My Texas Dream Garage

[SpeedinLemon]

Terrific job on the cabinet doors!! So did your dust collection system really do that good of a job, or had you cleaned up before taking that picture of the mitre saw? I like how you built it into the workbench by the way....My old was was mounted like that and was very handy. Got the other 21 done yet?

 

[MikeTheGoalie]

YOU WIN!
game over.

 

[Nighttrain]

Time to catch up with some Thank You's for the nice comments. I have come to a complete stand still for the last two weeks. Went to Vegas last week and had a great time at the World Series Rugby 7's. Never had seen rugby before but this was really cool. A neighbor friend set it up and 10 of us guys went for the weekend. Not going to say any more about that. Well I guess i will say I was going to go to the Vegas speedway and do one of the rentals of one of the Lambo Gallardo or maybe a Ferrari Italia but decided for the cost of those 5 laps in a car I could buy a 3 in 1 metal brake/shear/roller. So I decided not to go for a drive. Probably would have not remembered the drive anyways.


Well the other thing that’s keeping me busy is a new business we are trying to start on the side. I'll only mention it involves a vehicle that is pretty cool and will fit into the garage just barely. Here is a picture of under the hood to tease you.

OK one more.

I have done a lot of research into this and will keep you all updated.

Again thanks for all your guys comments about my shop, it will keep me going to get it done. I should have all the metal cut this week and hope to have the doors done this weekend.

 

[Wingnut65]

Congrats on the new venture. That ride is sweet. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

 

[tinbender 66]

Hmmmmmmm.........I honestly do not think it will get off the ground. (the truck, not the business). Got me wonderin' now.

And if your brother has any extra boards I'd be happy to relieve him of some. Or even give him a hand if he needs some help.

 

[3pedal]

Love the garage/shop. You have me thinking about ways to dress up mine, if I ever get to build one. I'm looking for a place now.

Curious about the new truck/venture. Hope it turns out well.

 

[flybefree]

Hmmm...trip to Vegas...sheetmetal brake...big trucks...new business idea...wait, wait, it's all coming together. No, no it's not. I have no idea, but I look forward to the big reveal.

Shaun

 

[letz4wheel]

I think he is going to turn that Peterbuilt into an International and have something worth having

 

[Amazzen]

Going away from anything mainstream and will say you're venturing into CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) conversions???

That Pete's already turbo charged, so what other innovation could it be?

Just guessing of course....best of luck with whatever you endevour to do!

 

[Nighttrain]

I think he is going to turn that Peterbuilt into an International and have something worth having

letz it was built in Canada so it is International! . This is my first experience in a big truck and I found out quick how guys take sides to truck brands as they do with Chevy and Ford.

It's hard to beet a Pete!

 

[Nighttrain]

wing, tb, 3 pedal, fbf and amazzen, Thanks for interest in my new venture. No plans to modify the truck just yet. 350 hp and 1100 ftlbs of torq with the 6 speed I think will get what I need down the road. I should take delievery of the truck in about two weeks. Its a 2010 with only 9000 miles. I'll keep you guys posted.

Back to the garage this weekend, I have four days off so am hoping to get the cabinet doors done. I was able to cut the last 21 sheet metal panels out last night on a metal shear. Assembly tomorrow.

 

[letz4wheel]

I really know very little about the Petes. I drive an International now...love the truck and hate the engine. I feel as if I need to carry an oil tanker behind me as much as I burn lol. If I was spending my money it would probably be on a freightliner mainly because of the availiable Detroit Diesel engine. They have always been good to me.
All this new tech in the engines is still pretty flakey but the trend seems to be towards the urea engines, the EGR based tech seems to be burning up engines.

 

[4StarCstms]

If I was spending my money it would probably be on a freightliner mainly because of the availiable Detroit Diesel engine. They have always been good to me.
All this new tech in the engines is still pretty flakey but the trend seems to be towards the urea engines, the EGR based tech seems to be burning up engines.

Hate to tell you this, they all (with the exception of the Maxxforce by Cat & International) Use EGR and Urea now.
You could not GIVE Me a freightliner. Cheap trucks. Too much plastic. You can get a Detroit in Any of the makes of truck. I'll warn you though, depending on what you pull, if you want to get UP the hill with decent fuel mileage if your heavy... go buy a pre emission cat..

 

[letz4wheel]

I may not have explained it well. I realize that they use urea and egr on most engines but the maxxforce uses egr to a much greater degree and therefore runs a much hotter internals. The urea/egr seem to be the way to go if you want a longer life.
Dunno about the detroit in any make of truck. I am not seeing it availiable in the International, peterbuilt or volvo, but if you say so.
Anything pre-emmision is a great thing lol!

 

[webbs2jzgte]

my s/o's dad was a tractor trailer driver for many years and I rode with him, now he came back to quad axle so he can be home every night.

Let me tell you truck drivers are probably worse than chevy and ford guys.

I am biased since every truck I have been in was KW. I love em'.

A nice W900 or T800.

 

[Koken]

How do you like living in Dripping Springs, and are there any disadvantages? I'm retired, so work will not be an issue. And why do a lot of homes have a large water tank in their backyard?

 

[Nighttrain]

How do you like living in Dripping Springs, and are there any disadvantages? I'm retired, so work will not be an issue. And why do a lot of homes have a large water tank in their backyard?

I really enjoy living here in Drippin, Its a 30 min drive to Austin and all that has to offer, sports, entertainment, airport that you can get flights to anywhere. As for the water tanks behind the houses is fore rain water collection. We have a 30,000 gal tank which we collect off the house and garage. When full it will last my family of 5 six months. The well water out here is heavy in minerals so it's not that great.

This leads in to my new venture which is this truck I just bought. I will be installing a 2400 gal water tank on this and will be delivering potable water when the rain stops.

This truck really shows me how big my shop really is

Between work and getting this truck I was able to get some more of the cabinet doors up I think they are looking good. I still have about 12 doors to go and put up the door pulls.

 

[Wingnut65]

Sweet Pete! And you still have enough room to get a couple more cars in that place. Nice. For the water hauler... it will take a few loads to fill us a 30,000 gallon tank when it is low. I guess that is what you call job security!

And those cabinet doors really look great. I am sure impressed with your talent and the quality of those doors. Keep up the good work.

 

[SpeedinLemon]

Nice truck....I'm just about 30 miles north of the Peterbuilt HQ in Texas and have several friends who work there....If we have another summer like the last one, I think you'll be able to stay very busy. Not to wish your new venture any ill will, but I hope we don't have a repeat of last year! Do you see a need in your area with the poor well water of keeping it busy even when there's not a serious drought? I wonder if you could contract out to fire departments and such?

Cabinet doors are looking really nice! Could I talk you into building 15-20 more while you're at it?? I think i could find a spot for them! Great work and keep us posted on progress and the truck biz. Best of luck!

 

[tinbender 66]

The cabinets look fantastic!

Love the truck. I have a "thing" for big honkin' trucks. Good luck with the new venture!

 

[Nighttrain]

Thanks wingnut, and TB! Speed Lemon even with the rain we are getting there are a lot of wells which have gone dry and those will take years to get the water back to them. So those are the folks I will be working with until they get their wells drilled deeper. Most of the folks with wells have a 2500 gal tank. Not eveyone out here has a large rain water tank like i do so they can only go a couple of months without rain. The other market will be pools. When they put in a pool they need it filled with city water and do not have the rain water to fill it or they do not want to use their well water due to the contents. I will also advertise for fire support but usually when there is a big fire I am working my full time job dropping water on that from a helo.

For an average pool I can make about 8-10 trips and fill it in a day. Pools are where I can make a nice profit in one day.

I'll keep you all posted on this venture. I hope to get final approval form the state here soon and then order the tank and get the truck up to operations in the next month. I am working this weekend so not much planned in the garage.

 

[flybefree]

Good idea for a little side business, that is a really nice looking truck. We have a 1975 IH we use to haul grain...without heat or AC, yeah we're old school like that. Note, we really need to fix the heat.
Shaun

 

[Red Leader]

I really enjoy living here in Drippin, Its a 30 min drive to Austin and all that has to offer, sports, entertainment, airport that you can get flights to anywhere. As for the water tanks behind the houses is fore rain water collection. We have a 30,000 gal tank which we collect off the house and garage. When full it will last my family of 5 six months. The well water out here is heavy in minerals so it's not that great.

This leads in to my new venture which is this truck I just bought. I will be installing a 2400 gal water tank on this and will be delivering potable water when the rain stops.

This truck really shows me how big my shop really is

Between work and getting this truck I was able to get some more of the cabinet doors up I think they are looking good. I still have about 12 doors to go and put up the door pulls.

Ha you're bench looks so much better than mine! I bet you spent nearly 1/2 as much time on it, didn't you!

 

[abstamaria]

All quite amazing and very nice!

Andy

 

[Nighttrain]

Red Leader the chalk line has found its new home in the red box, thanks again.

Andy, thank you.

I have been real busy the last two months getting my side business up and going, Class B CDL, insurance, business start-up and then approval from Texas Commission Enviromental Quality (TCEQ) for the business venture. Also the items for the truck were all back ordered. Not much time for the shop. Although I spent a week with my daughters friend building an electric guitar for their senior project.

Ill get some picture of the truck today which will explain the business. Also i'll try to download a picture of the guitar.

 

[andrewsnmorgan]

Hey, How are you liking drip?? I lived in austin for 7 years before joining the military! me and my wife LOVE Austin! What are you doing for work? and keep it safe on Hwy71

 

[Nighttrain]

Hey, How are you liking drip?? I lived in austin for 7 years before joining the military! me and my wife LOVE Austin! What are you doing for work? and keep it safe on Hwy71

Andrew, thank you for for your service. I retired and moved her to drip and love it. I fly EC-145's in Austin for my real job. We pick up a lot of car wrecks on HWY 71. It is growing very quick here. Economy is very steady.

 

[mws444]

Just a shout out to to you NT and all of those before and after. Thanks for your service!
It's our service men and women that have made the Good 'Ol USA what she is. Too many have paid the ultimate price for the rest of us....May God bless them all!

 

[Guyonahog]

Very nice job! I like everything you have done. Nice, clean and organized.

 

[andrewsnmorgan]

Andrew, thank you for for your service. I retired and moved her to drip and love it. I fly EC-145's in Austin for my real job. We pick up a lot of car wrecks on HWY 71. It is growing very quick here. Economy is very steady.

I said we live in Austin out of habit, But we really lived in Spicewood right on lake travis. We knew many good people who lost their lives on HWY71, and another person on thur or fri right before memorial weekend(didnt know him). We still have lots of family out in Spicewood and many surrounding areas. Hope you enjoy it. if you ever get a change go grab some food at Jack Allens Kitchen it was me and the wifes favorite spot! or try a mexican martini from Chuys!

 

[Red Leader]

Red Leader the chalk line has found its new home in the red box, thanks again.

Nice!

 

[SpeedinLemon]

I was just thinking it was about time for Texas Dream Garage update! How goes everything? I think you owe us some pics of a big honkin' water tank mounted on a truck and some completed cabinets

Good to hear from you....Keep us updated on your progress!

 

[Nighttrain]

Thanks guys, yes way overdue on updates. Ill get some pictures updated. The big progress was digging over 300' of water line to the barn and garden and Cat 6 cable to the garage (why did I not do that during the build?) I now have internet in the garage.

 

[1Garageman]

WOW, great truck and great job building the garage. I am very jealous!!!

 

[don long]

Good day nighttrain
I thought that I would come and visit for a minute and found myself here all morning. Started at the beginning and didn,t stop til the end
WOW WOW WOW
WE do think alike (big) lol

Man do I love your wood working ability
your shop is fantastic
I too like the building within the building Idea
Will be back soon
Thanks for your SERVICE and thanks for sharing

Don

 

[ODIS]

Like Don, I've just been through the entire thread this morning. A ton of work and great planning as well as implementation. Hope your water delivery business has been successful too. Looking forward to seeing more of what you do in the garage and at your home.

Take care,

Ody.

 

[Nighttrain]

1gargeman, don long and ODIS,

Thanks you all for the great comments. The last two weeks I have been working at my neighbors yard to help her get the house ready to sell. I would really like to be working in my garage but she is really having a hard time and needs to get some stuff done. On the bright side she is giving me her Kabota and five attachments for it .

My water truck has had yet another delay, the pump for the truck is taking longer to install than expected. I waited 8 weeks for the tank and now the comapny doing the install of the pump is now 6 weeks backed up. They lost a lot of their welders to the oilfields in South Texas. They said they are hoping to to install the pump next week (we will see)

In the mean time I will finish up the yard work next door and try to get my cabinets completed. Once the truck is done I'll post some pictures.

 

[fergus]

So not to be dense, but hauling potable water? For fire crews, or domestic delivery? Like to folks who live out in the sticks or...?

Definitely seen the contractors hauling water for the state fire dept to wild fires and such.

BTW, the shop looks great!

 

[Nighttrain]

^^^ for residential use mostly, I will support the fire tankers request as needed but my full time job I fly helicopters and if there is a big fire I'll be dropping water from the air and will not beable to truck it in. The ground water here is not that great and since the drought begain there are a lot of wells dried up. $20k to drill a new well so people have gone to rain water collection or hauling in water until the water comes back to the wells.

Our house has no city water or well. We went with a rainwater collection from our roof. Reason why my wife bought off on the 55'x60' garage (roof area). I have a 30K holding tank and for a family of five that will last about six months of no rain. Once its out you have to haul in water.

This is going to be a side business for me and as the summer heats up so will my runs in the truck. We also will fill pools since the well water is not good for the pools and that much water if you have a well really puts a stain on it.

Ill keep you all posted. If it all fails I will have a cool truck to tow a camper with

 

[NOZZLEMAN]

I've been checking out your build thread and many kudos to my friend !!

Outstanding effort.

I sell firetrucks for a living now, was the fleet guy for a major Fire Department in Florida and now live in the north side of San Antonio in Universal City. Just a word of caution on 2400 gallons of water on that single axle chassis.

Watch the weight, 2400 X 8.35 lbs/gal = 20,040lbs of water

Plus the weight of the tank/tiedowns/plumbing + the weight of that steel body.

Adds up quick

Good Luck with your venture !!