Wooden truck makes debut at Automania
Al Schoeffelman, of rural Tea, brought his all-wood '79 Ford pickup truck to Automania this year. Photo by Jill Meier/BV Journal
Al Schoeffelman, of Tea, invested approximately 2,500 hours in building this all-wood pickup truck. Photo by Jill Meier/BV Journal
Al Schoeffelman considers his all-wood truck a '79 Ford, since that is the chassis that was repurposed for the vehicle. Photo by Jill Meier/BV Journal
A reflection inside the cab of the all-wood truck built by Al Schoeffelman. Photo by Jill Meier/BV Journal
The rear view of the '79 Ford all-wood truck constructed by Al Schoeffelman, which was on display at Automania on Friday, June 30.
Al Schoeffelman says he’s a bit nutty.
“I’m a nut,” confirms the rural Tea man about building a pickup truck from scratch, not to mention from wood.
Schoeffelman’s ’79 Ford – “because that’s the year of the van that gave up its life for it” – made its debut at Automania this year, and the all-wood truck caught the attention of many passersby on Friday.
“It’s been a called a church pew and a coffin,” Schoeffelman said. “I refer to it as a coffee table.”
The sleek and polished all-red oak truck came to life following a conversation on the sidelines of a car show in Rock Valley, Iowa, almost 10 summers ago now.
“I had my other truck in a Rock Valley car show and was parked next to a gentleman with a Diamond T truck from the 1940s, a two-ton truck. He had beautiful restoration on it. It was a flatbed with stake sides on it and we were sitting there shooting the bull, and I thought to myself, I would’ve done those stake sides a little different. I mean it looked great, but I would’ve done it different,” he recalls. “And that started the ball rolling.”
The ball rolled right into Schoeffelman’s idea of building a pickup truck from wood.
A crane operator by trade, Schoeffelman invested about 2,500 hours over nine winters building the truck in the evening and on weekends.
“My wife said, ‘Get out of the house, get in the shop,’ and I love her to death, but how many hours can you spend together in the winter?” he jokes.
Schoeffelman finished the truck about two and a half years now, although he says, “You’re never really done with it.”
Since the truck was made road-ready, it’s made appearances at area car shows, and he and his wife “take it to Burger King, whatever,” he said.
But you don’t want to go too far with it, as the 4,300-pound truck gets a mere seven to eight miles to the gallon, “So a 15-gallon tank doesn’t go too far,” he informs.
The ride isn’t all that smooth either, and the hazards of the all-wood truck, he notes, is “Splinters,” which he hopes to never experience.
And it’s not a wintertime vehicle either.
“There’s no heat or air conditioning, and no windows in the doors,” he said.
Although Schoeffelman knows the money he’s invested into the truck, he says he can’t put a price tag on it.
“I had a guy say, ‘Put a price tag on it, which I can’t, as far as sentimental-wise,’” he says. “My granddaughter she’s just about 3, and she loves to play on it, so it’s going nowhere.”
