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10-02-2021, 03:46 PM - 2 Likes   #92281
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QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
When I met Mrs. P one of her brothers had a '49 Powerwagon PU. It had a top speed of about 45-50 but I swear that if it could have got traction it would climb straight up.
I do not for a minute, doubt it.

A neighbour, who moved away some years ago, was a lineman for our local Hydro-Electric company. His job was to maintain powerlines, electric generating equipment and also to ensure that the access areas to hydro structures, lines, etc. was kept clear and accessible. If we had a blizzard, heavy rain, prairie thunderstorm he was out there, fixing the power lines that were damaged. He worked in the country areas.

He had worked for Hydro since the late '60's and I recall one of the many times we would sit around, shootin' the $#!& , he told me about his experience with a late model, military style Dodge Power Wagon, pickup.

Hydro had a large work trailer that had to be brought into a site where there were a lot of electrical issues, that needed fixing, after a big storm. The only way in, was down a dirt road, that had become a morass of mud and gumbo. Nothing seemed to be able to get through.

As this was many moons ago and he was one of the young guys and a farmboy ** to boot, the foreman selected him, to hitch up the construction trailer to their Dodge Power Wagon and attempt to drag it through this impenetrable quagmire.

He did so, put the Power Wagon in bull low, engaged the low gear in the transfer case and started the slog.

It wasn't easy, sometimes the PW had to be backed up, sometimes it just was barely able to move along at about 2-3 mph, with all 4 military lugged tires doing their all...but it accomplished the mission, got the trailer to where the foreman wanted it and work commenced.

He said, it was like a tractor, a 4WD tractor.

BTW, his favourite utility truck during his career was his last one. A Ford F350 cab and chassis, with dual rear wheels, a utility box mounted on the frame, manual transmission, locking rear axle, 4WD and the International/ Navistar supplied, 7.3 liter , diesel V8.

When he retired, it had about 450,000 kms on it, with little downtime.

** Farmboy. Guys who have been farmers, I find, always seem to be able to find some bush fix, to keep things going in difficult situations. I tip my 7 3/4 Tilley Hat to them.

10-02-2021, 07:05 PM - 4 Likes   #92282
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My neighbor gave me his 11 year old 60" flat screen to use in my shop. He is buying a new tube and didn't want to pay the $30 disposal fee for the old one.

10-02-2021, 07:10 PM - 1 Like   #92283
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QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
My neighbor gave me his 11 year old 60" flat screen to use in my shop. He is buying a new tube and didn't want to pay the $30 disposal fee for the old one.

Great TV for your shop.

You'll have to be careful not to let your attention 'wander' , when you're grinding your valves...you might do yourself a mischief...as the old English movie favourites...the Carry On gang would say.
10-02-2021, 09:32 PM - 3 Likes   #92284
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QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
A pickup with anything less than an 8 foot bed is, um, useless.

My Ram can accommodate a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood.

Between the wheel houses, with the tailgate shut.
It's interesting how different different markets are. Here, perhaps the only person who would buy a pickup with an 8 foot bed would be me, because I've owned such a handy beast in the past.
No-one cares to drive around with loads of ply on a pickup truck here, so there's no market for it. Added to which, the impossibility of parking such a machine in most parking lots and it's a no go for most.

10-02-2021, 11:14 PM - 1 Like   #92285
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QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
I've no point of reference here due to never having been to England or Australia so this is pure conjecture but I suspect that's what we would call a mist or a drizzle here. Just as our "chilly" is !@$%&@ it's cold" in those regions.
Here there is mizzle, Misty drizzle, just enough to send cricketers to the pavilion for pints. Then their is drizzle in both places, which is very light rain in very small drops that seem to float in the air but will make you quite wet if you are in it for a while. Then there is rain with larger drops which fall direct to the ground. In Australia that is called rain leaving heavy rain for stronger storm events but here is called heavy rain, which does not give vocabulary to name those quite big thunderstorm events.

Neither place has distinct vocabulary for the extreme rain that comes in tropical storms. The most I remember in a foreign tropical place was 450mm in a couple of hours. The rain was close to painful when you went out in it. Other stories about that storm sometime.
10-03-2021, 12:53 AM - 2 Likes   #92286
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QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
I've no point of reference here due to never having been to England or Australia so this is pure conjecture but I suspect that's what we would call a mist or a drizzle here. Just as our "chilly" is !@$%&@ it's cold" in those regions.
Nah then Jim, that’s a plain sort o’ day in Yorkshire, tha knaws!
10-03-2021, 11:04 AM - 1 Like   #92287
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QuoteOriginally posted by MarkJerling Quote
It's interesting how different different markets are. Here, perhaps the only person who would buy a pickup with an 8 foot bed would be me, because I've owned such a handy beast in the past.
No-one cares to drive around with loads of ply on a pickup truck here, so there's no market for it. Added to which, the impossibility of parking such a machine in most parking lots and it's a no go for most.
I could count the number of times I've actually carried 4x8 sheets of anything in that pickup in 20 years on one hand.

But it has also carried many tons of other items.

The blocks I used to build the wall, steps and sidewalk around the house (several pallets of them). Lumber. Firewood. Landscaping stuff, soil, gravel, plants, sacks of weed n feed, lime, landscaping bark mulch. Implements for the tractors. The used crankcase oil furnace I bought for the shop (the truck driver refused to come down the road so I had to meet him out on the county lane. He set it on the liftgate of his trailer, I backed up and dropped the tailgate and we slid it into the pickup. Oh, and it was snowing that day. As I recall there was about a foot on the ground and it was at snowing heavily.) Furniture, both new, and all our stuff and when we moved. Countless trips to the transfer station (dump). I keep ten 5 gallon fuel jugs with half diesel, half gasoline for the tractors and mowers, so a few times a year load them up and make the trip to town for fuel..

The list is nearly endless.

As for parking. Well, parking spaces here have been too small for a full sized pickup, dually or single rear wheel, since cars got smaller in the early 1980s. A driver has to be resourceful and adaptable. I just park way out where the people too lazy to walk don't park, and use a space and a half. Then there are the idiots who give me grief over taking up a space and a half, as if I could somehow squeeze nearly 9,000 pounds of steel into a space not much bigger than their pea brain.

Since I became partially disabled I have permanent handicapped parking privilege. At work the disabled parking is all on the inside, so I get a gate pass, and the spaces all are van accessible, essentially a space and a half. I take it to work once a month so it doesn't sit unused, and while getting the goon engine sorted everyday lately.

My Toyota even had a long bed, although not 8 feet. Long enough to sleep in though, and a large part of the half million miles I put on it involved many nights sleeping in the back (sometimes with the comfort of a biscuit, soft and warm to snuggle up to). It also hauled a lot of stuff and participated in some moves.



10-03-2021, 11:35 AM - 1 Like   #92288
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QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
I could count the number of times I've actually carried 4x8 sheets of anything in that pickup in 20 years on one hand.

But it has also carried many tons of other items.

The blocks I used to build the wall, steps and sidewalk around the house (several pallets of them). Lumber. Firewood. Landscaping stuff, soil, gravel, plants, sacks of weed n feed, lime, landscaping bark mulch. Implements for the tractors. The used crankcase oil furnace I bought for the shop (the truck driver refused to come down the road so I had to meet him out on the county lane. He set it on the liftgate of his trailer, I backed up and dropped the tailgate and we slid it into the pickup. Oh, and it was snowing that day. As I recall there was about a foot on the ground and it was at snowing heavily.) Furniture, both new, and all our stuff and when we moved. Countless trips to the transfer station (dump). I keep ten 5 gallon fuel jugs with half diesel, half gasoline for the tractors and mowers, so a few times a year load them up and make the trip to town for fuel..

The list is nearly endless.

As for parking. Well, parking spaces here have been too small for a full sized pickup, dually or single rear wheel, since cars got smaller in the early 1980s. A driver has to be resourceful and adaptable. I just park way out where the people too lazy to walk don't park, and use a space and a half. Then there are the idiots who give me grief over taking up a space and a half, as if I could somehow squeeze nearly 9,000 pounds of steel into a space not much bigger than their pea brain.

Since I became partially disabled I have permanent handicapped parking privilege. At work the disabled parking is all on the inside, so I get a gate pass, and the spaces all are van accessible, essentially a space and a half. I take it to work once a month so it doesn't sit unused, and while getting the goon engine sorted everyday lately.

My Toyota even had a long bed, although not 8 feet. Long enough to sleep in though, and a large part of the half million miles I put on it involved many nights sleeping in the back (sometimes with the comfort of a biscuit, soft and warm to snuggle up to). It also hauled a lot of stuff and participated in some moves.

A bigger utility vehicle is a handy, pretty well do it all type of vehicle. Back around '96-'97 our two kids were young and participated in a lot of activities that required ferrying them around, taking their activity equipment, etc. We also were camping and got ourselves a large folding trailer, our 17.5 foot freighter canoe, a 4 HP Deluxe Evinrude, etc.

So we found ourselves with a lot of stuff and needed to look at a vehicle that could tow, haul cargo and passengers, etc.

The three vehicles on our list was two vans and one large station wagon. The van list included a Dodge 150 , with a 318 cube (5.2 liter) gas V8 and a Chevy Astro/GMC Safari (same van, only different badging) mid size, rear wheel drive van and a Chevy Caprice station wagon with the 350 cube/260 hp V8.

Well GM stopped making the Caprice in '96, so that was a non starter. As far as the Dodge went, we liked it, especially the one that they had at a dealer. It had the center table and a reversible bench seat that my wife and kids could sit, while we were driving (had seat belts both ways), but it had the V8 and we were concerned about MPG...and also it's price, which was a bit beyond our budget.

So we looked at and factory ordered the Chevy mid sized, rear wheel drive van. It came with the 4.3 liter Vortec V6 (a Chevy 350 V8, with two cylinders cut off), we ordered the heavy duty suspension (1890 lbs. payload-5000 lb. tow rating), 3.42 axle gears, and G80 Eaton locker for the rear axle, oversized tires/wheels. Upgraded the seats, ordered the rear heater- Winterpeg after all ) and chose the dark green paint job. I went to four GM dealers, gave them my order list and told them to give me their best price, and I would select the best of the four.

Price between four dealers, varied from $23K to $ 31K CAD for the same vehicle. Interesting.

We had the van for a decade. Put on a 182K on the odometer and it was an excellent vehicle, Towed our trailer everywhere it seemed, mid west and western USA, prairies and BC, etc. Always started unplugged, even in one memorable -41 (no wind chill temp, actual temp) after it sat unplugged for about 12 hours, carried full loads of cement blocks, wood, camping gear, outboard motor, equipment for a student orchestra at the kid's school, Schwinn stationery bicycle, TV's, etc. . You name it, we carried it.

Utility style vehicles are very useful.

We had the Chevy Astro for around 10 years. Warm memories of that vehicle.
10-03-2021, 01:46 PM - 3 Likes   #92289
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QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
As for parking. Well, parking spaces here have been too small for a full sized pickup, dually or single rear wheel, since cars got smaller in the early 1980s. A driver has to be resourceful and adaptable. I just park way out where the people too lazy to walk don't park, and use a space and a half. Then there are the idiots who give me grief over taking up a space and a half, as if I could somehow squeeze nearly 9,000 pounds of steel into a space not much bigger than their pea brain.
When I park I make sure it's in a spot where I can back up at least the full length of the truck without having to turn the wheel or that I can pull forward.
On the subject of bed length; my crew-cab 8 foot bed dually is, I believe, the second longest bumper to bumper on the market. (I think the comparable Ford is 1/2" longer). My camper extends about a foot beyond the rear bumper. Yes, that can be a bit of an inconvenience; however, after having had virtually every cab/bed configuration in existence* over the years I will say that I'd sacrifice the crew cab before I'd settle for a shorter bed.

*Chevy, many, many years ago offered a 9' bed. Quite a bit before my time as a driver.
10-03-2021, 03:07 PM   #92290
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QuoteOriginally posted by Racer X 69 Quote
I could count the number of times I've actually carried 4x8 sheets of anything in that pickup in 20 years on one hand.

But it has also carried many tons of other items.

The blocks I used to build the wall, steps and sidewalk around the house (several pallets of them). Lumber. Firewood. Landscaping stuff, soil, gravel, plants, sacks of weed n feed, lime, landscaping bark mulch. Implements for the tractors. The used crankcase oil furnace I bought for the shop (the truck driver refused to come down the road so I had to meet him out on the county lane. He set it on the liftgate of his trailer, I backed up and dropped the tailgate and we slid it into the pickup. Oh, and it was snowing that day. As I recall there was about a foot on the ground and it was at snowing heavily.) Furniture, both new, and all our stuff and when we moved. Countless trips to the transfer station (dump). I keep ten 5 gallon fuel jugs with half diesel, half gasoline for the tractors and mowers, so a few times a year load them up and make the trip to town for fuel..

The list is nearly endless.

As for parking. Well, parking spaces here have been too small for a full sized pickup, dually or single rear wheel, since cars got smaller in the early 1980s. A driver has to be resourceful and adaptable. I just park way out where the people too lazy to walk don't park, and use a space and a half. Then there are the idiots who give me grief over taking up a space and a half, as if I could somehow squeeze nearly 9,000 pounds of steel into a space not much bigger than their pea brain.

Since I became partially disabled I have permanent handicapped parking privilege. At work the disabled parking is all on the inside, so I get a gate pass, and the spaces all are van accessible, essentially a space and a half. I take it to work once a month so it doesn't sit unused, and while getting the goon engine sorted everyday lately.

My Toyota even had a long bed, although not 8 feet. Long enough to sleep in though, and a large part of the half million miles I put on it involved many nights sleeping in the back (sometimes with the comfort of a biscuit, soft and warm to snuggle up to). It also hauled a lot of stuff and participated in some moves.

Absolutely no argument that it's a useful feature to have. Sadly, not even an option for those of us that might like such a thing!
10-03-2021, 03:21 PM - 1 Like   #92291
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QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
When I park I make sure it's in a spot where I can back up at least the full length of the truck without having to turn the wheel or that I can pull forward.
On the subject of bed length; my crew-cab 8 foot bed dually is, I believe, the second longest bumper to bumper on the market. (I think the comparable Ford is 1/2" longer). My camper extends about a foot beyond the rear bumper. Yes, that can be a bit of an inconvenience; however, after having had virtually every cab/bed configuration in existence* over the years I will say that I'd sacrifice the crew cab before I'd settle for a shorter bed.

*Chevy, many, many years ago offered a 9' bed. Quite a bit before my time as a driver.
Quite right, Chevy and it's non identical twin, GMC offered a 9 foot bed many years ago, available for their one ton model.

I've seen one, a '40's GMC, in pretty good, stock, condition in Brandon, which is in western Manitoba....which is a small city in the midst of farm and also a bit north, ranch country. I was impressed by the length of the box. Spoke to the owner, he said it was an option back then and if I recall, indicated that he was the second owner. I think he said the first family that owned it had a mixed farm and used it to haul everything from vegetables, grain crops and even taking pigs to market.

Dodge and it's close Canadian cousin, the Fargo, also had offered a 9 foot box, at least back in the '40's.

Here's an example.

1947 Dodge WD-21 Pickup | F56 | Monterey 2021

We had a '48 Fargo on the family farm. The Fargo was a Dodge truck, with different badging, sold by Canadian Plymouth dealers, so they could compete with Canadian Dodge dealers. Ford did the same in Canada. Ford dealers sold Ford trucks, Mercury dealers sold Mercury trucks from the M100 right up to the M 750, M800, which in the '50's were called Ford or Mercury Big Job trucks.

I'm a bit of a repository of obscure trivia, like this. Not much use now, but...hey...when I was a young buck, did it ever impress the young ladies in farm country !

Anyway, the Fargo was a one ton pickup, and the box length was 9 feet. It also had medium duty truck wheels. I don't know how the medium duty wheels ended up on it, think my FIL said they were an option for the one ton at the time, along with the 9 foot box. This truck had an after market box lift (electric...may have had some hydraulics too, can't remember) and the Fargo was used as a spare grain truck. We had 3/4 inch plywood sides attached to the steel box with bolts and reinforcing chains at the top of sides, mounted cross ways.
10-03-2021, 03:55 PM - 3 Likes   #92292
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My last ute had an 8 foot bed.
sold it off, I just found the 2 door unpractical for keeping things secure when away from the ute.




and replaced it with this, but only a 5 foot bed.





I can carry people and camera gear inside the cab with room to spare .
10-03-2021, 06:11 PM - 1 Like   #92293
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
The Fargo was a Dodge truck, with different badging, sold by Canadian Plymouth dealers,
I don't know when it changed but in 1978 when I drove through Canada (Fairbanks, AK to Rapid City, SD) I saw Mercury branded pickups.
10-03-2021, 07:28 PM - 2 Likes   #92294
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QuoteOriginally posted by Parallax Quote
I don't know when it changed but in 1978 when I drove through Canada (Fairbanks, AK to Rapid City, SD) I saw Mercury branded pickups.

March, 1968 was when Ford of Canada shut down the Mercury truck line. After that Lincoln-Mercury dealers just sold Ford trucks. Mercury trucks were quite common on the prairies and I would see them around for about 15-20 years, after 1968, still working. Now, I just see a few, usually at car shows.

My father and uncle had a business back then and needed a pickup truck for the biz.

They bought a 1968 (one of the last ever produced) Mercury M250. Mercury had the M for Mercury as in M 250, M100, M350, etc., rather than F for Ford, as in the Ford F series..

Their 3/4 ton pickup was a stripper, with a 3 on the tree manual transmission, AM radio and 300 cube (4.9 liter) inline six cylinder.

I drove it a couple of times, and empty would move out nicely. The big Ford truck 300 six was torquey, in fact was the standard equipment in the medium duty F 500 and F 600 cab and chassis trucks, at the time.


There is a large 1954 Mercury M 750 'Big Job, cab and box truck, about 5 miles from where I live. It sits forlornly, behind a linked chain fence, in a shut down business. About 10 years ago, I was able to get in, take a look at it and talk to the owner. He was in his 80's and had shut his business down. Used to be a vegetable dealer and he used that old Merc to drive down to northern Minnesota , load it up with potatoes, drive back and sell them to smaller stores. Not too far over the border, in that part of Minnesota, potato growing is big business.
10-03-2021, 08:13 PM - 2 Likes   #92295
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
Quite right, Chevy and it's non identical twin, GMC offered a 9 foot bed many years ago, available for their one ton model.

I've seen one, a '40's GMC, in pretty good, stock, condition in Brandon, which is in western Manitoba....which is a small city in the midst of farm and also a bit north, ranch country. I was impressed by the length of the box. Spoke to the owner, he said it was an option back then and if I recall, indicated that he was the second owner. I think he said the first family that owned it had a mixed farm and used it to haul everything from vegetables, grain crops and even taking pigs to market.

Dodge and it's close Canadian cousin, the Fargo, also had offered a 9 foot box, at least back in the '40's.

Here's an example.

1947 Dodge WD-21 Pickup | F56 | Monterey 2021

We had a '48 Fargo on the family farm. The Fargo was a Dodge truck, with different badging, sold by Canadian Plymouth dealers, so they could compete with Canadian Dodge dealers. Ford did the same in Canada. Ford dealers sold Ford trucks, Mercury dealers sold Mercury trucks from the M100 right up to the M 750, M800, which in the '50's were called Ford or Mercury Big Job trucks.

I'm a bit of a repository of obscure trivia, like this. Not much use now, but...hey...when I was a young buck, did it ever impress the young ladies in farm country !

Anyway, the Fargo was a one ton pickup, and the box length was 9 feet. It also had medium duty truck wheels. I don't know how the medium duty wheels ended up on it, think my FIL said they were an option for the one ton at the time, along with the 9 foot box. This truck had an after market box lift (electric...may have had some hydraulics too, can't remember) and the Fargo was used as a spare grain truck. We had 3/4 inch plywood sides attached to the steel box with bolts and reinforcing chains at the top of sides, mounted cross ways.
I remember Fargo trucks. The hood ornament is a small planet earth.
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