We
visited Rob Pickering and his wife Erin in La Junta. Rob
sold me Thor and assisted in the early frame fabrication and
build-out. He has a complete shop and all the tools and
skills required to assist me in doing a periodic maintenance and
inspection on Thor. We pulled into his shop and things had
greatly changed since our last visit.
The photos below are what we saw.
I
was not paying close attention and already lowered the cab before
I took this photo. Our maintenance actions could be done
without raising the cab, but I needed Rob to inspect the available
space between the cab and the engine in preparation for
installation of an air conditioning unit on the roof. The
compressor has to be driven by the engine, but the balance of the
components can sit on the roof.
This
maintenance consisted of replacing the transmission fluid with
special 50 wt gear oil, chassis lubrication, drain and fill on the
brake fluid and replacing a balking priming pump on the fuel
system. The device above is a fluid sucker and
reservoir/accumulator for old fluids.
Rob's
power bleeder made the brakes easy and not TOO messy.
Rob
has found a market niche by refurbishing Hagglunds which are an
tracked amphibious vehicle. These are used for oil
exploration and for transport of personnel over snowy conditions.
This
one is ex-military and is being fully reconditioned.
Wheels
for the track system that were removed as part of the
reconditioning.
These
drive shafts go from the differential to the track drive
mechanism.
These
are swing arms that are part of the track assembly.
These
are tracks for the Hagglund.
The
track carrier frame for the Hagglund.
A
drive gear for the track with drive shaft attached.
Rob
has totally reorganized his shop since our last visit and has
found homes for each of his pieces of large equipment.
Rob
got this large lathe since our last visit.
Rob
now has a large inventory of nice mogs.
This
mog has a Red Dot a/c unit like the one that we plan to put on
Thor.
A
very nice 1550L DOKA.
Rob
has several Schmidt snow plows and a number of the trucks have
mounts for these plows.
Another
plow-equipped mog.
There
were several fully-functional Hagglund units at the facility.
This
is a late-model DOKA that has a hillbilly camper. Basically
this was a poor execution of a good idea.
This
2450L needs a nice home. Rob's contact information is on the
sign in the background. The city is La Junta, CO.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.