[AT] Tractor Hauling pickup

James Peck jamesgpeck at hotmail.com
Tue Dec 3 07:16:48 PST 2019


I was unaware of where the Duramax engine was cast and machined.

Legislation that prevents farmland from becoming suburban residential property would have consequences, some unintended.

I worked in an engine plant that machined and assembled the Dodge V10 iron and aluminum engines.

Cecil Bearden AT list member, Oklahoma farmer, and Professional Engineer (crbearden at copper.net);  As I remember the Duramax was cast and machined in several countries and then assembled in the USA.   The Duramax does nto have a real good reputation here in OK.  For 1 ton hot shot use, the first choice is the Dodge Cummins then the Ford, and then last is the Duramax.  For all around use, the ford seems to last the longest.  The Dodge cabs fall apart after 200K miles on our rough roads.  In Hot shot use puling a trailer, 200K miles is not a very long time, and with the high cost of a replacement, the engine performance becomes not as important as the reliability and durability.  Back in the 80's when trucks were used for working, an old timer who checked wells daily used a Ford for driving the well route.  When he traveled on the road he used a Chevy.  The Chevy handled the best and rode the best on the highway, but that Twin I beam design in both 2 and 4 wd on the Ford was the best ride on rough rutted well location roads...  
Here in Oklahoma, we have so much of an influx of people who never lived in the country but decide to move out onto 5 acres.  Then they can't stand for their SUV to get dirty so they raise a ruckus with the commissioners until the roads are paved.  Due to the chip and seal cost, they only lay down a 2 inch coating.  The oil patch trucks find a new road and immediately change their route.   The road looks like the Ho Chi Minh Trail within 2 months.  Then the county sends out a jail crew to fill the holes with cold patch and now what was a hole is now 1 to 2 inches higher than the roadway.  For us who are retired and have to make our vehicles last, we have to dodge these holes and drive a lot slower than when we had  a shale road that was graded every 3 months. ( maybe)  The people who have moved out here are now always in a hurry to get back into town so they drive like a bat out of hell and then trade their vehicles every 2 or 3 years as the suspension is shot.  
It is a never ending battle to keep enough land to farm and compete with the developers and absentee heirs who are just looking for a fast buck for the land.  
I have digressed form the topic, my apologies....

James AT List Member (jamesgpeck at hotmail.com); I think the Dayton Ohio area GM plants are IUE versus UAW.  The IUE and UAW are both fellow traveler CIO unions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Union_of_Electrical_Workers



GM Plans New Plant in Ohio, The 251,000-square-foot complex will employ 100+ workers producing components for GM's Duramax diesel truck engines.

https://www.ien.com/operations/video/21103647/gm-plans-new-plant-in-ohio  I would bet that the machining is done with CNC machines versus old fashioned transfer machining lines. Probably the unknown to me is how the parts are loaded. The Duramax engines go into Silverados.



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