Some Animal Control trucks I drove

To kind of go along with yesterday's post, this one and a few more will be just photos and comments of the different trucks I'd driven over the years.
First photo is my 1980's Chevy. I drove it for several years. When I got it it already had almost 200,000 miles on it and had a new rebuilt engine. By this time, about 1986 or so, all the trucks had "Rec-Air" water cooled air conditioners for the cages. Water was pumped to a pan inside the cooler and the water was sucked up by the venturi effect of the spinning fan and splashed onto a foam liner that the air was forced through, cooling the air. A 5 gallon tank was mounted up under the rear cages and the setup had an 'on demand' 12 volt RV type of water pump. Switched inside the cab, when all worked it actually kept the cages very cool due to the small area to be cooled. It was really nice in the cages when it was in the 90's. Problem was the floats in the cooler unit itself could never be set to a good level that metered out just enough water to keep it cool for a long period of time. Driving around sloshed water all over the place and since the cooler and pump were then wired to run at the same time, the 5 gallons of water in the tank would only last about 20 minutes tops if you were driving around.
So knowing that, I'd watch the switch because it was pulse as the water pump was working and glow steady when it was out of water. The foam that the water splashed onto could stay damp and cool for another 30 minutes or so unless it was a really hot day before it was just blowing hot air on the animals.
All that water all the time caused the areas in the cages to stay wet and to rust away. Within a couple of years of use the "County Yards" were fabricating floor plates, inner door hinges, and other parts that were rusted through.


Second photo was taken in 1982, it shows one of the 'back breaking' Datsun trucks and two 1/2 ton Chevy's. I drove the dark brown one 5012 that summer. No cage coolers yet and most of the trucks were all kinds of colors and shades of brown. By the early 1990's they were all white. Much better for a service truck! Back in those days all vehicles were retired by mileage, usually between 60,000 to 80,000 miles. Later in another attempt to 'save money' replacement was assessed by still viable serviceability and several trucks would get over 300,000 and several engine and transmission rebuilds before getting replaced.









The last photo for this post was of the new cages the department tried on this truck, a 4 wheel drive Chevy for the mountains. These all fiberglass cage sets were supposed to be lighter and better. No roof a/c unit on this installation, they had a pass through box that drew air from the truck cab from under the seat. Great in theory, poor in practice! Since it was from under the seat it just wasn't cool air! Road and exhaust pipe heat in the summer warmed the area which warmed the air under the seat. And the trickle of air that actually got into the cages was not much in the way of relief. The fiberglass just wasn't up to the task either since may areas, both the mountains and the deserts, had poor and very rough dirt roads. The cage door hinges began to crack and give way from the constant bouncing. They lasted a few years, they had to get their money out of them! But ultimately metal cages were returned to.