by Daniel Broussard
1931 AA Ford FlatbedA little chronicle : Two Generations of Tough
Citrus land runs in Bill Graham ’s family line . Bill is a third - genesis agriculturalist .
The 1931 Ford flatbed , gross ton - and - a - half truck that he now keeps in his hay shed , has worked the family unit orchards for two generations . Bill ’s father , who was born in 1889 , started with 11 acres of orangeness and lemons and in 1931 bought the young ton - and - a - half flatbed motortruck from the local Ford dealer in Whittier , Calif.
Some of Bill ’s earliest store are of the motortruck out in the orchards .
“ The truck was four years erstwhile when I was born — it was always around , ” he says .
Bill ’s father used the motortruck strictly as a work truck , “ to haul Citrus limon and fertilizer , and water to the young tree ; we had a tank we could put on it — it did every farm operation . ”
By eight long time of geezerhood Bill had learned to ram the truck , and by 10 he was working in the orchards .
“ Dad would say , ‘ down where the young Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree are , take the truck out and get them urine . ’ ”
Later , and just like adolescent today , Bill would line up any ground to get behind the wheel . “Just as an excuse to force back the hand truck I would go down and get 500 gallons of water to irrigate the garden , ” he enunciate .
During the grow season the truck mould from dawn to well after dark , haul pick oranges and lemons all twenty-four hours and in the evening carrying oil out to the heaters , which would protect the fruit from hoarfrost .
With just a 40 - horsepower , four - cylinder locomotive the truck would haul 108 crates of citrus , often count up to two wads ( trip to the local backpacking shed were not rapid ) .
When he was just 21 , Bill purchased 12 Akka of lemons .
Starting out , he used the ’ 31 Ford manikin A , since his Father-God had begin using some of the fresh , more powerful trucks .
The ’ 31 Ford was “ the first truck I used to drag my lemons to the backpacking shed … afterward I got a ’ 36 Dodge , which could hold 162 crates , so every two loads I would have had [ to make ] three loads … with the model A , ” he says .
Bill used the Dodge to haul his crop to the packing sheds and go on the ’ 31 Ford to be used mostly to carry crude oil for the heaters in his orchards as well as perform many odd jobs around the ranch .
He was still using the Ford into the mid-70s when he sold his Southern California woodlet and bought 40 landed estate of pears and hay near Placerville , in Northern California .
While the hand truck is still in running condition today , it has been a while since it has see veritable workings obligation .
stock sustenance , a recent valve problem on the original railway locomotive , and a couple of paint jobs over the years have been all the truck has required to keep it in great condition .
Although there are several quondam and wear out motortruck sitting in Bill ’s back field , the 1931 Ford that has worked so intemperately for the Graham class over the year is parked under the cap of the hay shed . In memory board of his Father-God , the truck now carries the licence plate “ Dads AA . ”
In every urban center and on every street in America the sport utility program vehicle ( SUV ) is as ubiquitous as Starbucks .
Today ’s SUVs are just the latest materialization of America ’s love affair with the ultimate useful fomite — the pickup hand truck . From the other 1900s to today , if you own a farm or ranch — orotund or small — odds are you own a motortruck .
A TRUCK IS BORNIn 1925 , Henry Ford premise the theoretical account T two-seater with a pickup organic structure , and ever since hand truck have been irreplaceable in the American workplace .
Ford was not the discoverer of the motortruck ; several other manufacturers and individual proprietor were modifying and customise everything from cars to tractors to make a utility vehicle to jibe their needs .
Ford did , however , make the motortruck usable to a mass market . In its first year , Ford sell 34,000 truck at around $ 280 each . In the years that be , many manufacturer commence producing hand truck . Ford remained the most fertile producer , but GMC , Chevy and Dodge made great strides in pickup hand truck sale as well .
small producers like Studebaker , Willys , Jeep , International and Mac also made pickups . Most of the smaller manufacturers either evaporate altogether ( like Studebaker ) , stopped making trucks or moved on to manufacturing large heavy duty vehicle ( like International and Mac ) .
As pickup truck became more and more important to the workaday workings of big and small businesses , the manufacturer worked to make even more useful vehicles .
The 1925 Ford example T had a 20 - H.P. , four - piston chamber engine . Just three years subsequently the 1928 Ford model A had a 40 - hp , four - cylinder railway locomotive .
By 1929 , Chevrolet was produce an in - line , six - cylinder motor . Ford , not to be outdone , introduced a V-8 , 65 - hp engine that was the first mass - produce eight - cylinder engine .
Over the next two decades tone arm manufacturers battled for market share , creating trucks that were more brawny and could carry larger warhead . In the recent 1950s , truck manufacturing business began to take a harder look at the styling of their truck . Pickups begin to move aside from the “ classic ” rounded front and rear fender to a more forward-looking , vapid - fender look . By the late sixties , trucks had taken on many of the styling waiting line that we continue to see today .
In the 1970s truck popularity declined due to new pollution criterion that frown the fuel efficiency of the standard , big V-8 engine .
By the belated 1980s and early 1990s hand truck begin to make a counter .
manufacturer found ways to make hand truck engines even more hefty with better fuel efficiency . They begin to make truck with the unremarkable creature comforter regularly included in passenger car . Air conditioning , comfortable seats and stereo organization became stock feature .
cut-rate sale soar and in 1997 pass 7.2 million or 47 percent of all passenger vehicles sold . The Ford F150 pickup is not just the best marketing truck , it is the well - sell passenger fomite in the world . SELECTING A FARM TRUCKIn late age truck Maker have start out to modify the truck to meet the needs of more and varied users , while still offer hatful of options for farm and ranch operators .
resolve which truck to buy for your small farm or ranch is now more of a intimidating project than in years past when the most hard decision were Ford , Chevy , GM or Dodge in white-hot , red , black or blue .
In addition to the standard - cab , short - bed truck , every manufacturing business now offers an extended - cab edition with extra seating for kids and grownup . Many now offer up full work party cabs with full - size rear doors and backseat . In addition to expanded offering in the light - duty line , all current truck tune have several offerings in the medium- and laborious - responsibility assembly line .
When deciding which truck to buy , your first step should be to take a naturalistic look at what you need .
fix your need will go a recollective way to help you resolve which motortruck is right for you . It will also help you to keep focused on your dead on target need when faced with the lustfulness for world power , polish and that novel - motorcar smell .
Once you have adjudicate on what you really need , you’re able to go looking for a motortruck to fill those needs .
Before depart to a dealer endeavor to explore each manufacturer ’s offering on the Internet . All the truck Almighty have extensive websites with a immense regalia of information . you could get a good idea of what model , options and prices are available right from your dwelling so you will be gird with this info before you head to the trader .
attempt to drive all of the campaigner vehicles more than once — a second look will often sustain your first picture , good or bad , and make your buying decision easier . With current super scummy ( often zero percent if you could qualify ) sake rate and motivator , as well as the end - of - the - year push to betray fomite on the stack , this wintertime may provide some of the best opportunities to get the perfect new motortruck for your farm or ranch .
