Grease Monkey

[dtcerrato]

Lets not forget about Ted Campbell in Williams California. We've dealt with him several times over several decades & one of the best. Scott Crosby isn't traveling much lately for obvious reasons but has been know to make stretches out west which in the future he may entertain as we're all getting antsy to do something farther away from where we've been hunkering down for a spell...

[Fred Mc]

I started watching Scott's videos faithfully about a year ago. He had just purchased some land near Nashville that he and his wife are developing.About that time Covid hit and his travels were curtailed  but his videos showed the progress on his land. They still live in the bus but have built a pad(to eventually be a shop)  and has had about a dozen buses come in for various services.
Ive seen video episodes when his subscribers  on youtube have donated about a $1000 to help a bus owner where they found unexpected problems on the bus as Scott was working on it.
Ive also seen two episodes where he and his wife have gone to the checkout line at a local grocery store and paid for groceries for  complete strangers. So to  read some of the comments on here about his kindness/generosity doesn't surprise me. Ive also watched a video where a fellow bussnut had a quote for $9000 from a diesel repair shop that Scott
fixed for couple of hundred dollars.
I think his intension is to travel less(not completely quit) and do more work at his property as building his shop progresses.
I have read some comments about how he makes money off utube and Patreon and my comment to that is "well he should". His videos are detailed and informative and he provides a service which has a value. I'm not sure how many subscribers he has on youtube but I think it's significant. It costs money to belong to Patreon so I don't belong to that but the youtube videos are free.
For me personally I am farily mechanically inclined but my experience has always been on
gasoline powered vehicles and ,for some reason feel intimidated by doing work on my own
bus. His videos have showed me that a bus is just a "bigger" vehicle and doing the work is
a matter first of all of what and how to do it and just as important "where" to get the parts.
While I have ordered parts in the past from Luke watching Scott make a comprehensive  list of parts he needed for a repair,phoning Luke ,and receiving ALL the parts the next day makes me realize how extensive an inventory Luke has. Lots of times its not how to fix
something but where to get the parts.

His methods may not always be orthodox but often the way a lot of bus nuts have to do things because we don't have access to the tools a well equiped shop would have.Just one
example is removing a stubborn hub with a front end loader. Whatever it takes I guess.

[luvrbus]

He does some crazy $#!% and gets away with it but it's only a matter of time before it bites him in the @$#

[windtrader]

He does some crazy $#!% and gets away with it but it's only a matter of time before it bites him in the

Discussing the topic of Scott reveals a wide range of opinion. He certainly was not a factory trained Detroit or bus mechanic, so he learned as anyone would and over time he has worked on a pretty decent number of engines and buses.

[/size]Just sticking with skills and experience and not delving into business practices, he offers a beneficial service to the busnut community suffering an existential lack of available, experienced service providers to keep these old gals in good running shape.As to business practices, that will just need to sort itself out. Many offer out accolades, a few hurl disparaging remarks. Maybe the best recommendation is to do your due diligence and make and live with any decisions that involve engaging his services. [size=78%]

[dtcerrato]

There's always a pack of dogs itching to bite you in the @$# for that one oh sheet!
Putting Scott's reputation in broader context - he is essentially a good samaritan that is willing to lend a helping hand. After owning, converting, maintaining, & traveling in the same vintage - IMO - jewel from 1979 through 2016. I have learned more since meeting Scott at our first ever bus rally @ Arcadia FL 2015 - 2016. Scott was instrumental in having me shed all the fear & unknowns of owning the beautiful beast. Since that 2016 acquaintance our antique 53 has seen every major component rebuilt &/or upgraded. He made our (wifey & I) 40 year old bucket list to visit Alaska a reality. Having hardly known Scott or Kelly when we rolled into their beautiful home in a deeded community with a really lame bus on the way from FL to AK. He pulled us up to his home - in less that 30 minutes he had the engine totally pressure cleaned took us down the street to his bus barn - pulled his bus out, pulled our in & we lived there for a week to come out with a partial rebuild that allowed us to complete that bucket list item - priceless. He's not heavy, he's our brother. Clifford it's in your awesome signature - "life is short, drink the good wine first"
For those of us that have met - we need another campfire to tell more lies...
For those of us that haven't met - we need a campfire to tell some lies...

[freds]

For those of us that have met - we need another campfire to tell more lies...
For those of us that haven't met - we need a campfire to tell some lies...

Amen brother....

[RollingLiving]

 

Don Zimmerman is a classy operation on the west coast and Kevin Lonney (Arizona Diesel Man) in Az, there are others I was making a list to post  but other things are more important to me right now

Does anyone have contact info for Kevin?  I'm also in AZ and it would be good to have a local resource.  I did search his name, both on the web and here on the forum, but didn't find him. 

Thanks! 

Ross and Kara...just a bit West of Flagstaff

[luvrbus]

Kevin's # 602-810 -1845 sharp guy and very honest,then you have Geoff Smith in Prescott Valley too 

[lostagain]

But none of those good mechanics do videos!!??

[buswarrior]

But none of those good mechanics do videos!!??

Because they don't have to?

The best have no need for advertising, and the total knowledge applied to the job won't fit on a video.

Apprenticeships are years long for a reason...

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[RollingLiving]

Kevin's # 602-810 -1845 sharp guy and very honest,then you have Geoff Smith in Prescott Valley too

Thanks!  And I'd appreciate contact info for Geoff, too, since we're just "up the hill" from PV.  Or, feel free to pass my number on to him if that's preferred.  554-5219...Flagstaff area code should be the same as his...928

As to the video discussion...which I didn't mean to dredge up again...I actually appreciate the videos and have learned from them.   But a video isn't the same as having local support, so I am glad to learn about Kevin and Geoff here in AZ.

[Fred Mc]

A lot of  us on here have different levels of mechanical aptitude and can do "some" of the work ourselves and watching his videos can be a GREAT help to gives us the confidence to tackle the job ourselves not to mention where to get parts. Ive read some comments that infer he has had some "unsatisfactory" outcomes along the way.So tell me a shop that hasn't.We just had the local Ford dealer miss-diagnose a problem on our Ford Escape with the transfer case. They quoted 6k for a new one  and it turns out it wasn't the transfer case at all.It was a wheel bearing which we had repaired at a different shop(privately owned). How far do  think Id get with that Ford dealership  or Ford themselves. As for his making money on Patreon or Youtube or even go fund me so what. Hes not forcing people to join, subscribe or donate. I would say that the pluses FAR outweigh the negatives.
Not everyone can afford to take their bus to a shop and just say"fix it" at $150/hr.

[RJ]

He does some crazy $#!% and gets away with it but it's only a matter of time before it bites him in the @$#

Clifford -

You and I both know the Buffalo that bit Scott rather big time, but that's really the only one that I know of where that's happened.  And, as usual, there's always three sides to a story, including a bunch of background info than never came to light, but we'll overlook that for the greater good.

Big picture - the bus community is grateful to have people like Scott, Ted, Geoff, Kevin, Don, Luke, JD, Stan, yourself and others who are willing and able to help those of us involved in this crazy hobby/lifestyle.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[dtcerrato]

@RJ
@Fred Mc

THANKS! 

Another thing worth mentioning is that a great percentage of parts that Scott Crosby purchases is from Luke @ US Coach.

GREATS like Luke & Gene Russell think very highly of Scott as I & many others.

I also think very highly of the knowledge contributing to this forum & this post.

Maybe that's why our turtle likes the mountains - the high roads. 

[richard5933]

If nothing else, the number of people Scott has brought into the hobby in recent years has been a tremendous boost. Sometimes it takes a personality like his, someone willing to get on YouTube and show the nitty gritty in ways that most can relate to, for people to decide to take the plunge and become a bus nut.

He's done quite a bit to help stop the sinking value of our old buses just by creating the interest, and we all benefit from that.