Bernie's a great rig. Whenever I see a repair facility with a cool vintage tow truck that always speaks volume. It means they know how to maintain things.
The pad eyes on the back end, are for the Snatch Blocks which are in your tool box !!! Their hook fits into pad eyes on rear. They should open... Allowing you to run your cable through them. This setup will allow you to winch at say a 90° angle. (you on highway, winching something out of the ruebarb !! NEVER winch sideways just off boom !!! Keeping your cable/winch point low..helps plant your tires. I'm the guy who told you to wrap your chain around jour lower strap bar...to stop hhe from popping..up..and out during tight turns. I towed for like 5 years and learned the hard way about the chains coming off that lower bar. Funny thing last I towed was with a 74 F350. Ours had a Weld-Built body, not a Holmes. (dam near same thing) That 360 it had was a DOG !!! Original 69 C-30 had a 327...which was great for racing city busses in Chicago !! ...wait !!! We didnt do That .. Or did we ?? Aint talking. Ma story and sticking to it !!
I'm old so I may be biased, but I would take Bernie over just about anything in the yard. This functional iconic look is so hard to find outside the museum.
I love those old Ford trucks. Every one I've had has just been unbelievably dependable. Nice that someone showed her a little love and took good care of it.
Holmes built the best wreckers, hands down!. They're legendary for what they can do, when doing a job and the front of the truck came off the ground that meant it was just starting to do work.
BERNIE.....THE MAN.....THE LEGEND....THE TRUCK. 😎 Thanks for the tour, Mort. It's my privilege to help support your channel(s). Thank you for the awesome content on both channels. 🍺
Hey you thank us but we thank you. Because there's people like me that the opportunity or the means to do the stuff you do so we get to watch you do it for me personally I have terminal cancer and you know I'm laid up a lot and watching your videos just helps it gives me an escape even just for a little while thank you for that from the bottom of my heart I truly mean it thank you and keep up what you doing because it helps other people thank you very much
Thank you for sharing your story! So many people hurting and have limited means to escape for thirty minutes or an hour. Best wishes for a doing what you can and making the most of it.
I want what morski that really appreciate what he does and it helps us out a lot it gets her mind off our problems even if there's just for a half hour to 2 hours it helps us out a lot
Bernie is a good ol boy. You got Bernie before I sùbbed, I think. Anywho, appreciated the tour of him. If you start a side hustle he’d like you better but it looks like you need him as much as he needs you.
Wow I love the back story on it! I love those old trucks you can't beat them and you can't beat that old holmes wrecker body! You got a damn good deal on that truck
I used to have a 1977 Ford F-100. I ran dual batteries in that thing. I was a volunteer firefighter, and the extra battery really helped when I was running code 3 with lights and Federal Q howling. The inner fender well will support the extra battery. I welded up some angle iron for a holder. It was easy, positive to positive and the negatives one grounded to the engine and the other one grounded to the body and engine
The lever on the side of the winch tower that you said you had no idea about is the release for the hand winch that raises and lowers the boom. One on each side on the 480. The removable crank fits over a square drive shaft protruding from the side of the vertical part of the tower. You can gently raise the boom with the pto winch and then pick up the slack with the hand winch. The truck is in decent shape but the condition of the wrecker is absolutely stellar. Never seen one with all the original labels and stickers. Nice buy.
I lover Bernie, I am a Ford guy and I have a 75 F-150 that's been in the family since Aug of 1974 so it's almost 50. No rust on the cab but the bed floor is gone, 120k on the original engine which a 390 4bbl with a 3 speed auto. Engine and tranny are out right now because the rear main was leaking as well as the transmission seal, one day I will get it back on the road.
Bernie is definitely a keeper. The $2500 purchase price has to be the best return for the investment I have heard about in a long time. Back in the late 80's -- early 90's the Buick, Pontiac, GMC dealership here sold out to the Chevrolet, Oldsmobile dealership who sold off the old dealerships wreckers CHEAP because they were too old. They were both 49 GMC wreckers. A local gas station bought the smaller of the 2 and it was a beast of a workhorse... He used it to pull a charter bus out of the ditch in deep snow and a couple of weeks later, he pulled out a single axle propane delivery tanker truck in the same spot. Those old pre-1980 trucks like Bernie are more capable than modern ones if you were to put a wheel lift on them.
I had a 58 F350, 352 4speed with a Holmes 440. Wore it out in the 80's and built a rollback out of the junkyard.....still in service, but I'm retired now due to poor health. SEMPER FORTIS
I love that truck I drove one just like that for years only difference it was black and the most reliable truck I ever drove the newer they got the less reliable they got
WOW what a steal ! I know you had to do work on it though. But I definitely think Bernie found his forever home with you ! You've been stoked about it since day 1 ! Thanks Mortske
My father taught me how to tow with a 1975 Dodge 4X4 1 ton with a 480 which he bought new in 75. We kept that unit for many ,many years. We remounted it on a, at the time, new 1990 Dodge 4x4 while i was in High School. The truck is still in the town I live in at the shop of a friend of my fathers that bought it over 20 years ago.
Even though the material is a wee bit primitive I do really enjoy the videos. Back to the basics is always welcome. The Bernie tow truck is the coolest piece you have. Twin boom!
Bernie and I have a lot in common. We can both carry a load, be reliable, easy to work with, have good grip and most importantly,born on the same year.
Awesome video... Bernie definitely deserved a little camera time. Even though it needed a little work, you scored for $2500. You would probably never find another 74 that is that clean, especially for that price. It's really cool that you are able to do the you tube thing, buying and selling, and getting old beaters running again, instead of having an 8-5 working for someone else. Congrats...
What a deal I liked the 480s when my friend Vincent had his 480 I pulled so many engines out of cars for people that's the best thing about twin swing out booms my friend had every type of wrecker there is he had a centerfold flat bed the Fram would fold in the center like a pyramid. It was crazÿ
Good evening from Cape Cod ⛵ I love Bernie, this truck had to have been the deal of the century. A buddy of mine had a body shop and had a 74 Ford wrecker. It started to knock so he rented a U-Haul and swapped engines, brought U-Haul back knocking 😂 I've never been one for hanging around watching television and or movies. Due to health issues is the reason I started watching RU-vid videos, before this I didn't even know they existed. I appreciate the hard work and dedication you put into your videos Sir Mordicus. I wish I could buy merch but I'm lucky to even have this phone. Keep up the great work and the awesome content 👍✌️🇺🇲
Been hanging around Puddin too much, getting all emotional, lol😂😂. J/k. Been watching you since the beginning, dig the vids, dig the vast knowledge of the Mojo. You keep making them, I’ll keep watching. Thanks for all the content!!!
Sir you should be proud. I know people who have met you and they say that you are just a regular guy who is still amazed that people want you to sign something for them on meet and greets. (Somebody should just get over themselves!) When you came down here to Texas I was on my way and things went south. I live in Waco now so y'all weren't far but my truck decided differently. 2012 RAM with a hemi 42,000 I don't drive it much it did a hiccup and that was that. I should have taken the Caliber 243,000 miles and runs like brand new. I bought that car totalled fixed it and then got totalled again! First the front then rear quarter. They hit me so hard it bent everything underneath. I don't know what to call all that crap because I went to Byot (junkyard) to get it but the whole thing got shifted 3" from passenger to driver. I fixed it with hand tools and a tape measure. Except that the bumper cover is eggshell white and the rest is brilliant white I think it looks ok.👍 I love the channel and people say whatever. You are putting out awesome content and if they don't like it they complain about it. They are empty shot's from armchair mechanics. But ask them this have they ever replaced a water pump on a 3.5 Nissan? I have and I would rather be burnt at the stake 🔥
I’m loving the second channel stuff. It’s like main channel without the “stress”. Bernie is probably my favorite truck you have. Loving everything about this video. ❤
Wonderful to see a commercial truck in such amazing condition after 50 years, quite a find! My father had a custom truck body, equipment, and semi trailer business in the 70's-90's and worked on and sold Fruehauf semi trailers. Fruehauf was the big player with a history of producing unique truck equipment and bodies. I am thinking the wrecker body may have been built by Fruehauf to Holmes specs and outfitted by Holmes with their wrecker equipment, but??? Not uncommon in the truck equipment business for specialty designs. Also, dad had a 1975 F150 Custom "family shop truck" that we had for 20+ years. My brother and sister and I eventually learned to drive on that truck and remember well that dash! I remember doing bodywork and prepping it for paint at the shop at one point later in its life. Thanks for the father's day memory. Hope Duff opens some hoods for you on Fathers Day.
My Old Man ran Holmes wreckers in the Australian army in the '60's and then in the '70's built and used some in heavy vehicle recovery. He reckoned he could get anything out of anywhere with them.
I was glad to see you step out on your own. Now two channels! I hope Puddin steered you in that direction. He’s just a man with a no quit work ethic and goofy accent.
