So, long story short me and the ladies dad have been doing a motor on this bucket truck. We are swapping a 300 straight 6 for for another.
Its registered at a 1972 bucket truck. Thats all. Im wondering if anyone has some cool info on it. Its a pretty wacky vehicle.
-The boom is run off a pump on the front ACC drive and works well at idle.
- The automatic transmission is the motor mounts and is made of cast iron, the cooler for it is coolant lines that goes from the side case of the trans to the side of the engine block.
-The 300 is not the factory motor from what we have gathered, it has some old GM electronics in it.
Picture time.
For what its worth, the steering wheel, horn button, and column look just like grandpa's '56 three-on-the-tree F-100 pickup
Edit: Went looking at pictures of a '56 F-100. I was told it was a '56, but it couldn't have been. The '57 has the correct body style.
In reply to CJ :
The truck is roughly dated early to mid 1950s per the axles and hubs/suspention. so that would make since. It might have started as a ford, went to a gm motor and back for ford or something like that.
This is all I could find on that ID tag. https://www.trademarkia.com/ca/highway-347756.htm
Edgerton was the next town over from where I grew up so I'm fairly curious as well.
RossD
MegaDork
10/18/18 11:23 a.m.
http://www.abmequip.com/Company.html
In 1987 ABM Equipment purchased the Highway Manufacturing company from Dorsey Trailer Company in Edgerton, WI. Highway Manufacturing produces pressure diggers and foundation drill equipment for the electric utility industry as well as foundation drilling contractors.
That is a good link from RossD. When I worked for the power company, we bought big hydraulic diggers from Highway for setting Transmission poles. The address listed on the ABM web site is the same old address. But that is the first Highway bucket truck I have seen, an interesting relic from another time. I'll bet they would love to see that boom removed and cut up, so they don't have to worry about someone getting hurt one day. If you have any thought of actually using the boom, have the unit thoroughly inspected by a qualified bucket truck inspector.
Danny Shields said:
That is a good link from RossD. When I worked for the power company, we bought big hydraulic diggers from Highway for setting Transmission poles. The address listed on the ABM web site is the same old address. But that is the first Highway bucket truck I have seen, an interesting relic from another time. I'll bet they would love to see that boom removed and cut up, so they don't have to worry about someone getting hurt one day. If you have any thought of actually using the boom, have the unit thoroughly inspected by a qualified bucket truck inspector.
We plan on using it once its fixed.
Opie (Mrs. Braps father) worked on heavy equipment/inspection for a living for a long time. We checked it out real good and 1 line needs replaced and the brakes need fixed (clean the master) and it should be good to go.
Professor_Brap said:
We plan on using it once its fixed.
Opie (Mrs. Braps father) worked on heavy equipment/inspection for a living for a long time. We checked it out real good and 1 line needs to be replaced and the brakes need to be fixed (clean the master) and it should be good to go.
Definitely a Ford steering wheel, so I assume it has a Ford chassis. The lightning bolt represents a straight six engine.
edited to add: no Zip code in the address on the data plate, which probably means it's pre-1963.
In reply to stuart in mn :
It is a 5 lug, split rim, narrow leaf spring chassis so quite sure its pre 1960 also.
Can I borrow it to cut some trees down?
Half serious, I’ve been researching rentals on boom lifts lately. The thought to buy a bucket truck, use and resell has crossed my mind
I'd love to see more of the cab. Is it a fore and aft two seater?
Patrick said:
Can I borrow it to cut some trees down?
Half serious, I’ve been researching rentals on boom lifts lately. The thought to buy a bucket truck, use and resell has crossed my mind
Long as you understand its old. Thats kinda the idea of me buying it.
Me tree only needs a slight hair cut.
Stampie said:
I'd love to see more of the cab. Is it a fore and aft two seater?
Its is, the back seat is broke, Its one of thoes things im going to fix just beacuse its cool. The front seat also swivels and goes up and down.
I think everyone should have their very own bucket truck.
Vigo
UltimaDork
11/5/18 3:20 p.m.
This is so cool. My FIL has a relatively mundane 80s ford bucket truck sitting in his backyard that i've half a mind to try and fix up. I dont own any giant trees like I used to, but I'm considering building a 2-story metal building and it would probably come in handy..
Also, I will take this opportunity to point out that giant trees are awesome and almost a mind-bender in commodity culture because you can't buy a new one and you can barely grow one in a human lifetime. If you want one, you have to go where they are. Might seem silly to get philosophical about a big tree, but I hold them in some wonder.
Vigo said:
This is so cool. My FIL has a relatively mundane 80s ford bucket truck sitting in his backyard that i've half a mind to try and fix up. I dont own any giant trees like I used to, but I'm considering building a 2-story metal building and it would probably come in handy..
Also, I will take this opportunity to point out that giant trees are awesome and almost a mind-bender in commodity culture because you can't buy a new one and you can barely grow one in a human lifetime. If you want one, you have to go where they are. Might seem silly to get philosophical about a big tree, but I hold them in some wonder.
We have a couple huge trees, I love them, they all have seen so much and been though some crazy times.
Stampie said:
I think everyone should have their very own bucket truck.
Everyone needs one.
Stampie said:
I think everyone should have their very own bucket truck.
So you’re saying this should be a bucket-list item?
No out-riggers?
And I thought the 70/80's were scary...
In reply to noddaz :
No out riggers at all. Ill take a picture of the tortion bar under it, I was pretty impressed. With 450lbs of sand in the bucket all the way extended and up the truck doesnt even lean. We bounced the bucket some and truck barley wiggled.
In reply to noddaz :
It must just be heavy. Now that you point it out it certainly looks tall and narrow.
Pete Gossett said:
Stampie said:
I think everyone should have their very own bucket truck.
So you’re saying this should be a bucket-list item?
Apparently Pete is going to be "That guy"...
Update:
Ran great on the way to the house, the brakes are not to bad. Anything above 45mph is quite a ride and do not recommend. We had to adjust the kickdown cable since all it wanted to do is down shift.
We got it to the house and we helped the neighbor guy trim his tree Friday afternoon, and it started missing and in general running bad. We thought it was a fuel issue since the ignition system is strong, so we cleaned the carb, changed both fuel filters and put 20gal of gas with heet in it. Came back the next day to clean our gutters and it would not start, the battery was flat dead.
A quick charge with my charger (love the thing) and it fired up. Soon as it was running pretty smooth we pulled the leads off and it quickly started running bad. After some investigation we determined that the alternator was not charging, so we ran it off my little charger all day, it ran 5 hours on a half of tank of fuel.
This is for thoes of you asking about reach.
Looks like doors on both sides of the cab. Some of those little bucket trucks were intended for urban use, such as streetlight work, and arranged so the operator could go directly from the cab to the (stowed) bucket, without having to get out and walk around.
Just thought I’d add that if you think a pickup makes you a hit with neighbors who want to borrow it, try getting a bucket truck. You’ll have groupies hanging around for crying out loud.
