2010 at the Hammond Barn

[Jordan Baker]

LOL. it must be all that oil that seeps out of the chev's.

Don't worry Im not starting or trying to start a Chev vs Ford thing since I wear both hats.

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Jordan Baker

LOL. it must be all that oil that seeps out of the chev's. Don't worry Im not starting or trying to start a Chev vs Ford thing since I wear both hats.

There are a few out there that swing both ways. However, I do like Gunner's comment ..."If it is a CMP, I will love it." I'm paraphrasing here, but you get the idea. Can't wait until Bobbie chimes in...

[RHClarke]

Bob? Grant? Guy? You guys still breathing? I have not seen any postings from the barn lately. While I have an excuse for not posting lately (beer drinking tour of the maritimes), you three have been particularly quiet. What is going on there in the great have not province of Ontario?

For collectors in the Annapolis Valley area - there is a 3/4 ton truck sitting near a barn near Cambridge (take the Kentville exit, and head east on highway 1 - keep your eyes peeled on the left hand side), and a flat fender jeep two klicks west of Aylesford, again on the 1 (sitting near a barn on the left side of the road). I am not sure if they are for sale as the "boss" wouldn't let me stop to enquire...something about no rusty army trucks while on vacation...and thus the beer drinking continues...

Regards from the Pictou area.

[Grant Bowker]

The annual wood gathering has started. After a day of cutting and splitting, then clearing small trees from under the power line to the barn, Bob and I were sitting on the (covered) deck having a well deserved beer when the downpour started. After a bit, while the trees were blowing around crazily we heard a splintering sound as of a tree being blown over. We weren't inclined to investigate since we were dry and had no great desire to change that. Next day Bob did a survey and found a chunk of a tree had been ripped of and was on top of the shelter containing "Ted's truck". I haven't seen it but Bob's description is that there has been no damage to anything except the tree and his nerves. The broken part has been removed from the shelter's roof, now we will brobably have to take down the rest of that tree.
On a local news note, Mik'e place has burned to the ground. No, not Mike Calnan but Mike the finest (only) restauranteur of Hammond. See: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/stor...mond-fire.html or http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loca...805?hub=Ottawa for details. Otherwise, I've been killing a lot of brain cells trying to figure out how much (or little) the C60X has in common with other chev CMPs. If you want a challenge...try to find a source for replacement master cylinders for a C60X, they make HUP parts look easy to source. They are desribed as being a Lockheed box type master cylinder, bore 1-3/4". They seem to be a mirror image of the cylinders used on early CCKWX, some AFKWX, likely early AFKW, possibly early CCKW and Studebaker US6 and US6x4. I haven't been able to figure out whether the symetry is enough that one of the LHD version could be swapped over tho RHD configuration. My brain hurts.

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

....The broken part has been removed from the shelter's roof, now we will brobably have to take down the rest of that tree.
On a local news note, Mik'e place has burned to the ground. No, not Mike Calnan but Mike the finest (only) restauranteur of Hammond.

I leave town for a few weeks and all hell breaks out...Wow! Fond memories of Mike's Place for sure. I hope he rebuilds. I am glad Ted's truck ran interference for the Prototype (next shelter over)...

Regards from the land of Keiths.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

...
On a local news note, Mik'e place has burned to the ground. No, not Mike Calnan but Mike the finest (only) restauranteur of Hammond. See: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/stor...mond-fire.html or http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loca...805?hub=Ottawa for details. ... My brain hurts.

With Marie's Restaurant a boarded up shell, it is sad that the other hamburger joint within range of the Barn is now gone. Time for a new business venture?

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Rob.......

Glad you re-surface from deep diving in Keith's beer.....

Been busy doing lumberjack things for next Winter.....

Did some custom trailer hitch job for Marcel's son......

....found another CMP but we are saving this one for Guy..... from the far reaches of the upper Gatineau....

...and we had high wind/thundrstorm every day around 4 pm this week..... winter garages have been seen flying..... trampoline in a corn field in Vars.... but our shelters seem to be protected by the high trees around the barn.....

....until one big limb broke off a butternut and crashed on Ted's Winter shelter..... oddly enough the mass of leafage spread the weigth on the tent frame/tarp with no damaged observed so far. Had a dry 60 minute window between storms..... supported the limb with the tractor bucket.....climbed in the bucket using an extension ladder and used the chain saw to dismantle the limb branch by branch........ upper part of the limb is still attached but the shelter is save for now, soon as I got finished it poured like hell.

Also fitted wheels to the container...looks cool..... but one of the expensive wheel/tires I got from Guy is flat..... will ask for my money back.... had to drive my truck out to jack up.... one of the boat gas line clip broke...?? got a replacement made in Taiwan..... is that Northern part of Quebec???

Things are supposed to dry up and cool down for the weekend..low twentys.... we hope.

When are you due back....??

Boob

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

Hi Rob....Glad you re-surface from deep diving in Keith's beer...When are you due back....??Boob

Hi Bob, The Keith's have been a wonderful tonic to help pass the time between duty visits to family (mostly in-laws) and (the wife's) friends. I think Jes has broken the code - he tells me to "have a Keiths" when I start to sigh or get bored. Not too many folks in the wife's social circle see the bliss in old trucks...

We hit the road tomorrow, but will be spending the night in Edmunston. I can only take "Are we there yet?" for so many hours... I hope to be back in McGuinty land the day after and out to the barn shortly thereafter to get reacquainted with my metal mistress and the other members of the HUP fleet.

Then, and only then, MY vacation will start.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Just wanted to thank Guy for his help today sewing up some surplus modular tentage for my M38A1 shelter. The UV rays have made my poly tarps too brittle to serve another winter. But thanks to Greg Wright for the tent parts and to Guy for running the canvas through his sewing machine for the repairs. The shelter has a new skin now.

[RHClarke]

It was a busy weekend for the Hammond crew. Saturday was spent in La Belle Province at the Sorel Car show and shine (losts of show, but not too much in the way of soleil). The car show included a lot of classic American muscle cars, but we stopped by to visit a few members of the "Blue Ball Express" to discuss things CMP and to explore the possibility of a repeat visit by the Express next summer to Hammond.

After walking the grounds, we made our way to the back of the lot in the tree line. There we found the folks we were seeking out. We got a good look at Gerry Boucher's well restored CMP truck. Interestingly, his truck sported some tires made by Gateway. They are commercial tires but look the part. Gerry mentioned that he was unable to find other Gateway tires and had to go to Speciality Tire to get a sprare 10.50 X 16.

After drooling over the various CMPs and Jeeps, we made our way to the 3ieme Batterie d'Artillerie de Montreal and met with CWO (ret) Gilles Aubé and his 25 Pounder Gun Detachment. After a tour of the Gun/Howitzer, Bob became an Honourary 3rd Battery Gunner when he fired his first 25 Pounder blank round.
It took the rest of the day for Bob to loose the SEG, and he was still smiling when we hit the road back to Hammond. We made a quick stop into the famous Bar B Barn in Montreal's west end. After stuffing ourselves silly, we made for Ottawa.

On Sunday, Bob and Grant cleaned out the barn and did some maintenance on the tractor. Today was moving day. We moved some gravel around Bob's driveway and filled in our versions of Lakes Ontario and Erie near the barn. Joyce must have felt sorry for us and ordered us to sit down to a great lunch.

Next we moved Bob's antique tractor to the front of the barn and then moved his shelter to the side of the barn next to the Prototype shelter. Bob moved his "Marina" CMP into the shelter and buttoned it up for the winter. After that fun, we extracted a few studs from a HUP front drum. The first one came out with some damage to the threads that left us in a bit of a quandry. Grant's sharp eyes noticed that there were thin locking wires retaining the spacers surrounding the studs. After they were extracted, stud number two came out with no damage. It will be making its way westward tomorrow to fill a special order.

It was a full weekend and we took advantage of the so-so weather to get things organized before the fall floods. There is still a lot to do including: more pothole filling, tree cutting, wood splitting, seacan moving, and of course CMP restoration projects. Ain't life grand???

Pic One: Gateway tires? Anyone know this manufacturer?
Pic Two: Bob and Gerry getting the low down on Gerry's truck.
Pic Three: Artilleur Bob Carriere just before "popping his cherry".