wally’s 1948 B1FA-152 thread

[tom'sB2B]

On 3/22/2021 at 5:26 PM, wallytoo said:

collected about 150 gallons of sap today, from yesterday's and today's "sap run"; not bad for my north-slope sugar bush.  plan to boil a good part of tomorrow, hope to make another 3 gallons with what sap i've got on hand, and have some left over to boot.

 

pics from the weekend:

 

the evaporator, with it's homemade arch and commercial pans (g.h.grimm co) - 2'x6' setup

 

not the fastest rig, probably boiling 18 to 22 gallons of sap per hour.  the arch was converted from a 2x5 drop-flue rig to a 2x6 raised flue rig, thus the added box at the back, and the hole in the side of the arch where the drop flue drain used to be.

 

getting close to the first syrup draw-off of the season.  hard to see, but to the back right, the flue pan drain is visible (yellow handle at the back), above the arch and below the sap float box.

So, how much syrup do you get from 150 gallons of sap? How much sap do you average per season? How many trees are you harvesting from? How many acres?

Sorry. Very curious.

Thanks

Tom

 

[wallytoo]

i get about 1 gallon of syrup per 50 gallons of sap.  people with south/west aspect orchards get closer to 35 to 40 to 1 [sap/syrup].  this year, i made about 10 gallons of syrup.  so, around 500 gallons of sap for that, plus what was in the pans but not syrup at the end (and i dumped about 75 gallons from the tanks without collecting).  probably 650 to 700 gallons of sap.

 

over the 40+ years i've done it, i've averaged about 15 gallons of syrup per year.  best year was 1992, with 31 gallons of syrup.   depending on the year, i put in from 130 to 225 taps (roughly 90 to 175 trees).

Edited April 20, 2021 by wallytoo

[wallytoo]

another vehicle for the collection (the red one):

 

 

bought if from the contractor doing this job for me back in 2013.

[wallytoo]

and a pic of the dodge on the above job site, back in 2015 (yes, a few years after it started)....

 

note the small leaning birch just above the hood/cab, the same tree is to the far left in the above pic.

 

 

[wallytoo]

back in late june, i finally got around to replacing the exhaust manifold gasket.  the new one that i installed with the replacement motor got blown out - my fault, i didn't torque the manifold nuts properly, so it was a bit loose - and i was tired of hearing the loud exhaust.

 

of course i forgot that the long through-bolts on the exhaust manifold enter the water jacket, so i dumped a bunch of coolant before i could get the bucket under there.  oh well.  install went well, made sure the special nuts/washers were in the proper place, then torqued everything properly with the torque wrench.  ta-dah!  no more exhaust leak at the manifold.

 

much quieter drive now.  best part was i got it done in time for the "cruise-in" at a local restaurant later that evening.  sure was a hot day, though, in the mid-90s.

 

and, a month and a half later, still running quietly (as quietly as a spur geared, low ratio (5.83/8.11 2-speed rear), medium duty flathead truck can run).

[Merle Coggins]

Good job... Might want to get in there again and recheck the torque on the nuts. I've found that after a few heat cycles they sometimes loosen up a bit. I'd hate to see you blow out another gasket because it loosened up on you over time. 

[wallytoo]

was driving today when i noticed water droplets on the hood/vent.  could also smell coolant.  pulled over, shut it off, and opened the hood.  coolant geyser from the top rear of the head; coming out of the freeze plug.  parked it on the side of the road (a gravel road, in fact the road where i grew up and my mom still lives.  it's off in a turnout, so not in the lane or shoulder at all.  low, low traffic.  no issue there.

 

ok, i'll need to replace that head plug.  251 engine.  looks to be a 1 3/8" plug.  we'll see if the decent regional parts store has one tomorrow.

[wallytoo]

chased down a plug (i bought two) from a bit away.  when i opened the hood (it was daylight, whereas when the problem arose it was almost dark) i could see that the plug did not have a hole in it or any sign of corrosion.  i could see part of the lip of the plug proud of the recess along a portion of it.  so, i used my rubber hammer to seat it back in place.  replaced the coolant that had spewed out, and no leak.  drove it back to my old house, still fine.  there it sits until i get a ride to bring it back.

 

i surmise that numerous heat/cold cycles, and the difference in the materials (cast iron head vs steel plug) allowed the plug to gradually work its way upward until it finally leaked.  anyway, i'll keep a close eye on it for a bit to see if it stays in place, leaks, or migrates upwards again.  i've got two spares if it does.  when i get it home, i may give it a bit more solid whack with a blunt drift using my drilling hammer to expand the plug a bit more firmly.

Edited September 13, 2021 by wallytoo

[wallytoo]

a short video of a drive i took along a woods road today, with a good load on the dump body.

 

 

https://youtu.be/1oCyO8fMRw8

Edited November 13, 2021 by wallytoo

[David A.]

Thanks for the ride! I enjoyed it. 

[Worden18]

Awesome video, thanks for sharing!  

[Dodgeb4ya]

Love the sound of those spur gear 4 speeds...learned to drive with one!

Thanks for the ride!

[billrigsby]

One Day, God will'in

 

Thanks

[RobertKB]

Enjoyed the video! Glad the truck is running well. 

[Brent B3B]

Nice job Wally! ?

now let’s see some YouTube dump bed action or a 2speed tutorial with the truck! 
 

I only have high/ low in my “HH” and my 2speed cable is being rebuilt for “Jimbob”

[wallytoo]

maybe on a day where it isn’t raining.  we’ve had ridiculous rain since july first; nearly 40”.  yeah, four-zero.

[ggdad1951]

15 hours ago, Brent B3B said:

Nice job Wally! ?

now let’s see some YouTube dump bed action or a 2speed tutorial with the truck! 
 

I only have high/ low in my “HH” and my 2speed cable is being rebuilt for “Jimbob”

 

Rebuilt last night, will get it off to you this week! 

[wallytoo]

23 hours ago, Brent B3B said:

Nice job Wally! ?

now let’s see some YouTube dump bed action or a 2speed tutorial with the truck! 
 

I only have high/ low in my “HH” and my 2speed cable is being rebuilt for “Jimbob”

 

 

here are two more showing the general hoist operation and components:

 

pto operation

 

pto & hoist components

[Brent B3B]

Thanks for geeking out with me Wally! ?

I do like your set up, mine isn’t self contained 

 

what is the “box” looking device on the passenger side floor, used as a PTO stop? 

[wallytoo]

that’s a wheel chock.  mostly used on the steep hill where i collect sap during sugaring season.  stores nicely there.

[Brent B3B]

9 hours ago, wallytoo said:

that’s a wheel chock.  mostly used on the steep hill where i collect sap during sugaring season.  stores nicely there.

LOL, of course it is, I see it now ?

I thought it was either a passenger foot rest or your vented lunch box.

 

So glad your clutch pedal rubs on the floor boards also... I picked up a bushing set for mine but, haven’t installed it yet

[wallytoo]

9 minutes ago, Brent B3B said:

 

 

So glad your clutch pedal rubs on the floor boards also... I picked up a bushing set for mine but, haven’t installed it yet

 

lol.  coincidentally,  i fixed that yesterday.

[wallytoo]

On 11/15/2021 at 3:19 PM, Brent B3B said:

 

now let’s see some ... a 2speed tutorial with the truck! 
 

 

working on it.  uploading vids to yootoob right now showing the shifting with the 2-speed, from the passenger seat perspective.  audio isn't great (the digital camera isn't as good as the iphone for that), but you can see the "action" clearly.  not very exciting (you'll see).

 

edit:  here's the workings of the 2-speed eaton shift components.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2021 by wallytoo
add video

[wallytoo]

here's a compilation of videos showing the split shifting of the eaton with the spur gear 4speed.

 

split shifting the eaton and spur geared NP

[wallytoo]

and another ride-along, this time from the passenger side perspective...