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Old 11-27-2013, 06:26 PM
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iggybob44
iggybob44 is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Grants Pass, Oregon
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Project Highboy work truck

Well, my 76 is an excellent starting point for a building materials/firewood/dump run truck......My daily driver Dodge Diesel has a shortbed and a camper shell, so the 76 Highboy seems like a good vehicle for this usage. its got integral power steering, front disk brakes, and a huge PTO winch on the front. Im thinking about adding some overloads to the rear, a lumber rack and headache rack, and building a front mounted detachable A-frame with a sheave to allow me to redirect the winch pull for pulling sections of trees up hillsides for firewood. I see tons of available wood on roads that dont have a wide enough pull off to allow me to run the truck for an easy straight pull. What im envisioning would look like an oversized tow bar that would plug into the huge winch front bumper, have a sheave on the end to allow up to a 90 degree sideways winch pull. Ive already figured that if i build it with a provision for driving a couple t-posts or construction stakes into the ground towards the front of the A-frame to secure it from pulling the vehicle sideways, and if i limit the the logs pulled to relatively small size i shouldnt have any problem. Im also planning on adding a 2 gauge welding cable/polarized plug power lead to the back of the truck, so i can attach a winch with a receiver mount to my back bumper easily.