Blackfoot Tucker
Well-known member
I saw this listing yesterday and went to look at the machine:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=23585576&cat=&lpid=&search=tucker&ad_cid=5
It's also listed here:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=23585637&cat=&lpid=&search=tucker&ad_cid=6
And on Craigslist:
http://rockies.craigslist.org/for/3704022541.html
The Craigslist ad says it's a 1744 but it's not. It's a 1644. Originally owned by the FAA, it has a Chrysler 318 Industrial engine and a New Process 5-speed transmission. There is no winch. In terms of options it has a factory rear heater and a roof mounted aim-able spotlight.
Here are some observations:
The style of grouser is slightly different than the ones on the three Tuckers I've owned. These appear to be slightly more heavy-duty. There is more steel in each one, and thus they are heavier. The hour meter read 990 and I think it's probably accurate. My impression is that this has been run in low/no snow conditions more than usual. That resulted in premature grouser wear. Several of the grousers have been broken and repaired with steel plates welded-on to add reinforcement. One grouser that I saw was the other style. I didn't look at all of them, but would describe the grousers overall as being "below average". The track belts were okay. There were a few splices, but nothing outrageous.
The idler wheels generally seemed to be in very good condition. However, the de-icer wheels are another story. This machine has what I'll call the "modular style" de-icer wheel. It has a welded steel center section and there is a flange that plastic "wear-rings" bolt to. The concept is when the wear rings get worn, they can be replaced rather than replacing the whole wheel. Well... all eight wear rings should have been replaced a while ago. The steel flange portion of the wheel is what the grousers are riding on causing excess wear on the grousers.
My opinion is these must be replaced ASAP. Just for fun I called Tucker to find out the cost. The person I wanted wasn't available, but someone else helped me. He didn't seem very familiar and said the wear rings weren't available. New de-icer wheels are $534.60 each, and remember, it needs four!
This machine has the "clam shell" style hood. There is a center hinge and each side lifts up, and is held in the raised position by a support rod, or you can lay it over on the other half of the hood if you only want to work on one side. The left half of the hood is bent out somewhat at the back where it meets the cab. The hood itself, when it was made, has a bent flange at the bottom along the sides that gives the hood some strength. That flange is cracked and would need to be welded. There would be some other straightening involved as well. I would view this as a "must do" as I'm sure that hood flexes back and forth and that's just going to make the crack worse.
The Tucker grille has a frame of 3/4" x 3/4" square tubing with some mesh welded in the center. This is not uncommon with Tuckers, but water got inside that frame (probably through the bolts that hold the hood hinge to the grille frame) and, to use a technical term, "pooched out" the lower horizontal grille frame member. That causes the square tubing to be rounded rather than square. It's a cosmetic issue.
Both kick panels are dented, as is the steel above the windshield and the front part of the roof (that overhangs the windshield frame) is slightly bent in a couple of spots; again cosmetic...
Somewhere along the line someone decided to replace part of the exhaust system. Originally this would have had a two-into-one pipe that exited the hood at the right rear corner and then into a muffler as it ran along the right side "A" pillar. Now the exhaust runs underneath the floor on the left side and exits the muffler by the right rear door. The floor of the machine has been scorched by the muffler, and the present owner added a heat shield to protect the floor from further damage.
The bed of the Tucker struck me as a "hodge-podge"; neither well designed or constructed. The rear half of the bed floor is OSB, the front is expanded metal. The rear vertical portion is not hinged. Perhaps I missed something, but my initial thought was I'd cut it off and start over.
All of the weatherstripping on this machine has been replaced...with the wrong stuff! Tucker uses a weatherstripping that goes all the way around the door skins and also at the front and rear of the hood. It's basically a "bulb" shaped piece of soft rubber that's bonded to a U-shape. The U portion fits around the aluminum skin and is sized to grab it. The bulb does the sealing. This has all been replaced with a type of trim that resembles the U shape. It grabs the aluminum just fine but has little to no sealing. All four of the door latches have pieces of steel bolted to the inside of their respective rear door posts (to make up for the lack of the bulb's thickness when compressed) and so the doors "latch tightly", but it's wrong. I would replace that weatherstripping promptly to keep water out of the cab.
The Craigslist ad describes the paint as being "nice". Tongue-in-cheek I'd say: "compared to what"? The seller told me he had it painted by Maaco a few years ago. I've always thought of Maaco as being a competitor to Earl Scheib, as far as offering super-cheap, low quality paint jobs. But lately Maaco has been trying to upgrade their image. This paint job does nothing toward that objective. Runs in the paint are plentiful. Yes, it's orange and it shines nicely, and from 100 feet away it looks pretty nice... but when standing close to the 'cat, the flaws are readily apparent.
This machine has turn signals. I've never seen that before, but someone thought that was necessary and they added them. There's a lever system attached to the steering column. The roof mounted lights in front are actually turn signals.
On the plus side; it is a 1644, and in my opinion that's the most desirable Tucker configuration. The interior is in really nice condition, decidedly better than any of the three Tuckers I've bought. Also, and I consider this important, many, if not most, Tuckers have had someone who is a self-proclaimed "electrical genius" get into the electrical system. They then make a mess of it. This one seems to have escaped. It also comes with its original Tucker factory manual. Those rarely survive, and somewhat surprisingly, they are not available from Tucker.
When I went to look at this machine I was thinking of buying it in the off season, making some minor repairs and giving it some "love", and then selling it in the fall to make some money. As I looked at this Tucker I saw a number of things I'd address and I started to lose interest. I didn't drive it so I didn't look at all the grousers, I didn't check out the steering or how the transmission shifted, I don't know if the throwout bearing is okay, etc, etc.
When I factor in the cost of the repairs I'd make, add in the amount of time I'd spend, and compare that to what I think would be a fair selling price, it didn't pencil out for me.
However I'm a pretty "picky" guy and don't like to sell stuff that I have to apologize for. Similarly, I want to have confidence in the machines mechanical condition.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=23585576&cat=&lpid=&search=tucker&ad_cid=5
It's also listed here:
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=23585637&cat=&lpid=&search=tucker&ad_cid=6
And on Craigslist:
http://rockies.craigslist.org/for/3704022541.html
The Craigslist ad says it's a 1744 but it's not. It's a 1644. Originally owned by the FAA, it has a Chrysler 318 Industrial engine and a New Process 5-speed transmission. There is no winch. In terms of options it has a factory rear heater and a roof mounted aim-able spotlight.
Here are some observations:
The style of grouser is slightly different than the ones on the three Tuckers I've owned. These appear to be slightly more heavy-duty. There is more steel in each one, and thus they are heavier. The hour meter read 990 and I think it's probably accurate. My impression is that this has been run in low/no snow conditions more than usual. That resulted in premature grouser wear. Several of the grousers have been broken and repaired with steel plates welded-on to add reinforcement. One grouser that I saw was the other style. I didn't look at all of them, but would describe the grousers overall as being "below average". The track belts were okay. There were a few splices, but nothing outrageous.
The idler wheels generally seemed to be in very good condition. However, the de-icer wheels are another story. This machine has what I'll call the "modular style" de-icer wheel. It has a welded steel center section and there is a flange that plastic "wear-rings" bolt to. The concept is when the wear rings get worn, they can be replaced rather than replacing the whole wheel. Well... all eight wear rings should have been replaced a while ago. The steel flange portion of the wheel is what the grousers are riding on causing excess wear on the grousers.
My opinion is these must be replaced ASAP. Just for fun I called Tucker to find out the cost. The person I wanted wasn't available, but someone else helped me. He didn't seem very familiar and said the wear rings weren't available. New de-icer wheels are $534.60 each, and remember, it needs four!
This machine has the "clam shell" style hood. There is a center hinge and each side lifts up, and is held in the raised position by a support rod, or you can lay it over on the other half of the hood if you only want to work on one side. The left half of the hood is bent out somewhat at the back where it meets the cab. The hood itself, when it was made, has a bent flange at the bottom along the sides that gives the hood some strength. That flange is cracked and would need to be welded. There would be some other straightening involved as well. I would view this as a "must do" as I'm sure that hood flexes back and forth and that's just going to make the crack worse.
The Tucker grille has a frame of 3/4" x 3/4" square tubing with some mesh welded in the center. This is not uncommon with Tuckers, but water got inside that frame (probably through the bolts that hold the hood hinge to the grille frame) and, to use a technical term, "pooched out" the lower horizontal grille frame member. That causes the square tubing to be rounded rather than square. It's a cosmetic issue.
Both kick panels are dented, as is the steel above the windshield and the front part of the roof (that overhangs the windshield frame) is slightly bent in a couple of spots; again cosmetic...
Somewhere along the line someone decided to replace part of the exhaust system. Originally this would have had a two-into-one pipe that exited the hood at the right rear corner and then into a muffler as it ran along the right side "A" pillar. Now the exhaust runs underneath the floor on the left side and exits the muffler by the right rear door. The floor of the machine has been scorched by the muffler, and the present owner added a heat shield to protect the floor from further damage.
The bed of the Tucker struck me as a "hodge-podge"; neither well designed or constructed. The rear half of the bed floor is OSB, the front is expanded metal. The rear vertical portion is not hinged. Perhaps I missed something, but my initial thought was I'd cut it off and start over.
All of the weatherstripping on this machine has been replaced...with the wrong stuff! Tucker uses a weatherstripping that goes all the way around the door skins and also at the front and rear of the hood. It's basically a "bulb" shaped piece of soft rubber that's bonded to a U-shape. The U portion fits around the aluminum skin and is sized to grab it. The bulb does the sealing. This has all been replaced with a type of trim that resembles the U shape. It grabs the aluminum just fine but has little to no sealing. All four of the door latches have pieces of steel bolted to the inside of their respective rear door posts (to make up for the lack of the bulb's thickness when compressed) and so the doors "latch tightly", but it's wrong. I would replace that weatherstripping promptly to keep water out of the cab.
The Craigslist ad describes the paint as being "nice". Tongue-in-cheek I'd say: "compared to what"? The seller told me he had it painted by Maaco a few years ago. I've always thought of Maaco as being a competitor to Earl Scheib, as far as offering super-cheap, low quality paint jobs. But lately Maaco has been trying to upgrade their image. This paint job does nothing toward that objective. Runs in the paint are plentiful. Yes, it's orange and it shines nicely, and from 100 feet away it looks pretty nice... but when standing close to the 'cat, the flaws are readily apparent.
This machine has turn signals. I've never seen that before, but someone thought that was necessary and they added them. There's a lever system attached to the steering column. The roof mounted lights in front are actually turn signals.
On the plus side; it is a 1644, and in my opinion that's the most desirable Tucker configuration. The interior is in really nice condition, decidedly better than any of the three Tuckers I've bought. Also, and I consider this important, many, if not most, Tuckers have had someone who is a self-proclaimed "electrical genius" get into the electrical system. They then make a mess of it. This one seems to have escaped. It also comes with its original Tucker factory manual. Those rarely survive, and somewhat surprisingly, they are not available from Tucker.
When I went to look at this machine I was thinking of buying it in the off season, making some minor repairs and giving it some "love", and then selling it in the fall to make some money. As I looked at this Tucker I saw a number of things I'd address and I started to lose interest. I didn't drive it so I didn't look at all the grousers, I didn't check out the steering or how the transmission shifted, I don't know if the throwout bearing is okay, etc, etc.
When I factor in the cost of the repairs I'd make, add in the amount of time I'd spend, and compare that to what I think would be a fair selling price, it didn't pencil out for me.
However I'm a pretty "picky" guy and don't like to sell stuff that I have to apologize for. Similarly, I want to have confidence in the machines mechanical condition.
