18" tyres...again

[Matt Austin]

Morning, folks,

I do hope I'm not annoying people by bringing up this topic again. I've set my Chev sedan aside, undercover, as I'm aiming to have my International K5 ready for Corowa a year away.

I've been chasing details on the 18" tyres, and have met some dead ends.

The easiest option is Coker Tire 18x1100 DUKW repros. Thanks to the Aussie dollar, they're around $1000 each, delivered. If I need to get them, so be it, it'll just be bread and water for a while!

Then there are Gama Goat tyres. Speaking with a few people, Jack Tomlin in Utah was the man to speak with, but he passed away in 2010. Apparently, a gent by the name of Alan Morris has a yard near Grantsville, Utah, and he picked up much of Mr Tomlin's stock. He goes by the name of eaglhawk on various forums, but the two email addresses I've found are bouncing.

There's also a gent named Larry Johnson, from Ogden, Utah. Seems Utah is the place to be for these tyres! He was listed around 2003, but I can't find anything.

I also understand that a few Aussies went in a group buy some years ago, so I imagine most Aussies have their 18" tyre needs taken care of. Does anyone know where these tyres came from?

Thank you for reading this post, I hope someone may have info.

Cheers,
Matt

[Lionelgee]

G'day Matt,

I like a challenge - I found an old newspaper article form 1998 that features Alan Morris and the "Junk Yard Ranch". The article puts Alan at then being aged 53; so that makes him 71 years of age now.

Accessed 27th February 2016, from https://www.hcn.org/issues/88/2732

The article mentions Carbondale, Colorado, USA however the address and contact details I found for the same business name mentioned in the newspaper article is now located 13 miles away in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The current details are found within this link

http://www.salvage-parts.com/junk-ya...enwood-springs

You mentioned Grantsville, Utah, and that is 401 miles away from Glenwood Springs Colorado - perhaps Alan retired, sold up and moved interstate?

There could be a lot of people called Alan Morris around in the "Junk Yard" Business?

I hope this is of some help?

Kind Regards
Lionel

[gjamo]

http://www.megavision.net/dickstires/

[Matt Austin]

Thank you very much, Lionel, there's a lead to chase up. One ad had the tyres at $65 to $90 each, depending on quality, so it's worth the hunt!

Cheers,
Matt

[BCA]

Don't forget that the Gamma Goat tires have a much lesser ply-rating than the DUKW tires. About 15 years ago I had some of those Gamma Goat tires: they looked brand new but after only a couple of years they were very badly weather-cracked. I don't mind weather cracking on the original very-thick ply DUKW tires but not on the thinner Gamma Goat tires.

[gjamo]

https://www.geotyres.com.au/10-5-80-...-backhoe-tyre/

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/301875020...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/321901298...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT