Above 1200 Sq/FT The Salvage Garage

[harley jim]

That sounds like a plan, that Iron will sit there and wait on you, Chuck is ready to party!

 

[Strouty]

I didn't follow through with the easy plan, I am at the SG figuring out where the loader is going, then I will head back to the Hill and drop off Perk.

I also figured out why the truck and trailer where a bit squirrelly on the way back, I feel kind of dumb, because I even put swapping out the fifth wheel on my list for Perk, the king pin was 14" behind the center of the rear axle and the suspension was almost on the bump stops. I am going to crack this one up to amateur hour and learn from it. Had I not swapped out the rear tires, I would have noticed it for sure, those rear tires are about 50% greater capacity than the old ones were so nothing seemed off at first glance. The trailer is now where it should be, it rides better, handles better, and steers better. Once the air slide fifth wheel is setup, it will be an easy thing to adjust, it has to be slid forward a lot to haul the Tru-Hitch, but then once it is attached, it has to slide backwards to clear the knuckle boom. I can say for sure, when I build Perk 2.0, I am making the wheelbase a foot longer to help with this issue.

 

[xtremek]

I'd say you were very lucky, and very good. I've seen first hand how those loads can get into trouble.

 

[bimmer1980]

If you had stopped shortly after starting with the load, how hard would it have been to move the king pin?

I was thinking that it was adjustable, but didnt know if that is easy or a shop project...

 

[Strouty]

It is actually the fifth wheel that adjusts, would have been easy on flat ground, I just didn’t really stop.

 

[Strouty]

I got Chuck and human supplies, now I am watching him for a bit. The loader was a bit of a pain to unload, I didn’t have enough boom to push it all the way off. The track crane had to lift the forks up off the ground, then it rolled easily. I tried to pull the trailer out from under it, but I didn’t have enough traction.

 

[jakemac]

You need to start a YouTube channel - The Adventures of Chuck & Strouty

 

[Strouty]

Chuck and I have been napping since about 3:30, I am beat and he is, well he is a wood Chuck.

 

[LutzTD]

I see how that ramps works now thanx.

 

[86turbodsl]

I got two dock plates, a funky cart, and some more bins.



I also took delivery of the HD series the other day, it is rougher than I remembered, but since it is a rare custom made crew cab I think it will still be worth the effort. All the suburban parts are interchangeable except the rear rocker panels. The dump body will go on Bev, it dumps both to the rear and side, needs linkages freed up to side dump, but again it will be worth the effort.

What makes it a custom crew? I thought they had factory crew in that body style?

 

[86turbodsl]

I got Chuck and human supplies, now I am watching him for a bit. The loader was a bit of a pain to unload, I didn’t have enough boom to push it all the way off. The track crane had to lift the forks up off the ground, then it rolled easily. I tried to pull the trailer out from under it, but I didn’t have enough traction.

Daaang that crane is handy. Now i want one... Thanks.

 

[Strouty]

What makes it a custom crew? I thought they had factory crew in that body style?

GM didn't make a crew cab in the HD series, 15k GVW with 19.5 tires. They did make it in everything else, so these were fabricated, I wouldn't believe that it would be cheaper to cut and weld the cabs, but that is what they did.

Daaang that crane is handy. Now i want one... Thanks.

Yes, knuckle boom can push and pull unlike a regular crane, I still have a winch and that kind of gives me the best of both worlds. Once the new hydraulic system gets installed, the thing will be great, right now it is a bit slow due to an improper PTO ratio. I have everything new to install on the 18 speed transmission.

 

[86turbodsl]

Ah, i can't tell LD/HD from the photos. I guess i assumed it was like any other 88+ chev. On the HD ford prior to superduty, the hd trucks used 80-86 dashes/cabs and scabbed on big front end with raised cab. easy to tell.

 

[walrus]

Where is the motor for that loader and why is it such a great loader(at least for your needs)? Its a weird looking thing without all the rear sheet metal

 

[Strouty]

I actually bought three of the same style loader. The engine was bad and removed already, I have the original engine, plus another engine. The last loader has a blown transmission, it has a different 6 cylinder engine, but I will end up having two functioning loaders with 5.9 Cummins engines. That is why I bought this one, it came from the factory with a 5.9, so now I have a blueprint to make the other one. I also bought it because it had the third hydraulic circuit and the quick attach bucket and forks.

Per usual, just a bunch of junk that I will cobble together. Perk was kind of the same way, slowly it gets better, I just take the meandering road.

 

[Strouty]

Here are the two engines that came with this loader, sheet metal is elsewhere, I picked it up a few months ago when I went down to collect the army trailer (that also had a 5.9 sitting in it).

 

[Strouty]

Chuck loves to stay in my sweatshirt pocket.



Made up a temporary enclosure, he can already almost climb out though, so you have to be with him. At least he gets some outside time.

 

[xtremek]

Got to admit, Chuck is a cute little guy. How much did you give for those 5.9s, do you mind me asking?

 

[jakemac]

Just wait until Chuck figures out that he can stop climbing and just dig his way out. You’ll be spending every night filling holes in your yard by flashlight when you get home.

 

[86turbodsl]

Just wait until Chuck figures out that he can stop climbing and just dig his way out. You’ll be spending every night filling holes in your yard by flashlight when you get home.

This X10.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Sweatshirt????!!!!!???? What the heck?? I would die if I put one on this time of the year. The the best chuck would do here is a sweaty pants cargo pocket.

 

[Strouty]

The two 5.9s were part of the loader deal. So far I have gotten four 5.9 engines included in various deals, one went to my Buddy, but it may yet get used for a loader. I also have another one in Buck that is getting replaced with an 8.3 from the Boston fire truck.

Chuck does do some digging, but so far only as a latrine. This is very temporary anyways, I will be making something more secure soon.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Just remember that Chuck is a giant ground squirrel, so besides endless chewing, his other built in activity is diggin, diggin, diggin.

 

[Strouty]

I may not remember yet, but I am learning!

 

[86turbodsl]

If you manage to keep Chuck penned up, do your best to keep the cage looking very natural. The groundhogs i have trapped have basically destroyed everything i've done it with and destroyed their paws doing it.

 

[Strouty]

As of right now when he wants out of the pen it is because he wants to go back into his cage to sleep.

 

[Strouty]

I think I may need to take maternity leave to get Chuck all settled. He really doesn’t like being outside at all, he loves to play while inside, he also loves to sleep in my lap. Maybe I am approaching this wrong, maybe I should be figuring out an Indoor enclosure rather than working on an outside one. He is definitely not being released into the wild, so why not treat him like a ferret or cat?

 

[FarmerWill]

Think we're all following the chronicles of Chuck.... this is a truly different distraction and I appreciate it.

 

[harley jim]

He may like a tile or piece of pipe to crawl into for a little darkness

 

[Strouty]

I was figuring PVC, I am 95% sure Chuck is a runt, his siblings that I have seen are nearly twice as big. I can also see that weaning him is going to be trouble, he throws tantrums if you don’t give him a smoothie regardless of how much greens he has eaten.

 

[jakemac]

He may like a tile or piece of pipe to crawl into for a little darkness

My thinking too. A PVC maze for him to explore, leading to his water bowl, a bedding area, and back to a litter box. With a few other twists and turns. Don’t forget some cutoff branches for him to chew on.

 

[harley jim]

My ex had two ferrets, I bought a 50' piece of flexible dryer vent and just tangled it up, they played in that forever.

 

[LutzTD]

interesting pet . I had gerbils when I was a kid, you have to provide them with lots of things to chew because their teeth are constantly growing too. not sure if PVC would be healthy for him. the gerbils loved paper towel and toilet paper cores. Maybe larger paper cores but I cant think off hand where those would come from other than a sonitube? or something, maybe cardboard boxes but I think a dense tube would be best

 

[kaymccampbell]

They make abrasive impregnated cardboard stuff for rodents to chew on.

 

[harley jim]

Carpet tubes or just a piece of clay tile

 

[quattro_sinko]

I gotta say, I have lurked (and sporadically commented) in this thread for a long time, and until recently felt I there wasn't too much that you could bring home that would surprise me. I'm a sucker for broken mechanical stuff, cheap deals, DIY, and seemingly manic collecting and hoarding. But Chuck? Chuck takes the cake. I did not expect something like Chuck. Carry on, and good luck.

 

[Strouty]

I have been buying these pumice stone chews, he loves them, he will also chew on sticks, but the pumice is his favorite. I have to tie it to the side of the cage or he just drags it around and makes a mess everywhere. We will see if he chews on PVC or not, I just have to try and figure out what he does like and what he doesn’t like. He has been taking almost two bottles now, last night he slept for over 5 hours straight. There is so much conflicting info on these guys, I can’t really tell what would be happening in the wild, don’t know what size he should be and there is conflicting info on weaning, at this point I will keep feeding him the smoothie, but I am going to try and cut back to just morning and night, then leave rabbit pellets and other things in a dish for him to eat along with his greens.

 

[harley jim]

There are some here that I believe would weigh in at 20 lbs, they are very selective on what they eat, they will search around for a long time before finding whatever it is they are looking for. Just an observation from watching them graze in my yard in the evening.

 

[racer-john]

...and now for other news.

 

[Strouty]

I went to the Hill this morning, then realized I forgot Chuck's smoothie. I really should have just left him at the house, he wasn't happy with me for waking him up at 7:45 this morning, he normally sleeps until 10 or so.....

I got a few things done, brought the trash and recycling down to the street, then we headed to the house to pick up a smoothie, after that we headed to tractor supply to get a few more things, then we landed at the Salvage Garage. I figured if he had already waited this long, I was going to force him to wait until noon to eat, he made it. I think I am going to work on feeding times that are stretched out a bit more, hopefully that will kind of force him into eating some of the solid foods. I am going to stop at the pet store and see what they have for rodent chewing things, also going to buy a camera for monitoring the little monster.

I need to be able to work next week, so I have to get things figured out by Sunday so that Chuck is comfortable and I am sane.