Gun number two is on it's way home now. Rob Clarke let the cat out of the bag over on the Hammond barn thread, so I'll expand on it a bit here.
When other MLUers heard I was coming out, the requests to transport stuff was fast and furious. I had to make two trips out to my favorite scrapyard to retrieve items for Chris, Jordan, and Martin. I got everything loaded on Friday night, and as soon as I woke up in the morning, I was on my way.
First stop though was just North of Winnipeg, where I dropped 3 sections of modular canvas off to Derk, and picked up about 6 boxes of Jeep stuff for Jim in Arnprior.
I made it to Longlac that night and slept in the backseat of the truck. The days are much shorter now, and although I have not seen a moose yet, they have signs every 10 miles warning of their night danger.
Day two, I made it to Chris Vs place just South of North Bay, where I dropped off a larger project for him (I'll let him reveal it when he is ready) and a fair number of wooden chests for Ross, along with 2 thermal food chests for Jordan Baker. I was supposed to pick up a pile of Jeep engines and axles etc for Wayne in Alberta at that time, but there just wasn't room, and the day was getting late. I also had to pick up 2 25 pdr modern style rims and tires, which I was going to install on my 25pdr for the trip home.So I headed off towards Ottawa.
Spent the night at the Irving truck stop at Pembroke. Fantastic food, and a very large parking lot. I slept there (again in the back seat of the truck) had breakfast, then back on the road to Ottawa.
One stop first though...Jimmy Frazers in Arnprior. I have talked to Jim for over 20 years on the phone, but finally got to meet him in person. For a guy who claims to need more Jeeps, I have to tell you I have not seen this many Jeeps in one spot in a long time.
So off goes his 6 boxes, and I made a trade of a Ramsey military PTO for a huge door stop that weighs about 400 pounds.
Off to Ottawa, and Martin and his dad were already waiting at the Hammond barn for their delivery of a 1970 recoiless rifle Jeep. While I was helping Martin out with the Jeep, the pit crew at the barn (Bob, Rob, and Grant) installed the new tires on the 25 pdr.
This was when the first problem cropped up. The new tires were significantly wider than the originals, so it was not going to fit onto the trailer. After looking at some of the possibilities, we went to Bob's scrappile to see if the original beat up rims from the 25pdr could be found.
Long story short, they were installed, we hand winched the gun on as far as we could, then used whatever I had to try and add tongue weight to the trailer. By 2, I was heading back to North Bay.
Travelling was a little slow, as I did not trust the trailer at high speed with marginal tongue weight. So by the time I got to North Bay, it was dark. I splurged and rented a hotel room. Holy cripes...$150. Anyway, a good nights sleep and in the morning, back to Chris V's just as the sun was starting to come up. Chris could not be there, as he headed off to a job the day before, but he had pointed out everything I would need to load all the Jeep stuff. 3 engines, a transmission/transfer case, 3 axles, frame portions, rims, drums.....it was a load. Got it all on and back on the road by about 11.
So I am now in Longlac again, but as the temps were expected to go down to -8 tonight, I again opted for a hotel room.
If all goes well, I should be home tomorrow night. I did drive through some snow squalls as well as hail today, but none of it was significant. I do worry about the roads getting icy.
Sorry, no photos for now, but I'll get some of the load when I get home before I unload.
So more than a few hours spent acquiring and distributing bits and pieces to the various members here, but many have done the same for me......I am sure it will all equal out in the end.
Sorry if it's a little longwinded. I like to look back at these posts to remind me how much work goes into these acquisitions.
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