WHAT DID YOU DO IN YOUR SHOP TODAY

Not today but a couple of days ago I was using this vintage Coates tire changer to replace a tire on an old cultivator (with another used tire). We hauled that old tire machine home back in the mid 1970s with the IHC B110 pickup. It had been put up for tender by the local Co-op as they had replaced with a newer, less worn out one. This one has changed a lot of tires for me over the past 40 years.
https://youtu.be/jhZDEqJePA4

When I was in high school a friend had one of those bolted to the floor in his basement. We would find many serviceable tires at the local dump. I don't know when it was that I bought new tires for the 1st time. I do remember driving around on "police pursuit radials" curtesy of the local police dept, which would change out all 4 at one time, I could always find a set of 2 when I needed them.
When I couldn't wait to get to his changer, I'd use an old fashion bumper jack to break the bead and a set of hand irons to change the tire.
Still mount most of my own, but now I am more apt to be buying new, then I was in my teenage years.
Once our local boy scout troop borrowed my fathers pick-up to do some work at a camp. I was not allowed to drive it for insurance reasons, but one of the leaders hit at stump a tore out the sidewall. They were all upset about having to tell Mr. Weeks that they had destroyed one of his tires... Until I told them they came from the dump, and so did the spare we put on! I don't know if they were relieved or angry that they had been running around on "dump" tires!

When I was in high school a friend had one of those bolted to the floor in his basement. We would find many serviceable tires at the local dump. !

Great story! I run a lot of "recycled" tires here too. That tire I put on the cultivator originally was on my IH Scout II back in the 1980s. All four tires on my Merc came off the 97 Blazer. Plenty of tread left for the Merc as I only drive on dry roads (or dry snow). It used to be standard procedure on the farm that used car and pickup tires went on the implements as needed. Not an option today as implements are so big. Except the antique stuff I run.

I had to move about 29% of the contents of the shop to get to my chop crane. I found a roll of masking paper I had been looking for, for months. I needed the crane/cherry-picker to move my PEXTO brake. There is no shuffling this brake around, because it weighs 846 pounds (384 kg). I sold the sheetmetal brake my Dad made for me, so today was rearranging time. Room!!! I am going on Craigslist.

Today I checked the wheel bearings, installed a set of Mile Marker locking hubs and topped off the front closed knuckles with a specially formulated knuckle grease after an initial fill and installed a new cable for the hand throttle. Next session I'll start tackling some of the wiring issues.

Yesterday and today I worked on my front bumper, it was smashed, flattened and torn pretty badly and I thought it might be beyond repair. I spent four hours with a torch and a five pound sledge trying to coax it into its original shape which surprisingly I was able to do. I cut off the home made tow hooks and welded up some splits in it as well as welding in a new section and drilling new holes where the top bolts go on the upper driver side. Today I bolted it up. Now if this truck were going to a 100 pt. restoration I'd be looking for a new bumper but for what this truck will be when I'm done I'm pretty happy with it. If you notice the front lic. plate it is a 1955 New Mexico plate. NM is a one plate state so I have antique plates on the front of my vehicles newer and older. In one respect it should be be a 56 plate which is the truck year but 55 is my birth year plus maybe I can rationalize that this truck may have been in the show room in late 55.

My Dad used to say, "Make it good enough for yourself and it will be too good for everyone else."
I have an "R" front bumper. It is bent into a steep "V" from what looks like a collision with a hydro pole. I know I will be able to make this bumper look as good as new. A few hours of work is easily worth the effort when one sees what these used bumpers are selling for. I prefer the Ford pickup bumpers from 1948 - 1952. I will be "bobbing the IH bumper ends for a cleaner look. Old IHC bumpers like to kiss the grill and punch holes.
https://www.bobdrake.com/4852bumpers

Another option.

I would like a winch on the truck eventually. I seem to be stubbornly sticking with a 6 volt system so unless I am mistaken an electric Warn winch is out of the question. I might get lucky and find an old PTO winch and then I am back to rethinking the bumper.

PTO driven hyd system with a hyd winch would be the easiest to fit. Mechanical driven will outpull anything and pull until something breaks!
Electrical winches are fine for short pulls, but sustained use will drain a battery regardless of voltage or how big an alternator.
I have a mechanical winch on my K-7 and can't stall it out no matter how much load I put on it, it will pull the front end off the ground or flip the truck over at idle if over loaded or rigged off center.

PTO driven hyd system with a hyd winch would be the easiest to fit. Mechanical driven will outpull anything and pull until something breaks!
Electrical winches are fine for short pulls, but sustained use will drain a battery regardless of voltage or how big an alternator.
I have a mechanical winch on my K-7 and can't stall it out no matter how much load I put on it, it will pull the front end off the ground or flip the truck over at idle if over loaded or rigged off center.

For sure! My brother had a big old Braden mechanical winch on a 50 GMC tow truck. Ran off the pto that most 4 speed truck transmissions here had. It needed to be a reversible pto of course for when you want to reel the cable back in. He transferred it to the IH S160 for a while before I bought the truck from him. The Braden winch went on to a new owner although the frame work is still here on the GMC and I've got the reversible pto on the S160.