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Re: [ihc] 2004 NW Binder RoundUp Comments



On Jul 17, 2004, at 8:49 PM, Colin MM Rush wrote:


Those that missed this show really missed a fabulous event, with
something like 187 registrants, many of which brought more than one
machine. I personally feel that we could top 300 registered owners there
next year after a little schedule change and now that folks know what to
expect.

Also, if anyone wants to see what Yours Truly looks like, visit the
collection labelled "IHSTO July 4th at the Donnelly's", and look for the
fella wearing the American flag for a shirt. My favorite is the one of
me standing watching the fireworks.
-Colin Rush
I have no idea why Colin thinks anyone wants to look at him. Now that I've seen him .......

Just got home this evening, a week after the end of the NW show. We've had a wonderful trip home through Oregon, looking at covered bridges and very much enjoying the area around Salem. The fact that we had fabulous weather the whole week made it very nice indeed.

As I've read my accumulated mail i noticed that Jim Grammer says that he wasn't there. Darn, I never even missed him. Actually, we talked about him a bit sitting near John D's Streamline trailer.

Some thoughts about the show:

It's a spectacular place to have a truck show. After everybody was gone for 3 or 4 days, I was still wandering around looking at all the machinery that is on the grounds. As just one example, the Pacific Northwest Truck Museum is on the grounds and they have a wonderful collection of trucks.

About Wednesday when I thought I'd seen about all there was to see, Larry, a major player in the operation of the Powerland, brought in a Heider tractor. So what's different about a Heider. How about the engine and tranny slide forward and backward to engage the drive train? My point just in case it's not clear, is that the Powerland is a machinery lover's dream.

The facility is green grass, mostly, lots of shade trees, RV camping for $10 a night and run by very nice people. While on the subject of the facility, I need to digress and tell you about Bud. I wondered far off to the back of the facility where there is another of many storage facilities and there was a guy working on trying to get the engine on a 1936 IH pickup to turn over. The fellow tells me he is Bud and he wishes that this IH hadn't come into his life. The truck was a mess, but the dump body on the back looked great. It was a Wood dump body and was unique looking in that the hydraulic ram pushed a couple of greased "rods" against a couple of eccentrics which lifted the front of the dump body from the back. I'm no engineer but the whole setup looked as if the manufacturer had forgotten about any mechanical advantage factors. Anyway, very interesting.

So, as we talked, Bud offered to show me the 1936 Dodge truck that he was kind of finishing up. A hundred hours on the grill, a couple of hundred hours on the body, two rivets that he had made so that the bracket on the frame would be riveted as it "was supposed to be" rather than fastened with bolts and nuts.

"How long have you been working on this truck, Bud?"

"Six years."

I didn't ask how long the IH was going to take.

Anyway, back to the show. I'm in a pout right now because so many of my friends are finishing up the day at Salida and the Rendezvous so maybe I'll compare this years NW with last years RM.

There just can't be a better place for this kind of event than the Powerland facility. Nobody serves better food or more of it than the guys and gals at Salida. Food during the show at Brooks was OK but certainly not memorable. After the show was over, we got invited to a "staff" barbecue and party and that food was memorable.

The folks at RM are SO nice to be around. The folks at Brooks were just as nice. I wanted to see my friends at RM, and I saw my friends and made some new ones at NW. The organization of vehicles for judging was better at Brooks, but the peer judging, IN MY OPINION, was awkward and maybe less effective than the judging at Rocky Mountain. However, the planners at NW were caught by surprise by some things they couldn't predict. They, unexpectedly, had a whole lot of pickups show up, and they were all grouped together for judging and I was hopelessly lost in trying to judge this category. There was a 1928 restored pickup, a non-restored but in good shape 1936, there were beautifully restored pickups of all kinds from the 50's, 60's and 70's. These were all in the same judging class and really couldn't be prepared. I'M NOT CRITICIZING, just pointing out the kind of thing that the organizers will have a better handle on next year. I'm not convinced peer judging is as effective as the Rocky Mountain model, but I'll certainly participate next year again if that is what is decided.

Thank yous are often better not started because of whom you forget, but I would be amiss if I didn't thank Robert and Chris for sharing their new Cynthia with us, and for Robert's on-going saga of the Scout that he never expects to see. Special thanks to John D, Colin, Kyle of NW Binders who bought our steaks, Jack's wife for not quite running me down 4 or 5 times <g>, somebody's nurse/wife or nurse/mother-in-law or whatever who took care of us all and was so friendly, and everybody else that made this event so successful.

It was a spectacular success, and the organizers should be proud of their efforts.

One last thought. After the IH people left, the Ultra Van group came in for the week. Aluminum aircraft type construction with Corvair engines and drive trains. 4800 lbs. for an about 20 foot motor home. So, I thought I had learned about everything there was to know about Ultra Vans when another one pulled in late. It looked a little different, so I wondered down to talk to him. I commented knowingly, "Too bad these things are so under powered."

"Underpowered?", he asks.

"Yes", I said.

"Well, if you call a 455 Oldsmobile Engine underpowered, then I'd like to know what you think is powered enough?"

How was I supposed to know that they changed the power train the last couple of years they were made?

These folks weren't as out-going as the IH group and I think they thought they should have the choice spot where my trailer was. A spot I didn't offer to leave. So, they circled up their Ultra Vans all around me and partied late into the night.
9:00 some nights. Well, late is in the eye of the beholder. Anyway, pretty funny, the RV camping goes for maybe 300 yards and there is John with 14 Ultra Vans circled up around him, using maybe 30 yards of the available space. I say agian, pretty funny.


John Hofstetter
Ol' Saline
www.goldrush.com/~hofs



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