[AT] Some ads from the 8/20 Lancaster Farming (Treks)

Grant Brians gbrians at HOLLINET.COM
Mon Aug 22 06:49:23 PDT 2005


Mike, I am familiar enough with that area to recognize the HASSLES of 
driving it home.... Just getting it up through or around the Philly area 
would be "challenging". But it would be quite an experience.
    What brought on the thought (both serious and not) was three 
experiences, one about 20 or so years ago, six years ago and the last one on 
Friday. First the last one! Friday I needed to get the John Deere Lister 
(the one that I asked Dean Van Peursem about the part for on the list a 
month or so ago) from my home place to the ranch. I did not have time to 
either forklift it onto one of my trailers and reverse the process at the 
other end or to go borrow an equipment hauler from a buddy (the preferred 
option). So I hooked up the lister to the back the 3 point mounted sled that 
has my planet jr. planters on it behind my Ford 4610 and drove the iron 
wheeled lister to the ranch. The distance gate to gate is about four and a 
half miles with another mile of non-asphalt to drive on to get end to end. 
My maximum speed on the road was about 5mph, which was REALLY pushing it 
with the cleated drive wheel on the pavement. A bit over an hour later... 
there I was and ready to re-grease and list the beds.
    The second experience I had in mind was the same trek with my Ventura 
Bean planter. The direction was the opposite, but the distances similar 
(actually further because of where I had to enter the roads. The Ventura is 
an 8 row unit on 30" centers. It has markers that drop down on either side 
and is mounted also on 4 iron wheels. The nominal width is 20 feet, but the 
actual width is 22 feet. The planter shanks raise to a height of two and a 
half inches above the ground/pavement and the planter flexes in the middle. 
I had to keep all of the wheels on the pavement or it would then gouge the 
pavement and wear out the planter. The maximum speed on this possible was 
about 3.5mph and it nearly blocked both sides of the road all the way.... 
With the five miles onroad I had a lot of very interesting looks....... That 
trip was fun except for the RV and the tow truck that just could not get 
throught their heads that AG equipment besides having the legal right of way 
really could be gone around on the shoulder!!! Everyone else was pretty cool 
with the process. I will admit I did transport that in the middle of the day 
to avoid commute traffic.
    The oldest "onroad trek" was when I got my 1951 Oliver 77 Fleetline 
tricycle cultivating tractor. I bought it at an auction about 20 miles away. 
It has power steering which leaks and had no fluid in the pump reservoir 
when I bought it. I neglected to bring any fluid when I got the tractor and 
got a quart along the way. The front wheel was literally bouncing side to 
side when I drove it along at about 7mph. A very tiring drive. But the 
interesting result was that the tractor (which I bought for parts expecting 
it to only be good for that), is now still in use as a cultivating tractor 
and turned out to be in Excellent condition except for the one leak and the 
need to replace hydraulic hoses and seals.
    In short, these short "impossible" trips are actually productive and in 
many ways fun. That 150 miles could be either fun or absolutely impossible. 
Here in California I would say it would be feasible, in the rural midwest 
the same, there in the northeast with the populations, I could not say.... 
In either case, may you continue to find interesting equipment and enjoy it!
        Grant Brians
        Hollister, California
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Sloane" <mikesloane at verizon.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 4:04 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] Some ads from the 8/20 Lancaster Farming


>
>
> Grant Brians wrote:
>> Mike, I have comments on your comments on several of these items - not 
>> totally tongue in cheek....
>> Subject: [AT] Some ads from the 8/20 Lancaster Farming
>> For Sale:
>>>
>>> 6-wheel Cat 12 road grader, 6 cyl. diesel motor, good for grading farm 
>>> roads, $800 OBO. Must sell. Warren, NJ 908-859-2851. [hmm. I sold one 
>>> just like that to a farmer in Warren county, but I only got $500 for 
>>> mine]
>>>
>> These are very useful and if in good shape there is still a demand here 
>> in California where we still have a lot of them in use. But like you say 
>> on some items the shipping would kill us.
> The machine I had, a 1942 112 model, was entirely operated by levers going 
> to bull gears and making any kind of adjustments was an art in itself. 
> Operating the grader on my twisting hilly road required two men and a boy, 
> or the blade would either dig in or miss the ground entirely. And the 
> turning circle was measured in acres, not feet. For straight line road 
> building, I would imagine that an experienced operator would be able to do 
> a good job. I also wasn't willing to pay Cat's prices for parts.
>>
>
>>> Crawler crane 22-B Buryrus Erie 318 Cat engine 45 ft boom $3850. Cecil 
>>> Co. MD 410-642-2480. [that sure would be handy, but how would I get it 
>>> home?]
>>>
>> Now this question I can answer! Since you retired... drive it home! How 
>> far can it be from Cecil County MD to Allamuchy? Only about 150 miles, so 
>> traveling at 4-5 mph, it would only be 30 hours. This would be a terrific 
>> trek worthy of a full account!
> You are either joking or not familiar with the roads between those two 
> points. Moving that kind of machine would require at least two dozen 
> special permits from various state/local/bridge agencies, fully marked and 
> permitted escort vehicles front and rear, and the willingness to put up 
> with constant abuse from other drivers and local/state police. In fact, I 
> suspect that the permits are likely to specify night time travel only to 
> reduce the blocking of the roads during commuting hours. The only sensible 
> alternative would be to contract with a professional hauler, who would 
> likely remove the boom and handle the haul in two pieces. And the hauler's 
> price would require a home equity loan. :-)
>>
> Mike
> -- 
> Mike Sloane
> Allamuchy NJ
> mikesloane at verizon.net
> Website: <www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
> Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
>
> There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. It is 
> to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher. -Henry van Dyke, poet 
> (1852-1933)
>
>
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