1933 Diamond T Build Inspired By Family History

‪@MerlinsOldSchoolGarage‬ takes you on a journey through time to his family history and his plans in store for the 1933 Diamond T pickup. This truck brings back many memories over generations that he is going recreate in modern times. You don't want to miss this story!

[@brucevallee5623]

Today was an interesting one. It's refreshing to see you take an interest in your family history to the point you build a tribute truck. Much respect.

[@patrickvanhoesen9425]

Ha! Merlin is a big softie. Hes definitely a sentimental guy.

[@genedwg6689]

Merlin has an appreciation for history, and family history.

[@shwilliedude973]

i suspect that tribute truck is going to have more horsepower than 4 or 5 of those old diamond T's

[@calvindillard9819]

Thanks for sharing! My family settled in Washington in 1886 and started logging then . I am the last of the loggers in my family and still cutting trees and making firewood at 70 !

[@bradleymadosh911]

That's a lot of work cutting firewood. And at your age it's unbelievable. Hard work keeps you young and able to keep moving. Once you stop working people go down hill. Keep pouring it on cutting firewood and enjoy life

[@TSLAaddict]

Absolutely enjoyed the ride without the bumpiness in my recliner. Love hearing about history.

[@johnwiggill17]

Thanks for sharing your family history. My Grandfather was a logger in the Uinta mountains. They had a contract to provide railroad ties to the Union Pacific Railroad back in the late '20's & '30's. My dad grew up in the logging camp in the log cabin my grandfather built. For my Grandpa's 80th birthday he wanted to go back up into the mountains and cut a load of Railroad ties. He did it all by himself! I'm 70 and I can't imagine doing something like that! So much of history no one knows. Thank you for sharing yours.

[@danielsmith9500]

Thank you Merlin. I love watching things about history and how they did it back then !!!

[@wi.dave3812]

Of course we enjoyed watching this video, your family has a great history😀🇺🇸 thanks for sharing

[@1954shadow]

Absolutely a wonderful, family history, video! The story of driving that log truck as a kid, once in a lifetime, life building experience.

[@larrybe2900]

Can anyone wonder where his daring comes from?

[@brian7327]

Not everyday you see someone out on a trail ride in a model A great content as usual Merlin

[@HarrisA99]

Very cool video. Thanks for the history lesson. Isaac and Marilyn are awesome people.

[@ramjam720]

In '79 & '80 I used to drive a 5 + 4 twin stick dump truck with a Detroit 871. The clutch was so hard that I quickly learned to shift without the clutch. Born on a mountain, raised in a cave. Truckin' and F##kin' is all I crave.

[@jamieminton172]

That took me back. The excitement and the FEAR. It was the longest and shortest fifteen miles I have ever driven. The day my dad said, "You drive." He drove truck too, but this was just his Ol Ford. Vacuum assist what.. Power Who... Hydraulic NOT!!! Mechanical advantage, Three on the tree and a suicide knob. I can imagine a lively 50 ton load of Ponderosas and a skinny 12yr old, Twin Stickin, Double clutching, grinding like a piss poor welder and hoping (PRAYING and swearing) that the old man wasn't gonna kill ya. It may not have been on his face that day, but I guarantee, Inside, He had a smile as wide as that canyon and pride as deep too. Thanks

[@kimetherington2252]

It's cool your honoring a build for your family, the 33 Diamond T log truck will be a truck for the memories that you'll cherish a long time! Til next time, see you then. 😊

[@michaelstory1813]

That’s awesome Merlin …. We are mostly all so proud of our families history man!!! You can’t pick your family but you can pick your friends… you’re a good man…. God bless you and yours !!!

[@taco472]

Great video ❗️FYI ! Those chains your father was throwing in the picture are called’Wrappers’. They consist usually of about 20’ of 3/8’s cable with 3-5’ of 3/8’s chain on each end. Here in Washington state you are required to have 3 on every load of 5 or more logs and there must be at least 2 around every log, so if the there a staggered logs you may need more than 3. FLASH the logs ARE NOT TIED ON TO THE TRUCK, they are just tied together by the wrappers and held on by their own weight. There are knife like cutting edges on the ‘log bunks’ that stick up about an 1 1/2” all the way across where the logs set that keeps them from slipping forward and backwards…(most the time lol). I drove log truck 41 years here in the Pacific Northwest, 10 years retired. Merlin go get some of that wood before it’s gone.

[@tonyjessen8204]

That was so cool. Thanks. I’m 70 and took my youngest granddaughter 23 to the place where I grew up and it brought back a lot of memories. Thanks for sharing 👍👍👍

[@ArizonaTinman]

I enjoyed the heck out of it. Thank you. As long as Merlin was in the car I would not worry one bit about getting out of there.

[@georgedoolittle9015]

Diamond T was another *HUGE* WW2 name as with Western Star and White. Funny to see all this forgotten stuff actually. Used to think they only existed in Library Books anymore. Best manuals ever made for the WW2 material.

[@Bjarne045]

Funny, my grandfather started in the 1920's building a wheelbarrels to the local diary. He also builded a sawmille to cut his own wood. He also repaired old wodden wind mills and watermills.My uncle and my fartfher entered the business and started in 1950 to build suger beet sledges pulled by horses, later in end o 50's the very first Massey Ferguson came to Denmark and now the company developed into a huge agricultural machine manufacturing company. It all ended in the regression in 1985. At that time we employed app 125 people.

[@4knanapapa]

Great nostalgic trip through your family's history.

[@dieseldirtdude]

this was very cool merlin, not many would know of arizona even having a history harvesting lumber, ive explored forests all over the state, and the ponderosa's are plentiful. your vintage truck photos belong in a museum, what a great piece of history for you to share.

[@michaellauer3397]

Good one Merlin. I just now realized you are 12 years younger than I am. There’s such a “hole” in the generations, just after mine where video games captured young men, and “my generation” was the last to be Hot Rodders and mechanics, generally worked with their hands. thanks for sharing your “good raisin“. Especially with the younger generations. My wife.(who’s already passed) Was a schoolteacher, and was always telling me that it was my job to pass on the knowledge and the morals that the greatest generation taught me. You and your friends, cousins, family, [and amazingly astute editor] are a credit to our task of passing these things down. Or… Cool beans Merlin. 👏

[@KrisD007]

That’s awesome! ❤

[@hmfic4297]

Indeed Sir

[@larrykittell726]

Thanks Merlon! Your Dad was an awesome guy.

[@roymyers8575]

And….they say…..older isn’t better!!!! Love this!!!!

[@edwardreidt1230]

What a fantastic video you did today, Thank You for sharing some of your Family histories and love the Old Pictures you showed

[@charlessnyder7401]

That was awesome to hear and see some of your families past. Logging was very hard work before machinery! Great memories..

[@gregcullen248]

Nothing better than family. Thank you Merlin. See you at the off-road wrecker games

[@tubeu28]

We enjoy this video and all videos you are sharing. Thanks for the insight on the family history, it tells us a lot!!!

[@Big-chub69]

Thanks for the History Tour of your Family, great pictures and History. Be proud of your history. Thankyou Merlin.

[@ndafarachaitezvi1139]

Awesome content as always.Love the variety of content on the channel.Thanks for sharing and taking us along

[@michaeltablet8577]

This was awesome! Thanks for taking us with you!

[@scotta.8009]

Thanks much! I also grew up in a logging family, our truck when I was 12 was a 69 GMC also with a 5 and a 4. Very few drivers around my area were capable of driving that truck.

[@KrisD007]

What area were you in? Awesome story!!

[@clintjohnson2481]

Thanks For the ride in the model A well spent Thanks again, Merlin.

[@user-sy9mo5yx9x]

That is some great content I love that kind of thing brings back memories of doing the same thing with my dad back in the day. Can’t wait to see that truck being brought back to life!!

[@donwilliams3626]

Thanks for stepping back into the past to show us your story. Your.family was resourceful and passed that ingenuity gene your way.

[@uoobwatcher]

Thank you Merlin for taking us back in time with your family. As an amateur genealogist, these old photos are a gold mine.

[@chrisgalvin6703]

Very interesting history of your family. I felt like I was riding in the car with you. Your build will be a wonderful tribute to your family. You have a blessed day.🙏

[@robertstevison1448]

We had an old loggers dream !!!! But I called it a nightmare lol !!! The cable was 1 inch and the tongs weighed as much as I did lol !!!! I was born in 1965 !!!! I feel very old now lol !!!! 😂 !!!! You are so awesome brother !!!! So awesome brother !!!! I'm smiling and speechless lol !!!! We pulled with horses as well two Belgians bill and bob !!!!!!

[@realplatinum]

That is a cool family history, thanks for sharing it with us.

[@hmfic4297]

These cars made the roads in America classic😊

[@docdruskithetexican8846]

True Americana right here. What a beautiful film. Better than some documentaries I’ve watched. I would love to get my hands on some of that timber… Thank you for sharing this!

[@bobstratton6362]

I love that kind of stuff. Love old history that wasn’t that long ago.😊

[@j.j.clingman4083]

Merlin I absolutely love hearing about how they used to do things way back before my time!! Plus back then was when they made really tough trucks for sure!!! Not just a bunch of plastic and tin like things are made today!!!!

[@KrisD007]

And no computers you need to pay for help with.

[@spencerftn1]

So much history in our little valley. It's a cool place to visit. But, I don't think I could ever live there again. haha.

[@papatomsthoughts]

Love this. Imagine hauling logs in those roads. That ol Model A just took it like nothing. Great memories. 😊😊😊😊😊

[@BobbieJeanM]

I love things like this, old family history is fascinating to me! About 60 years ago when I was about 10 and my grandfather was 90, I remember sitting next to his bed while he told me about exploring caves when he was about my age. He told me other stories too but unfortunately the only one I partly remember is about caves. Probably because I thought at the time that I wouldn’t do that, too scary! My mother’s parents and my father’s father died when I was young and my other grandmother never talked about her younger years. Thanks for sharing your family’s logging history and taking us along to see the old sawmill and cabin site. 💕👍😊💕

[@norcoredneck]

Family memories need to be documented. Thanks for sharing.

[@mattc.310]

This was a cool one. An interesting look at your family's history. Can't wait to see that Diamond T hauling some timber. Thanks for the upload.

[@pete_ski]

Thanks Merlin, that was amazing, seeing the countryside and of road onboard a model A I would never have belived it. Great family history. Fantastic, thanks man.

[@craigsouthern5089]

What a cool trip down memory lane of your family history. Thanks for taking us subscribers along for the ride today. Love the channel. Keep up the great work. 👍✌️😎😁🍀🍀🍀🍀🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

[@robertneilly4349]

Great story , love the old pictures, can't imagine those old log haulers coming down that road. Love your videos Merlin , I know there a lot of work but we do appreciate them.

[@skipvanauken6816]

Very cool. Only a handful of people in the world would offroad a survivor Model A back into an old saw mill site. lol Keep trucking sir. Can't wait to see the Diamond T come together.

[@Bama1963]

Great video Merlin, thanks for sharing your family’s history.

[@stephenpoe2037]

Most people have no Idea what a 5 + 4 is ! I can visualize them logging trucks on that narrow road ! Post Korean War ! Thanks for sharing !

[@davidhakes3884]

That's Cool Merlin, I come from an Oregon Logging family and Pilots of aircraft, most of the family did both, I started at 14 with a request to be an "Oiler", which entailed oiling and fueling equipment and running an old 1960 JIMMY water truck, then onto Log trucks, also did landing work and topping 300ft trees, then falling them. Oh what fun.

[@DependableAutoTruck]

great video my grandfather was a bee keeper i have some sinker wood he pulled out of the river where they used to float the longs when the mill closed in 1935 he dug up a lot of wood made a vanity out of some of it for uncles house the family has some left he used it to make bee hives out of beautiful wood some of the boards were 18 to 20' WIDE 20 ft long

[@Kentucky921]

Days that some have forgotten, but not Merlin, that mind is a bear trap 😊

[@doublel7337]

Both of my grandfathers were timber men. One owned a sawmill. I have some great family pictures as well.

[@Clawson_customs]

I'm from Utah also and my family had saw mills also. My dad has told me that he remembers going on the mountain and getting trees when he was real young

[@charlesalden9167]

The best way to start my Sundays MOSG . Loved the the Johnsons history & in the model A . Tell your daughter great video with music . I know the grandsons Of the founder I think it was Willamette Industries of a well know logging company from the NW back in those days. Only 1 grandson was cool you can't tell he's a millionaire by his lifestyle . They were millionaires in high-school & Manroe for 11 years chase THE GREATFUL DEAD his old VW van must have 500 plus stickers on that 1960 something van his pride & joy . Built a garage just for the van & the stickers still look new.

[@marvincarter870]

Merlin, Brad and Nicole what an amazing journey through time in Merlins family history! Thank you for taking us along!

[@ivanferguson2509]

My grandfather built and owsawmills over in Colorado, my uncles logged and milled as well. Drove my first truck at the age of 13 in 1985, it was an old dodge big block with a 5×4 and log bunks. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

[@justintime2277]

Back then men were men!! My Dad's side was all loggers in Northern Michigan...👍From CADILLAC MICHIGAN

[@davidcolesr.8628]

My Ole’ Man Drove Log Truck Skidder’s & Saw Mill’s as Well after Vietnam, being He Worked for The Municipality’s Watershed Division, Never had the Opportunity to Ride in the Equipment with Him but Bernard & Woody with a Little Chuck mixed in Kept Me Occupied around the Shop. Until Mom Happened into the Shop Bathroom and the Centerfold Artwork Had Her so Flustered I never Saw the inside of that Shop Again!😂 RIP James E. Cole, 05/21/1943 Through 07/1/2023. We Miss You Dad

[@rzrpap]

Great video loved hearing your family history. Best part driving the model A up to the saw mill site. Thank you for posting

[@chuckster6513]

Hey Merlin, That had to have been a fun trip with you having so much information about the places. Looking forward to the truck build. Take care

[@stephenlewis8143]

History, families, connections, places, industry (logging), photos & stories. And riding in a vehicle that matches the time and age; wonderful (& the music playing). Years ago I met the Rich family that ran the operation at Jacob's Lake and saw many large loads of cut timber being hauled out. S of S George & Fredonia I've also passed by Trumbull on the way to Toroweap. The photos, stories, music & aged vehicle - a time machine - & Merlin shared it with us. Thank you!

[@dennisrich6577]

Man what a nostalgic trip down memory lane. I have very similar memories of my uncle and his HaulScot

[@anthonylee2099]

Thks for sharing a bit of your Family History Merlin. The idea of gathering and using it to build something is a great idea. 🤙😎

[@kpit7847]

Very cool picture of you and your dads truck in 1982 you got to truck for the first time awesome in 1972 I was 12 my first time 68 KW main box 4 and Brownie 4speed anyway love the videos Merlin ✌️

[@gregb76]

Wow Merlin that was really nice of you to share all that history of your family and logging. Merlin that is when men were really men. Merlin I really enjoyed all of the scenery. Wonderful trip back in your family history and all those nice roads in the Model A.

[@magnumprojects]

I live on Vancouver Island in BC. My grandpa came from the Ukraine, went to the Rockies in BC logging with a steam train. Then moved to Sproat Lake, I am doing a pickup truck tribute truck to him ❤

[@KrisD007]

Awesome!

[@Chris38908]

Heck yeah love old stories like that my grandfather had a saw mill run off a old ford tractor rear axle then he had a old sugarcane mill to make molasses that ran off the same thing in North Carolina. Weaverville we would make it an boil the Caine in a stainless pot or pan on open flames .

[@lorenmeyer5290]

Awesome video Merlin,Love all the old history! Thanks for sharing!

[@jonasjones8828]

My grandfather owned the last steam powered sawmill on the flattops in Garfield County Colorado. My mom came from sawmill people too. Small world.

[@patbullard9276]

I love the background music playing on your trip in the model A.

[@joejewett8546]

Thanks for the great history lesson! As a third generation logger/sawmill owner I really enjoyed it.

[@rodneyprimm5984]

Awesome trip, thank you for taking us along. God Bless 🙏

[@ko84b]

This video got me think about my own family history. It is amazing to me how much my history matches yours. For starters, I have Johnson relatives on both sides of my family, and they were involved with saw mills on both sides. I don't know that we are related, but my great great grandfather was Warren Johnson who operated Lee's Ferry on the Colorado River. My father lived in Hillsdale, just north of Hatch, and went to high school in Panguitch. I have pictures of him skidding logs down a hill using a team of horses. Hillsdale was named for Joel Hills Johnson, my great great great grandfather. My mother's father had a sawmill out on the Kaibab, at Mile and a Half Lake. She lived in Kanab in the winters and spent the summers cooking for her family at the sawmill starting when she was thirteen. This would have been around 1930. Their sawmill eventually burned down, sometime in the early thirties. Later, my grandfather drove truck for Kaibab Industries. I have photo of him standing in front of his truck loaded with lumber.

[@akdaddydeath6571]

Omg Merlin I love the old stories with pics!!! Them are priceless. Thanks for sharing buddy

[@akdaddydeath6571]

I can’t wait to see you repurpose them old cabin boards!

[@greasyhandsauto-shaunbutte9726]

Love the family history and the respect you always show, your family. I grew up in a Ford dealership that my grandpa started in 1937. It doesn’t get any better than that.

[@robertreese5650]

Its cool to be able to see such history and know your family was part of it!

[@paulcooper9135]

Love the history!!! If that Diamond T needs running boards, a couple pieces from the old mill site or cabin would be Amazing! Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦

[@steveschmitt5137]

Merlin thoroughly enjoyed your family's history and watching you take your stock Model A added to the enjoyment. Thanks for sharing, and stay safe 👍

[@chiefvilla3167]

Wow Merlin that's pretty cool. My ex's family her Grandpa. They were loggers on the West Coast Mendocino humble counties. And my mother-in-law lived in Boonville California in Mendocino County. And the fact that they lay down the house in the back 4 cabins for loggers. But her dad owned a diamond tea I think it was in the late forties. And he haul logs. She has a big she has a picture of the biggest log ever hold out of there. One log. Her uncle's World truck drivers log haulers. When I drove trucks I went to sawmills the whole shavings and and bark from the Mills. GP LP hardwood lumber branscome. That was a really old log tell only one General Store. Then later I start hauling Lumber out of the same Mills. All of the Southern California. Once in awhile to Phoenix. Torino the better Sparks Nevada Carson City Nevada Oregon in Washington State. And if you were only 12 in the 80s. I've been around longer than you. Can't wait to see your log truck. Take care my friend. And before I drove truck I move portable classrooms bungalows. I've been to Burbank Pasadena all over the LA School District. In South. I met Bill Bixby in Burbank. They were filming in the old motel that we were staying in they were down below us. Northern California I live next door to Fred MacMurray. Did they used to film film combat around that area. And I also worked for Raymond Burr for a couple of weeks.👍🏽😊😎🙋🏽‍♂️🎄.

[@KrisD007]

I remember those actors!!! ❤❤

[@tomboysen7592]

About your gas problem an old timer said they had to back up hill to let the gas flow to carberator. He also said when they would go to dances they took the head lite bulbs out because people would steal them. Thank you Tom from Nebraska

[@clivehorridge]

This is pure gold Merlin. Thank you for your pride in your family’s history and your passion for “old school” engineering. God bless you and your loved ones. Happy New year to you all, from a 70 year-young diesel-head 🤣❤️🇷🇴

[@donaldpereira2652]

My Maternal Grandfather...Pearl Wilbur Eastlick...started hauling logs in Siskiyou County, California in the mid 1920s. In 1928, he hauled logs to my Paternal Grandfather...Julio Pereira's ranch, where he had set up a sawmill. He sawed logs and built a barn for him that still stands today...I used to play in that barn, as a small boy.

[@robertbrady3027]

When I learned how to drive semi was a 1955 mack single axle, then a Dimond T twin axle, then I drove a 1963 white twin axle. After I learned to drive all types of transmissions ,I drove for swift transportation and then I retired from driving living in Arkansas in the woods and loving it.

[@dougdean3134]

Very cool history to relive in the Model A. Go grab that wood while it’s still there. It is beautiful once planed and finished.

[@offroad6309]

Merlin out of all your great videos this one really is my favorite. Having spent time in the strip in the 80s and seeing a bunch of the country including Mt Trumble and ice caves. The photo of Widstoe made it even more real. My Great grandparents Adairs owned the hotel and small store there. Good chance our relatives have met. The model A was the perfect choice to use for the trip. Can't wait for the diamond truck build. I'm pretty sure that is what my grandpa used for dump trucks. Thanks for sharing.

[@joesphbest3120]

Thanks for taking me along, alot of memoirs of when I was a boy to ride in my grandpa's Model A 4 door Ford, Dark green. I was 8 or 9 in 1948, long time ago.

[@stephenmulholland4868]

Cool pics of days gone by..back when men were men and women were glad of it

[@SS454JF]

I was 11 when my dad tought me to drive his 69 daimond reo 13 speed rig. 👍🏻👍🏻

[@terrellpettijohn3952]

The old timers were a tough breed. My grandfather homesteaded in eastern Arizona along old US60 in the early 1930’s. He built a logging truck out of a model T C-cab truck and hauled logs down off of Escudilla Mountain to build a1-1/2 story log cabin.

[@garlandweissenfluh4549]

I really enjoyed this video. Reminds me of my younger days when my dad was logging in the early '70s. Great history lesson. Thanks Merlin.

[@Patrick.Weightman]

Very cool! There's an old tow yard near me that has a late 30s Diamond T and Autocar truck alike. Both are just yard art but they're still in pretty damn good condition. Takes every bit of strength I have not to make an offer on them!

[@diyjeff1838]

Those pics are awesome!! Look at how they loaded logs. Insane. No wusses back then!!

[@ChuckBruton]

I too drove a semi-grain truck 40 miles to a nearby town. The small grain elevator didn’t have anyone to take the truck to a sister elevator. That was the summer my dad and I batched for a couple of weeks while mother took my younger sister, brother with her for annual check-up at M.D. Anderson in Houston. My dad always gave me responsibilities that normal kids didn’t do. Little did I realize soon after that two weeks of batching , my dad got killed from a leaking gas mask as he was spraying a grain storage barn. I had just turned thirteen. I drove a bobtail grain truck once when I was eleven. Dads , spend time mentoring your sons!…This was in Texas Panhandle..1959-60

[@justinmills8084]

I went logging with my Grandpa with draft horses 🐎 Them horses have so much power.

[@meirionevans5137]

Fair play to you for bumping all the way up there in the Ford. Some of those boards would clean up nice.