The Nephews Buy A truck and I cut hay. Over achievers are we...

The Nephews have been jonesing for a truck since they got their first Tonka Toy.

Finally, through the wonders of online auctioneering and possibly the poor judgement that accompanies that aforementioned anonymous pleasure that is the downfall of so many farmers, they are now the proud owners of a Ford LN9000 crane truck.

The new truck devours my nephew... It was a little tight getting to the battery!

 

Its a beauty!

We went and looked at it before bidding. The batteries were completely dead and the auction yard was unable to start the truck. Without starting it was impossible to lift the hood so you could only kick the tires.

Nephew crawled under the hood and was able to check the oil with was perfectly clean. The auction company claimed it was an 8 spd but it was a Fuller with a blue knob and a red flipper so that means 13 spd. It also had a fifth wheel plate mounted and a frame long enough for a dump bed.

I did look up the vin and other information and discovered that it was a special order heavy truck and most likely had a big cam Cummins 400 and a 9 or 13 speed Fuller. Crane trucks and Low Boy trucks often have lower miles and are on a regular service schedule with a big company and often are good buys. Or so we rationalized. 

We set a price and someone went just a we bit more. As will happen...

So yesterday we went after it. Took a generator and a battery charger and just let it charge for a while. I knew it was going to be a good day when the generator hit the tailgate, knocked the tail gate open, dumped charger and generator onto Highway 18. While there are a few scratches, now the electric start feature works on the generator! I am very happy with that development as I did not spend the extra $50 for the Harbor Freight extended warranty and the electric start failed after one year and three days. Aside from a wee bit of embarrassment, I would classify this a pennies from heaven, but then I am an optimist.

But I digress...

We got it started. Fired right up with minimal smoke and then cleaned up pretty fast. Might have a ticking fan blade. Pretty sure it is not in the engine. After moving the crane out of the way we discovered that the truck had been setting so long the hood hinges had corroded stuck. (Aluminum with steel pins.) 

It is not quite Minneapolis-Moline Energy Yellow. I feel the color will grow on us. The crane is cool, it is a shame to sell it.

 

No turn signals but the brake lights worked. So we drove it home.  

Truck ran great! Blinkers actually worked twice on the way home so I feel more success is in our future. 

Major Bonus! The turn signals may not actually work but deer will not cross in front of this truck. I have always wanted one of these devices but never actually have seen one in the wild

 

After playing with the crane briefly...

I hooked the mower to the Vista and cut hay. Have not run the Vista in 20 years. Nephew fixed the brakes and hydraulic pump issues. I think the mechanic nephew also worked on setting the oil pump pressure last summer.  

We have ten days of warm weather but it is April 30. This is not the time of the year when you cut hay in western Oregon.

I cut five acres of Clover that was getting a lot of radish blooming and a field of Timothy that was full of annual ryegrass and wild carrot. Hopefully the Timothy will get serious about growing and I will get a crop of hay in a month when it will probably be raining...

I really just want to keep cutting but I have not even attempted to start the stacker yet this years so I don't know.