A Lot Of Old Trucks

These things are crazy cool. I have an entire folder on my computer of these things. They are at small airport on the south end of Lake Washington. Watching them bring the float planes in and out of the water is pretty fun.
I remember the first time we saw one of the trucks. The boys were younger, and their minds were blown "how can they stand on only two wheels!?"

 

I'd like to know who built them, and more importantly, why they thought a Chebby was a good idea.

 

Building I-91 in Bradford Vermont

 

I saw other ones built on Ford Super Duty chassis, so I guess things are better than I thought.

 

There are both FORD and Chivy at this particular airport.

 

They look like dogs copping a squat for a "hunch and punch."

 

Probably get more than a few double-takes on the road when they have to go in for service......

My mind is wondering if they had to add any ballast to the forward frame area when it's empty, or is there enough steel there for it to be balanced OK already?

I'm also wondering why this setup is better for launching / recovering a seaplane that just having a dedicated seaplane 'trailer' that gets mounted to say a K5 Blazer with a front-mounted hitch receiver? Seems to me having a hitch connection there would make it more maneuverable.

There's probably some factor though that I'm not considering.......

 

I'd be willing to bet these babies get serviced on sight. I doubt they spend anytime on the road. They look pretty hilarious, especially when you don't see the "trailer" section and it looks like the front half of a truck, just floating in thin air.
I've seen them load launch and recover sea planes and it's incredible how quick they are able to do it. I'm sure that having the operator facing toward the plane/ramp is the most important part of the setup.

 

"Sonofagun, why do these things always happen to me? The boss is gonna be beside himself and have a baby to boot!"

 

"Might as well get the deliveries done while I wait for the tow truck..."