10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

COVER FEATURE - OCTOBER 2007

WRECKIN’ BALLIN’ & HEAVY HAULIN’
BOBBY & JAKE LINDAMOOD: MODERN-DAY DEMOLITION MEN
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

Bobby and Jake Lindamood love to tear stuff down. Bobby has been doing it for 25 years, and his 25-year-old son Jake has just about as much experience. At three years old, Jake started going out with his dad, learning the ropes, and by five he was pushing dirt around their yard with a dozer. At seven, Jake helped his dad tear down a 3-story apartment building, and by ten he was working at dump sites, moving broken concrete and dirt into piles. Jake hauled his first load on the street at the age of eleven, and today it is not uncommon for him to move a load with his heavy haul Peterbilt grossing 270,000 pounds on 13 axles. Their company, Lindamood Demolition in Irving, Texas, is the largest demo company in the Dallas area and is known for having the cleanest fleet around. But it wasn’t always like that.

Bobby Lindamood was born and raised in Oklahoma, where his father was a logger and a truck driver. In 1958 the family moved to Texas and formed Lindamood Tree Service. With one winch truck and a chain saw, Bobby’s father made a living clearing lots in and around the Dallas area. Bobby worked with his father for a while, but when he turned 20, he pulled Bobby aside and said, “It’s time for you to get out on your own.” His father co-signed for Bobby’s first tractor, and then off he went. He later sold that tractor only to find that people kept calling him to do work with it, so he sold his house and moved into an apartment to get the downpayment on another machine – a small track loader.

In the beginning, Bobby did dirt work and excavation, but one day someone asked if he could tear down a small house. Some other local contractors saw Bobby doing this and asked if he could tear down some of their old houses, and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, Lindamood Demolition has close to 20 trucks, more than 40 trailers, 35 pieces of heavy equipment, 40 full time employees, and a new shop that sits on seven acres with 12 service bays, including an oil change bay, an overhead crane and a wash bay. The shop also has a beautifully appointed front office, designed and decorated by Kayla, Bobby’s wife of 27 years, who also helps out with all of the paperwork, estimating and bids for jobs.

Besides the demolition work, they also do a lot of heavy hauling. In the beginning, they just hauled their own equipment, but then other companies began calling and asking if they would haul their equipment as well. Moving heavy and oversized loads has become a growing segment of their company, and today they have four or five dedicated trucks doing it full time.

Bobby’s youngest son Jake, as mentioned before, has been involved with the company his entire life. He grew up on a track loader and really knows how to knock stuff down. At only fourteen years old, he was telling grown men how to do their job – and they did not like it! But once they realized that he was more than just the boss’ son, and that he actually knew what he was talking about, they began to respect him and listen to him. And listening to him today, it is obvious that this “kid” knows the business.

Bobby’s first truck was a gas-powered 1972 Chevrolet single axle with a 20-foot dump trailer. Later, when he stepped up to a GMC Astro cabover with a 290 Cummins, he really thought he had hit the big time. In 1987 Bobby bought a brand new Pete 379 and, since then, has bought nothing but Peterbilts. Every truck in their fleet is ordered with double frames, big motors, heavy duty rear ends, 18-speeds and long hoods. The company still has that old 1987 Peterbilt, only now it is a water truck.

But those old trucks Bobby started with are a far cry away from Jake’s first truck – a turquoise 2000 Peterbilt 379 with lots of accessories. But as the heavy haul business grew, Jake decided that he needed a bigger truck, with 4-axles, to move around the really big loads. He really didn’t want to buy a new truck because he didn’t like the dash, but after searching for a year and not finding what he wanted, he gave in and ordered a new one. And boy was she plain!

Jake’s new truck, featured on this month’s cover and centerfold, as well as on these pages, is a 2007 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood with a 625 Cat, an 18-speed transmission and 2-speed rears (3.90 on the high side and 5.61 on the low). When the truck arrived at their shop in May of 2006, it was painted white and only had one fuel tank. The first thing they did was tear it all apart and sand it down. Jake got a friend named Greg Sadaberry to help him fabricate custom rear fenders, a heavy duty rear bumper/light bar and a cool headache rack – and these pieces turned out to be real works of art.

Wanting something different, Jake designed unique rear fenders for his truck. Instead of curving the metal around the tires with a smooth radius like normal fenders, he designed a fender that went around the tires in straight, angled segments, sort of like the edge of a stop sign. They started out with a flat piece of iron and then bent over the edge. Then, they cut a few 8-inch sections off and welded them back together in the angled pattern, forming the “curve” around the tires. This was a tedious job that took three months to complete. The fenders were built in three sections to make them more durable and then were attached using rubber transmission mounts to help absorb some of the twisting and fatigue associated with heavy hauling.

The rear bumper/light bar was fabricated with quarter-inch thick steel plate, except for the center portion on top, which was plated with three-quarter-inch thick steel for extra strength. The headache rack, which was made to match the fenders, features angled corners, a full-size rear window and a large storage compartment to hold Jake’s supplies. Hidden switches hooked to solenoids electronically operate the compartment doors (Jake didn’t want to get fingerprints and/or scratches on the stainless steel doors). Now it was time for all of the truck’s finish work.

Once all of the fabrication was complete, Jake chose to paint the truck Ultra Orange Pearl, a vibrant three-stage paint made by House of Kolors. In addition to the truck, they painted the mirrors, grille, headlight brackets, air cleaners, visor, battery boxes, fuel tanks, and, of course, the newly-built fenders, light bar and headache rack. The truck was also fitted with a flip up front bumper and 8-inch pipes. The guys also did a lot of painting inside the cab including the seat bases, steering column, door panels and dash panels. Jake switched out all of the new-style rocker switches with old-style toggles and had the seats reupholstered with orange and gray leather. They also added a billet steering wheel, satellite radio, a DVD and a navigation system.

The truck was finally completed in October 2006 – and it ain’t no store-bought show truck. Jake and the guys at their shop did all of the work, and Jake is very proud of that fact. Actually, it’s not really a “show truck” at all. This rig runs in and out of landfills, mines and quarries on a daily basis. It doesn’t rack up many miles because it stays local, but it works all of the time.

And not to be outdone by his young son, Bobby decided that he needed a new truck, too, so he bought a 2007 Peterbilt 379 Extended Hood and a new 2007 CPS round-bottom end dump trailer for himself. The guys in the shop tore them both apart and redid everything. Painted in the “King Ranch” theme, the Mocha Pearl and Dark Brown Metallic combination made its debut at the truck show in Dallas last August and won a few trophies, including 1st place in the Limited Mileage Combo class.

Jake has been managing the day-to-day operations of the company since he was 18 years old. That keeps him pretty busy, so he doesn’t get to drive trucks or operate equipment as much as he’d like. But demolition is his favorite thing – he loves to tear stuff down – especially large commercial buildings or tall apartments. He considers it a challenge and prides himself on getting the job done right. They even get to use the old wrecking ball and explosives from time to time, which are always fun. Bobby figures that he’ll keep working until he can’t walk anymore. At that time, Jake will “officially” take over.

Jake wanted to thank all of the guys in the shop who helped him with his truck (and his dad’s). Special thanks go out to David Jones (who has been with Bobby for over 25 years), “Way-to-go Mike” Briseno, James McPherson, Greg Sadaberry and Brad Johnson. He (and we) also wanted to thank Randy Supak of Novosad Enterprises for braving the heat and humidity and helping us out during the photo shoot.

There is no denying that Jake Lindamood is very good at what he does. We are sure that Bobby is not worried one bit about handing the company over to him when the time comes. He is young, energetic, creative, loyal, well-spoken and focused (that means single). And he is probably one of the few people out there that is only 25 years old yet can say, with confidence, that he has 22 years of experience – and counting!