84 Crewcab...AKA..Patches

Well here are some updates on what I have been doing to, and with Ol' Patches the last few months.

Our move up to PG went well. Loaded the truck, the wagon (wife drove it to PG) and her car on a dolly. U-haul screwed me over after I reserved the actual trailer a month in advance and was Guaranteed it would be available for my move.Needless to say it wasn't. So had to use the car dolly, which actually worked out fine to be honest.

 
We were technically homeless for about 3 days....we had to be out of our old house on July 8th at 11am, and didn't take possession of the new home until July 10th at 6pm.

Day we moved in...unloading patches.....



Once we were in our containers arrived...



I had managed to squeeze the snow plow for Snoball into one of the containers....;)

 
I wrestled the plow out, then had my daughter help me move it across the yard.....



And just after this I broke 2 fingers. Did it while doing pull-ups on the big I-beam in the garage. Had a crooked grip, started to pull up and heard "crack, crack, crunch" and fell to the floor. What sucked even more was I was starting my new job the next day. Had to work with broken fingers for the next 3 months.....they have finally healed up to about 95% now.
 
When we got the place the long drive way...about 400 feet long....had been neglected. The brush had been allowed to over grow until it looked like an old logging road. So patches and I cleared it....with broken fingers no less....;)



 
After getting up here I discovered that you can not rent car trailers. Down on the coast I could rent them from several places, so never had the need for my own. Well I had to buy a car trailer.

I found a place that sells Canadian built units for killer deals. I got a 2016, with a GVW of 10K lbs. Here is my first load on the trailer.



1991 Craftsman lawn tractor, with a 46" cutting deck, and a 2 stage snowblower attachment. Needed a bit of love after sitting neglected for a few years, but nothing I couldn't handle. Works great!
 
We were looking for a puppy as soon as we got up here. But big dogs were tough to find. Finally got one though. She is a Mastiff and St Bernard cross, and her name is Maggie.

Day we brought her home, 8 weeks old. She was the smallest in the litter, but the only one in the faun colouring.



Here she is just a couple weeks ago...at 4 1/2 months and 45lbs.



And a pic of the truck I drive now....

 
Next I had to come down to the coast to take my daughter to her orthodontist, and pick up Sno-ball. I had it parked at my friends house/old neighbour. ;)

Saw this on the way down. I pulled into Cache Creek for fuel, and this guy pulled in right after me.





Guy was form Idaho, and Truck was an 85 with 93 running gear I believe. He was on his was to Alaska and had built the truck special for the trip. We BS'd for a while, snapped a few pics of each others trucks, and went our ways.

Snow-ball all loaded up....



And back home...



Made the trip with no issues other then I lost another BFG. Had the tread start to separate down the center of the RH rear tire, but still made it all the way home on that tire. ;) That was the second tire to go like that in just over 2 months.
 
Next trip was to go pick up a couple older sleds. Again the new trailer came in handy. ;)





Had another BFG go on me just as I got to Kamloops to pick up the sleds, same M/O as before, bands separating and bulging down the center. I had put on 2 good used Toyo tires on the back before heading out, so had one of the old BFG's as my spare. So swapped it on before heading home.

Hard to see in this pick....but the tire is bulging to the left.

 
Did a couple local hauls. Picked up my spare sheet metal from my storage, and brought it home.



Then bought a U-built storage tent/structure. Had to pull it down myself, but for the money I couldn't pass it up. Will be handy until I can build a shop.





Guy was an old car owner as well....68 Firebird 'vert with a 400/auto and lots of options. Super nice guy, and Since I'm new to the community he is going to keep me informed on the old car scene. Even gave me a larger event/beach umbrella with "Mopar" on it. ;)
 
Getting near the end of my updates....;)

About a month ago I was going to be making another trip down to the coast with the trailer. So a friend who's daughter goes to University in Kelowna had wrecked her car, so he asked if I could swing by to get it and bring it down....I said of course!



While getting out of town I stopped for fuel and looked at my Odo....300,001 Km's...Wohooo!



And If you might recall, or not, I was talking about a tractor or bobcat for the property, well I finally found one. Bought it through the Richie Bros auction in Chilliwack in Oct. I bid on-line live and got a screaming deal...at least IMO...for the unit.

My brother deals with RB all the time so he was able to check it out for me. Then he picked it up and brought it to his house since it had to be out of their yard before I could get down.

So here it is.....1989 Case 1845C Uni-loader / Skid steer. Love it because the is no electronics, everything is lever or cable actuated, AND it Has a 4bt powering it as well!!



Brothers dogs...Sunny and Rain...helping.



And made it home with no issues.



Actually over the entire trip of 2000+ km's I averaged 17.5mpgs....not bad!
 
Before I headed down to get my machine I also installed some Centramatics.









Only problem was they would not fit behind my OEM 1993 16" rims without hitting the center of the rim. I had a set of winter tires mounted on these rims, and when I ordered the Centramatics they asked what rims I was running. They said these would fit, well they do not. So I had to put my old tires back on, since they are 2nd Gen rims and clear just fine.

When I was down I went my one of the old junkyards I dealt with, and they managed to find me another set of the 2nd Gen rims I already have.



I also swung down across the Canada/US border to pick up my winch bumper.

All loaded in the back of the truck....like I needed more weight. Good thing Patches doesn't care....;)

 
Pics of my new winter tires. They are Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac in 235/85/16.

With out center caps,





With center caps. I like the center caps. ;)





I did a ton of research on winter tires and I was torn between these and some Hankooks. But a local tire shop had these on for 25% off so I bit the bullet on these.
 
Nice house! and a big yard! Looks like patches is serving you well, and the pup is awesome. Need a good faithful friend on such a big lot.

Looks like you've been busy busy... Sorry about the broken fingers, it sucks to work injured.

Interesting, Jester moves to Chilliwack and Cow moves away. Another case of "There goes the neighborhood" [smilie=J:
 
Some pics of my new winch bumper....











This was made by Jamie at RLC Welding and fab....

http://www.rlcweldfab.com/

I found pics of his Chevy bumpers on E-bay and E-mailed to see if he could modify the Chevy unit to fit my dodge. He replied that he actually had made a couple for 1st gen dodge trucks. So I finally ordered one up.

I am still currently getting some paint on it. Have to find time when it's warm enough to paint outside. Sucks not having a shop....:(

Will update on the bumper as work progresses.
 
And just the other day I was cruising on-line ads and found a guy selling some diffs with 3.54's from a 93 1st Gen. I need a set for the cummins conversion on Sno-ball. So I contact him and we get to texting back and forth. Eventually I ask if he had any other 1st Gen parts. he said the diffs were still in the truck, but he said there wasn't much left of the truck. I still asked how much extra to haul the whole carcass away....he said no extra, just buy the diffs at his asking price.

So I get out the other day to pick up the truck. I had to bring my own tires since it was sitting on blocks. Then we had to pull it out and get it lined up so I could use my old come-a-long to pull it up on the trailer.





 
Truck was originally a cummins/getrag, but had a NV4500 in it, but they pulled the motor and tranny for another project. But tossed a bad getrag in the truck...input bearing is toast. The truck still has the pedals, hydros, getrag bell and clutch fork, shifter and boots and transfer case shifter and plates. Fan and clutch with a good shroud, all the wiring is there and in decent shape. Even a storage rack for behind the seat....been wanting one of those for years! I'm pretty happy about it...wife not so much. ;)















 
In regards to the Craftsman mower, like a few other name brands made by MTD, a decent all around mower. But their main weak point is almost every part of the steering system, spindles, gearing and tie rods. When the steering gets sloppy your only choice is new parts. But with regular greasing they can be made to last a long time. I've got an MTD 42" cut with a 19.5 hp at my old house that I got for $200 but had to rebuild the entire steering. It's an OK mower, but it doesn't hold a candle to my John Deere zero-turn.
 
cow the new place looks sweet..so when do we get house and living shots hmm?

on that mower..do youself a favor right now..pull the starter and have a look and see if it has the PLASTIC starter gear..99% positive it will...order a BAG of replacements..you can get said bad for the price of 2 new ones and they do chew them up

secondly get your ass across the boarder or online..and order a 12k+ winch from harbor frieght ..next weld a reciever point on your trailer....youll thank me for that cause then the winch doesnt have to sit in the rain and now you have a winch you can slip into the tail of ANY truck....the harbor frieght winches are touch sumbitches....i tried to kill one..couldnt...pulling cars n truck up a hill draggin all 4 tires as they try and pull that big ole f350 over the hump and down to them....even pulling big reefer nprs up onto a tilt box

i WANT your puppy!
 
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