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SOLD Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2021 12:40 pm
by beltguy
Hi All. With a great deal of mixed emotions, I am putting our 1985 Eagle Bus up for sale.

As many of you know, this bus has some unique features that a buyer may or may not want to rework.

This is a fully functional bus that has a ton of features/amenities that are listed in the attached PDF.
20210125 Bus Sale Info Rev 1.pdf
(31.56 KiB) Downloaded 521 times
The build of this bus is documented on my project pages (link in signature).

Here is a photo of the bus
Bus at KOA Apache Junction cropped.jpg
The following photos show the furniture:
IMG_4160.JPG
IMG_4161.JPG
New couch.jpg
New couch.jpg (20.28 KiB) Viewed 4250 times

Asking $28K

Phone or text 303 four-seven-eight 3501 (if you call, you will need to leave a message since I don't answer my phone if the caller is not in my contact list).

Jim

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 7:50 pm
by beltguy
I just looked at the picture of the passenger seat and it looks dirty. It is, but all of the furniture cleans up very well and all are in great condition.

I had talked about owner converted buses in another thread and used our bus as an example. Here is the thread:
https://eagles-international.net/forums ... af1#p32885

I will add more detail about the "challenges" with bus in this. and perhaps additional, posts. The two biggest challenges are the "unique" clutch activation system and the overall wiring. I will address the wiring in this post. As I mentioned in the referenced thread there is not a good wiring standard for RVs as far as I know. I believe the the 120/230 wiring complies with reasonable procedures/practice and is properly protected and safe. I used marine stranded wire which can be controversial but most folks feel the it is superior to normal romex type wire in a vehicle subjected to vibration. The wiring layout is the big issue. While I believe it meets professional standards in terms of safety, the actual wiring does not look professional in some areas.

The engine and transmission control wiring is quite functional, but looks like a "rats nest". The area that needs attention is in the driver area and that can fairly easily be sorted out.

I was going to try to update the usage statistics on my project pages, but those pages were created with some software that is now out of date. I have driven the bus a bit less than 83K miles since the engine conversion with only two "behind the hook" events -both very minor. I have not kept my "nights in the bus" spreadsheet up to date, but as of 2016 we had spent 892 nights in the bus.

When we had our business, we would spend several weeks at a time on occasions in complete comfort. It is possible to live full time in the bus as it stands right now.

Jim

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:45 pm
by DoubleEagle
I am sure that the decision to sell was difficult after having owned it for so long, but it is also painful to watch an Eagle deteriorate by not using it. I surely would have considered buying your bus in past years, but now I have reached my quota of Eagles. You have a unique engine and trans combination that should be very dependable. Some lucky person will be getting a special Eagle, and thanks for keeping this forum alive.

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:35 am
by Eagle obsessed
Same here.... nice bus but I sure don’t need another one right now ;)

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 11:57 am
by beltguy
Thanks guys.

Another challenge is the paint. That is a mixed blessing. A new buyer can paint the bus as they see fit.

Walter, you have hit on a point that bothers me quite a bit -deterioration due to sitting. Another big issue is that there is no easy way to winterize the bus due to all the items that have water going to them (fridge, washer, filters) and that costs quite a bit to keep it above freezing in our Colorado winters.

My strong wish is that the bus would go to someone who would: 1) enjoy it as is -or- 2) remodel it from a frog to a prince :D

Jim

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:57 pm
by DoubleEagle
Do what they do for irrigation systems, use air pressure to blow the water out of all the lines, open all drains, etc. Assuming the paint is urethane, it will make a good base for another color after sanding it everywhere. Maybe it just needs a little buffing with polishing compound. Don't forget to advertise that white is the color that will be coolest in the summer sun, and this Eagle might be confused with the famous "Dreamscape". Another great plus is having many more gear speeds than usual, there won't be a grade you can't climb. I would also image that all of the rubber belts are topnotch Gates products. ;)

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 9:09 pm
by Ddwhite164
I read your build notes for the first time and was intrigued by all you’ve done. Not sure I understand how the clutch works in the end, but was also wondering if there were more overall photos of the interior to give an idea how the bus is laid out. It seems you have done a lot of specialized work on this coach. Do you think it is something a guy with some basic mechanical skills and bus experience can handle?

Thanks,

Dewayne.......in mostly warm sunny Florida

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 10:59 am
by beltguy
I will see if I can find some interior shots in my files. If not, I will take some, but Pat says we have to clean it up first :D

I have had a couple of questions about what skill level a person should have to own my (or some other) bus. That is really a painful question for me - I use the term painful advisedly. I guess I could take the attitude that we bus owners all started out with little or no knowledge of bus maintenance or repair. That said, I have seen some new bus owners get in over their head and "suffer" from their decision. I think any bus will demand a significant amount of repair/maintenance over the years. They tend to be old and have a lot of miles on the chassis. It is a huge leap from working on a car to working on a bus.

In the thread I cited earlier, there was a differentiation between a commercial conversion and an owner conversion. In both cases there are mixed chances of getting a relatively trouble free vehicle. I would love to believe that our bus would be pretty reliable, but there is certainly no guarantee. As I have said previously, all of the modifications I have made were done for reliability. My problem is that I know what was done and can generally figure out how to address an issue if it comes up.

Could a person with basic skills sort issues out? I don't know. There is a pretty good support community for our Eagles. I think this forum is a fantastic base of data and a few folks chime in to help if we have a problem. There are a couple of active Eagle Face Book groups, but I really cringe when I see some of the responses. In my case, I will offer any help I can if an issue arises.

Again in my case, the big mechanical components should be reliable but that is no guarantee. By major components I am thinking about the engine, transmission, air supply systems, etc. The conversion components were the best that money could buy -- again with reliability in mind.

The one compromise I made was the first Series 60 engine I put in the bus. They were not readily available at the time and I settled for one that had a lot of miles on it (and later determined not all that great of maintenance over its life). I replaced it with an engine that had a good track record (rebuild documented and detailed discussion with the donor truck owner).

I the past few years I have not had to do any significant maintenance and all of that work could have been done by a person with GOOD basic mechanical skills. One of the main concerns on my part is that I don't have the time to "train" a person to be a full fledged bus repair/maintenance technician. I will be glad to answer questions, but not train (clear as mud?).

This has gotten to be way too long, but it is something that I struggle with.

I will document the clutch issue and show some interior pictures in a additional posts -- as soon as I can catch my breath on a couple of other activities.

Dewayne, I apologize that I probably did not answer your question.

Jim

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 9:53 am
by beltguy
Hi all

Dug through the pictures on my computer and did not come up with much. Will get some inside photos in the next couple of days.

Here are a couple of photos:
DSC01350.JPG
This is the electrical control center. The large gauges give the volts and amps for each leg of the input line (either the generator or the post) and also the volts and amps for the inverter.
DSC01352.JPG
This is a photo of the shower. BTW, the bathroom has its own heat zone and thermostat so that the bathroom can be heated before taking a shower on cold days.

I will detail the clutch in the next post.

Jim

Re: Shepherd Model 10 Eagle Bus for Sale

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 10:08 am
by beltguy
Now about the clutch.

When I first did the conversion, I used the clutch pedal and master cylinder from the donor truck. Because of the cramped area, I had to change the geometry a bit and it made the clutch very hard to push. That was not a big deal since you only have to use the clutch to start the bus moving and then the shifting takes place without the clutch. Unfortunately, I encountered a huge traffic jam in Phoenix on the first trip and by the time I got past the accident, my leg was ready to fall off :o

Then I got the bright idea to make a hand clutch which was a lever that pushed on the clutch master cylinder. It worked great untill I encountered a toll booth and had to put the transmission in neutral to pay. After that I got the great idea of using a brake treadle valve to activate a small brake can that pushed on the master cylinder. It turned out that depressing the clutch took very little effort but it was very difficult to control the movement of the master cylinder. So I ended up with this "wonderful" solution:
Clutch actuation system.jpg
It is a combination of the hand and treadle valve control system. I push on the treadle valve to disengage the clutch and then use the hand lever to moderate the application of the clutch. Sounds terrible, but it works pretty good.

I have all the Eagle pedal and air assist parts to make it a "normal" clutch system. Instead of linkage, I would use the Eagle system to activate the clutch master cylinder. I think Wayne has some photos of that type of system he fabricated for his new bus.

Jim