WildwoodJack

That is a nice looking truck. That twin line NoMar was a good unit. If that ever came up for sale I would be interested. I know my Western Snowplow rep. would like it, he used to work at NoMar at the factory in Iowa when they were in business. We had the 3rd. 16 ton hydraulic that they built. We bought it brand new and mounted it an IH 1700 4x4.  It was a good wrecker and served us well.

I would file a complaint with the Illinois commerce commission and the Illinois Attorney Generals office. 

Looks like another rotator coming. What brand wrecker?

I do not think that one is any better then the other. We IH. 4300s and an Freightliner M2. All the drive trains are identical. I have both dealers close to me. Myself I get better service from the IH dealer and they also give me better discounts on parts. But every dealer is different. I would choose the one that I think would give me better service.

Did you make that dolly?

Maybe they are seeing bad publicity is bad for them.

If the Illinois State Police took the accident report, I wonder why the trooper did not question them showing up. The state police use a radio system called Starcom that is encrypted and is not suppose to be scanner capable. Possibly they are another one of those companies that cruse up and down the road looking to pray on people. I am 50 miles north of Harvey and fortunately there is a pretty good rotation system here that works pretty well. I am glad they got caught. One down and a lot more to go. The sad part is they will probably be back at in a month under a different name.

Our industry has lost another great icon. He had a great passion for the towing industry and it was proven by the equipment he built. His name will live on forever as one of the greatest builders of heavy duty wreckers. My thoughts and prayers go out to the Bertling family. R.I.P. Bert. Jack Herman, Wildwood Service, Gages Lake, Illinois

I was very proud to make the trip to Ashland and be part of that procession. Bill was truly a great person and a joy to talk to. I will miss our phone calls to one another. Our industry lost a great icon. I am very proud to have known him. I am sure he is busy towing and doing recovery work on the streets of Heaven. Bill, May you rest in peace.

Nice job. A friend of mine has a Fassi crane with the tire lift system on one of his flatbeds that he uses for jobs like that. Kudos to your driver!

Still hear, 65 years young and still going.

Another icon of our industry gone to tow on the streets of Heaven. My thoughts and prayers are with the Hoppes family. May he rest in peace. Jack Herman, Wildwood Service, Gages Lake, Illinois 

I talked to Derek today and he remembers that truck. He knows the guy that bought it and restored it. He said it was a 4 or 5 year project. He said the guy took it all apart down to every nut and bolt and restored everything, even the winch. He said the guy who bought it worked at that Ford dealer when he 16 years old. He sold the truck to the Volo Auto Museum. I went on their web site and and if I remember right they are asking $69000.00 for it.

A reel beauty for sure! That museum is 10 miles west of me. I am going to try and go see it in person. I bet Derek Dangelo from Custom Built Wreckers knows that truck since that Ford dealer is from the same town.

Still here!

I believe that is a Holmes wrecker. I am not sure but I think it is rated as a 10 ton boom with 12,000 Lb. winches.

Does anyone know what happened to this truck or if it is still around. 

This could have been very bad. It looks like it might of been a hard cover for a pick up truck bed. I can not tell it looks like he was hauling a pick up truck loaded backwards. I might be wrong. If that was, the air got under it and ripped it off. This why we try and not haul pick up trucks with a bed cover backwards. If we must we double check to make sure it is locked try and put a strap over it if possible. If we can not strap it we go to a safe spot to unload, turn around and reload forward. About 40 years ago I was towing a pick up truck backwards with a cab height topper on it and got about4 to 5 miles down the road and I saw it in my mirror starting to move around. I got lucky and nothing happened. I pulled off the road dropped it and hooked from the front and pulled the drive shaft. The problem was it had broken the front u joint and that is why I had hooked up from the rear. After that we do not tow or haul those backwards if we do not have to. What is surprising in the video the driver does not strap it down after he came back and picks up the pieces.

I just do not understand why people do not want to work. We have raised wages and increased benefits and no takers. It is going to get harder for this industry to get drivers to do this job. Uline by us a couple of weeks ago had a full page add in the news paper for warehouse workers starting at $25 to $ 30 an hour depending on experience what shift you would be working, along with some other companies by us in the same range. I read in yesterdays paper that Walmart was going to offer truck driving jobs to their warehouse and fulfilment center workers. They would have to go through the companies 12 week course and the starting pay was $95,000.00 to $112,000.00 per year. 

There was a company called Poly Body and I thought they were from out east somewhere. There is another company called Poly built out of Ocala, Florida and they used to have a plant in Augusta, Wisconsin. We have a Pete 20 ton single axle that Custom Built Mfg. out Kane, Penn. built and installed new aluminum boxes on for us 5 years ago and we have been real happy with them. They are the manufacturers of Custom Built Towing Equipment. They do a really nice job and great people to talk to. They were much cheaper then the poly boxes that we had gotten quotes on. 

I believe that light was made by North American Signal Company from Wheeling, Illinois and private labeled for Peterson. We are a dealer for North American and could get you what you need or call them at 877-246-6274 and they can direct you to a dealer close to you. The North American part # for the complete light is 400X-A . You should be able to get any parts that you need for that light, as that light is still made today with LED bulbs instead of standard bulbs. I am sure if you wanted the standard bulbs they would build it that way. If you would like me to help you give me a call at 847-223=3332. Herman Brothers Western Snowplows Gages Lake, Illinois. I am Jack Sr. 

Good looking truck Ed.  Do you still have the Pete with the 750?

Still here and still towing at 65! An old wise man told me years ago, remember there has to be someone on this earth to make us look good! And some are better at it then others! Stay safe everyone.

I am not sure, it looks like a model 515. It does look like it is in pretty good shape for the age. 

Those are some great pictures! They tell a wonderful story of your family business! Congratulations on 100 years of business! There are not many family business's that make it that long today. I can not imagine the joy that your family must be feeling! I hope you keep going for another 100 years! Take care and be safe! Jack Herman, Wildwood Service, Gages Lake, Illinois