Don Campbell finishes several hundred steps for the Bucyrus-Erie 1950B Silver Spade Model.

Don Campbell finishes several hundred steps for the Bucyrus-Erie 1950B Silver Spade Model., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

This picture was taken last night as I looked over the Spade boom after welding in the last of the steps and railings . I am happy how the steps and railings turned out since a week ago I still had not decided how to make the steps . They turned out looking very realistic and they are made out of steel too. The safety railings took just over 100 feet of 14 ga. wire and they are all welded in place. No glue or plastic is being used anywhere on the construction of this one of a kind model .
SPADE CABLE ANCHORS- I am now working on building the first 12 clevis’s that will be welded to the cable ends and will be pinned at the lower anchor brackets. I have the 12 cables rough cut to be able to work on them.
SNOWSTORM ??- We are getting a couple inches of snow but it looks like the brunt of the storm went south of us again.
WEIGHDAY – Friday is weighday and Deb did better today on the scales. But I know it would be a mistake for me to junp on the scales. I am walking on the trreadmill and counting calories and just counting the days til we can walk outside again.
SNOWTRAIN GIVING TICKETS – We saw on the news last night the area snowtrain was cleaning the tracks as a engine derailed last week near Gaylord. A state trooper was riding with them and they were giving tickets to snowmobilers caught riding on the tracks.
ALBINO DEER SPOTTED YESTERDAY – The news showed a picture a lady took near Gaylord two days ago of a all white albino Deer in the area. They said it is illegal to shoot them as they are very rare.
NEW CORVETTE- Every spring it almost feels like I get a new Corvette after not getting to drive it or see it for several months. It’s all covered up and I don’t like it to even see the snow or salt, ha,ha.
Deb’s new car- This is the first winter we stored Deb’s Cadillac too so it will be like Deb getting a new car too in a few weeks. The best thing is we both get new cars and no car payments, oh yea!!
I’ll post a picture tomorrow of the progress on the Silver Spade cable mounting process,
Have a nice Friday
Have a nice Friday

Don collides Ford FW-60 Tractor with Cat Scraper, (:>).

Don collides Ford FW-60 Tractor with Cat Scraper, (:>)., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

At first glance of this picture it almost looks like this Cat Scraper and the Ford FW-60 4 wheel drive tractor I am driving collided together. But I am getting ready to get chained to the scraper and get a pull jump start. Then I went and leveled off a 5 acre area with a box scraper/roller . You can see the service truck working on the Mack-Pak off road truck getting ready to fire it up for us to drive around. That sure was another great memory .
SELLING PRICE FOR THE SILVER SPADE- I am getting quite a few E-mails asking how much the Silver Spade will cost if someone buys it. I am unsure at this point what final price it will have on it as I have a lot of materials to buy yet and a lot of hours to work on it yet.
NINETEEN BELOW ZERO THIS MORNING- Northern Michigan had temps this morning of nineteen below zero , but is has warmed up a lot and is now 3 degrees, (:>).
FINALLY GETTING ANOTHER SNOWSTORM- Well, after 2 weeks of no snowplowing it looks like by tomorrow afternoon we could have four or five inches of snow. Hope the John Deere starts after sitting so long, ha,ha.
BROCOLLI POTATO SOUP- Deb made a fresh pot of brocolli potato soup and it is really hitting the spot today .
CABIN FEVER STILL GOING STRONG- It’s hard to believe in another week we will be changing our clocks ahead , but that is a good sign spring is only 8 weeks away , LOL ! With no snow melting and a layer of ice under it from the last ice storm, Deb and I still got a serious case of Cabin Fever. We will sure be ready when the weather gets above 32 degrees.
AMERICAN IDOL- There isn’t much interesting to watch anymore on TV , but Deb and I do enjoy watching American Idol. We have both picked our favorite female singer and it looks like the young boy is the one to beat for the guys.
SILVER SPADE STEPS PROGRESS- I am making great progress on the steps and the railings along the boom. I’ll post the next picture tomorrow.
Have a nice , warm Thurs.

Bucyrus-Erie 1950B top boom details done by Don Campbell from Gaylord, Michigan .

Bucyrus-Erie 1950B top boom details done by Don Campbell from Gaylord, Michigan ., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

SILVER SPADE TOP BOOM DETAIL DONE- Here is a picture I took today as I watched the camera to see if the timer was going to work or not. The first couple tries the camera went off before I had time to get back to the boom, ha,ha.
This picture shows the top of the boom and the over 200 pieces of steel I cut out and bent to get the look of the real boom. It is far from perfect , but when the whole model stands completed in all its glory, the top of the boom will look very nice. You can kinda see the 12 holes where the 12 support clevis’s will be pinned to connect the 12 steel boom support cables. Now I am working on the several hundred steps that go down to the bottom of the boom four times. And also over 100 feet of railings that go on both sides of those hundreds of steps. I still hope to complete the boom by this Friday night. Next week I will begin the design and construction of the dipper.
CON-EXPO INVITE- I have always dreamed of going to Con-Expo in Vegas. What a fun time that would be to see all the brand new monster machines and everything in between . I have been invited to go with other people several times and last night I got a call and invitation and a plane ticket offer. But it is a snowy time of year for us and I could plow several times that week and my customers depend on me to get out for bread and milk, ha,ha. Someday I do hope to go and think it would be awesome !!
ONE DEGREES – Spring hasn’t quite arrived yet with 12″ of snow in the middle of our back yard on the level and ice and snowbanks everywhere.
HILLARY CLINTON- For many years I have not liked Bill Clinton because of his several times of cheating on Hillary and his daughter.
I just never understood how he could do that to his wife and his daughter he supposedly loved so much. Well, after the last few weeks of seeing and hearing Hillary on TV , I’m here to tell him, I owe him a BIG apoligy!!! That Hillary is a Bitchy Woman !!! Whooo !! I’m not sure this country needs that right now ?? It scares me to think how she would be once she lets her guard down. And I really can’t imagine how terrible our foriegn policy would suffer. She is really turning out to be a Bitch !! I apoligize , but it is very true. Barack Obama is looking better all the time, ha,ha.
CAN POOR EATING EFFECT OUR MOOD- ???? Lets, see, I been eating junk for several weeks, gaining weight and feeling less energy. I’m starting to prove this latest experiment I been doing is true just by the above comments , LOL !!

Mike and I checking out his pull type grader in Ohio.

Mike and I checking out his pull type grader in Ohio., originally uploaded by Don Campbell Models.

Mike and I in Ohio- Here is a picture of Mike Wagner showing me his pull type grader which is another piece of smaller equipment he rents out and uses on jobs. To me this grader even looked like great fun to pull behind one of his big four wheel drive tractors.
Mike said this week he just rented out the big 80 foot long reach excavator to a fellow to dig a pond and he has been getting calls for other rentals and job bids. It’s sure hard to think of outdoor work way up here in Northern Michigan.
DIETING IS EXPENSIVE- It’s funny when people say it is too expensive to buy healthy food to go on a diet. In reality , it averages out to the same as once you start eating smaller portions and raw fruit and veggies, you eat so much less. When Deb and I are going our best at eating healthy, it is surprising how little food we eat in a whole week.
SNOWFALL NOW 130 inches- Even though I haven’t plowed in a week and a half, it continues to lightly snow about everyday about a inch. So now we have reached 130 inches in Gaylord. So we got about 20 inches to go til spring, (:>).
BUCYRUS-ERIE 1950B SILVER SPADE COLOR- I got a few e-mails asking me what colors I will be painting the Silver Spade. When it was first built it was red and white. It depends on who ends up buying it, as I can paint it either color . If Steve Wolken does end up buying it, he said he wants the orange colors.
SILVER SPADE BOOM PROGRESS- I am working on the last parts on the top surface of the boom end. I will post the next progress picture tomorrow of the top of the boom end.
Then I will start working down the inside of both boom beams welding in the hundreds of stairs and over 75 feet of hand railings.
HAVE A NICE TUESDAY AND THINK SPRING !!