"The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

The Crummy….

This is my other build but it’s been about a 15 year deal to date. It’s time will come here soon and it’ll get the lipstick it deserves. I’ve shown some of the more recent dramas on my C10 thread but I feel now that it deserves its own show. I wanna keep the C10 story its own too.

The short story –
I’ve been burning firewood as a sole source of heat for a bunch of my life and my current household is just that, no wood = no heat. In my neck of the woods, good wood ain’t easy to get. It’s hard to find and when you do its way off the road and the terrain is thick and steep. Over the years I’ve accumulated some good rigging and have had a couple killer saws. These days it’s like trophy cutting. We’re looking for the big boys.
Years back I worked in the sawmilling equipment industry with a fabricator that spent the first half of his adult life as an old-growth timber faller. This was one tough dude that worked up the west coast from California to Alaska, cutting blow-over Sequoias, helicopter logging Doug-Firs, giant Cedars, you name it. I never spent a day in the woods with Andy but he for sure taught me a thing or two about cutting trees just from his stories. He was living large, making big dough and always told stories about the boss tossing him keys to some brand new 1 ton 4x4 that they’d use to shuttle men, fuel, food and gear from town to the site each day. They called these rigs “The Crummy” and they’d beat the effin schnot out of them. A good one would last a year he said.
It’s mid 90’s and I’ve had an F250, a C20, and even a K20 Burban and a K5. It’s time for a good wood getting rig and I’ve got my mind set on a 4x4 3+3, not dually, not Chevy Diesel and not automatic. About a year goes by and I’ve looked at quite a few but nothing that fits the bill and is within my budget. One day a dude from work says that he spotted one in the weeds down some road. I go check it out, knock on the door and it’s some old logger dude – “That’s’ the old Crummy I bought off my boss”. Turns out it was bought brand new for a logging outfit in Leavenworth, WA as a Crummy. This dude worked there and bought it when it was deemed “done”. Lemme tell ya, this effer has been to hell and back. I heard one story about them nose diving it off the side of the logging road with 500 gallons of diesel. That’s where the gonk in the roof came from and why it had new glass front and back. Every single conceivable place you could possibly hook a chain to was tweaked and ripped from like a giant can opener. Virtually all the rivets in the chassis were loose. They used this thing to try and pull stuck equipment out of the shat. The interior and dash were peppered with holes from cork boots. It had been sitting where it was for more than five years but had a “20,000k miles” motor in it. Dude wanted the utility-style bumpers off it and I struck a deal for $900. I came the next day with a truck and trailer only to find the dude out there with a gas can and battery charger. He looked shocked that I had planned on trailering it home. I asked “got clutch and brakes?” he sorta giggled. Drove that beotch home, did a full tune up and the story began….
I know I’ve got some older photos but I’ll have to post them as I find them. Between then and now I’ve had a bunch of sheet metal on there. The cab is the only OG piece and I’m ready for a new bed and tailgate again. I’ve been through the brakes, suspension, steering, wiring, trans and motor but most of that needs done again (I’m smarter and better equipped now). This is a working truck, I bash it and use it past it’s design limits. Whenever I do maintenance on it functional/sturdy is priority over pretty. I can’t think of a single screw I haven’t turned, yet I’d bet for sure you could still find a chain file, scaler’s ticket or bottle cap in there somewhere. This thing has already done more work than most any truck will ever see. I will never sell this truck.
The most recent work has been the addition of the old-school Warn 8274 that a good neighbor gave me for being a good neighbor. Went to the scrap yard for some ½” material, 150lbs and some fresh grade-8’s later and I’m ready to yard some shat. I’ll also post up whatever I can find on my photo drive.
This should be an ice-cold thread. I’m supposed to be working on the ’67!!

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Hmmm can't upload photos... security token???

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

When I was a kid growing up and then working for Weyerhaeuser here in Longview. I've seen Weyco use school buses for "crummies' They would shuffle so many guys out to the woods.
The driver would be the first one up and last one home...He got a couple extra bucks for his trouble though.
Sorry I cant help you with that security token thing. I have gotten it in the past too.
Heres a couple pics of those that St.Helens got.

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Hi might be tooooo BIG a pic?

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Cool photos! Andy told me stories about cutting some of that timber. The company bought out every roll of carbide tipped saw chain they could find.

Trying again on those photos but re-sized. The uploader thingy usually does it automatically?

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Here's a few I've found. I'll keep digging..

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Few video links...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9FA...6VqI0LUmMvqoVg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGgf...vqoVg&index=16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYgg...6VqI0LUmMvqoVg

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Ain't nuttin better than an ol'reliable work truck.
Im in.

Hows the '67 and S10 doin'?

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

usally the resizer works.....I see a G80, wow,hope mine never looks like that

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Glad you're here! Ain't done diddly on the C10 in a while. Boy has a four-bolt block done up and his new heads rebuilt. He should about have the scheckles for parts here soon. I'll do an update on Punching Bag.

Yep, that WAS a G80. Boy was a little trigger happy pulling that big old Fir up onto the road. Would you believe that it actually still worked enough to get the full load home? I wouldn't really say "worked" but it would somehow swirl all that stuff up tight enough to drive. It'd "un-swirl" on deceleration but once you were back on the gas it'd wad itself up again turn the axles! Wasn't pretty but got us home without having to use the front. I did another one doing cookies in the snow right after that :dohh:

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Cool truck! Always loved the crew K30's.

Gov-lock go boom! They never were the heartiest of diffs.


Mike

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Thanks! I think they're plenty stout as long as you know how to use them. You gotta get them locked BEFORE you hammer down. They won't lock up after the carrier is whirlin' BUT they will stick a finger in the spokes when that thing is going from zero to a zillion. The one I did in the snow was the result of side-steppin in third from a stand still.... POW! That one still got me home too though. If I had the dough I'd love to have selectable in both.

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

So between us we have grenaded 5 of them. They have such a bad reputation in my offroad group that they are referred to as "gov-bombs". I still say they aren't very durable or effective over about a 32" tire. I've had such poor service from them that I will not run one in anything I take off road anymore. Then again I've never been accused of having a light foot or driving finesse! :)

Selectable is nice, but a Detroit is much cheaper and I personally haven't seen one break in a 14ff.

Mike

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Hear that. I've also heard them called Gov-Bombs. I can tell ya that my original one saw "reasonable service" for the 10-15 years that I ran it. Dunno how much use it'd seen before me but I would bet it was commercial. I rodded on it plenty too. I did swap the old 350 4bbl to a "mild" 454, lifted and switched from a 265 to a 315 (31" to 35"). That was a big tree too and the Boy is a lead foot. We were half loaded and he did this big roll-back thing in 4L with big wood on the line - lemme say YANK! That Dana 60 was bouncing off the ground with the secondary's open (need video this year). That said, I trashed two of them last year and I'm just fixin to go after some more big-boys again (got a winch and a total of 450' of wire rope now baby!). If I lose another one I'll for sure upgrade. I'd need to grab an open-carrier to do the Detroit or some other lunch-box. Maybe just Lincoln-lock an open?? I have to admit, when I swapped them G80's I simply slapped my old ring gear and bolts on to the bone-yard carrier, jammed the carrier into the pinion tight, then backed it off one or two holes. Fresh oil and full throttle!

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Looking forward to following along with the "Crummy". BTW, if you were here I could give enough oak trees to last a few years....decades. I have 20 acres, last year's tornado pushed over a few hundred blackjacks, red, and white oaks.

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Thanks for the look Mike! It'd be sad to loose those trees but I'd sure love to help clean some of that up for you. Hmmm... at 8mpg, loaded or empty, what do you think that'd run? I did drive that sucker up to Prince George B.C. one winter...
I don't know if I'd gamble on a build race with your Camaro. I've got MILES ahead on my C10 still. Gotta get behind that wheel before I get serious with the Crummy, and it's still working.

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Sure wish I had a big-load picture update but it's been pretty lame this year. We've brought it home LOADED a few times but all baby shat, nothing better than 24" so far. Boy and I are headed up hunting again tomorrow and still five Sunday's left. We're looking for a statue, a farkin Goliath that we can drag home in big blocks.
The winch works awesome but it's really kind of disappointing. 8000lbs pull (advertised) won't even drag the big fella down the dirt road. We rigged up to a full stem down the bank on a high-line and it flat-out stalled. Mondo battery and cables, big amps, nothing - locked rotor. Put the toy away, turned the truck around and hooked to the hitch. Yarded that thing out like a dead lizard. Upgrades are in order here, one day a hydraulic setup on PTO. Don't get me wrong, I could prolly yard a few Toyota's out of the ditch on one line but I was really hoping for more. If I was stuck in a bog it wouldn't pull me out.

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Well, looks like I'll be working on that winch. We found some big-azz butts that were way off the downhill side. We got a few of them but then she bogged down and quit.

Bedsides are just a little splayed out...

Super crappy cell phone pic.

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Do work Crummy! That thing is bad ass!

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Cool truck!

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Holy crap! how'd you get those "butts" loaded? Glad to see you working Crummy

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Thanks guys!

Here's how I've been loading them :lol: Once these are worn out I'll probably have to start splitting them up a little.

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

That's a proper load!

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Re: "The Crummy" - '77 K30
 

Proper load and splitting butts.... HA HA what kind of web site is this? HA HA HA HA