Moblie Workshop Travels The Country

Moblie Workshop Travels The Country FARM SHOP Painting 28-6-39 Lester Rose and his wife, Audrea, live on the road doing volunteer construction work, made possible by their fully equipped workshop. The Roses have put on over 100,000 miles in the last 13 years, driving their 1987 1 1/2-ton cargo van that Lester outfitted for on-site wood and metal work. The unit has a 175 hp, 6-cyl. diesel engine and a 14 by 8 by 7-ft. box on it that's jam-packed with tools and features. The 17,000-lb. rig also pulls a 30-ft. travel trailer that has been the Roses' only home for 13 years. The interior of the truck box is lined with workbenches made from 3/4-in. square tubing, with drawers below and cabinets above, all full of hand tools. There's a steel bench with a bench grinder, a mechanical vice, an acetylene torch, planer, a 6 by 48-in. belt sander, a 12-in. band saw, an 18-in. metal turning lathe, a drill press, and a wood turning lathe that requires setting up. And that's just one side! On the other side, there's a 10-in. radial arm saw, a chain saw, an air compressor, and sticking up through the table, there is a router. The workshop has a 5,000-watt generator built into the side of the truck box. Five 4-ft. fluorescent lights provide excellent lighting. "Everything can run off either the generator or regular AC power, if we can plug in," Rose says. "I made steel steps that slide under the truck bed when travelling, and they can also fold down into a ramp. There's a little adjusting rod on each side of them so they're always level." Rose says his rig is extremely compact, but it works great. "I can cut down the middle of a 4 by 8-ft. sheet of plywood and walk past it. It's hard to believe but there's enough room," he says. "It took me a month to build this rig. We've been volunteering at state parks, national wildlife refuges, and national historical parks, where I work at construction of buildings, bridges and other miscellaneous smaller jobs. At one location, I built an entire RV park." Both Lester and his wife are on Social Security. State parks and wildlife refuges often provide them with free RV sites to park in, and some will pay stipends ($7 to $15 per day) for Lester's work. "We don't have too much expense," he explains. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lester Rose, 2180 Pear St. S.E., Deming, New Mexico 88030 (email: lester_rose @hotmail.com).

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