Maine

I definitely will at some point. I’d like to play the song at the trains too!

 

My son thinks he may have heard this song before. He remembers a band at Blistered Fingers playing a maine train song, but he has yet to find it online.

 

The chorus goes “A thousand foot trestle as talll as a mountain, and able to take all the weiiiighht, of the 90 ton steamer, ten carloads of timber, across the deepest woods in the state.” Is that familiar?

 

Should I paint it or leave it..
Works great

 

I painted mine black, but I have a black truck. Is that two end caps or is it threaded on one end?

 

I’ll ask him in a bit.

 

Two end caps.
Didn’t have anything but those at the hardware store.
I replaced the one with the low battery.

 

He says no, but is now on the hunt.

 

Anyone need rear shoes? I've got some unused Duralast 589. Know they fit 1st gens but doubt 2nd or 3rd. Located in Farmingdale but frequently in Bath & Boothbay areas.

 

Anyone ever consider going full-size? I see a ton of Tacos but when I hear a v8 I get jealous lol. That said, in our state, if you do much wheeling, the Taco is much better suited to the right tree-lined trails we have here...I have an 07 F-150 project that’s a pita but it was my grandfathers truck and I got it for free when he passed, so I don’t mind spending a few thousand and some hours to get it on the road. Either way, I find myself shopping full-size fords, rams, and tundras every now and then. Course my taco is the smallest of tacos (save for 5 luggers). Maybe with Bilsteins and an add a leaf it’ll take the edge off the urge to upsize? I love the Relative uniqueness of my single cab but if I could do it over again I’d probably at least have an access cab v6

 

@Black Bean Taco I had a hand-me-down '99 extra cab PreRunner for ~14yrs. I love my 3rd gen but I do miss the smaller size of the 1st

 

I used to have an F-150 and the extra space was certainly welcomed. Truth is, as much as Tacomas are dogged on for getting crappy MPG, mine gets the same MPG on the highway, around town, and pounding logging roads. The F-150 did better around town, but in the woods, I got crap mileage. The 30+ gallon tank was nice though. As far as narrow trails, there have been dozens of times where I have said "Couldn't do that in a full size" it's not just the width, it's the combination of the wheelbase, width, and height for me.

 

If I have anything bigger I can’t work in my garage during the winter time. I don’t tow a race car trailer. Don’t need it

 

I went full-sized. I miss having a Tacoma for the 'fun to drive' quotient, (or when it's time to parallel park) but at this point with my hobbies and side hustle I needed towing/payload capacity & a real plow more than I needed something that could turn a tight circle or fit between the trees.

Edit- The extra space is nice, but the next time I go vehicle shopping it'll probably be for a dedicated 'work' truck (single cab, 8 foot bed) and then I'll see about picking up a smaller beater for a DD.

 

Lately Ive been tossing around the idea of getting an older Cummins 2500. Just as a daily / fun side project (always wanted an old diesel). Plus may come in handy if I buy a house at some point here in the next few years.

But theres no chance Im getting rid of the Taco any time soon

 

Sold my 2015 Taco TRD Sport and got a 2018 Tundra TRD OR. Wish I had done it sooner, honestly. It suits my needs though where I tow and haul quite a bit. Itd probably suck for trail-bombing but I dont do that so I dont really care.. I get the same gas mileage in the 5.7 as I did with the 4.0

 

My dad has the F-150 with the 2.7 eco boost and gets better or equal mpg to my 2.7 taco. However, I know the taco will last longer. This, if I went full-size I’d either get brand new with warrantee or a naturally aspirated v6 or v8

 

not a fullsize, but i have been perusing the classifieds looking for a Jeep cherokee v8... I want to chop the body and mount 37's on some 1 ton axles... build it as a "street legal-ish" crawler rig... Ive been infatuated with teh BC4x4 offroad videos, and I love that silver V-8 cherokee... it sounds healthy, and handles the trails, trailbreaking in snow... etc..... things I would never attempt in my Tacoma..

 

My wife had one of those in high school when she was sharing a car with her brother. Somehow he got that and she got a Ford Explorer.

 

I'd like some input from people in Northern New England on a camping approach. For the past few years I have been using a LL Bean Adventure Dome 6 for camping. The pros of this tent have been the price, the size, and some of the features (screens are outside of the doors, pretty damn waterproof, etc). The reason I am asking for this group's input is, camping here is different. It's extremely wet and it gets cold. Out west, they may deal with the cold, but they don't deal with the same amount of ground water. For example, in 2019, I had to pitch my tent in standing water, maybe 1-3", and during the night we had flowing water under the tent (it also snowed/iced that night, but that didn't really come into play). The reason I had to camp there is I was in the NMW and it was at the end of a moose week and every campsite was taken, except this one. So I couldn't just find a better place to camp. For 2021, my wife and I will be camping with our now 1-month-old. We have roughly 13 camping nights as a family planned. I have an additional 10 or so by myself (and the dog). We also have a 65-pound dog who camps with us. My wife hasn't camped more than 2 nights in her adult life, so I need to make her as comfortable as possible without buying a travel trailer. I am considering 2 options for tents/camping approaches and am looking for input on the upsides and downsides not listed:

1. Gazelle T4 Overland Edition (or basic addition) with cots.
Pros:
Set up time is quick (this is a big con for the Adventure 6)
Cost is much less
Can camp in spots which you can't park
Can leave camp set up all day
Tent is on the ground for putting the baby in the tent
The tent appears to be made of more durable fabric than the Adventure 6

Cons:
Can't stealth(ish) camp - this is a bigger conversation for another day
Still on the ground in the "wet" which can be an issue more months than not
Not easily set up in snow
Ground must be flat to set up tent
Stores very large
requires cots for my wife
Not a lot of reviews of it handling snow accumulation

2. Folding style RTT (iKamper, Roofnest Condor XL, etc)
Pros:
Set up time is quick
The tent is off the ground, so no concerns of camping in snow, mud, water, etc.
The newer styles have thicker mattresses
The tent doesn't take up room in the bed/cap

Cons:
Cost - this is an order of magnitude more than the Gazelle
The tent will be mounted on top of my Tacoma cap so it will be tall for getting into (this isn't as much of an issue for transport since I would transport the Gazelle on the roof)
Setup will be more physically challenging
Likely will require some screened, ground-level rain shelter
Storing the tent when not in use is a 2-man job and I don't have a garage to store it in (I could borrow space at my in-laws or mothers)

What are your experiences with either camping approach? Are there other issues you have encountered with either option that I am overlooking?

PS if it just me and the dog, I have a 2-man backpacking tent I can use.