1997 - Volume #21, Issue #1, Page #19
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Semi Truck Built Out Of Cordwood
About eight years ago, Alec Alberti decided to make a log cabin out of stacked firewood to draw attention to his firewood business. His first effort was so popular with customers that every year since then he has built something new.Last year he built a semi truck that contains about 300 tons of wood. It's slightly bigger than a real semi truck - the trailer alone is 50 ft. long.
"It's kind of fun to see what you can think of next," says Alberti. "I live on a high-way not far from the ski resort so a lot of tourists see it. It took about 12 weeks to construct and looks like an antique semi truck. I borrowed ideas from the different semi trucks that drive by my place so it's got a little bit of every brand in it."
He used ash and maple logs to build the tractor's frame and slabs of stained and varnished wood, with the bark peeled off, to make the cab. The doors on both sides of the cab are real doors from a small pickup with varnished wood screwed onto them. The door windows can be rolled down just like on the pickup. The steering wheel is off a real semi truck. There's even a shift stick lever and a sleeper at the back of the cab.
He used 150-year-old maple trees to make a pair of fuel tanks and to make the truck's 18 wheels.
Over the years he has also made a locomotive pulling several cars (208 ft. long) and a World War II biplane.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alec Alberti, Box 353, Rt. 23, Windham, N.Y. 12496 (ph 518 734-4689).
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