New Englander

He's making an excellent archive! Great content.

Mine doesn't have one but the price of 12 volt packs is pretty low but a project to install with check valve costs, etc. I like the system in our planes: Electric backup comes on automatically with loss of A and B system pressure, which would take a bunch of or combination of pump failures and engine failures. Loss of A, B, and C systems leaves you with only spoilers controlled through rudder pedals vis a self contained hydraulic system, an interesting simulator scenario. Anyway, I wonder if there's such a system, automatic backup, in modern bucket trucks?

Check out this guy's site, he restores all sorts of carriages and wagons: https://engelscoachshop.com/

👍 LH side are LH threads, RH side are RH threads.

When I first looked at the first pic I thought it was an Allison V1710!

6" Cylinder and tooling, took a sledge to loosen:

They're unbelievably handy! Just yesterday I replaced the flag light. It's a solar self-charging LED unit. I replaced the batteries last week but could see it wasn't the batteries wearing out but rather the solar panels ruined by years of the weather/sun. Well, it takes just a few minutes to do so. I can't remember how many times I adjusted or replaced the TV antenna, replaced windows, painted or re-sided the house, replaced rotten trim, cleaned gutters/installed leaf guards, rebuilt 3 sides of my barn so far, 1 to go. I've taken down trees safely rather that chancing felling them. Every now and then the halyard on the flagpole needs replacing. The list is endless. I only use a ladder for something like the porch roof.

Exactly. It takes pressure to release the check valves so no pressure, no movement, the cylinder is essentially locked in place. The exception is when the piston seal fails and then it can drift down. I had the lower boom seal fail. At first it would start to drift and a quick bit of up would set it but shortly thereafter it gave up and wouldn't hold. Where the cylinder was attached to the turret is two pins into a trunnion, pins internally threaded for removal. Well, I fabricated a puller with grade 8 rod but couldn't get the pins out, so I fabricated a pin spanner to disassemble it in place. I ran the boom up and rested it against a convenient maple and was able to take the rod and piston out for the hydraulic shop to reseal. Cylinder barrel was perfect so it was a good fix. I have been stranded twice. Once next to the house while painting, luckily next to a window that my wife let me in. One of the bucket control lines blew in that case. Sun gets them and it had been spliced a few times. Eventually I replaced all of them when a squirrel nested in the boom and she, or her babies, gnawed through them. Nearly 500' of 5/16 air brake tubing. Any squirrel going near that truck now does it at great peril. The other time it stranded me is due to the keyway in the hydraulic pump being worn to nothing and failing. My wife and FIL got me down with an extension ladder. I had replaced that key when it broke several years ago, no stranding. The keyway was worn then and the key sheared. When it failed again it did it with such gusto that it pushed the pump off the mount breaking both grade 8 bolts! If I don't find a replacement truck I'll have to spend some money on fixing the pump and PTO. What I like about this old truck is that it's strictly hydro-mechanical The only electricity needed is to start the engine, all controls are hydraulic. I'm ordering a self rescue kit in the meantime. Right now I won't go up unless my wife is home to answer my distress call

At a shop I worked as a kid the owner was taking care of his sister's drug head kid; drove him in every day, gave him the oil change jobs and he'd strip 2 out of 5 plugs. It was pointless to tell him the plug had a big hex simply to have a body big enough to let the oil out and that the pan was only sheet metal. We finally cut a bunch of wrenches down that became "Sandy's wrenches". He was honored! He was a speed freak and would talk the ear off anyone who happened to be near. He still had to be watched in case he picked up an adjustable.

My wife has a saying: "People suck".

EGO trimmer and blower here. I'm completely satisfied with them. Blower is my new broom!

Heart breaker yesterday but the Eagles, 9/1, were a tough match. I can't even watch the Pats this year.

I won't take a vehicle to a dealer for anything other than a recall or warranty. We've had several recalls in the family; I suppose everyone has with Takata air bags. Anyway, every time we had the "free multipoint inspection" and work suggested that clearly was unnecessary. My son's BMW is a good one: I dropped it off for some heater recall and was told it needed an oil pan gasket - for $1,300!!!! I laughed at the guy. I put it up on the lift and yes, it was damp around the parting line but not leaking. I wiped it off and next time it was up for an oil change it was damp again! Shocking!!! The reason they're expensive is the Xdrive goes through them but it wasn't leaking, just a work generator. A good scan tool is a must, not just a code reader as you can have any parts store read it and load the parts cannon up, which may or may not fix it. As @Dzidenny said, you need to know what the code means.

Right now there are Christmas specials at Home Depot. Stick with one brand is my plan. I've got nothing but Dewalt and am happy with them. I'm sure I'd be happy with Milwaukee as well. I've got three chargers with batteries in them, all Dewalt, and have another charger at the hangar too.

I drove an 8 speed road ranger in an IH flat bed picking up drums of garbage while working on the farm. I loved that truck and especially the transmission. I drove many 5+2 wreckers and still own two trucks with 2 speed rears and the RR is way better. 1234 click, 5678! I find I rarely split gears with my dump. 2-5 low, 5 high. Empty just leave in high. Full load trying to accelerate onto the highway I may split every one but that's rare.