waywardgarage.com
Field Trip!!!
5.20.06
There's this field near my Sister and Jim's place, had a bunch of cool stuff,and everytime I drove by, I wanted to go explore. Modern day life is beginning to encrouch upon it, and soon everything will be gone, so I had to get out there to search out old cool stuff. As a car guy, I find some of the wacky shit they did to old cars amazing.
Oh yeah, it was raining when we went out, but it doesn't bug you much after you've been soaked to the bone.
That's me, checking out a little tractor, the first thing that caught my eye.
This little tractor used to be a '40 or so Ford. Back in day, people would hack up an old car to make tractors such as this. This is the first mutant we found today.
It had the hydraulic brakes, Ford flathead, pedal assembly, the old Stromberg 94 "91-99", the wide five Ford wheels, hubs, and drums. I'd like to get out there and save everything I can off it.
More old farm implements. Whoever owned this field must also have been involved in construction, because there was an old Arc welder on a trailer powered by a small 4 banger.
This stuff has sat so long, trees have grown up through some of the stuff, like this "disking" trailer thingy.
A super cool old Dodge truck, enough there to probably fix, but that's very unlikely to happen. The driver's door had been open so long, a branch of the tree grew through it!!
Gas tank next to the old Dodge. I thought it might work good on the Model A, but I didn't grab it.
This is going to blow your mind!! This is an early pre-30's 2 1/2 ton truck frame, with giant wooden spoke wheels and mechanical brakes. It's hard to imagine a time when cars and truck were built like this, before widespread use of electricity, telephones, and paved roads. The wheels should be in a museum somewhere.
Looking out to the north. I could have spent all day looking at and collecting goodies.
A trailer made out of an old car frame had a pair of bitchen' artillery wheels and hubcaps.
An old late 20's early 30's Chevy flatbed truck. The Chevrolets of this era used a lot of wood to frame their body sheetmetal, so when the the wood rotted away, they just completely fell apart.
The Chevy's dashboard.
One old-ass mangled bicycle.
This thing is so cool!! An old old crane truck, with wooden booms!! I don't even know what it is, maybe an old International, Peterbilt or Mack?? Maybe a White?
Definately an industrial only vehicle, that cab was so cool! The hood was pretty neat, had a row of louvers running right down the center peice.
Engine to the industrial truck.
Another mutant 30's car, this one was a Chevy. Look at this picture, notice anything crazy?
This picture is of the front. Someone way back in the day moved the steering column, seat, etc, to face the rear of the vehicle, sorta like a primitive home made fork lift!!
This thing needs to be saved!! An early 40's Chevy truck.
Old signage still on the door.
This would have been a brand new truck when the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor.
Check out the turn signal with reflectors mounted to the back of the cab.
The other door. I love vintage stuff!
Headlight bucketss are in good shape.
Overall, the truck was in good shape.
Old combine or something, quietly resting. Look how close construction is to this end. Not long before it will be gone forever.
Old Model T rear end under another homemade trailer.
One last picture of the Dodge before I left. As a Mopar guy, this thing tugged at my heart, saying "Bring me home! I will serve you well!"
It was amazing to wander through this field, a time capsule of a much different time, the farm and construction life stretching as early as the Depression, then through the 40's. Makes me think of all the people whose lives were involved with these tools. The well used Arc welder, the homemade trailers and tractors, just the way things were done.