2012 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

...except that it is hot ansd sticky.

With the barn doors open at both ends..... and laying down on a folded cardboard over the cool cement floor was not so bad.....

...... in fact after Rob left I laid my head on a roll of paper towel and dozed off for a few minutes....... just lying there under the truck..... nuttin cooler than that.

I removed the bumper and unbolted the front U shape cross member that holds the "arches" ..... the cross member sprang forward about 1/2 in. but no effect on the frame twist.

Next step will be to loosened all the bolts to the large crossmember under the rad and also loosen the crossmember that holds the engine......

I have now removed the rad and removed the front tire/wheels and the axle are resting on leveled jack stands resting on the bottom of the flange to the egg cup.... the only point of reference I know to be exactly the same height from the floor.

Frame seems to be twisted upperward on the LH pass. side by at least 3/4 in.

Twist seems to be from the T case cross member forward..... this truck had a huge snow plow made from a cut off section of rivetted curved boiler plate.
Frame had a crack on the pass. side which was ground V shaped and Mig welded........

I tried lifting the driver's side but the axles lifted off the axle stand before any noticeable changes could be seen/measured on the frame.

I had to remove the floor to access some fo the bolts and also to reduce the possible rigidity induced by the floor.

To do a reverse twist with jacks I may need to released the spring packs from the spring perches.

Not glamorous work but needs to be done....... I am starting to know this baby inside out from the many assembly and disassembly done so far.

Nut gonna give up yet !!!!!

Bob

[Private_collector]

Bob,

It sounds like you are having a nightmarish time, trying to remedy that warp.

At least you know what you are doing. I would have to give up & get a replacement. Either that or hand it over to someone else to fix, with all the $$$ that would go along with that.

Makes for interesting reading, but heartbreaking none the less.

[RHClarke]

late reports from Hammond indicate some damage to shelters. Repairs will take place tommorrow.

[RHClarke]

Well, the damage was not as great as expected. The wind did manage to shift a few shelters and did a number on a few of the plastic tarps and the original shelter material.

Clive's shelter took the biggest hit, which was surprising as it was in a treed area out of the wind. Grant's two shelters located along the laneway to the barn shifted slightly and there was tarp damage. The "Ted's Truck" shelter and the 45 HUP shelter suffered damage to the material. Ted's Truck shelter is slightly exposed behind the barn. Its exposed side shifted inwards about a foot. The 45 shelter had the modular tent roof blown off exposing the sunworn material underneath, which tattered in the wind. The front "door" separated where the tie downs meet the frame and split from top to bottom in the center.

Bob did the initial damage assessment and repairs, but it looks like more tarps will be needed. Clive's shelter will need major adjustment, but its contents are OK. The 45 shelter now has a new front "door" - a cat piss stained end section of a modular tent. Hopefully the stench will fade by the next visit.

Some of Bob's trees didn't fare well, and Bob spent the afternoon collecting dead fall and broken limbs from his trees near his front yard. He said that he filled a 3/4 ton trailer with blowdown. All in all, we got off lucky. It could have been much worse.

Photos:

1 - One of Grant's "walking" shelters
2 - Clive's "expanded" entrance
3 - Two destroyed trees - guess which way the wind was blowing
4 - The 45 shelter - now entirely wrapped in mod tentage

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by RHClarke

Well, the damage was not as great as expected. The wind did manage to shift a few shelters and did a number on a few of the plastic tarps and the original shelter material.

...

The 45 shelter had the modular tent roof blown off exposing the sunworn material underneath, which tattered in the wind. The front "door" separated where the tie downs meet the frame and split from top to bottom in the center.

Bob did the initial damage assessment and repairs, but it looks like more tarps will be needed. Clive's shelter will need major adjustment, but its contents are OK.
...

Agreed. I reskinned my car shelter with modular tent sections. There is a big brass grommet in the centre of the seam which locate a pin on the original folding arch. As long as you mask that off well, you can make a new roof in no time. Guy Vapeur helped with some major sewing repairs where the surplus pieces were unserviceable. (Guy is your neighbour of course.) The only modification I needed to do was use that modern invention - the fold - to raise the unneeded sides up about 5 feet.

My modular sections came from Greg who is Mike Calnan's neighbour. (What is it about kindred spirits living close together?) He and I sorted through a number of pieces before finding enough single and double door ends, and centres that weren't in awful shape.

[RHClarke]

There was some activity at the barn last weekend. Bob and Grant returned from their trip to the states for a MV show. Bob might chime in with some observations. Back at the barn Bob continues to strip down his truck to determine where the misalignment between the front frame horns may lie. Grant sandblasted the nose to his truck.

I spent last Saturday propping up a few of the wrecks we got last year. Most of our latest acquisitions sit in the open with tarps over the valuable bits. The ground in the back field is somewhat soft, so every year we have to readjust the frames so that wheel assemblies (with and without rims) are out of direct contact with the ground.

The preferred tool is the tractor, but when Bob isn't around we rely on the trusty farmer's jack. Once the frame is in the air, a log is stuck under the frame. The jack is lowered and the truck's journey to China via the direct route is halted.
Cheap insurance from premature rot. Some shots follow.

Photos:

1 - Grant working the sandblasting equipment
2 - Elevated truck
3 - Another one
4 - One more
5 - Last one

[RHClarke]

This past week I had the honour of attending the birthday of our very own Gunner's father, Colonel (Ret'd) Michael Calnan. Gunner ain't no spring chicken but his dad has fewer grey hairs than Gunner has.

Prior to the festivities I spent the morning at the Swords and Ploughshares Museum doing grounds work. The rear of the main building needed a severe clearing as swamp maples had grown up between the building and the sea container. Once that was done, Gunner and I hooked in two guns that would later adorn Gunner's father's front lawn.

This event was interesting as a lot of senior retired gunners made their way to Kars to join in the festivities. Fortunately, most of them do not (or maybe choose not to) remember me, so I got to avoid rehashing some old misdeeds...for now.

It was good to see some of the old crew still kicking around, but I had to fetch my youngest from another birthday party in town and bowed out before the beer and wine really started to flow.

It was nice to see the Colonel and Barbara again. I also like their lawn ornaments!

Photos

1 - A Russian copy of a German gun used by the Finnish Army (true stuff!)
2 - A FYR gun we saved from the cutting torches
3 - Lawn ornaments