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DECEMBER, 2005 UPDATE

Notwithstanding the truck of the month, December will be a continuation of Front Loader Month here at CRT. What this actually means is that I was not able to put together much this month ! Last months feature article and photo album was a somewhat major project, and admittedly I have "coasted" in the weeks that followed. This month I have posted two small albums from "micro-builders" Ray Gaskin and Bausenbach, which should have been included last month but were not ready in time for publication.

Looking ahead to the CRT plan for 2006, the first part of the year will be a further continuation of the front loader theme and the long overdue updating of some existing albums. I have recently acquired another large batch of material which has required many hours of processing. Much of the this pertains to Dempster, so look for a massive revision to that album first, followed by a revised E-Z Pack and new Cobey album. Next I plan to update the Leach and Heil albums, two major makes that currently have only basic albums posted, and perhaps a feature article on rear loader development along the lines of last month's front loader special. Another idea is for a feature on basic Refuse Truck Hydraulics, which might be of particular interest to our many members who are outside of the trade yet still interested in refuse trucks and what makes them work. I actually have a substantial amount already written, though the necessary illustrations will be a challenge, and this remains a long term project.

A REFUSE TRUCK MUSEUM IN THE USA?
On the heels of last months report on the SASE and their fantastic refuse truck museum at Iserlohn, Germany, I received and interesting e-mail from Bill Agresta, who runs a small recycling research organization in Southern California, and has been planning a refuse truck museum right here in the USA! Bill is seeking "as many refuse trucks as possible", and the hot list for now includes a Lodal EVO, AMREP manual side loader, Maxon manual side loader, and any Gar Wood model.

This is exiting news for refuse truck enthusiasts, particularly those of us here in the States. In a country that has contributed so much to refuse truck development, it is surprising that no manufacturer or industry organization has thought of this idea a long time ago. Bill is determined to get this project off the ground, and CRT will publish more details here as they become available.

REFUSE TRUCK VIDEOS
As reported a few weeks ago, one of the refuse truck sites listed in the CRT Links page has recently added video clips of some of their refuse trucks for sale. Waste Wheels, a suburban Chicago dealer, is perhaps the first online dealer to take the next step to video. There are some nice action shots here of a Labrie automated side loader going through a loading cycle, and two videos showing the packing cycle of a New Way rear loader and a stunning 1986 Leach 2-R Packmaster. The latter is a particularly sharp looking truck, one of the last of that breed before the styling changes that occurred with the model 2R-II. I was particularly impressed with the quality of the video at this site as well. Owner Joe LeBlanc also has included a "fun" photo on the site, an image of a Dempster Route King II rear loader doctored so it appears to have four sweep cylinders-and I have to admit the this picture had me going for awhile !

At least one manufacturer site, Geesink currently has some pretty good product video available on their Value-Packrear loaders. And of course there is the CRT Video Library at Yahoo Groups, though currently the only original video posted is of Martin's refuse truck replica. I started this group a while back, but I still don't own a video camera and thus have not posted anything. However, those with the technical ability and material are certainly welcome to post videos at any time.

RUNNING CHANGES TO THE WEBSITE
New applicants seeking to join the CRT Members Area are now being asked to give a brief explanation of their interest in this site. This is to weed out spammers and "cranks". A line or two indicating that you have a valid interest is fine.

Here at the main site, the former Links of Interest section has changed its name to the simpler name Links. This page is categorized, with enthusiast & historical interest sites listed first, followed by selected dealer/classified sites in the section below.

There is also a separate reference page called Industry Links, which lists refuse body manufacturers from around the world. Both pages are accessible from the navigation bar at left

THANK YOU..
...to all of you who have sent the kind comments about the Classic Refuse Trucks web sites. I appreciate your interest and support of this site, and look forward to a great year in 2006

Merry Christmas to all,
Eric Voytko,
December 10, 2005

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