Loadstar 1600

[BPEisenhower 537]

Hello All outdoor power people!! Been hectic with spraying, planting, mowing and gravel work but have a bit of good news. 38 years ago I was taught how to drive my first truck, a 1972 Loadstar 1600. My uncle's owned Brauer Oil and Asphalt. This being said, I always played around the shop on loaders, graders, rollers, trucks, EVERYTHING that would get me dirty and sometimes a whipping... So, one Saturday morning, my dad dropped me off at Aunt Mary and Uncle Chuck's house since I was only 7 years old and couldn't go to the Lariat Club for steak and chicken that night. No problem!! Plenty of things to do involving picking apples, raking leaves, chasing the dog with a rake and a visit to the equipment yard. I was called in for lunch when my two uncles came over and usually it's a riot listening to them arguing with each other but that afternoon I never heard so much cursing and learned a lot of new phrases that are still used today! There was three roads needing finished and only two people. One spraying oil, on spreading pea gravel and the other on a Galion roller. Sitting at the table with two men cursing and arguing about work made me laugh at those bad, filthy words I knew would get my hyde tanned. Aunt Mary said that I should go with them and help. Cursing stopped and two leathery, sun baked men was staring at me. I excused myself from the table and tried to sneak off but Uncle Harold blocked the stairwell outside. They both knew I plowed and disked with Dad's D21. Both knew I mowed hay with a 1468 and ran the 715 combine for wheat that year. Guess who is going to work?...😮. Sitting between them two on the way over to the asphalt plant was not the pleasant ride it used to be. I've been told by many other kids including their own about the shouting and getting the belt while working and didn't want any part of it 😕. Uncle Harold had me get in and he said to watch what he did. Easy!! We headed down the road and turned around, returned to the shop. He said "Your turn". I climbed behind the wheel, hit the key. So far so good. Couldn't see over the steering wheel but a phone book was slid under me. Better. "Go"!  Dumped clutch and died. Forgot to push parking brake ahead. Restarted, put in gear, finally rolling. "Shift"!  I did, into neutral. This happened too many times to count but got it down. Uncle Chuck loaded me with pea gravel and I followed Uncle Harold since he did the oiling and Uncle Chuck was following on the roller. Driving was easy. Nobody told me I was going to drive backwards and spread gravel.... That's not part of the deal! However, there was a coal shovel that was my new best friend until I figured out how to spread. After basically shoveling a 6 ton load by hand, I was sent by myself back to load up with another 6 ton load and hurry back. From that day on, if I wasn't farming, I was gating gravel. 1986 - 92 I was the gravel grunt and in charge of greasing equipment, oil changes, welding and whatever else those cantankerous men said. Uncle Chuck sold out in 1993 and everything was either scrapped or sold as is with a tail light guarantee. No more Loadstar, no more gravel, nothing. Which brings me to July 29, 2024. I found the Loadstar, in the same shape it was years ago. It since has been transformed into a spotter tractor at a local shop. Hasn't been ran in 5 years and I now own it after agreeing to maintain the property I found it on. This truck Will be at the Chillicothe car show in September on the 9th along with a few garden tractors. Its something how you feel like a kid again and all the memories flood the mind. Never thought I would be 7 in a 45 year old body.... Forgive the long post but I do miss those days and the grouchy old men that taught me 

[c-series don 9,295]

First off let me say that I love the story! I can relate as I too grew up in the same kind of environment with cranes, dozers and trucks. I learned how to operate a Cat 941B track loader at a very young age. Also have spread thousands of tons of gravel in reverse using either a Temple stone spreading tailgate or just a tailgate chained open slightly. This made you a good truck driver as you could not go off the spread stone onto the hot oil.
Whenever I see an International like that it reminds me of the school bus I rode as a kid. There’s a good chance I was riding along with the operator in the first pictures and then here’s the International that was my bus that was turned into a potato truck. It’s still sitting there where I took the picture, now out of service. 

[squonk 42,025]

When I was in a Fireman's band we had an old INT. bus We painted it blue and silver and called it Ol' Blue. I remember one late night coming home from a parade the rad developed a leak and it started to overheat and we had to pull over. I sealed the rad with a wad of Freshen Up gum. filled it back up with a combo of cooler water, Genny Creme Ale and water from a near by ditch. Got us the last 20 miles home.