureted gasoline powered vehicles. Diesels are fuel injected and generally turboed, so vacuum is a pretty scarce commodity in one. So, Ford's solution was a vacuum generator, which was a venturi port that ran compressed air through it all the time. Which, since air dryers were also a scarce commodity back then, meant the thing was using air all the time, and since Detroit compressors put out oily air, meant the thing would plug up all the freaking time. The various vacuum motors were spring loaded, by the way, to a default setting of full heat and defrost. So, running down the road on a hot, sunny summer afternoon in excess of a hundred degrees, enjoying the A/C would actually find yourself scrambling to shut everything down since your defroster was cranking out some mighty hot air,since the venturi was plugged up.

Then, just because it was a cabover, it sucked. Remember, this was back when all trucks had leaf spring suspensions, not air ride. Cabs were firmly mounted to the frame. You were riding ON the front axle. Being high had one being pitched from front to rear, and side to side. There was a saying: You'll always be the first one to an accident in a cabover.

And another Ford peculiarity - if you look at the top pic, you can see the depressed handhold. That was actually kinda cool, but look for the bottom step. It's a thin strip held out by two curved pieces of steel. I'd usually bail out of the thing by swinging around, grabbing the grab bar with one hand and jump out into space, skipping the two inset steps, grabbing the bar with my other hand, and land on the bottom step with my right foot.

However.

Sometimes I'd miss that step and my foot would go inside into that big gap, and I'd bust my ass hard. That setup trapped my leg up to about my calf and I was just along for the ride.

And, the damn thing was too tall for a lot of elevator loadout doors back then as well. Most were originally designed to clear Grandpa's '39 Chevy, not semis. Finally the grain elevators started to knock out their doors to accommodate the stand up sleepers that started showing up on their doorstep to load, but I always had to barely scrape by. I replaced several horns, horn covers, and bent the turnouts on the stacks several times. There was no "air dump valve" available to lower the truck.

I had a real love/hate relationship with that truck. When the motor was fresh from the factory - boy did it ever run. But, typical two stroke Detroit, it went to hell tout suite. And Ford just needed to get out of the Class 8 truck business, which they eventually did. But it sure did look nice with it's blue and silver multi colored stripes, with a fresh coat of wax and the wheels and tanks all polished up. It was sharp, man.

If I had to drive that today, after running air ride cab conventionals with air ride suspensions for all these years, I'd tell you to go straight to hell.

You Have No Idea

link

How much I'd like to pull this off some days.

Dubbed "The Punisher," Alexei Volkov takes a zero-tolerance approach to being cut off while driving his bus on Russia's roads.

Day or night, rain, snow or shine, whenever an errant driver gets in his way, Volkov rams his bus into the offending vehicle without apology -- and records it all on his dashboard camera.

The bus driver then documents the collisions by posting the video footage on YouTube.
In a recent interview which appeared on the Red Hot Russia website, Volkov claimed he's had more than 100 accidents.

"The situation is gradually improving ... due to my educational work," he said.

Volkov says his passengers have nothing to complain about because none have been injured.

And what does the bus company he works for in Zelenograd, Russia, think about his vigilante antics?
"If there is no fault of mine, the management doesn’t care," he said. "The bus usually gets only minor damage. If the damage is more serious, they just wait for the insurance payments and then repair [it]."

If you only knew.

My Good Deed

For yesterday, anyhow. Today I watched it snow from the comfort of home.

I was on my way back to the yard in Garden City on K156, and the fact that I just didn't have the intestinal fortitude to carry on had me stopping at the lone rest area west of the big city at the junction of K23 and K156. I do not like stopping there. It is a "natural compost" facility. Which means in the winter on a cold day, a nice breeze blows up yer kiester and freezes the dangly bits. During the summer, flies attack those same bits. Needless to say, it was only the greatest urgency that had me stopping there.

When I stepped out, considerably relieved, a car came driving up next to me while I was preparing to mount my ride. A guy in the passenger seat hollered at me - it was windy. This sort of kinda made me nervous, since this is out in the middle of nowhere. There is traffic, but it's sporadic, and if something hinky happened, it might be possible for no one to see anything unusual for a long period of time.

But my Spidey Sense was on overdrive for no reason - it was a guy riding with his significant other and apparently their two kids in back. He asked me if going west was the right way to get to Wichita.

The sun was setting, and I said: "No, you are headed west into the setting sun. Wichita is east of here, a long ways."

It turned out they were from Perryton, TX and had no maps, nor did they have a phone with any sort of map on it, either. The young man informed me that "She just made me give up an iPhone 4!" Apparently, their budget couldn't handle it. He didn't seem to me to be up to handling much - she was driving, and making all the decisions. I know I was passing judgement, but oh well. So, they had no idea what I was talking about as far as highways and towns went, so off to the truck I went to get my Trucker's Atlas.

She did have some written instructions from her best girlfriend on how to get to Wichita, which involved getting to TX 23 and going north into Kansas until she got to Greensburg, where she was to turn right. One problem with that - K23 never goes through Greensburg.

The way they shoulda gone

Meade is where they needed to turn right. Greensburg is about two miles east of the US 183/ US 54(also US 400) junction. Some distance to the east. No wonder the kids were lost.

Where they actually went

Hey, the BFF said 23 - she stuck with it.

The young woman's father had broken his leg and was in one of the hospitals in Wichita - probably one of the many complexes Wesley runs. The name sounded right to the both of them. I drew them a map on a notebook they had and tried to keep it simple.

I dunno. I cannot imagine heading out into unfamiliar territory without a freaking map. I don't care if I've got cell and data service out the wahoo, I want my map. I find myself shaking my head that they headed out with two little ones so irresponsibly. Wow. Like I said, the guy didn't impress me much.

I gave them some rudimentary info on where the hospital was, but honestly, I figure they were gonna have to be talked in when they got there over their phones. I'm not sure my map made much of an impression - I don't think their map reading skills were quite up to par. Maybe if you can't read a map, you really don't need to have one with you.

But, wow. I wished them luck, they drove back to the east, and I pointed the Binder westward, and said some prayers for 'em.

Jeffro's Picture Roundup

This is some guy's junkyard north of Mission, SD. Nothing unusual except for the car on top of the old stock trailer close to the road.

It's an old Mustang II notchback. It has been up there since I can remember. How and why are the questions we have - how did he get it up there and why? What in the world?

For Grey Havens - the old steam engine nut. This is an old Baldwin 2-6-2 oil fired locomotive on display at the Boot Hill replica in Dodge City, KS. She was built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in 01/1903, and is no longer in running condition. I think the boilers are completely shot, which was apparently something Baldwins were known for. Planned obsolescence, yannow. She was donated to the museum in 1954, and several years ago was moved to this location during an extensive remodel of the grounds. I've spent some time playing and climbing around on her, but that was a long, long time ago!

This is what you will see a few miles west of Dodge on US 50 eastbound - the silhouette cowboys welcoming you to the Cowboy Capital. A similar sculpture is by the airport on the east side of Dodge on Business US 50. Welcome! We've got the Boot Hill Museum, complete with shootouts, dancing girls in the saloon, a pretty nice casino, and lots of other odds and ends. I have said before that this area literally drips with history and Dodge is a tourist destination during the summer. Oh, yeah, by the way, there is a rodeo during the summer. The five day Dodge City Roundup Rodeo, sanctioned by the PRCA. Yep, it's a big deal.

Purebred Longhorns. These are located kitty corner from the grain elevator at Howell, KS due west of Dodge and east of Cimarron, KS on US 50. Sorry 'bout the image quality - I was hoping they'd be far closer to the fence. Longhorns are liable to be about any color combo - not uniform at all. They all share a lanky, bony structure that can survive on grazing in dry country, and manage to survive long drives. It wasn't until the plains were settled that more domesticated cattle breeds infiltrated the beef supply - more meat on their bones, etc.

Again, sorry for the crummy image quality. This was pretty low light, which my phone camera does not like at all. Anyhow, meet Yeager, who is obviously a German Shepherd. He and I got along right off. He could poke his nose in my chest with all fours on the ground - he is that huge. I've always liked large dogs - I like rasslin' with em and having them physically able to rassle right back. His head and nose were as long as my arm. He resides on a farm north of Norfolk, NE. His master says he is normally friendly, but there have been times Yeager didn't recognize him in a different vehicle and that he was NOT so friendly - until he got an eye and a whiff. I was A-OK, though, and gave him most of the attention he thought he deserved. Very cool hound that I was glad to meet.

Remember me grousing about how crummy the roads were and how I hate to drive on snow and ice? It wasn't real bad, but I'm still not wild about driving on this stuff - especially empty. No weight on my drive axles means not a lot of traction. And, my drive tires are getting kinda thin, but not thin enough to replace just yet. So, that means the rear of the tractor squirms around on the various ruts and such instead of staying planted, which I infinitely prefer.

And here is one reason I hate driving on this crap - it isn't always going to be a mistake I make that ruins the day or gets me hurt or killed. Too fast? Probably - for sure too fast for the driver's ability to keep it straight and on the road. It was windy - like 40mph windy, but it was out of the north and this guy was headed due north. It was not a sidewind that twisted him up. I was running about 40 or 45 and even on gradual rises I lost some traction and had to back out, so him fighting the wind probably had him hurting worse in that regard. At any rate, "four wheelers" out in the ditches is a common sight as well, and I just don't like being out there when they've lost it and slide until they stop. Which may be right in my path.

The further south I got, the better it was, and the snow on my hood finally blew off. I finally got back and felt like I'd been driving about twice as many hours as I had, and in fact, I felt pretty punky the next morning and had to call in. Dammit.

So, this wraps up another edition of Jeffro's Picture Roundup. Hope ya enjoy!

Decisions, and Being Grumpy

I had to go to a little spot on the map north of Norfolk, NE yesterday - got unloaded and pointed south. I figured I'd run out of hours at York, so I got reservations at a Super 8 there that has nice truck parking.

And I'd seen how it was snowing in that area when I'd checked on my phone, so it was no surprise to start  hitting slick roads about sixty miles away. They turned into snow packed roads with a fair amount of fresh falling the closer I got. Still managed to ease in here late in the evening okay. Hate driving in snow in the dark, too. Don't care much for it in the daytime, either.

But now all the roads are crap. I'm not prohibited from driving through this stuff like I am when I'm loaded (oversize loads are restricted when the roads and or weather is crummy), but Lordy I do not want to have to fight completely snow packed and blowing roads all day. If I go south on US81 I head right into the meat of the snowfall yesterday in Kansas. I can't go west on I80 because it's closed to the west. After checking all the maps, I had originally thought that would be the way to go, because the roads are marginally better west.

So I'm gonna just park my happy ass here for a while and wait it out for a few hours, anyhow.

Have I mentioned how much I hate driving a truck through this s$@t?

Crappy Video

Probably shoulda cut this video considering how much of it really doesn't show what I wanted it to.
This is the area where Duff Farms is, who I covered in a past post. Somewhere out in all those acres is a herd of buffalo. Most aerial views of Kansas shows how the prairie has been cut into squares for farming, but this ground is too rough. There is quite a valley on the far side of the rise I am running beside - but it is beyond the capabilities of my phone video camera to capture. And most of the shots I take like this seem to flatten out the terrain as well. It really is picturesque, even if this doesn't quite cut it.

And I'm holding that phone as still as I can. That is considered a smooth road, and I do have some tremors in my hands, but most of that is the ride - bouncing up and down and back and forth going down the road. Each and every mile.

So Close

And yet so far......

I try to get a whole gallon number when I fill 'er up, and with the high speed pumps most truck stops have, that is a pretty good trick to hit .000. One one thousands of a gallon, though. Dern.

Who, me anal retentive? Whaddya mean?

Just to make it easier to calculate my account balances, I pump my own gas to the nearest dime.

Are you picky - do you "round it off," or do you just run until it clicks off and call it good?

Idea totally ripped off from a Facebook post by Little Trucker.

Been Meaning to Post This Stuff

First trip by

Closer view

Progress made

All of the collapsed bin removed

This is one of the grain elevators at Oakley, KS. Apparently both holes appeared at once and dumped concrete bits and grain all over the railroad tracks, damaging some rail cars in the process. No one was injured.

I've seen these things being put up, and it is done with slip forms and one hell of a bunch of rebar. The construction firm begins by laying down the foundation forms and has the slip form in place all ready to go. Rebar is laid in around the circular perimeter and interwoven vertically. Continuous concrete pouring is required - as the slip form goes up with more concrete, more rebar is put in place and so on, until they get to the desired height. I've also seen several old elevators demolished with a crane and ball arrangement. It takes  for freaking ever - the ball hits, there is a thud, and perhaps a few concrete fragments fall. At some point the latticwork of remaining rebar has to be cut out. Chunks are measured in inches, not feet as pictured here.

So what happened? I have my suspicions. I hauled grain for ten years, and it was normal to find small concrete chunks from deteriorating elevators in the mesh over the pit where we dumped a load. Storing grain became far less profitable when the CCC quit paying storage fees many moons ago, and some of the Coops of the time just didn't have the money for maintenance. In order for holes this big to fall out means there was a lot of rebar failure. The rebar had to rust in two in quite a few places.

How did that happen, you may ask? Cracks in concrete is nothing new. Cracks in concrete in roads or elevators that are not sealed will result in catastrophic failure, be it bridges, roadways or grain bins, because it allows water to seep in and rust out the steel rebar. The water is trapped inside, the rust is accelerated, and the water also expands and contracts when the weather changes. I used to hear stories from old Coop hands I encountered in my travels.

Just my opinion - I think this place was pretty woeful when it came to preventive maintenance. It was a Coop owned elevator, and they have all gone broke and for profit companies have bought them out.

Then, the other day when traveling through Texas, the wind was blowing in the upper sixties. Yep, almost seventy mph. This was the result on I27 south of Lubbock. The truck ahead of me was headed into the thickening cloud, and we were all running about 45mph - and btw, there was a car right behind that truck. When it got so bad the shoulders disappeared, everyone's flashers came on.

Well, inevitably, something like this always happens.  People slow down, others do not, plow into slower traffic - chain reaction. One person killed, seventeen injured, and the interstate was shut down just north of Lubbock. I had to take the detour. It was so unbelievable windy that it was nearly blowing an empty dry van ahead of me over, and visibility on the secondary roads was probably worse than the interstate. We were on super skinny farm to market roads, and the fields almost came right up to the shoulder. I had decided if it got worse, when I got to Plainview, a motel room was gonna be in my very short term plans. Not that I'm afraid of hustling a low profile flatbed through that crap - it's all the other idjuts I worry about.

But the further along I got the better the visibility got as well, so I ended up making it home that night.

Bob keeping watch

He heard me moving around and is ready at the door.

For those of you wanting a Bob update - he and I are great buds these days. He'll park himself in the trees across the yard, hoping I'll come to the door. If he happens to hear me headed to the door, he usually beats me there. Now that it's extremely dry, there is a lot of static electricity involved when I pet him, and every little spark makes his little stump quiver. I'd bet it would look like a snake if he still had his tail. He's certainly moving it in his mind.

I also keep guard against the other cats stealing his treats because they remain better hidden, and as soon as I step inside, I'll see 'em coming out from under cover to grab what they can. My feeling is that if they let me pet 'em, they could enjoy the treats. Otherwise, eat the cat food that Road Pig provides for 'em. Bob is a big wuss and won't defend himself. So I help him out a little.

And we got snow! Yeah, there is some showing in the pic of Bob, but not like this. And this was actually Sunday morning before the first of the year. Six to eight inches of some fairly heavy stuff, and it's still hanging around. The temps have just started hitting into the forties lately.

And while Bob parks his hiney on open ground, the cold really does not seem to bother him a lot. I have also found that Bob can be quite vocal, and when I get home and he is waiting, he continuously lodges complaints about the service he is getting at the moment.

Which of course is none, because I'm unloading the travel stuff or groceries. Nothing less than a complete rubdown (including skritches around the ears) and more importantly - treats - will do.

As it should be, Bob. As it should be.

From the Road

York, NE's extra cool water tower in the background over the Super 8 motel.

I know I'd never seen one before - but this is a 1955 Studebaker Speedster, part of their President series of models. Considering there were only 22215 Speedsters made that year, it's no wonder I've never run across one. Not like it's a '69 Camaro or a 'Stang. Don't ever let anyone tell you they only made stuffy looking business coupes - this puppy looked like it was fast in the day. Whether it was or not - the car came with a 100mph speedometer and an 8,000rpm tach. The engine, sourced from Packard, was a Passmaster 259-cubic-inch V-8 with 185 horsepower. 

President script above Speedster script

The original fish mouth grill, way ahead of the Taurus

It was 1955 when tail fins were just starting to grow. Thank God - still tasteful IMHO!!!

This was one of the few times I could even try to "stage" a picture - guess I was too lazy to think about my real camera in the truck. I've always wanted to catch a pic of the water tower as well, so I killed two birds with one stone here!

This is a sculpture in front of the Bank of Western Oklahoma's Woodward branch called "Binding Contract" by Bradford J. Williams. Two cowboys on horseback, shaking on a deal over the fence between them. Not much symbolism here, eh?!? More honor in that little scenario than all of Washington, DC as far as I'm concerned.

One of our 12'x35' FRP tanks in mid air in the process of being placed in it's new home.

Close enough that it took two tries to get the whole thing.

Welp, until I gather some more pics, that's it for now!

While We're Talkin' Nightmares

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Yeah. Max legal height for a truck is 13'6" - which means bridges that expect semis to fit underneath them must be at least slightly higher. Lots of bridges and overpasses, however, were designed many many moons ago when trucks were far smaller - like this one - and are still in service.

Supposedly, if the clearance is under sixteen feet, it's supposed to be posted. Not always the case. I know you are shocked.

But what really starts my motor (and my compadres) is the fact that we are routinely considerably higher than 13'6". When we're using our triple axles to haul 12' diameter tanks, we are right at 14'2" or slightly higher. When we use our single drop flatbeds, we're right at 15'2" or so. If we obtain permits that route us a certain way, supposedly they have ran us over a route where we have no interference.

Good luck with that thought.

I guarantee you when I'm in unfamiliar territory, I've got a weather eye out for low underpasses. There is nothing quite like rounding a blind curve and coming up upon an underpass where the load ain't gonna fit. I even look 'em over when I'm empty, just to remember some of the short ones in case I've ever gotta go there again. And if I see a low one, it makes me nervous even though I know I"ll clear without a tank on.

I've got leather seats in the Mighty Binder, and luckily they don't take to showing rings like cloth ones would from sucking up the seats, so to speak.

One Of My Enduring Nightmares

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This is why I do not care for winter driving on mountain passes.

And for that matter, mountain passes even in great weather.


H/T Ant Gail

End Dump

I guess I'm just about a weekend blogger here lately - seems with all the election crap going on I'm suffering from burnout. If you are one of my pals on Facebook, you've probably noticed the lack of political crap there from me, too. Nothing I can say will sway someone who thinks our current President is the bee's knees, so enough already. I guess we can all live in food stamp paradise, living our allotted years until we become a liability for the health care program so y'all can feel great about "doing stuff" with other people's money.

Yeah, I said enough already, but I can't help getting a dig in.

At any rate, what we have here I'm sure you've all seen - an end dump rig getting ready to dump. Several of us were waiting to unload (notice the man basket directly in the way), and this guy pulled in.

It's really a pretty sharp KW - nice color and lots of shiny stuff. Most haulers like this truck are usually beat up and rough, never mind the shiny stuff, so this rig caught my eye. Clearly it was fairly new, but some efforts had been made to keep it up. This guy was going for a clean look - no striping or fancy letters on his pretty blue paint. Notice how all his necessary info is on his step. He had already gotten out and released the catch on the rear so the door would swing as he unloaded.

If you look at the front of the trailer, you can see a single ram lifting the dump body. There is a substantial frame underneath with the suspension mounted to the frame, and the dump body hinged at the rear of the frame. This is the strongest variant, but some have a sort of subframe that contains the kingpin (the thing the fifth wheel on the truck attaches to) and the ram, with a set of stringers going back to the rear to keep everything in line, and with the suspension mounted to the dump body. When those guys dump, the front axle gets lifted off the ground and dangles. It's a lighter setup, giving them a better payload. The spread axle rigs really put that front axle in the air. It's not as stable unloading on rough ground as the rig shown here - lots fall over, especially the manure haulers. They unload on soft farm ground, and the load can hang up with one side letting go and the other not, unbalancing the whole apple cart.

He let the rock pile up a bit then pulled forward, because the rock will pile up and prevent more from sliding out.

Really let go here.

Pulling away to let the final dribs and drabs fall out.

Letting it down (it is slow), and latching the rear door closed.

That might not seem like a lot of rock there, but I can assure you it is around 24 or 25 tons - which makes it a legal load for this guy. 50k lbs plus his rig at about 30k lbs equals 80k lbs. If he wants to haul more, he has to lighten up or put more axles underneath.

But I'm sure he's figured all this out, this is a shorter trailer, so it's pretty maneuverable compared to longer rigs. His tractor is fairly short too - he does have a single bunk, but this is obviously a local hauler. He's not going coast to coast with this puppy - I'm sure he does quite well with the local jobs he undertakes.

In most states I'm aware of, "rock" haulers are exempt from the Federal Bridge Gross Weight Law (or the bridge law to a trucker). This law is intended to keep heavily loaded axles a certain distance apart so that there isn't too much weight loading in one spot, overcoming a bridge's ability to hold said load. These guys are exempt as long as they are hauling rock, gravel, refuse, building debris, whatever - as long as it's considered exempt. Grain or feed products are not, so when they load those commodities, legally this rig can in no way approach 80k lbs gross - he's way too short. Doesn't mean a bunch of them don't try it anyhow, but they're not supposed to. If the one of the various alphabet trucking regulatory agencies catch 'em, it's an overweight fine, and perhaps mandatory unloading of part of the commodity until they are legal.

So, this is a little peek into another facet of trucking you might not really know much about.

Tailing

I talk once in awhile about tailing (also called tailboarding) tanks. That is where two separate lifting machines hook up to the ends of the tanks, lift it from the trailer, gradually stand it without touching the ground, and when the device hooked to the bottom releases, the main device (crane) can swing it over to it's new home and set it.

This is a crane and a skytrack working together. It's a ton of pictures, so they'll be under the fold.

Gah!

Mr. Confirmed Internet Addict headed out the door at o dark thirty this morning without his laptop charge cord, it would seem. At least I hope it's at home, if it is not, guess I'll be buying a new one. So, I'm on a three day trip, so y'all probably won't see much outta me unless I do it on my phone. Which I don't care for - smartphones are marvelous things, but In My Humble Opinion, they are just not ready for prime time juuuuuuust yet.

Cya around campus, fellow internet denizens!

Been Pretty Busy

And purty tahrd at the end of the day, so posting went right outta der winder.

Went on a trip to Ohio this week and didn't start until Tuesday. Eight of us went to a little burg just southeast of Springfield.

This is half the crew parked at Kingdom City, MO the first evening. The other half was across the street at a truck stop - they all slept in their sleepers. Guess that's why they lug 'em around, eh?

The leaves were certainly changing.

These were all taken eastbound on I70 in Illinois. The bugs on the windshield were from Kansas and Missouri.

Leaving Ohio on westbound I70.

Somewhere west of Indy on I70 - when we weren't stopped for traffic jams in the road construction. We even got to stop and trickle by a state trooper parked facing traffic in the left lane about ten or so miles from the next construction site. I suppose he was out there cutting back on the traffic that would end up getting jammed up in the construction area. This is where a GPS with traffic updates would be handy. One of our compadres behind us caught wind of the jam and went around it on US 40 to the north. We were familiar with it since that was how the State of Indiana had us routed since we were wider than their eleven foot limit on I70. Oh well, just that much later to bed that night.

What one can see of Ft. Riley, home of the Big Red 1, from I70. The top picture shows a bunch of Chinook choppers, and the last has a bunch of their stockpiled equipment both in sand and green colors. This place has really grown - back when I went to K-State, there were nowhere near the buildings there - nor the apartment complexes on to the west, or the businesses and so on.

And I was a moron and missed this picture, so I ripped it off the web.

Pic from here:  http://www.indycargarage.com/profiles/blogs/2007534:BlogPost:28149

And just to give y'all an idea of how flat Kansas is in the Flint Hills:

Photo from here: http://cjonline.com/stories/060108/kan_285036171.shtml

Oh, wait, that actually shows a hill or two! Truly, only parts of western Kansas are notably flat. Most areas have a few rolling hills - perhaps with hills not so high nor valleys so deep as other places, but hills nonetheless!