HG's thread of miscelaneous stuff

[TennesseeZ]

The green/yellow is a 1955 ford, my 1st car. When you go back see if it has the green plastic bubble behind the speedo, mine did, as did some 56's

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Yes the back was jacked up the front was too...I'll have to look for pics..

Please do.

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Back in the day... late 70's early 80's I had a 71 ElCamino with L50-14s on the back... Air Shocks for lift!

Post pics if you got 'em! Let's see that mullet!

Originally Posted by earl84

Just found this thread and subscribed. Some really interesting photos. I grew up in Casselton, ND, just 20 miles west of Fargo, so I know a lot of the areas you are talking about. Very interesting, indeed. Thanks for sharing.

Welcome aboard. My first territory as a boiler inspector included Casselton. The school boiler there was coal fired IIRC. Very rare to see solid fuel boilers at a school. I covered from about Breckenridge north to the Canada border and about 75 miles east and west of that line from 1994 to 1997.

I moved out a week before the big flood and fire. Actually left on the day when I-94 was closed through most of ND because of a nasty ice storm. All the power lines were down. We could see them along the freeway laying in the fields with snapped off poles attached and a sheath of ice about an inch thick over all of it.

I think that was the worst drive I ever had to make and have not had another that bad since then. My youngest was just 3 weeks old. Me, the wife, 3 kids, and a dog in an 87 Toyota 4Runner driving an iced over and severely rutted I-94 in single file with the semis and backed up traffic across ND in 4wd the entire time. I was absolutely fried that night when I finally stopped. I have fond and horrifying memories of my time up there.

And if you like old machinery and get the chance, you have to find this place (Oops, nevermind, I see you're in TX now)...
http://www.larsonweldingandmachineco.com/

It's been a long time since I was there, but they used to do antique tractor and machinery repairs. One of the only places left in the region that could still do the riveting. They always had awesome old iron around there. It's been about 17 years since I was last there, so maybe things have changed. Things do tend to move along whether we want them to or not.

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Post pics if you got 'em! Let's see that mullet!
.

Here's a couple...This first pic of the Elky was taken in 1980 in Biloxi, Mississippi



I'm the one on the right, my brother and Dad are in the pic with me... I was in the Air Force and on vacation at my parents place in Daytona Beach, Florida when this was taken... Sorry no Mullet...

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Here's a couple...This first pic of the Elky was taken in 1980 in Biloxi, Mississippi

I'm the one on the right, my brother and Dad are in the pic with me... I was in the Air Force and on vacation at my parents place in Daytona Beach, Florida when this was taken... Sorry no Mullet...

Thank you for sharing. Cool elco you had there. Classmate of mine had 1 in high school. I think he rolled it not long after graduation. Too bad the pic was while you were in the AF and post mullet. I spent many days in Daytona in 1986-87 when I went to nuclear power school in Orlando. It was a fun place and spring break was a blast.

I think my favorite was Cocoa Beach though for that area. But I was just a dumb squid and didn't know nuthin so we just went with what we found. Fun days though.

[hgs_notes]

Some of the things I saw at work today.

New generator set up that this small city utility recently got set up. Its a Wartsila V-20 natural gas fired engine turning a 9.3 MW generator. It replaced the output of 3 older diesel generators. That's why there is so much empty space in there now. They have plans to install another one in the next 2-3 years. Cost about $8.5 million plus another million for installation.



They still have a few of the older units installed too. A pair of Worthington V-16's that are dual fuel. 5556 BHP and 4000 KW each. Only 514 rpm. You can get a feel for how big these things are based on the size of the roll away toolbox and the stairway up to the next level.




This is a Nordberg V-16 2810 BHP and 2200 KW. Only 450 rpm.


Last unit for this little power plant is a combined cycle unit. Pretty cool idea really. They have a gas turbine (jet engine) that spins a shaft connected to a set of reduction gears (basically a big gear box). From the reduction gears then into a generator that spins at 3600 rpm. In addition to that the exhaust from the gas turbine goes through what's called a heat recovery boiler. It's basically a watertube boiler without a burner on it. The exhaust is about 900F going into the boiler which is making steam from the exhaust gasses. The steam then spins a steam turbine connected to the other side of the same generator. All together it produces about 14.2 MW and 20,115 BHP. Most of these generators put out power at 13,800 volts.

1st pic is looking towards the boiler section which is the tall structure.


Then looking towards the steam turbine end...

[hgs_notes]

The other plant for this city utility has a pair of gas turbines plus another heat recovery boiler feeding another steam turbine/generator set. This is that steam turbine set up rated at 11.5 MW.


I'd put up pics of the gas turbines but you really don't see anything but the big box enclosure its in. Sorry.

They have a smallish Unilux watertube boiler in the basement. This year it is being completely retubed, which is really rare for a watertube boiler. I don't think I've ever seen it done before. I've seen sections of tubes replaced, and individual tubes, but the only ones I've seen tore down this far were being scrapped.


Here are some of the new tubes that were recently welded in...


So that was my work day. Now how about the drive home.

[hgs_notes]

About 10 years ago I was working for the state of MN as an inspector. It was a 6 month temporary gig that paid the bills when I got laid off from the previous job. One day I stopped at a welding shop in Fairfax and the owner was the sole employee and wasn't afraid to say it like he felt it when it came to my business with him that day. He had an air tank that was due. I kept my cool, got the inspection done and moved along. But it was a pretty neat shop.

I drove by today and in his front window I see the grill of an old chevy truck. I pull into the lot and there is a big military trailer like I've never seen before. It's got an airbag suspension on it. Armed with my ice breaker I venture in. He's as intense as I remember him from 10 years ago. He's pushing 60 but the years have not mellowed him much yet. Not surly mind you, just firey. I've been doing this for too long to be intimidated so I just ask about the trailer.

"Oh that?" He says. "That's for hauling bombs around. Really heavy duty and self leveling. It belongs to a customer of mine"




His names Leo and he owns/operates Schweiss Welding, but it's also a fabrication/machine shop. He's been doing this for 39 years, since he was 19 and he keeps learning and doing more. He even took lessons in making stained glass windows here in Sleepy Eye. He built this garden gate set up in a few hours and he wants to put stained glass in it. Really a nice piece of work. All us metal shop guys know we are artists on the inside.


His shop is filled with old and new machine tools. Here's one of the older ones.


How about a 4 headed drill press?


Need some louvers stamped in something? Leo can do it.


This little contraption looks like fun. Sitting up front with the entire machine behind and below you.


Where most people see a combine, Leo sees a rough terrain forklift, which is what this will become once the cab and combining parts are removed and a counter weight and fork set up installed.


And I didn't forget the old chevy in the front window either.


He said he want to learn to do body work and we talked about my adventures with that. We talked for most of an hour and I know I will be stopping in again to see what he's working on. Besides, he's got machine tools to sell me.

So I leave Leo to his work and I'm close to home now. I needed to drop something off at the post office. This was parked outside. 1947 Willys CJ-2 that runs and drives. Gonna get restored. Looks like a fun project.




I'm almost home now, but not just yet. Last pic of the day...


I've always wanted one ever since I was a little kid. I don't know if it's the extra wheels, the open top, to ability to go in the water, the idea of taking it anywhere and the freedom I imagined it would give me. Doesn't really matter. It's just 1 of those things that gets in your head and never leaves. And that's a good thing. A damn good thing in fact.

Good night folks.

[Ta2Don]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

Thank you for sharing. Cool elco you had there. Classmate of mine had 1 in high school. I think he rolled it not long after graduation. Too bad the pic was while you were in the AF and post mullet. I spent many days in Daytona in 1986-87 when I went to nuclear power school in Orlando. It was a fun place and spring break was a blast.

I think my favorite was Cocoa Beach though for that area. But I was just a dumb squid and didn't know nuthin so we just went with what we found. Fun days though.

Spent November of 81 through May of 84 in Cocoa Beach!
Pics are cell phone of original poloroids...
Have a Great Weekend!!!

[TennesseeZ]

HG, on that Unilux boiler, that looks like what I'm used to on the utility boilers, 'cept they're big enuf to get a thousand men in if needed. The tubes are what we do, also panels which I'm sure you know are tubes welded together. Do they still call them a steam drum and a mud drum on one that small?

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by TennesseeZ

HG, on that Unilux boiler, that looks like what I'm used to on the utility boilers, 'cept they're big enuf to get a thousand men in if needed. The tubes are what we do, also panels which I'm sure you know are tubes welded together. Do they still call them a steam drum and a mud drum on one that small?

The terminology is the same from little baby boilers up to the big utility ones. Although there are some with center or intermediate drums and cross drums and ring headers instead of drums, etc.. I've been in a couple of the utility boilers but thats it. But there are probably 5000 or maybe even 10000 small or package boilers for every one of those. I've inspected panel replacements before too when I was doing R stamp inspection work.

The big boilers like that are awesome to look at, but you soon realize they are doing the exact same thing as the one down the street at the feed mill or in the church basement heating the building. The main differences being what they burn, pressure rating and heat surface area. The control and safety requirements are very similar. They are built to the same code. Utility boilers have more tube sections dedicated to preheating combustion air and feed water to maximize efficiency, but it's just more of the same stuff. Tubes comprising a giant heat exchanger. Less climbing with the package boilers.

Interesting thing about this unilux boiler retube job is that the contractor or stamp holder is a 1 man shop. His shop is actually about 15 miles from here and he specializes in repairs and complete replacements of the old steam tractor boilers. There are several of them in and around his shop. He's an ex-music teacher that got fed up with the issues going on with schools, funding, etc and quit to take up his hobby as a new business. I should stop in there again with my camera and share it here with you people.

BTW, I'm uploading about 48 pictures from today.

[TennesseeZ]

Real interesting stuff HG, I love machine tools and welding, fabricating and re-purposing too. And you're right, the big boilers are awsome to look at, but hard, hot, filthy work for the first part, way too fast paced for me anymore.

It was always a sideline to pipefitting anyway, but glad I had the opportunity to get to know a little about them.

The garden gate captivates me, I believe I could build one with what I have here, (if I really wanted to) but don't think I've ever seen steel like he used for the leaves.

[CG]

Originally Posted by hgs_notes

I'm almost home now, but not just yet. Last pic of the day...


I've always wanted one ever since I was a little kid. I don't know if it's the extra wheels, the open top, to ability to go in the water, the idea of taking it anywhere and the freedom I imagined it would give me. Doesn't really matter. It's just 1 of those things that gets in your head and never leaves. And that's a good thing. A damn good thing in fact.

Good night folks.

Darn for some reason the little video on the screen isnt working for me any more ... well hit the link if you feel like it =)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2mrugzhwg

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by CG

Darn for some reason the little video on the screen isnt working for me any more ... well hit the link if you feel like it =)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2mrugzhwg

Well at least I'm not the only one old enough to remember the Bannana Splits. I wanted one of those buggys too, but it was the show that introduced them to me.... Looking forward to more of your pics HG, you get to see some interesting stuff on your route..

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by TennesseeZ

Real interesting stuff HG, I love machine tools and welding, fabricating and re-purposing too. And you're right, the big boilers are awsome to look at, but hard, hot, filthy work for the first part, way too fast paced for me anymore.

It was always a sideline to pipefitting anyway, but glad I had the opportunity to get to know a little about them.

The garden gate captivates me, I believe I could build one with what I have here, (if I really wanted to) but don't think I've ever seen steel like he used for the leaves.

You're over thinking the gate. All he did was lay a sheet of steel down and cut out the sunburst pattern, then used some strap that he bent to match it and spot welded them together. Some square and round tubing for the frame work.

Originally Posted by CG

Darn for some reason the little video on the screen isnt working for me any more ... well hit the link if you feel like it =)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA2mrugzhwg

Thanks for the video link. I thought Fleegle had it in the bag and then got screwed in the end. Oh well. Win some and lose some.

Yesterday I was heading east. I decided to take a slightly different route to see if I saved any time from my normal route. Maybe I did if I subtracted the time I took from looking at other peoples old junk!

In Mantorville I saw a 72 Suburban ambulance that has been repurposed. It's in pretty good shape really. The last 1 I remember seeing was when I was in the navy. A friend was renting a house with a few other guys and 1 of his housemates had one of these.





But I got an appt to make so I can't take the time to BS with the owner. Back down the road I go. But it's not long before I get distracted again. I love these old Jeep FC's. I know of a couple at a junkyard, and another few by Waseca, but here's a few more. The place was fenced off and posted and I couldn't find the owner about so I just snapped a few pics from outside the fence and from the road.




Gotta get to work in Zumbrota and I got that done. Make a couple calls and the next planned stop turns out to be a no-go and the last planned stop is a couple hour drive away towards home. So I wander through town to get back to the highway to head west. I spot this is someones driveway. I take a couple pics but there's nobody home to talk to.


It looks like at may be a cool sleeper based on what I could see inside. Somebody has them selves a hotrod in their own mind anyway. Good for them. Looks like it gets used and I love that.


I liked the upgraded AC unit mounted to the roof. A good addition to the 2-60 (or 4-60 in this case) method of AC I get to use.


A few blocks from there is another 1 of those places I always find oodles of fun things to look at. You know those businesses the city hates because they always have piles of crap all over and never clean the place up? Those places are great to see but I can understand not wanting to own property next door. Anyway, I saw some surplus military iron to oggle.




The owner wasn't available. Lights were on but the shop was locked up, probably out for lunch. But the neighboring auto repair shop, actually located right in the middle of this mess, was there and talked to me about them. The owner runs an excavating business and got 4 or 5 of these rigs at a gov't auction. They are super low mile and weren't used cuz they were not desert camouflage. So rather than just respray the bad boys and ship them to the desert our tax dollars were instead lost by selling them to the public. So I guess you could say they went back to the tax payers for a song, which is good for that 1 tax payer, not so great for the Gov't. Nobody is surprised by this I know. Anyway, the new owner bought them for the engines alone. They are swapping them into some of their other heavy equipment, so good for him.

Now for the rest of the story. What else is laying around this place?...













That enough? Not for me.

[hgs_notes]

My favorite of the day. I believe it is a 1947 Oldsmobile Series 78 Dynamic Cruiser Club Sedan...






A close 2nd was this. I believe its a 67 with a Hi-Po 289.


This coupe would be fun too...


And check out this road grader completely overgrown with vines...



And I think this is the biggest ditch-witch I've ever come across.



That's it for Zumbrota, but I'm not done yet. I had 1 more place I stopped along the way home and I got to talk to the owner a bit. I took a look around but really just saw the tip of the iceberg. He invite me back for when we both have more time. Will post those later today though.

Enjoy!

[Low Elco]

How did I not see this? Cool thread and pics!

[Ol Blue K20]

Looks like you had a good day, can't wait to see more.

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

How did I not see this? Cool thread and pics!

Welcome aboard.

[hgs_notes]

Continuing on my journey home I was heading west on MN Hwy 60 and on the south side of the road is what looks like a farm except instead of the standard red (IH) or green (John Deere) equipment, everything is Cat yellow. And there are cranes, belly dumps, etc. It's all construction equipment. It looks like a construction company was having a yard sale that has been going on for about 50 years. I do remember seeing the place over the years but today I decided to stop.

I rang the door bell, nothing. I knocked on the only door that was usable, still nothing. I looked at a few things right there by the house. There was a light on but nobody home. And just as I was going to get back in the car a window slides open and an old guys asks if he can help me. He spits a wad of brown saliva to the ground and with his greasy old Cat ball cap he looked like a train engineer hanging out the cab window ready to pull the cable and let the whistle blow.

I introduced myself and we chatted like that for a good 15-20 minutes. Him in his window and me standing by the driveway. He had a WWII vintage army truck he wanted to sell me. Everybody thinks I wanna buy their stuff. But it was the opening to go look at part of his amazing collection. He was a construction worker all his life and about 40 or more years ago he bought a couple derelict pieces of equipment. He maintained then and felt like if had that stuff, he should have some of the other things that go with it, and the collection grew into the monstrosity it is today. I only looked at a small corner of the property and a few things by his house. Literally the tip of the iceberg. I told him there must be 10,000 tons of steel out there and a scrappers wet dream. He just chuckled and said he knows they all go by his placing waiting for the chance to come in like vultures. I may be underestimating it.

The army truck he got strictly to save from the scrapper. The cab is 8'-6" across, it's probably at the limits for road legal...



The winch was insanely huge, you'd need a winch to move the winch ...


This sign was in the weeds by the house. I looked it up and it's chewing tobacco. Maybe was his favorite.


There was a big blue engine by the house with a GM logo on it but I didn't recognize what it was. He said back in the 40's or 50's nobody was building big enough gas/diesel engines for running some heavy equipment in remote locations. They needed around 500 HP and most of the engines for big trucks and stuff were rated around 200-250 HP. So GM took 2 of their big 671 diesel engines and mounted them side by side and had a gearbox to hook them together that would turn a single shaft. He said it would have been rated at over 450 HP. He said they were typically used for rock crushers or in the oil fields. I'll take his word for it. And he knows what he's doing to. He doesn't just drag it in and let it sit. He tries to keep things going. He replaced a head gasket on this and has done other work to it also.




I think this is a similar engine here but you diesel experts can tell me if I'm wrong. Won't hurt my feelings.

GM Detroit Diesel 6-71 Engine Motor Running and...

Here's a sample of some of the smaller pieces around the yard...






And some of the medium size stuff...


I need someone like my father-in-law to go with me to this place that knows about this kind of equipment. My wifes grandpa had a big construction company in Idaho. Built a lot of the roads around that part of the country. That's it for today folks.

[Ta2Don]

I'm so glad you take the time to share from your travels...

Your favorite of the day, yesterday, that OLDS is SICK!!!
Needs to be resurrected...

[Ol Blue K20]

Thanks for the visual break from work...

[Madtat]

All great shots, keep'em comming!

[hgs_notes]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

I'm so glad you take the time to share from your travels...

Your favorite of the day, yesterday, that OLDS is SICK!!!
Needs to be resurrected...

The olds is super cool. I agree.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Thanks for the visual break from work...

You're welcome.

Originally Posted by Madtat

All great shots, keep'em comming!

Thanks, thats the plan.

Last friday I had to go to the twin cities, then north to Little Falls, where I grew up, for the night. I had a saturday morning inspection in Motley and needed to help my mom out with some things. Anyway, I went through St Cloud and north of there on highway 10 is a strip club called Sugar Daddys. Now before you all get your blood pressure up I will say I have never been into the joint and there will be no pics from there. I only mention it because behind the referenced gentlemans club is a hidden junkyard. You can see the shop buildings and some cars/trucks out front that are for sale from the highway, but you have to go behind the fence of the exotic dance studio to get there. I usually try to stop and see what they have out front cuz the owner digs 67-72 Chevys and usually has some around, plus other cool stuff.

Like this...




And this (not for sale)...



I personally like the firebirds more than the camaros. This was a customer car that the shop painted.

And this project...


With a custom chassis, 4 link rear, and I think a camaro front.



And these...


After BS'ing for a bit I let him get back to his paying customers and I finished my drive to Little Falls. As mentioned before, I grew up here. And I can't help feeling nostalgic and sometimes a bit sad whenever I get back home. First off, I haven't lived there since I went into the Navy at age 18. Almost 30 years ago now. Second, I lived in 2 houses in the city limits (others outside of that imaginary line) and both of them are long gone. One was tore down to make better parking for the boat ramp on the Mississippi river that was just behind out house. The 2nd place was a rental that had severe water damage after we moved out of it because the water didn't get turned off, the heat wasn't turned on, and all the old cast iron radiators, the plumbing, the toilets, etc. all broke from freezing. It was abandoned and eventually it became fire practice for the local fire dept.

There was a paper mill across the street (they were the house owners) where my dad worked when I was a kid. It's gone too. Whats left is now a park area with some sections of the original foundation, a couple spiral staircases and a few hunks of machinery.





These are dryer rolls. And interestingly enough, both of these were fairly new. One was from the mid 60's but the other one was built in 1989, probably just before the plant was mothballed.


Inside...


The arched foundation was under the original Yankee Dryer roll. These big rollers here are for grinding the wood to pulp...



Most of the paper mills I have been in chip the wood into flakes and dump them in a digester with an acid solution that breaks the wood down to fiber pulp and lignin. Then the fiber is made into paper. This was a small plant and the pulp was made mechanically. They could only produce card stock or construction paper which is why it was shutdown. There just wasn't enough market for it and they couldn't produce the printer paper or other paper products that drove the market. Luckily my dad found a job elsewhere before the place closed down.

The house here we always called the paper mill house. They owned it and it was across the street from the mill. It's also where we lived when my dad bought my C-10 from my grandpa. Dad walked to work of course, but I remember many winter nights and mornings when dad would come home (rotating shifts) go start up the truck (always started ez) and go back to the mill parking lot to jump start the cars that wouldn't after sitting for a shift. This was around 1976-79.

Funny thing is that years later when we lived out of town and I was driving the truck to high school, many mornings the battery would barely turn it over. If I pumped the gas pedal about 6 times and could get it to turn even a little bit it would fire right up.

The other house we lived in was called the boat landing house. I spent many days down by the river. It was about 150' from our back door. I caught crayfish and skipped rocks. I got to be a very good rock skipper. And not too bad at catching crayfish either. Just upstream a half mile or so was a train tressel that crosses the river. One night while we were having supper we heard the loudest crash and thunder of noise ever heard in my short life at the time. We all ran outside to see what happened. The first unusual site was whole train cars and pieces of train cars floating down the river. When we got down to the landing and looked north we saw that half of the tressel was in the river with a train on the tracks, and more parts of the train floating down stream. It was scary and awesome and I'll never forget it.

I used to fish from the cement footings for that tressel. It crossed the river right by the boat plants on the west side (Little Falls is home to Chrestliner, Larson and Glastron boats). The boat landing house was on the east bank. I would look down the length of the tressel and could never muster the courage to cross it. It seemed a mile long through my young eyes and at the time it was a very busy track. Friday I walked out there...


Looking downstream from the middle of the tressel...


Seems I have always lived by the river or train tracks or both. That's enough reminiscing for now. I'll post more stuff later.

[Ol Blue K20]

Dang It!!! That means Back to work!!!

[Low Elco]

Wow...Cool shots!