Daryl Gushee's 1934 Snowplow Linn # 2500

This is the Linn tractor originally purchased by the city of Auburn ,Maine in 1934. It was shipped by rail from Morris, N.Y. This truck was used to plow the rural areas of Auburn as well as the road from Auburn to So. Paris, Maine a distance of about 56 miles round trip. Last used as a town truck in 1968. The city put the truck out to sealed bid after 34 years of service and it only received one bid, $200.10 by a teenage boy from Auburn. The city refused to sell stating that a minor could not buy it. A judge heard the case and asked if the minor had payed for it,which he had so the judge ordered the sale and Blaine Hodgdon became the new Owner. Blaine had the Linn transported to his fathers house where he parked it under a makeshift roof and regularly would drive it back and forth about 50'. I always looked at the Linn driving by but never stopped to ask. Sometime around 1990 Blaine drove it to his house about 1/4 mile down the road and I no longer knew where it was. In 2002 I was talking old trucks to a customer of mine (Blaine) and the Linn came up I had no idea it was his. Turns out Blaine was ready to part with it.

Some photos of the day we picked the 1934 snowplow Linn tractor up and brought it to New Gloucester, Me. August, 2002

This is how it looked on purchase day. Blaine had removed the temporary shelter and made sure it would start. At this time it was hand crank only. The electric starter had problems and parts were not available.

Blaine has the Linn running. He painted it several times in the 34 years he owned it.

Not many experienced Linn operators around.
I let Blaine load it.

Blaine has probably been the only operator on this Linn for 34 years.

At 34,000 pounds with no ballast, a 12' V-Plow and 2-16' wings this is a big load.

Notice the lack of paint on the tailgate. The shelter didn`t cover the whole rear bed so the rear most parts were subject to weather.

Blaine Hodgdon, Jack Gushee, Daryl Gushee, Linn #2500

Chaining down
Daryl Gushee, Blaine Hodgdon, Jack Gushee

We are letting the little guy crawl under to wrap the chain.
PLOWMAN

This was my second attempt at plowing snow with the Linn. My first attempt ended when I had a fuel line rupture and it ran out of gas in the middle of the field. I could not find the cause of the problem that day. I waited until a nice day after another storm and proceeded to find and fix the problem. Look at the snow on the blade you can see 18" of old snow and 18" of new snow on top.

Remember this is a 3 man operation while plowing.
One man to drive the Linn.
One man on each wing.
I am plowing alone, only something you should do in an open field.

I replaced the tailgate and a few sideboards and floorboards.
I also replaced the panel that holds the access door between the wing boxes.

In action! V-Plow down, wings up about 18" shelfing.
7 M.P.H. working speed

Second pass. V-Plow down, right wing down, left wing at about 18" pushing most of the snow to the left.

All the iron on the ground.
The wings are out to clear about 21' wide in one pass.
With the wings fully extended the Linn will clear 26' in a single pass but you better fill the ballast box first.
The ballast box has the wear marks of railroad track inside. I calculated app. 16,000# of ballast when it was working.

This looks like it could be a photo from 1934 plowing a road past a farm in rural Maine.
PLOWMAN

Time to put a fresh coat of paint on.
On a warm spring morning I decided to strip the plows and old paint off. Plows were easy. Old paint not so easy.

First thing to do is remove the massive V-Plow


Next the wings.


Then the paint.
First I spent several hours washing with a 3,000psi washer.


Then I spent several days with paint stripper removing layers of old paint.
There were plenty of coats of green and the coat of orange that the city of Auburn had put on.
Under everything was a dark green.
Linn had originally painted all the wood dark green and all the steel black.
After stripping paint, out to the washer again.


After a week of drying the wood out and sanding, we taped it off and started priming.


Jack Gushee has been hard at work in the Linn cab prepping for varnish and paint.


After priming we sprayed all the steel with gloss black paint.


Now its time to paint all the wood with a computer matched dark green paint. We were able to get several good samples of the original paint color and had it matched.
Jack likes to be involved in all the projects.

Linn # 2500 with fresh paint.
V-Plow and wings back on.

The dark green wood is a match to the original color.
The black is the original color of the steel Linn parts.
The gray and silver on the Linn-Frink plow is a matter of preference, original color unknown.


Loading up for Syracuse N.Y.
The wings have been chained in tight to the wingman`s cab. This gives it a narrow position of only 12' wide for transport.
With wings spread wide it is 26' wide


A little guidance from my rigging crew and I`m off to Syracuse N.Y.
The Linn uses almost the whole 48' trailer and fills a lane going down the road.

American Truck Historical Society Show; Syracuse New York, May 2003

Front and center is where the New York built trucks were parked at the show.
While at the show, Ernest Portner must have felt bad for me, watching me hand crank the 935 C.I. Hercules.
Ernest came in one day with a box of parts and we were able to get my electric starter working.
I was told the starter had not worked for many years.
It`s quite a workout in behind the big V cranking on the short handle.


I had no idea the big Linn would be such a hit at the show.
Up until now all I had heard from friends and family were more comments about how strange I am, putting time and effort into
that monster.
Wouldn`t I rather have a muscle car or huge 4X4?

When you fire up a Linn snowplow, You will always get a crowd.


The museum gave me an area to play and roped it off.
I was very successful at making ruts and my two wingmen, Jon Doyle and Lars Ohman, made enough divets
with the wings to keep the grounds keeper busy for a while.


Nice shot of the big V-Plow


Looks like 1934

I have many more photo`s of this fabulous piece of equipment to post. Keep an eye on this page.
Plowman