This is an odd ad!

[chris vickery]

Black dog refers to a point when you are so tired that you swear you saw a black dog run across the road in front of you that really didn't exist. It is a common phenomenom in persons who are overtired to the point of delusion.
The mind begins to play tricks on you and you begin to see shadows and illusions that are not real. It is a dangerous condition.

[Jes Andersen]

When I was a lot younger, I used to visit a friend who was studying nursing at the U of A in Edmonton. I lived in Victoria would get off work at 4, catch the 5pm ferry to the mainland and drive all night. The 13 hr trip out wasn't too bad but after a weekend, little sleep, the drive back Sunday night would often have me seeing bushes at the side of the road come to life and other odd sights on the way. In those days, the CPR had a ferry that left Vancouver at 3am and arrived in Nanaimo around 5:30am. Just enough time to drive home to Victoria, change my shirt, crab a coffee and head to work. I recall one of the older fellows I worked with asking what I did on the weekend. I replied that I had been in Edmonton to visit my girlfriend. When did you get back? he asked. My reply was, About 30 minutes ago...

Its a wonder any of us survived...

[rob love]

As I mentioned previously, a 10 ton porta power did not move the barrel back into battery. So I brought home the big guns: 25 ton porta power cylinder. I went and picked up some gr70 transport chains as well which only have a safe working load of 6000 pounds or so, but have a breaking strength of over 26000 pounds. So between the two of them, I figured it should hold the energy behind the 50000 pounds of hydraulic force.

I got it all set up, and after pumping the enerpac for a bit, had the chains tight as a scottsman's wallet. I was sure the chains were going to give, but I decided to go for broke. The pump had to have been close to relief. Suddenly a big bang. I looked for the broken link, but to my surprise, the recoil had jumped two inches. So I pumped some more, and it jumped again. It never did get easy though. It made me fight right to the last inch. I got it back to where it belongs today. Normally I woudl weld a gun like this into battery, but I'm pretty sure I won't need to on this one.

[rob love]

The next issue was what to do with the recoil rods which were now sticking out past the muzzle. They were absolutely solid, and with the pitting on them I suspect they were never going to be made to work again anyway. It is certainly not my intention to make this into a working gun.

I simply torched them ff close to the cylinders. The center cylinder had been left open for all those years, and water had collected inside of it. It froze and cracked the bottom of the cylinder, possibly mis-shaping the whole recoil mechanism. I suspect that was why it was so hard putting the sleigh back to the proper position.

In the last photo you can see where I have installed a set of the STA 10.50-16 tires. They look a little baloonish but at the same time the tread doesn't look out of place either.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Truly an adventure only those around here could fully appreciate!!

And no blood!! A good day indeed.

Originally Posted by rob love

As I mentioned previously, a 10 ton porta power did not move the barrel back into recoil. So I brought home the big guns: 25 ton porta power cylinder. I went and picked up some gr70 transport chains as well which only have a safe working load of 6000 pounds or so, have a breaking strength of over 26000 pounds. So between the two of them, I figured it should hold the energy behind the 50000 pounds of hydraulic force.

Igot it all set up, and after pumping the enerpac for a bit, had the chains tight as a scottsman's wallet. I was sure the chains were going to give, but I decided to go for broke. The pump had to have been close to relief. Suddenly a big bang. I looked for the broken link, but to my surprise, the recoil had jumped two inches. So I pumped some more, and it jumped again. It never did get easy though. It made me fight right to the last inch. I got it back to where it belongs today. Normally I woudl weld a gun like this into battery, but I'm pretty sure I won't need to on this one.

[rob love]

On an earlier day of using the porta power, I tried to save time by inserting a piece of 3" diameter steel roundstock in place once the cylinder had reached it's maximum extension. That would have saved setting up the chains every 5 inches. A large bang told me it was a bad choice. There was a second smaller bang when the 8 pound chunk of bar landed somewhere behind me.

I did not try that method again. Pretty sure, had it found the top of my head, I would have needed more than a few aspirin for the headache.

So in the end no blood.

[rob love]

Gun number two is on it's way home now. Rob Clarke let the cat out of the bag over on the Hammond barn thread, so I'll expand on it a bit here.

When other MLUers heard I was coming out, the requests to transport stuff was fast and furious. I had to make two trips out to my favorite scrapyard to retrieve items for Chris, Jordan, and Martin. I got everything loaded on Friday night, and as soon as I woke up in the morning, I was on my way.

First stop though was just North of Winnipeg, where I dropped 3 sections of modular canvas off to Derk, and picked up about 6 boxes of Jeep stuff for Jim in Arnprior.

I made it to Longlac that night and slept in the backseat of the truck. The days are much shorter now, and although I have not seen a moose yet, they have signs every 10 miles warning of their night danger.

Day two, I made it to Chris Vs place just South of North Bay, where I dropped off a larger project for him (I'll let him reveal it when he is ready) and a fair number of wooden chests for Ross, along with 2 thermal food chests for Jordan Baker. I was supposed to pick up a pile of Jeep engines and axles etc for Wayne in Alberta at that time, but there just wasn't room, and the day was getting late. I also had to pick up 2 25 pdr modern style rims and tires, which I was going to install on my 25pdr for the trip home.So I headed off towards Ottawa.

Spent the night at the Irving truck stop at Pembroke. Fantastic food, and a very large parking lot. I slept there (again in the back seat of the truck) had breakfast, then back on the road to Ottawa.

One stop first though...Jimmy Frazers in Arnprior. I have talked to Jim for over 20 years on the phone, but finally got to meet him in person. For a guy who claims to need more Jeeps, I have to tell you I have not seen this many Jeeps in one spot in a long time.

So off goes his 6 boxes, and I made a trade of a Ramsey military PTO for a huge door stop that weighs about 400 pounds.

Off to Ottawa, and Martin and his dad were already waiting at the Hammond barn for their delivery of a 1970 recoiless rifle Jeep. While I was helping Martin out with the Jeep, the pit crew at the barn (Bob, Rob, and Grant) installed the new tires on the 25 pdr.

This was when the first problem cropped up. The new tires were significantly wider than the originals, so it was not going to fit onto the trailer. After looking at some of the possibilities, we went to Bob's scrappile to see if the original beat up rims from the 25pdr could be found.

Long story short, they were installed, we hand winched the gun on as far as we could, then used whatever I had to try and add tongue weight to the trailer. By 2, I was heading back to North Bay.

Travelling was a little slow, as I did not trust the trailer at high speed with marginal tongue weight. So by the time I got to North Bay, it was dark. I splurged and rented a hotel room. Holy cripes...$150. Anyway, a good nights sleep and in the morning, back to Chris V's just as the sun was starting to come up. Chris could not be there, as he headed off to a job the day before, but he had pointed out everything I would need to load all the Jeep stuff. 3 engines, a transmission/transfer case, 3 axles, frame portions, rims, drums.....it was a load. Got it all on and back on the road by about 11.

So I am now in Longlac again, but as the temps were expected to go down to -8 tonight, I again opted for a hotel room.

If all goes well, I should be home tomorrow night. I did drive through some snow squalls as well as hail today, but none of it was significant. I do worry about the roads getting icy.

Sorry, no photos for now, but I'll get some of the load when I get home before I unload.

So more than a few hours spent acquiring and distributing bits and pieces to the various members here, but many have done the same for me......I am sure it will all equal out in the end.

Sorry if it's a little longwinded. I like to look back at these posts to remind me how much work goes into these acquisitions.

[chris vickery]

Thanks again Rob for helping out.
As mentioned, there's a good chance that I will be going your way in the next year so perhaps I can return the favour back out and home again when the time comes.
To me, this is part of what the hobby is all about.