3R Home and Barn Project

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

Nice truck. Isn't it funny how many things change in your life when you build a house? I be you never expected to buy a new truck when you started building!!!!!!!!

My goal is to buy a new truck next year when mine is ten years old. Please keep us updated on it, both good and bad. I'm pretty much open to all brands right now, so all information is good information.

Eddie

 

[3RRL]

I am sure you got a sweet deal...I have seen some incredible prices on
Chinese tractors. I would certainly consider a small Chinese 4n1 bkt, if
I can find an importer.

I won't be the only one watching for your Kama front end post-mortem
analysis and repair pix. I am sure that is on the 'A' list of to-dos.

(Nice truck! MRJIMI can suggest some mods....)

Ha, I've seen what Jim recommends but I'll probably keep this one stock for a while. As I get older, I don't feel "the need for speed" as much, if you know what I mean. Plus this truck has excellent performance as is. With a full load in the truck bed and the trailer going up the Grapevine, I gunned it and accelerated to 80 in a few seconds! My old Blazer would've fallen flat on it's face.

I'll post the repair work on the Kama in the Chinese section Dave. As far as those 4 in 1 buckets, my friend is getting one on his Jinma 554. There are several guys in the CTOCF who have those and they love them.

 

[3RRL]

Robert and tommu,
I will watch where I park this new truck so as not to have a repeat of the Blazer incident. I'll still need to get some of that rodent poison I've read about in all those other posts even though it will be garaged. Just need to make sure Coco my dog can't get to it. I also have a Jeep Compass that gets about 25mpg for running around, like you say.

The Chevy dealer was very good about making the deal. I made no bones about telling him I would buy a truck today from him or somewhere else. I wanted his Internet price and that we were members of Costco and Triple AAA, so we would be expecting his very best deal. He gave the fleet price and then said Chevy also had a $2,500 rebate to take off the fleet price too. Sweet! I went to the Ford dealer and they couldn't match it, plus I liked the Silverado better and it was better equipped. We came back and 1 hour later we were driving the truck home.

 

[3RRL]

Wow! that's a nice truck you got there. Glad you didn't buy the Ford. My F350 diesel got nothing but problems with the 6.0 engine. Is your friend a tractor dealer? I would love to get myself a little Jinma too.

Tom

Hi Tom,
My friend sells steam technology internationally. Some of his customers are Chinese so one of them is affiliated with the tractor companies. He made a private deal using his Chinese connection to purchase the tractors and was kind enough to include my order. However, having said that, he told me he is interested in setting up a local dealership. If that happens, I'll let you know.
Say, are you going to visit the Tulare Ag Show in February? There will be a lot of different brand tractor dealers, many from this site who will be there, I presume.

 

[3RRL]

Rob,

Nice truck. Isn't it funny how many things change in your life when you build a house? I be you never expected to buy a new truck when you started building!!!!!!!!

My goal is to buy a new truck next year when mine is ten years old. Please keep us updated on it, both good and bad. I'm pretty much open to all brands right now, so all information is good information.

Eddie

Eddie, actually we were considering buying a new truck but not under these circumstances, of course. We were going to wait until we were settled in the new home and to re-evaluate our financial situation. We ended up doing that part in a hurry! We were going to turn the Blazer into a "farm truck" but that didn't happen either. But as it is, things have a way of turning out for the best.

Thinking about it now, the many trailer hauling trips we were planning on doing from now on will be much better served by the new diesel truck, especially considering the 6 mpg the Blazer got towing vs what the new Silverado gets. Even more so considering that each trip will be 500 miles. We were still planning to drive up to enjoy our last days at South Camp anyway, only bringing up loads of stuff for the new home at the same time. It is a minimal offset, but still in the right direction.

 

[schmism]

now ditch the snow plow they call the front bumper, and put something other than those pizza cutter tires on it and it will look like a real truck!

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Rob,
Sorry to here about the fire. But great to hear you and your family are ok! You have been blessed my friend with a new home, workshop, and wonderful family.

I really like the new Chevy Trucks. I am glad they went away from that "bug eye" shaped headlight. When I bought my F250 Powerstroke (used) I would have bought a Duramax but just did not like the old style headlights.

Barns, (or barn and workshop) look great.

 

[stumpfield]

Say, are you going to visit the Tulare Ag Show in February? There will be a lot of different brand tractor dealers, many from this site who will be there, I presume.

I never been to this show but always wondering about it. They always have it right in the middle of the week....This year, I'll plan on going and hopefully get to meet some of my TBN friends. Are you going to be there?

Tom

 

[3RRL]

A little off topic, but since we were talking about the truck...
I wanted to get one of those locking hitch pins to keep my ball and hitch from getting stolen when not pulling the trailer up there. So I went to Wallmart and bought one of those Master Lock "Barbell" locking hitch pins. When I got home I found out it didn't fit my receiver. It had a sleeve to make it fit from 1/2" to 5/8" diameter hole, but both the solid shank and sleeve were too short. Turns out the hitch on the new truck is for HD 2-1/2" square hitches and it had a sleeve that would fit a 2" square one like I have.
Here's what that looks like.



I decided to make my own hitch out of an old 5/8" diameter hardened grade 8 socket head cap screw. I cut it to length and machined the end so it would fit the Master lock part.



After a little polishing, it fit perfectly. I made the lock end a little better fit than on the original shaft, taking most of the "slop out. It's probably stronger than a regular hitch pin too.
Here's what that looks like.



So now, if I forget to take the ball hitch out of the receiver and drive into town, it won't get stolen.

 

[3RRL]

Rob,
Sorry to here about the fire. But great to hear you and your family are ok! You have been blessed my friend with a new home, workshop, and wonderful family.

I really like the new Chevy Trucks. I am glad they went away from that "bug eye" shaped headlight. When I bought my F250 Powerstroke (used) I would have bought a Duramax but just did not like the old style headlights.

Barns, (or barn and workshop) look great.

David,
Thanks for the kind words.
It's funny you said that about the "bug eye" head lights. I told Loretta I hated that look and would not get a Chevy if they still looked like that. I was happy to see the new 2008's had a different look ... quite handsome I think. Shows I don't get out much though.