Snow Conveyor Belt

My weather voodoo doll is really working now with two consecutive Mondays receiving more than a foot of snow fall in most places around Central New York. Hopeful I’ll be able to turn this thing off by spring. Starting on Saturday the snow began to fall at a leisurely pace but quick enough to have plows on the move. Here we see an International 7600 with the NYSDOT laying down a layer of salt.

International Snow Plow

In the gallery below we have an Freightliner M2 with the Town Dewitt, an International 2674 with the Onondaga DOT, and another International 2674 with the Village of East Syracuse. Bonus points if you know the make of plow on the VoES rig.

Come Monday I found myself travelling to the City of Watertown, NY which is something you generally don’t want to do when heavy snow is falling. Surprisingly enough the further north I traveled the weaker the snow became before it eventually fizzled out all together. At one point in Watertown I almost saw the sun! If you’re from the area you’ll understand what a big deal this is for Feburary. I stopped for a quick windshield wiper smack at the world famous Grist Mill in Parish, NY. I’ll admit that I had ulterior motives in my stop as I knew they had these two vintage loaders for parking lot clearing. Sadly they lot had already been plowed.

Terex 72-21 Wheel Loader

Arriving in Watertown I noticed some parking lots being cleared by the Jefferson County Highway Department. As soon as the clock struck Noon I ran out the door to grab some shots. The workers were on lunch but had left their rigs behind.

Heading home for the day I passed a NYSDOT Mack clearing route 3 along with a City of Watertown Freightliner 108D.

While I was in town I did happen to catch a glimpse or two of the WDPW very cool dedicated plow rigs. These trucks sport large single tires on their single rear axles along with one very large counter weight. No salting or sanding equipment to be found. The theory behind this design is to avoid trips backs to the salt barn for reloading. Opening snow clogged streets is the number one priority. I may not have been able to grab a shot but Ryan was in town last week and received full access to these rigs. Come back tomorrow for the photos!

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Autocar Mondays – A Gem in Hiding

50’s Autocar with an intergral sleep? Yes please! Clarence came across this gem at Caledonia Diesel while searching for presumably something more modern.

Autocar truck with integral sleeper

A 855 Cummins is the heart of this classic while a  5 &3 gearbox setup is found in cab. Oddly enough this truck doesn’t show for sale on the Caledonia website so if you’re interested you’ll probably have to pick up the phone. Even if you’re not in the classic Auotcar market check out their page for some cool finds including a massive Pacific dump truck and a Kenworth C500 oil field truck.

Autocar truck with integral sleeper

Thanks to Clarence for sharing this amazing find.

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John Deere 544A Wheel Loader

Following up on a promise I made a few months back here is video footage of the old John Deere 544A wheel loader pushing snow at a local shopping center. At one point in time there were two 544’s as part of the removal team but one has since disappeared, replaced with a Ford loader of similar vintage. This remaining unit is a loud one and could easily be heard from across the parking light. Unlike other vintage machines that have appeared on this site there is no need to guess at the specifications as the original brochure can still be found hosted at the John Deere website. Click here to access.

Next I’ll set my sights on the ol’ Ford. With another major storm on the horizon I don’t think I’ll have to wait very long.

 

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Bucket Trucks or Cherry Pickers

Take a look at this, it’s a Hino truck that doesn’t cause immediate disgust from naturally ugly looks and a bland white paint job. To be fair the new Hino trucks don’t look all that bad compared to previous generations. Once you slap on a distinctive color scheme, flashing lights and aluminium wheels you have a nice looking work truck. This particular rig belongs to Northland Communications which also runs a single axle Mack Granite MHD. I’m still working on getting a shot of that one.

Hino Bucket Truck

Just yesterday I came across this Freightliner FC-70 bucket truck and got me thinking about the terminology used to describes these vehicles. Growing up I referred to these trucks as cherry pickers. Like many fruit bearing trees, cherry trees are on the short side of the flora spectrum, often reaching no higher than twenty feet. Maybe if we had towering Sequoia like cherry trees a bucket truck would would make sense but really they seem to be overkill. Checking out the website of Altec, one of the major manufacturers of cherry pickers, neither the name bucket or cherry is to be found. Instead they use the generic term of aerial devices. What name do you use?

Freightliner FC-70

This particular Freightliner looks to be a former PPL Truck. It was working with a crew from M.L. Caccamise to button up some of the traffic control signals disrupted by the Connective Corridor work from this past summer. I bet they wish they had finished all their work back during those warm days.

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Still Working – Ford F-Series Roll Back

Ford. Acronym for Found On Road Dead? Not yet when it comes to this old roll back still putting in a days work for J.K. Tobbin. I spotted this truck working at a demolition job first mentioned on this site in December. Once the steel supports of the old building were knocked down and cut to size this truck presumably hauled them off to the scrap yard. A nice heavy load for this old truck.

Ford F-Series Roll Back Truck

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Underwater Bulldozer

I’m pretty sure if I developed a business plan that called for the construction of a remote controlled underwater bulldozer I would be laughed out of any and every bank that would let me through the doors. Chalk this idea up to one that is crazy enough to work as the Japanese heavy equipment giant Komatsu perfected such a machine decades ago.

The D155W was the worlds first commercially marketed amphibious bulldozer. Large air intact and exhaust stacks allowed the dozer to operate via remote control in water as deep as 23 feet. The original production run saw nearly 36 D155W models constructed and sold to a variety of customers around the globe. Today at least five still exist in their home country of Japan and were in use as late as 2012.

The natural question that comes to mind is why? Surely the cost to build, operate, and maintain such a unique contraption negate the intended benefits. Could not the same job be performed buy a dredge or a land based excavator with a long reach boom? Perhaps the advantage lies in their small and compact size relative to large floating barges. In 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake washed away sediment used to support bridge foundations spanning the Natori River. A group of D115W’s were used to replace this soil with pinpoint accuracy.

The video below shows you exactly how this bizarre concept looks in the real world. Operators stand on the shore watching the exhaust towers move through the water. Occasionally the machines surface for one reason or another. A team of divers are usually on hand to assist with repairs and guiding of the dozers in this uniquely Japanese application.

Thanks to Mark for sharing!

Continued Reading: Komatsu December 2013 Newsletter

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Found the Snow

Last week I complained about the lack of snow in Central New York. Yesterday the area and much of the country received a nice fluffy layer of the white stuff. Is it possible that I have the ability to control the weather? If you live in the northeast just look out your window for proof of my powers. During my travels yesterday I was able to catch a few semi decent shots of plows at work. I did the driving while my wife held the camera. Safety first.

The best shot of the group turned out to be this International 2574 from the Town of Dewitt. In the background you can see the head lights of a Freightliner 108SD. That photo didn’t turn out to be anything worth sharing.

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Earlier I crossed paths with this Freightliner M2 112 of the Onondaga County DOT.

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Later I crossed paths with the City of Syracuse truck that I just can’t seem to get a good photo of, number 282. I’m always too earlier or too late. Amazing that a truck of that size can sneak up on me again and again. Also in the gallery is an old John Deere loader clearing parking lots and a 2674 of OCDOT.

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Autocar Mondays – Saying Goodbye

As I mentioned last week there was an auction at Tracey Road Equipment that contained a variety of interesting lots. One of them was this 1978 Autocar Construcktor that has been featured on this site before. After seeing it lurking around the used truck lot for a few years I was finally able to get up close and personal with this great piece of classic American steel.

I never seem to pay close enough attention to the auction listings so I was pleasantly surprised to see this truck idling away in the line up. Playing it cool, I didn’t run directly over to the truck but instead acted liked I could care less which seemed to be the general attitude shared by many regarding this beast. Powered but a Cummins NTC 290 that produced a very satisfying turbo whistle the Autocar was struggling to build air in the 2o(F) degree weather. After some throttle persuasion the pressure climb and the low air buzzer finally turned off. The interior of this truck was slightly mangled with the dash receiving some abuse from the addition/subtraction of switches and radios over the years. All major gauges were intact including a tachometer that bounced around like a sugar fueld child at Chuck-E-Cheese. A very nice and crack free pearl white Autocar emblazoned steering wheel was the nicest part of the rust free cab.

I stopped by Tracey Road just the other day and found most of the auction items already cleared out with the exception of this truck and a few others. It’s possible it didn’t sell or its future owners have yet to claim it. Back in 2012 the asking price was near 30,000 dollars. No idea what it did or didn’t go for the day of the sale. Regardless, I’m glad I was able to see it one final (maybe) and grab some documentation about it. Best of luck to you Autocar Construcktor!

 

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White 4000 Wrecker

Today we have a few more great photos from David and his time spent around heavy duty wreckers. In his own words let’s hear about this classic.

The Big White 4000 was not my regular truck either, but to this day, easily the most comfortable truck I ever drove. It had the big Autocar Driver’s cab, and despite a PT270, no dog house at all. It had a 9 speed, so shifting was easy, and a White Velvet Ride Torsion Rubber tandem. Rode like a dream, easy to see out of, handled well, just a nice truck overall. It sported a 25 ton weld buily with heavy winches.

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But not all Whites were built alike and handed as nicely as the 4000.

The other White was also a rolling repaint; a neat truck. 6-200 gas, 5&2, 35,000 gvw. Wheelbase cut way down, it sported a 20 ton Ortiz, drove nice, but rode hard. Very maneuverable.

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Another shot of the 4000 and friend.

DRG171

The International below was spotted for sale many years ago in Vermont. I know some of you got excited the moment you saw the for sale sign but your time has come and gone. David points out that the wrecker body is a Holmes 750. The large air filter and Luberfiner suggest this truck is a F210D.

DRG9

Thanks for sharing yet another round of great photos David!

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Slim Pickins

I was passing through the Town of Scriba, NY two weeks ago when I decided to stop by the Oswego County Highway Department garage. I didn’t have much time to spare so I was hoping there would be some low hanging fruit I could grab. Sadly every truck was either on the road or in the barn. The only thing that was accessible was this well worn Cat dozer. I liked the way it looked in the bright winter sun with the cooling tower of Nine Mile Point in the background.

Caterpillar Bulldozer

Strange how nearly every Cat marking has been removed from this dozer. Things that make you go hmmmm.

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