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Old 10-05-2009, 02:06 PM   #121
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Re: Buster

glad you made it man. cant wait to see all the other pics and read about the trip.

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Old 10-05-2009, 09:45 PM   #122
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Re: Buster

Quote:
glad you made it man. cant wait to see all the other pics and read about the trip.
Ditto.
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Old 10-17-2009, 08:09 AM   #123
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Re: Buster

Quote:
FINALLY got DSL hooked up today so we are back online!

Jonathan
So, more updates are coming? "Inquiring minds want to know."
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Old 10-17-2009, 01:51 PM   #124
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Re: Buster

Quote:
Originally Posted by Redbear
Quote:
FINALLY got DSL hooked up today so we are back online!

Jonathan
So, more updates are coming? "Inquiring minds want to know."
Oh yea, I will be posting soon but I have to get our business caught up first... ya know, $ rules!
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Old 10-21-2009, 09:48 AM   #125
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Re: Buster

I know I keep bouncing back & forth from these 2 threads... I have a non-stop brain fart goin on!

Man, the weather here is incredible how quickly it changes! Yesterday I was working inside/outside installing the wood stove in the cabin in jeans, tshirt & sandles & this morning I woke up to ice on the Nissan! BRRR...

Now that we are in NM we are thinking that we may sell Buster.... The main reason for this is the low profile of the body (which I LOVE) makes it a bit hard to get around the remote areas we live in & want to travel to... I think our focus may change to building a small buiding for the business (instead of using the bus for our office) & buying a shorty instead as we do not need all the room that we have with Buster when converting to an RV... We can pull our small trailer behind a short bus for all the toys & additional sleeping area as it is an RV style trailer & still have plenty of space to travel plus the time & money to convert a shorty would be so much less... Another problem is we just got rain & yup the bus is no longer level as the wet soil allowed the ramps I built to sink some... pain in the butt...

Who knows...I like Buster & hate to get rid of him since he did so well for us & proved itself on this maiden voyage.....
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Old 10-21-2009, 12:17 PM   #126
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Re: Buster

Damn! That is a hard decision. What's your ground clearance now? If you could find a nice shorty from that area, it would probably be better suited to the environment.
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Old 10-21-2009, 12:54 PM   #127
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TC, right now it is hard for me to lay on my back to get under the mid section of the body... & I am a tall thin guy! I think a shorty would be better as I also have a long driveway to the cabin that has 5-6 sharp 90 degree turns in it & it is a bear to drive the bus into the property! I don't know what I am gonna do yet...
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Old 10-21-2009, 02:31 PM   #128
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Re: Buster

you could rent a dozer and make a new driveway. you own the property and no one is gonna call the city on ya. haha. or better yet....keep buster and forgo the cost of building a work building. as long as you start buster up once a month or so and winterize and all that you would still have it if you needed it. then go buy the shorty. you could be a multi bus family. i like the idea. plus i bet it would be expensive to build a work building that is as solid as buster. just my little idea. i hate to see you get rid of the bus.
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Old 10-21-2009, 03:47 PM   #129
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Re: Buster

Quote:
Originally Posted by bikeforthelight
you could rent a dozer and make a new driveway. you own the property and no one is gonna call the city on ya. haha. or better yet....keep buster and forgo the cost of building a work building. as long as you start buster up once a month or so and winterize and all that you would still have it if you needed it. then go buy the shorty. you could be a multi bus family. i like the idea. plus i bet it would be expensive to build a work building that is as solid as buster. just my little idea. i hate to see you get rid of the bus.
Yea but when you come see the property you will understand how nice the entrance is & the privacy from the "road" is beautiful! I will be sure to do some tree trimming before you drive bftl into the drive...

I would love to keep the bus & have a multi bus family but as we all know, it's all about the money! I did suggest to Dara that we could use salvaged pine board & completely cover Buster in wood with a pitched roof to give the illusion of a rustic cabin!
The bus runs so well & like I said before, it is a blast to drive & I really enjoyed the trek minus the minor mechanical issues but those have been & will be taken care of...

I dunno....

EDIT: How was yer birthday? Was it tourist hell at EPCOT?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty
My vote is for a cabbaged military drivetrain installed under Buster

That was the exact reason I chose a school bus over a transit/coach style bus.....ground clearence.

Smitty
I originally was hunting & tracking skoolies with a diesel pusher on the brain when I came across our bus... I couldn't resist the price & condition & like I mentioned before I love the transit style low profile body... It just sucked me in!

When we bought the property they said the roads were graded - HMMM... Forest Access Road 66 to Cibola National Forest leads to the subdivision & it gets graded about once every 6-8 weeks & gets alot of traffic. The subdivision had rough areas when we got here & needed grading then... It of course is worse now, 4 weeks later & it has rained which makes these sticky mud patties that stick to your tires basically giving us a 4WD Nissan with slicks! Anyway the rain has caused grooves in the dirt (not gravel) roads... fun to drive when its wet as the Nissan likes to go into a 4 wheel slide powered up around some of the corners, so I guess I haven't helped matters too much huh...

OK OK...cabbaged? Whats that mean... You talking a 4WD drivetrain with adjustable air bags so I can lift it up when needed to clear the washouts & then slam it in the weeds when parked?? I like it!!
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Old 10-22-2009, 12:00 AM   #130
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Re: Buster

Birthday rocked man. Epcot was actually not too packed. It was a tuesday night, so I guess thats why. There were having their food and wine festival which was great. Got have stuff from all over the globe. Was a blast. The fireworks display was insane. Had giant fireballs. I mean huge. It was over 100 yards away, and was still uncomfortably hot. Crazy.

I say you talk her into turning buster into a cabin. I like it. Already solid and waterproof. The exterior could all be about making it look good and ignoring those things.
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Old 10-22-2009, 11:40 AM   #131
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Re: Buster

We used to have a beer at every country to see who could "travel" the furtherest! Was a blast...
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Old 10-24-2009, 10:42 PM   #132
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Re: Buster

Bored here...lookin at short busses on ebay... Thought this Dodge powered shuttle bus was pretty cool ( I always like the ususual).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-ELD ... 1e58ca0924

If anyone wants to check out photos of our move, go to viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4786 & check 'em out!
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Old 12-14-2009, 10:08 PM   #133
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Re: Buster

Well we have decided to sell Buster... I am bummed but at the same time we could use the funds for a more practical project, like a shortie! We need to clean out all our business inventory & put it all into the shed, straighten up the bus & we will run a classified ad to see if there is anyone interested or just message us! I would like to see Buster get converted...

Jonathan
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Old 12-15-2009, 11:01 PM   #134
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Re: Buster

Im sorry man. I know you had some awesome for it. But as long as you plan on getting another one. Shorty sounds like fun. Make sure she is 4x4 so you can take her everywhere on the property you have. Will be awesome.
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Old 12-16-2009, 12:23 PM   #135
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Re: Buster

I dunno man, how much cheaper would the shortie be anyway? If it's purely a financial decision because you need the cash, I can relate to that, but once you sell it, well... I sold my Honda Goldwing about 10 years ago, thinking I'd just get another bike later on... so here I am 3 kids and 10 years later... sans bike. Maybe not a relevant situation, but I'm just sayin'...
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Old 12-20-2009, 03:35 PM   #136
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Re: Buster

Quote:
Originally Posted by bikeforthelight
Im sorry man. I know you had some awesome for it. But as long as you plan on getting another one. Shorty sounds like fun. Make sure she is 4x4 so you can take her everywhere on the property you have. Will be awesome.
Well we WILL be getting a shorty as I gotta be able to get it into the property unless it is dry I will never be able to move it... When it rains the the dust turns to thick goopy clay that can pull your shoes off & when it snows, well forget it!


Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel Dan
I dunno man, how much cheaper would the shortie be anyway? If it's purely a financial decision because you need the cash, I can relate to that, but once you sell it, well... I sold my Honda Goldwing about 10 years ago, thinking I'd just get another bike later on... so here I am 3 kids and 10 years later... sans bike. Maybe not a relevant situation, but I'm just sayin'...
It isn't a financial decision really... I just hate to have a nice bus that I cannot use, just such a waste! I love this bus but again, I cannot even move it now with the snow melting to get it into a better position as i know it will get stuck... I need to turn it around & have the space to do so but it has been in the 60's during the daytime (unreal for dec) & the 10 inches o snow has turned everything into slop! We have to use 4 wheel drive on the Nissan just to manuever alot of times & thats not in the snow...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bar/1483867420.html

http://boston.craigslist.org/nwb/ctd/1512933482.html

http://www.4x4bus.com/We%20Buy%20Buses.htm

http://www.justih.org/Binder-Bench/show ... php?t=9506

I've posted a few I'd ran-across on Craigslist, not real common, but not an impossibility either. Do some checking on wheelbases, consider a late-model wreck with a good frame.driveline & find a shorty with drivetrain issues.......the thing monsters are born of

Smitty

PS, there was a guy in NM on Craigslist looking for a "flatnose".
Thanks for the links on the 4 BY'S Smitty! I like the Mercedes alot... I am gonna take my time this round on searching for a new bus as I am not sure what I want yet... I would LOVE to convert a bus to 4X4 but am limited on workshop resources ie: a concrete pad to work on, air tools, welder & that is just a start of the list, much less the power to be able to run any of the tools as we are completely off grid & solar power just doesn't quite cut it for running a welder!
Do you have a link to the person searching on Craigslist for a Flatnose?
Thanks for any links you may find out in the NM area Smitty, greatly appreciated! I dont think a 4X4 is an absolute neccessity but would be a bonus. I dont think we will be doint too much camping in the winter as it gets pretty damn cold here at night!

Jonathan
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Old 12-21-2009, 11:23 PM   #137
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Re: Buster

Quote:
Originally Posted by Smitty
Anytime you're out & about, and happen across a larger 4X4, you should measure wheelbases (and jot them down), take a peek underneath, and do the same to any shorties you see. I think it'd be much simpler/cheaper to graft a body to a 4X4 frame, especially if it was one with the benefits of having a later-model drivetrain, as well as avoiding an alignment problems.

It's never too early to plan

Smitty
I like the idea & will start checking into what I can find as there are many different 4X4 vehicles where we are living, especially larger trucks, many commercial. I just posted some photos about an old GMC bus in our area that I was wondering if it would be possible to find a later model chassis that would fit it - it is a mid sized bus I believe...
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Old 12-25-2009, 07:36 PM   #138
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Re: Buster

I've seen a few Ford F-700 farm trucks (used to haul hay grinders and silage for cattle) around the feed lots in Western Kansas. Many of them are 4x4. I would think that a Ford B-700 bus chassis would be about the same. I imagine that those parts would be mostly swapable. There's lots of Ford shorties out there...handfuls of the F-700 4x4s though. I try to wrangle up some photos...
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Old 12-26-2009, 08:44 PM   #139
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Re: Buster

Quote:
Originally Posted by NewSkewlHauler
I've seen a few Ford F-700 farm trucks (used to haul hay grinders and silage for cattle) around the feed lots in Western Kansas. Many of them are 4x4. I would think that a Ford B-700 bus chassis would be about the same. I imagine that those parts would be mostly swapable. There's lots of Ford shorties out there...handfuls of the F-700 4x4s though. I try to wrangle up some photos...
Wrangle away! I am curious to figure out what my options could be... Here is a bus i am seriously looking at buying... Its a 1955-57 GMC. Havent talked with the owner yet & it has a couple of junkyard dogs roaming around so I cant get any closer... YET!



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