New Power Wagon

[rkeane]

Greetings,
I'm new to this site. Usually hang out with old cats and prarie tractors. Anyway I just purchased a 56 PW digger- derrick line truck. It is almost exactly like the one my dad had. 26 degrees below zero two weeks ago I gave her a little prime and she started right up. Drove it on the trailer and brought it home. Brakes are a little weak. Windshield wipers and heater still work. Just needs a little TLC and it's ready to go to work. Hope the picture attachment works.

Happy Easter

Rkeane

[Jake]

Welcome to the forum rkeane,
Thats a great looking truck you got,wuld be interesting to see it in action.

[74w300uteline]

Holy hole digger Batman!

That thing is beautiful ! You could make a fortune out here digging fence post holes, getting into places nobody else can reach. WOW

[rkeane]

Thanks for the reply.

The guys I bought it from used it last year to set a few poles, so I know it all works. I'll have to try it all out and get used to running it this spring.

I'm sure I'll be on this forum looking for help.

thanks again

Rkeane

[74w300uteline]

In the background I can see Blackduck Telephone, where are you located? 26 below zero, North POLE ? ha ha

[rkeane]

74w300uteline

I'm from southern Minnesota. Blackduck is in northern Minnesota,near the Canadian border. And it was 26 degrees below zero the day I picked it up! Spring can't come soon enough around here. 10 inches of snow yesterday, but that is better than all the floods in the midwest.

good luck

[Warren Watt]

New PW

Great looking truck! You got a real rare truck I believe. Thanks for posting the image. What is sticking out of the front bumper? It would be interesting to know how all that structure gets to a vertical position.

[sret43]

You lucky dog

I must have yelled out "WOW" pretty loud when I saw the pic of your find cause my wife come running into the room to see if everything was ok.

Steve

[rickt4498]

hole digger

great looking truck...

looks like ma bell just parked it and ran in for coffee...

how has it been so well preserved ??

that would make a great story...

[KevinM]

I seem to remember seeing a model of that PW setup, may have been on ebay.....Looks like a real nice well preserved example, good luck with it. That would come in handy for my upcoming pole barn project. Kevin

[rkeane]

Guys,

Thanks for all the support. The truck really is almost ready to go out and work. That is my intention: to equip the truck just like the one we had when I was a kid. I have all the tools and materials needed to fill it up, including a 1955 pole trailer that needs a coat of paint.
As a kid I rode around many days in one just like that, but the motor died and my dad sold it to a local mechanic who made a wrecker out of it.

This truck has been used but stored inside since at least 1960. There are nearly 100 small telephone companies in Minnesota. I work for one and bought this truck from a friend of mine at another. They used it last year.

The PTO shaft on the front is for the auger.

Happy Easter

Rkeane

[Kaegi]

sweet!

that is the best one of those i have ever seen. the truck that brought this country power and telephones! You will get big fore arms form greasing that thing! time to invest in a power grease gun. If you wanted to you might be able to find the front winch set up for that truck, it would move the PTO forward a bit some some mods to the current set up woulld have to be made possibly. Thanks for posting the pic.

[rkeane]

Kaegi,

Thanks for the sentiment. The original one my dad owned had a front winch with capstans on either end so you could wind up wire and cable. I thought this one did too, because I bought it sight unseen. When I go there to pick it up, no front winch. Oh well. Everything else is great.

Had it out for a ride yesterday. Trying to explain to my son the meaning of double clutch!

Rkeane

[JGPierce]

Great truck and thanks for the picture!

I'm looking at trailers and was wondering the length and capacity of your trailer (? 18 foot with 6,000#/axle)? Also, what size truck are you hauling it with? The guys at my local trailer place think I should go with a 20 footer, but I would think an 18' should be fine. They also mentioned that a Chevy 1500 or F150 would be a bit small and should go to the larger 2500 or F250.

Thanks.

[Kevin Mienke]

Great truck and thanks for the picture!

I'm looking at trailers and was wondering the length and capacity of your trailer (? 18 foot with 6,000#/axle)? Also, what size truck are you hauling it with? The guys at my local trailer place think I should go with a 20 footer, but I would think an 18' should be fine. They also mentioned that a Chevy 1500 or F150 would be a bit small and should go to the larger 2500 or F250.

Thanks.

18' with 6000 lb. tandem axles will get the job done, but a 20' with tandem 7000# axles is ideal for a PW. The size of the tow vehicle will depend greatly on the distance you plan go and the contour of the land. A 2500 Ram with a cummins diesel was born for this job.