To OHIO or BUST PICS! updated 3-2-09

[dirtmister16]

got home about 10 min. ago from seeing Mike and his great fleet. thanks for the tractor and plow Mike! fri. Jan. 2 Day 1 started the trip at 12:00(midnight) i made it down to the beloit at the border between Wisconsin and Illinois, at a 2:30am. then through to Indiana to Ohio was 500 miles when refilled my tank. After that a couple more hours over to beaverdam and down to my first stop of the day i was running about two hours early to meet my first stop. My first stop was delivering a 4 wheel drive front rear end for a elenco ford. When i got down to where i was supposed to be it was 2:00 in the afternoon, he was going to be home at 4:00. So i explored the area and found a nice meat locker outside of maysville and had my lunch. After lunch I went and explored the great unknown. I found a old abandoned oil company building and took some pictures of it and my truck(will load and post) then into Alger OH, and drove around checking things out and took some pictures of old cars and things i found interesting there. Then i found a great deal! found some parts for my friend who has a 86 camaro he is in the process of working on over time, got him a door, a hood and taillights from a z28, all for 50 bucks!(i don't remember i told you that tidbit there mike) so i loaded them up and went on to my first stop and unloaded there, got the check from him and worked my way to mike's. Mike was only about a half hour away and by this time it was going on about i belive 4:30ish or so??(i may be a bit off might have been closer to 5). Once i got to Mike's place we talked, and I had to go check everything out(like a kid in a candy store lol) then we got the tractor and blade loaded up and talked for awhile more. once i left and got to Bluffton it believe it was around 7:30pm got checked into the local motel and grabbed some grub and called it a day. so total hours day 1 about 16 hours combined between driving and just talking and doing everything. it was a great day! Day 2 8:00am FROM OH to WI. Woke up about 8 and got going about 9:30. on my way back i stopped in Valparaiso and went into tractor supply(sale and lots of goods) once my wallet was lighter I kept on trucking back home without any hitches(besides the one in the bed that is lol) made it home just a few minutes past 9pm. Before i went home i got a bonus! called a guy from craigslist that i tried to get a hold of before i left to see mike. I got a hold of his wife and found out that the motor he posted was till available! So on to Elkhorn,WI only about 30. minutes away from south Beloit once there i looked over the 10hp briggs that was on craigslist and made a deal for $40, doesn't run, but was running about a week ago. has extra carb, bust mount point(on the oil pan) and some welding on the crank(someone attached something who knows when). but I took it anyway and figured if nothing else i can resell or part it out. but it might just be perfect for the tractor i got from Mike. After that it was back on the way home nothing exciting happened. But was a great day. Total miles 1298.1 Total gas expense $138.02 Miles per gallon average total trip 17.1 mpg there and back, loaded both ways traveling average of 70 mph Total hours about 30 hours total time it took there and back. i have pictures of other things besides Mike's stuff but need to resize them yet. enjoy these anyway.

sorry for the long long post, but i have more pictures, i will make a seperate post for the engine. Mke thank you for the great time, stories and tips! oh and for any ridiculus grammar, im not that great at typing things and it takes forever to get it the way i would want it. more pictures of the trip

more later UPDATED: 2 months overdue but got it

[MDB]

Thanks Matt,:D Glad to see that you made it home Ok. Was nice to meet you and talk tractors for a while.

[Glen112]

Matt - If that is the tractor that Mike listed a while ago, you are lucky it was still available. I was very intrigued by it, and if I could have justified having another project sitting around, I would have made a much shorter drive a long time ago and grabbed it. Have fun with it and keep us posted on progress. Glen

[Simplicity85]

Looks good

[dirtmister16]

hey glen yes that is the tractor and the blade that Mike had posted in the classifieds. thanks all

[Killer_A-C]

Another happy club member....dOddOd

[D-17_Dave]

Cool trip, nice talks, new tractors. Doesn't get much better.dOd

[goatfarmer]

From Black River Falls? That IS a full 2 days you had.....

[dirtmister16]

yes, it was, but also it was great to get out and about for a little while and see a few new things. i enjoyed the whole trip, really helped my bruised back to just get away from the world(that and the hot tub at the motel). great trip, many things learned.

[Simpleton7016]

yeah, and good timing....three months ago, the trip would have cost you double!

[MPH]

Still waitting for details and pictures of just what you brought home. Sounds like a good road trip and fun time.

[Glen112]

Matt - I agree with Marty. Time to post some pictures of what you brought home. As I mentioned before, I came close to buying it a while ago. It is your job to make me feel bad about not following my instincts and buying it. Glen

[dirtmister16]

i will try to get pictures of the blade tommorrow night, it is still in my truck actually. im been trying to get time to mount it on dad's B-10, but busy as always. the tractor is unloaded at our garage on the back of my trailer, so i will try to get pics of that this weekend if i have time. I promise to get pictures, with work and light being short ive been busy. ill at least get pictures of the blade tommorrow night for sure. thanks all