redneckrigger

VERY nice work, Jeff! Looking great so far. Love those KFS tires too!

Got the preview samples of Peteski's decals.................holy COW! Peteski, you are an artist! I can't wait to see them on the old girl! THANK YOU!!!!

Absolutely, just like when you, Charlie, share your tips and techniques and help a fellow builder out. This is totally what paying it forward is about!!! Thank you Peter!

I find myself without words!!! (Something that hardly EVER happens!) So if anyone wants to gauge the value of this hobby, the people and brotherhood that partake of it, and this forum, this right here does it! Priceless, and at a time when so many are in dire straits and being affected by the pandemic. I will take you up on your offer, and will owe you many times in return! Thank you SO much! Tom Decker

That is one beautiful dump truck! I love the dented body, looks perfect. And THAT is one reason why this forum is so valuable.............................for offering the ability to learn new techniques from fellow members! Awesome job!

Well the decals came in and just were not making me happy, as they were too large a letter size. I am only using model railroad letters as it is just the simple name of Barber-Greene going on the machine. So, I ordered a smaller size. Of course, with lots of time now waiting for the new decals to arrive, sitting here just looking at this got my OCD going, and I decided to fix one aspect that bothered me before I decal it and dull cote the whole thing. The tamper eccentric drive was just too much out of scale. It just looked wrong. So........out came the wrenches and torches and the mechanics reworked it today, while social distancing themselves, as today’s paving job got cancelled as being non-essential. Got a new set of eccentric cranks and guards installed along with some more screed operator’s platform sections. Looks MUCH better now. Lemonade from lemons!

Dang! That’s a fender for my 1946 Chevy 1 1/2 ton truck. I only WISH it were so easy Charlie!

No don't think so, not old school enough! But a far more ambitious project is under way!

Funny you say that Charlie! There are two skills I have not ever tried yet........ resin casting and soldering brass. May be reaching out to you for advice! Started gathering parts today!

So........having all but finished my paver build, it’s time to start the next project. Years ago I worked for a large general contractor. Actually, all of my builds are based upon equipment we had there and were on my jobs. This HC-218 is an 82 ton capacity, and had, if memory serves correctly, 210’ of boom and 30’ of jib on it. This was powered by an 8V-71 on the truck and had Cummins upper power. That old girl earned her keep back in the late 80’s when I was there and is still doing so to this day. And, as usual, step one is getting reference materials. I obtained a parts manual and operator’s and maintenance manual to start. I plan on starting with a frame from an American LaFrance ladder truck, which will undergo a lot of alteration to accept the dual drive and dual steer arrangement and get super reinforcement done to it. My plan is to make this with approximately 100’ of boom which will be plenty! This thing is going to be huge! The length of the truck will be 33’ 4” in scale alone, and 10’ 6” wide. Attached are some photos of the crane we had. The red cab photos are of it’s first, and original paint job. The white cab is an updated Link-Belt color scheme that I painted it in just before I left there. In the wintertime I ran the paint and weld shop and this old girl got done up by me 3 times. That is why I tend to favor paint shop fresh jobs!!! I hope you enjoy the journey through this one, its gonna be a heck of a ride!! Hang on!

All paint and details are done.....rubber flaps made from paper, AWESOME suggestion on that! Thank you Hermann Kersten! Only thing left is decals and light weathering. Picking up decals tomorrow at Post Office. Guess it’s time to get going on gathering parts for the next build!

The tires are from the John Deere 310 backhoe kit. The wheels are from resin caster Mark Savage from many years ago.

Bunch more details to go but the paving crew is getting anxious.

Well, it’s green to go! Little bits to touch up and lots of details to paint but I’m pretty pleased so far!

Hmmmmmm, looks like a couple guys win a cigar! Link Belt HC218, 82 ton truck crane. This is a crane I used to work with on a lot of my jobs years ago. In the winter we would refurbish and repaint equipment. The photos with the white cab was the color scheme we used the last time I painted it back around 1990, (left there in 1991). Previous to this it was the older colors of black chassis with red cab and red/white upper cab, black boom. The photos with the red cab show it crammed into the shop getting done in it’s original scheme. I think we painted it a total of three times while I worked there. Worst part was painting the boom. We finally stopped spraying the boom as it wasted so much paint. Tried electrostatic painting which helped, and finally settled on hand painting it with a big mitten we would soak in paint and wrap around each tubular segment and apply paint that way. Had the benefit of actually being able to place hands on every inch of the boom segments which helped inspect its integrity, as well as getting better film thickness of the paint on it. The old girl is still earning a living all around our area. BUT, gotta finish the paver first! So, I have my work cut out for me! Stay tuned!

Got the painting crew going a little while ago.....actually worked out well making them practice social distancing as they didn't end up painting each other green! Went on pretty well and looks decent. Will see what it looks like tomorrow and see if it needs a touch up. While paint dries, planning goes on for the next project, an HC218. Any guesses what I’m taking on?

Might be! Gonna try to get paint started tonight, then dry time and then the final details. Time will tell!

Thought about that but since this is an old school build, dating from the ‘60’s, the paver, roller and bunch of dump trucks will have to do the job! The planned next build is going to be a lot bigger, more moving parts, and still kind of old school. Awaiting reference materials now.

Finally reached paint day! Everything is done except the wiring and piping that will be done after paint along with the hopper rubber flaps. Will be priming with Mr. Surfacer and then painting with PPG enamel with a flattener added to kill the high gloss. It’s gonna look paint shop fresh with some VERY minor grease and grime added. I thin the primer to get into all the nooks and crannies and then give it thin coats of color. I do exactly what you suggest, Charlie, with a brush in hard to reach areas. Have lots of bits to paint. It should look pretty good when done! Primer done, paint tomorrow night!

Actually Charlie, the only thing I ever did with a paver was to repaint a couple of them years ago. I never paid much attention to how they worked. So, as usual, I did hours of research into them, and acquired lots of reference material, and then I looked at how other people, yourself at the top of the list, did various techniques. Truth be told, if I was doing it over again, I would button the whole thing up and skip all the inner workings as they are going to be near invisible anyways. But it sure was fun! Getting the green paint ready!

More work today.......installed the feed gates, and the tamper drive flywheel guards. Still have to install screed side shields, engine exhaust, and the rest of the sheet metal along with about a hundred bolt heads. Then, unless my OCD kicks in again, primer and paint!!! Will install all hydraulics and wiring after paint. Tomorrow is yet another day!

Finished adding the steering controls, seats and handrails, tamper driveshaft guard, and finished the hopper. Lots more yet!

Added the operators seats, all control linkages and control levers. Installed the feeder drag bars and built the feed hopper shields. Still have to install the rubber flaps. Have to get to adding the hydraulic lines, engine details, tamper drive guards, and then see what else is screaming to be added!

This is literally like having a ringside seat at the factory where the real one was made.............................absolutely incredible! Where did you get the hood hinge? VERY tiny hinge!

Now you guys are trying to get me REAL confused! I actually have thought of something like that but it goes against my routine of doing paintshop fresh builds! I may do some staining and very mild weathering but adding blacktop???? Hmmmmmmmm! Lots of detailing to do yet, but a rough mockup is shown. Have controls, and literally days worth of details to add. This is absolutely the most difficult and complex build I have done yet, out of the Galion crane, roller, RGN lowboy etc. This is over the top. Not only does it have a zillion parts, it is something I am mot intimately familiar with, unlike the others. But, oh boy, has it been a fun ride so far! And lots more to go! And so much more to learn about this machine and new building techniques! This build HAS taken on a life of it's own.