It's Done - 37 Ford Pickup Stake Bed

[JBD]

After two years of playing and a lot of help from barn members, I take my 37 stake bed to its first car show in Tyler, Texas this weekend. Thanks to all. Jim

[GreenMonster48]

Beautiful!

[42panel]

Great job. You should be proud.

[1952henry]

Nice job. Don't see too many 37s, much less stake beds.

[Gumpy]

very nice! congrats now the fun begins!

[jerry grayson]

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Very nice--good job!!!!!!!!!!!

[TonyM]

Looks good.
Post some more photos.

TM

[Orcaslanding]

What car show in Tyler? I am in Coffee City. Carl

[JBD]

The car show in tyler is a fund raiser for the east texas crisis center for youth in the area. it is at the harvey hall convention center, friday, sat and sun.

[hbleadsled]

JBD ,A jobwell done on your 37 stake bed, Harold

[f1builder]

how about some pictures of the bed and other angles?

[JBD]

The stakes on the bed are walnut and the floor is oak. This is hard to believe but the wood came from trees on a farm west of Jacksonville, TX. I ripped, planed and routed myself.

[jim1932]

I am a firm believer in saving the farm trucks, tractors and commercial vehicles too. Thay are all a part of american history. GREAT job on it.

[expavr]

I second jim1932's sentiments. Old Trucks RULE!!!

[larry/Texas]

jbd

Nice Truck. Are you bring it to the Early Ford V8 Club "Texas Tour" In Nacogdoches, Texas the weekend of April 7-10? One of our Houston members is bringing his 37 stake bed which came from his wife's family farm. He most recently drove it to the Friends & Fords 2010 in St. George, Utah this past October.

E-mail Alan Clendenen, Tour Director, [email protected] for details of the "Texas Tour". We expect over 80 V-8's and a lot of fun.

[bgarrett]

My daddys mama was named Effie Mae Morris. I'd have to go look it up to be sure but I think she was born in the 1800s. She died in 1969 and had to be in her 70s or 80s.She was only 79 pounds for the years that I remember and she never said anything. She could talk and answered any question directed to her but she still didnt say much. I remember my momma saying that grandma was so thin because she had difficulty swallowing. Grandpa never said much either so it seems they got along Ok. My father was like that too. He never did say much. We went to visit my grandparents every Sunday and all of us would sit around the living room and NOBODY said anything. I was just a kid and that was BORING so I didnt sit around with them. I'd go up in the hayloft in the barn or shoot snakes down at the pond or pretend I was driving grandpas 1937 Ford pickup that he had left sitting by the barn ever since he quit using it. The 37 was the farm truck for a long time and grandpa really liked that truck. It came from the Ford factory with Henry Fords 60 horsepower engine which was something new that Henry was trying. Most Fords had the standard 85 horsepower engine but Henry was still continuing his quest for a better cheaper car for the farmers. The Great Depression was still in full force and saving a few dollars on the engine appealed to many who purchased a new car or truck. Henry had grown up on a farm and hated the drudgery of farm work. The automobile was his invention to make life better for farmers. Grandpas truck came with a factory supplied flat bed which seemed just right for a farm truck, but grandpa tired of lifting everything so high to get it in the back of the truck and he swapped it for a regular pickup bed with a tailgate. He also realized that the 60 horse engine was puny. It just wasnt good enough when you are trying to pull a trailer with a cow in it across plowed fields. He upgraded to a 1941 85 horse power engine and was delighted in how much better the truck performed. By 1949, the economy was doing well in Louisiana and grandpa decided it was time to replace the 37 with a nice new 1949 Ford pickup. Dark green and shiny, it was real pretty and contrasted sharply against the tired, faded black old 37. The 37 was like a comfortable well worn shoe. The 49 looked like your Sunday best, go to church shoes. The shiny new 49 was a pleasure to drive and looked Good and the improved suspension was stiff and strong but it wasnt as comfortable as the well worn faded black 37 when crossing rough places in the fields and pastures. Grandpa went back to the Ford dealer in Minden Louisiana and got the 37 back. It continued to be the farm work truck and the 49 went to town for shopping and to Church. This continued long after the brakes wore out on the 37 and were never repaired. Out on the farm, the old truck never was going very fast and if you paid attention, you could slow down until it stopped most of the time. The rest of the time, any convenient fence post could be used to stop it. The last time grandpa got a license plate fot the 37 was in 1956 and sometime after that it retired to sit in the barnyard by itself. Things stayed the same at the farmhouse for many years after that. Grandma cooked wonderful meals and didnt say much. She was afraid that she might fall if she went down the stairs so she stayed in the house most of the time. On Sunday afternoons the Preacher might come by and use the front door of the Farmhouse but the rest of the time, the back door was the family door and those are the steps we used. On rare ocassions when it was absolutely necessary for grandma to go down the steps, her strong tall sons would get on each side of a straight backed chair and persuade her to sit while they carried her down the steps., Grandma was very short, tiny and frail. She had seen her mother, also tiny and frail, die after falling and breaking her hip. Great grandma was blind and dipped snuff. After she fell and broke her hip, she was confined to bed until she died in 1955. Grandma Effie was terrified of falling on those steps and it took some coaxing to get her in the chair. My uncles, usually quiet and unspoken did the best they could to persuade her and then had to do it again later when it was time for her to go back up the steps. What I saw was a small female with a lot of of love and affection being lavished on her. . The old rusty 37 Ford truck in the barnyard always had my love of course and it now sits in my garage, waiting for me.
Blame my grandparents for my love of old decrepit cars and trucks

[southfork]

Loved that, bGarret!

[Lawson Cox]

Great story. I loved it. Love the truck.

[FlatheadTed]

Nice Job JDB

[JBD]

Made it to the East Texas Auto and Cyle Show