The Way We Were Wednesday - Big Trucks

Part of growing up on a funny farm, was having unusual "farm equipment" around.  Some day I will find the photos of an automatic uncapper, extractor, and beeblower, but for today it is the Big Truck.  The first large track arrived on the farm before I did.  It was thrown in on the deal when my father bought a bunch of bees from a fireboat captain.  The second one was green, the next one had a yellow cab and aluminum box, this is the last one, it was Yellow! Actually when my father bought it, it was PINK!  If you can imagine something the size of that painted in PINK! He bought a couple of years old, with only about 20,000 miles, it had been owned by an specialized leasing company whose company color was PINK!  They agreed to pain it any color he wanted, except PINK as part of the sale. 

It had a 24 foot enclosed cargo box, with a hydraulic lift gate. We used for 2-3 months a year on the farm. It was essential to getting work done efficiently.  Being the guy with the Big Truck, we helped a lot of people move.  

I have mentioned that when I was in High School my parents started spending winters in Florida.  A couple of years when we were packing in Michigan to go to Florida for the winter, we simply packed the truck and away we went.  It did make packing easy.  

I drove this beast several times.  It had a two speed rear axle, meaning you shifted the rear axle and the transmission. In effect giving you twice as many gear options. I was pleased to master that on the second try, grinding a halt on I-75 on the first try.   

Have driven anything the size of this?