Thirty-six years ago nearly to the day, a humble one-ton cab and chassis left its mechanical birthplace bound for New Jersey. In the land of no left turns, skilled workers fitted a utility box and something of extreme utility: an Altec AT-200 29-foot boom bucket system. After ten years of commercial service near Ephrata, Pennsylvania, the 1989 Ford F350 bucket truck had accumulated 58,948 miles and was put out to pasture… literally. In November of 1999 the silver work truck fled the Keystone State to a dairy farm in Maryland’s eastern shores, Kent County. There it served its masters faithfully until 2024 when a newer version replaced it. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I contemplated taking down and building back a 25-foot tower of scaffolding over and over again for at least four trips around the garage I’m building: one orbit each for nails, Zip tape, siding, and painting. Scouring the Internet for an affordable pickup-based bucket truck that needed nothing, I spotted this price-slashed gem and sprouted heart-eyes. I struck a deal, had a garage prepare the rig for road use, and slid behind the wheel for a 360-mile run to Rancho Del Fitcho.
The red door features upgraded trim but sadly a conventional mirror that’s nearly useless with the eight-foot box on the back. The original door met an unceremonious end when a giant combine executing a 180 snagged the truck’s mirror frame and ripped the door completely off… with no interruption to the harvest. Only later did someone notice the rudely-crafted aperture. This junkyard door opens and closes perfectly; problem solved. You can almost picture the ghosts of 1000 ham and cheese sandwiches devoured in the cab. Listen closely and you’ll hear echos of crass jokes about clueless bosses and someone’s salty ex. In its second life on the farm, the Ford’s cab adopted the indelible odors of wet dog and trodden straw.
Various shin-busting steel parts stood the test of time while accumulating minimal rust. Anyone thinking this truck has 15,000 hours of idling on its clock can go put their head in a bucket; a 6.5 KW Onan generator powers an electric motor that spins the hydraulic pump on this bad boy, over 3000 hours so far. The truck motor remains off until it’s time to relocate.
The ubiquitous port fuel-injected 5.8L (351W) with twin air snorkels needs some work to be tip-top, but after 20 minutes of evacuating blow-by gasses, it kicked the habit, running smoke-free the last five hours. Like Christine it self-healed some valve cover oil seepage as well, gaining smoothness and horsepower with every milepost. Oil on the dipstick diminished by about the thickness of a dime over six hours, with zero coolant loss, a testament to its now 68,000 miles, about 500 a year since the dawn of the millennium.
I snagged a set of vintage fender mirrors from eBay for $50. That and a $47 rear view camera and monitor granted the gift of visibility. The mirrors might be identical to the pair my grandparents fitted to the 1969 Dodge Coronet for towing out west in ’69. The Great Spirit answered numerous prayers on the return including “Please, God; don’t let this truck die on the two-mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge.” I cannot offer adequate praise for my spouse who not only went along with the plan to purchase a bucket truck, but willingly accompanied me on the journey, driving a chase vehicle full of tools, bulbs, belts, and fluids, most of which thankfully went unused. Like its new owner, this rig is not much to look at, but everything works. My 27-year-old daughter called dibs on the first bucket ride, hopefully the first of many, and I’m shaping up to be everyone’s favorite neighbor and friend. Who knew fame could be purchased so reasonably? If all goes well, I’ll keep this so-far-unnamed workhorse two to five years and hopefully sell it for more than I paid. Is anything like this F350 on *your* bucket list?
This is a strong contender for the prestigious Barn Finds Best of 2024 award, Todd! (I just made that up, but we really should have such a thing)
I laughed out loud several times, which is never a good sign when you’re home by yourself. I’d paint one of the utility box doors on the other side to match the maroon and white driver’s door, but that’s just me. Very well done, and congratulations on the first of many successful trips for the new Fitch Bucketmaster 2000!
Thanks, Scotty. You are too kind. Everything in life is a gamble, but this seems to have been a good one so far. Stay tuned!
I’m not sure which I liked better, the fact theres a bucket truck on Barnfinds, or this write up. I had a long day today dealing with Holliday trafic at work, and I needed a smile. Thank you Todd. Im kind of surprised its a 351 and not a 460. Or even a Powerstroke. Bit hey, 351s were good engines. And like you said, it scabbed over and self healed an oil leak.
One of my favorite lines for a used car sales rep….. ” Oil leak??? What oil leak??? That’s just sweat dripping from all that horsepower!!!”.
All kidding aside, this looks like a solid work truck.
Thanks, Driveinstile. I would have loved the 460 for the torque, but most in this price range are “ran five years ago,” F700s, or something on the boom doesn’t work. Holding out for a 460 wasn’t in the cards. Plus if I got inspired to pull a trailer, etc. I know a low-budget Ford racer nearby with a dyno who has a formula down to build a 400 HP 351W “one a week.”
I certainly can’t complain considering what I’ve submitted for tips, I just never thought I’d see something like this here. I don’t like heights( except Robert Hight) and you must have the grapes to go up in one of these things. I bought a 20 foot ladder, I eventually sold, because halfway up, I couldn’t handle it. I don’t see any outriggers, almost essential for a unit like this, and electricity always scared me, I’m not about to engage in whatever this truck was used for. I suppose you could use it to get juniors frisbee out of the tree, the truck itself looks pretty tired.
Hey Howard – I put it through its paces from the bucket before inking the title. I was maybe 2/3 up and that was high enough for my first ride. This no-outrigger Altec has a bunch of interesting structure connected to the rear suspension that keeps everything stiff. I haven’t looked at it closely enough to understand it. The owner said he’s had it at all kinds of extreme angles and it never threatened to tilt. It does shudder a bit when you first start or stop your motion. Hopefully I haven’t sullied a small corner of the Internet with this story, but I thought it might be interesting to share. Happy Motoring!
What a great write up, and now the real adventure begins!
As a carpenter myself who has just finished re-skinning part of a 100+ year old auto dealership the scaffolding was the biggest nightmare (it almost always is…) but with some serious ingenuity we fashioned a working platform on the top of a beater full size camper that was just about the perfect height. Outriggers were fashioned from 6×6 at each corner.
You mentioned an 8’ bed, looks longer in the picture but I digress.
Great job getting it home, and having appropriate approval gets 2 thumbs up!
Thanks, PaulG. The scaffolding camper sounds like a good use of available materials! For the work box bed, it’s the 8′ *width* (actually 7′ 6″) that makes visibility with the normal door mirror a challenge.
This is the best write up on Barn Finds EVER. It’s was so romantic that your wife would follow you to make sure you got to your destination. I know the bay bridge and I don’t think I would attempt to cross it in my 1992 F150 with a 351W not that it’s up to snuff but just the thought of breaking down up there is a nightmare. Anyway hope your daughter had a wonderful ride in the bucket. I know that my 10 y/o daughter would love to go up it in herself. Again great write up. Brought a big smile to my face.
Thank you, Joshua! It made it fine despite me finding (after the trip) one plug wire resting on #7 not snapped on the plug and #5 arcing to the block every second or two. Ignition parts on the way. Scotty suggested I keep going and enter it in the Pebble Beach Work Truck class.
I can’t believe it, two odd balls in a row that compel me to comment (thanks to PaulG and his camper platform). In a previous life I worked in water tower construction for Natgun out of MA. We would erect a “tower” out of sheet steel and then spray the inside and outside with gunnite, spray concrete. The inside was a tedious process, sprayed from scaffolding. We did the outside from scaffolding chained to the chassis of a first series Chevy flatbed, pre-1954. We would drive around the tank, spraying from the appropriate height on the scaffolding. One day the safety inspector shut us down because the scaffolding wasn’t anchored to the tank. We took the spare off the truck, hooked a chain to it and threw it on top of the tank. We knew the inspector was never going to climb up and inspect the anchor point. :) We only tipped the truck over once.
From another Todd – what a great writeup! Looks like a great truck to help around the home place on the garage!
I’m not going to say how much I’m paying Raul tomorrow morning to come by with HIS bucket truck and cut a giant dead branch off my pine tree.
Thank you, Todd Z. Hopefully I’ll have an update after its proven useful around here. Happy motoring!
Great write-up Todd Fitch. Illustrates not every interesting vehicle/write-up/post has to be some “traditional” old vehicle.
Thank you Bob_in_TN! If nothing else, I’ve helped disprove the idea that Barnfinds is a puppet entity driving traffic to CL or eBay like some people suggest. My bucket truck is not for sale. :) Glad the story has resonated with some of our core readers. Cheers.