Last night I started pulling off the decking (So I can replace it) that is over the top the main water tank on my '53 Reo 530 B (Firemaster). I've got a couple of questions that hopefully someone who is familiar with the 530's will be able to answer.
1. What was the original wood used to create the decking?
2. Dealing with the water tank itself... After I removed the old decking, I noticed that there are a whole lot of bolts heads around the perimiter of the tank itself. Are the water tanks on the 530b's made in a multi-peice design to where you can unbolt the lid of of and remove it? I'm wanting to get into the tank and clean out all the 20+ years of debri it gathered from sitting in the woods and give it a good sealer coat of something.
Any thoughts or suggestions on any of the above would greatly be appreciated!!
unknown if this specific info exists on the Mil Fire Truck link page of the forum, but might try there.. I have also put this thread link there for future reference..
Military Fire Trucks message #42 is the links grouping.. I continue to add links to threads or other sources as I find them..
Removable tank top is a standard feature on fire trucks.
Thank you! That's exactly what I was hoping to hear!!! Now all I have to do is hope that I can get the bolts out... Assuming I have enough air hose ...
Hose bed decking is typically made out of hard wood. Ash, oak, maple, etc.. Make sure you leave space between the boards for air to circulate and help dry out the hose. I used brass screws on my hose bed decking. Coat with many layers of varnish.
I need to do the same thing to my 530C. So please post pic and any info you do come up with.
The wood I think is Oak. Mine is long gone.
I'll try to keep you in mind after I dig into it and find out what it takes to do in real life. (Who knows what kind of difficulties I'll run into with all the years of it sitting in the woods with the bed being full of leaves and debri) IF it's not too cold this weekend I may try seeing what kind of damage I can do. Currently its too dark by the time I get home to do anything on this during the week...
Already sounds alot better than what I thought I was going to have to do... At least it's not as bad as the fuel tank was... I had planned on cutting the top off and making a new top and welding it back on after I got the tank cleaned and protected. Glad I don't have to do that! As long as the bolts come out, the top appears to be in really good shape. Suprising considering that it had about a foot of leaves, dirt, trash and other debri sitting in the bed for about 13 years while she sat lonely off in the woods.
530B Firetruck Main water tank questions...
I had planned on cutting the top off and making a new top and welding it back on after I got the tank cleaned and protected. Glad I don't have to do that! As long as the bolts come out, the top appears to be in really good shape. Suprising considering that it had about a foot of leaves, dirt, trash and other debri sitting in the bed for about 13 years while she sat lonely off in the woods.
