Wood Box Replacement
Oil Tank'r Part #2...
It's been a full year since I cut the wood deck from the back of the truck, what a mistake.
My original idea was to make a dumping box to speed the unloading of what ever happens to be in the box, stone, soil, or firewood (mostly firewood).
But I found that I've been busy with one project or another and had a trailer perpetually hitched to the back of the truck.
The towing package that I installed has bent the frame slightly and worked the holes larger such that no amount of tightening will keep it secure any longer.
A 4" by 1/4" steel plate is welded as a support member just behind the remaining tool box.
The new bumper is about 50lbs of 1/4" thick channel.
The bumper is positioned to level with the two other supports, and welded directly to the frame.
Initially I was going to weld some lengths of plate to the bumper and bolt it to the truck, but as the truck will likely never be sold, I opted to weld directly to the frame.
The welds seem to have worked out ok, even the trailer hitch is welded in place.
Since all the metal is at least 1/4" thick the welder was cranked-up to 100Amp and liberal slathers of bead were applied to secure everything in place.
Since it's likely that this box will be one of the last ones (I'll install on this truck anyway), I thought that I may as well throw a quick coat of rust paint on the frame.
A series of 3/8ths holes were drilled into the frame and new support for the box.
This Oil Tank also has also received a heavy coat of rust paint.
As pictured in the previous section (...last year), the base of the tank is re-enforced to provide years of trouble free loading and unloading of materials that would otherwise be either carried by hand or in a wheel-barrel.
The tank may still end-up as a dumping unit, and the end of the tank will have to be cut and hinged as well, but that may be still another year off.
In closing, I think it only fitting that our annual wood supply will be hauled in a recycled oil tank.
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