Let’s go to Fulton, NY! Said no one ever. I’m just kidding. Fulton has been good to this site in the past with photos of giant snow throwers, decaying Oshkosh trucks, and even Scanias. The highlight of any trip to Fulton always takes place just moments after entering the city limits when passing by Fulton Spring Services. A variety of interesting and usually older trucks are always on hand. This time it happened to be an older R-Model Mack that was most likely a Midland Asphalt truck.
Also to been but not photographed was the Autocar Construcktor dump truck so often seen around town during sidewalk replacement season. At this time it was without a dump body. Potential repair or upgrade? I’ll guess we’ll have to wait and see.
This past weekend I came across a interesting piece of unique iron, a Michigan 180 series III wheel dozer. Unlike most loaders this 180 does’t articulate in the middle of the chassis but instead relies on rear articulating wheels. Rubber tires provide greater high end speed as opposed to tracked machines which makes them valuable in large open pit mining environments. Obviously we are not open pit mining in East Syracuse but rather pushing snow around. I have to imagine that any curb you hit with this Michigan is going to be ripped right out of the ground. Don’t scrap the asphalt.
Below is a short walk around video that will help you soak in all the details.
On the topic of wheel dozers check out this insane looking contraption. It’s a Melroe Multi- Wheel Dozer. Eight wheels, twin diesel engines, 26 by 7 foot blade, 100 tons of steel. Steering is similar if not exact to what you would find in a skid steer loader. The blade is up front is able to rotate to a near 45 degree angle while pushing material. This machine is a very interesting concept that never caught on. Either it’s not as good as it appears or the influence of Big Dozer squashed the little guy. After watching this video I want one and so will you.
It seems funny to be asking that question after suffering days of media hysteria regarding the blizzard that just slammed the east coast but it’s one that has been on my mind recently. Around here the snow has only fallen in tiny amounts at any one time. Winter just seems pointless when it’s nothing but sub zero temperatures and frozen ground. At least when it snows the temperature (Fahrenheit) is usually in the high 20’s to low 30’s. I’ll take 3 to 5 inches of lake effect any day over bitterly cold days and evenings. Despite the meager offerings from mother nature I’ve still found some good snow plow and snow plow related shots. Just the other I came across truck 268 of the Syracuse DPW.
Scraping ice and slinging salt is about all these trucks are doing now a days. Couple all the salt tossed on the roads recently with the lack of any precipitation and you have literal dust clouds hanging over major roadways. It’s disgusting. Just a haze of salt working its way into ever crevice of your car. Work usually reserved for late fall or early spring is happening now with the hauling of mulch from City dumps!
Complete and utter madness! On one of the more traditional winter days I did happen to catch this PayStar out for a stroll. Nice truck but I think it needs more than a tiny single strobe up top.
In the gallery are a few shots below of the trucks that were working the mulch pile along with a truck who missed all the fun during the only storm we’ve seen all season. Better luck next time dude.
The auction circuit in Upstate, NY jumped off to an early start this past weekend with a small event taking place at Tracey Road Equipment. Usually you don’t find too many auctions on the calender in January due to blizzards, bitter cold and..well do you need another reason? Anyway, the back lot at Tracey’s was being used to host a bankruptcy auction for a local well drilling company. Some heavy duty Macks setup with headache racks and massive winches were up for grabs along with many items from the used lot of Tracey Road Equipment.
The weather cooperated with semi clear skies and temps in the low 30’s. Positively balmy for this part of the world in January. While I wasn’t too interested in the items up for auction I was interested in wandering the fenced in section where the items were being held. Back in the day there was an interesting bone yard of old trucks. Even though they disappeared years ago my hope was to find something lurking in the corners. Sadly, nothing was to be spotted so here is a shot of how it once appeared.
Despite the lack of old trucks there was still plenty to be seen in the form of old and new equipment. Some of it was for sale. Some of it was not. Check out this Kawasaki 115ZV loader.
Below is video I shot while wandering around the lot where old and new equipment reside in harmony. If you like long rows of Terex rock trucks or looking at busted excavators this video is for you!
Here is short coverage of some of the other stuff that was to be seen.
Many past Autocar Monday posts have lamented the passing of the company that built so many wonderfully heavy duty trucks for over a century but maybe, just maybe, we’ve shed tears for no good reason. While the conventional styled DC or DK cab Autocar is a thing of the past (for now anyway) the company is still around and still producing industry leading trucks in the form of the ACX, ACMD and the ACTT. Case in point this brand new 2015 ACX model with Labrie Automizer side loading arm caught by Seth while it waits to enter service for the City of White Plains, NY.
The Autocar Trucks of today is now an independent company which I should point out hasn’t been the case for this historic nameplate since the early 1950’s. With a manufacturing facility in Hagerstown, Indiana the company is now free to chart it’s own path to success. While the DC models are a thing of the past I can take much comfort in the fact that American workers are still busy producing new A-Cars for all to enjoy.
I was passing through Pulaski, NY the other day on business when I happened across village DPW crews cleaning the shoulder of hard packed snow. The action was taking place right during lunch so I pulled over to enjoy mine while taking in the action.
For those that don’t know Pulaski sees a far amount of snow each winter season. The village sits along that magic spot of I-81 that routinely disappears during heavy lake effect storms. Last year the residents of Pulaski provided shelter to hundreds of travelers who were forced to abandoned the vehicles until conditions improved.
Nothing like that has happened so far but you never know. Always be prepaired. Please enjoy this short video of the action.
Sometimes you plow snow. Sometimes you don’t. In the case of ski slopes and snowmobile runs you need to groom the snow to provide that perfect and safe layer of crystallized water for all to enjoy. Specialized machines with wide tracks that float through even the deepest snow are used in these cases. This past weekend Mark was enjoying a local snowmobile trail groomers event when he snapped a photo of this unique looking Tucker powered by a Cummins QSB diesel engine.
Tucker Sno-Cats have been around for decades and can be found in nearly any roll that requires vehicles to travel through deep snow in a quick and efficient manor. Early models featured car like bodies with tracks found in locations once occupied by wheels. Below you will find a video featuring a gathering of old snow equipment with a Tucker playing the staring roll.
And while were at it let me take a moment to plug the channel this fine video came from. I highly recommend checking out Trukluver on YouTube. Between the two of us I don’t think a major classic truck show happens on the East Coast that we don’t attend. Thanks to Mark for sharing!
David tipped me off this video the other day in which twenty Toyota 4x4s have the ultimate tug of war against a Cat D8 dozer. Who will win? The results may surprise you although I think this event was staged. 😉
Do you think similar results would occur with a modern D8? Better yet, how about 40 electric Toyota Prii. Electric cars are supposed to have all sorts of torque right? LOL!
Now here is a contest that is perhaps a more balanced fight, a Kenworth T-800 and a Tugboat. If you watched Ice Road Truckers your probably saw promos of this event as it really was just a commercial for some brand of motor oil. Will the truck be pulled into the briney depths? Will the tug boat be pulled onshore like a harpooned whale? Will Darrell Ward win an oscar for his performance? Click to find out.
http://youtu.be/a6HUFm6FKD4
Round Two of this slug match finds the tug coming back for more in a battle with an off road dump truck. Stay tuned to find out how that one turns out! Thanks to Dave for sharing!
I can tell you for a fact that this nice looking single axle Western 4700 is heading for the Town of Manlius Highway Department. The dark emereled green color was a clue while the factory destination sticker hanging in the window only served to end all conspiracy therory talk. It will be interesting to see how this truck turns out as it is a little “plain Jane” looking compared to the rest of their fleet. Click here for an example.
Everest dump body and American Sno-Plows. Standard 4700 power is found in the form a DD13 connected to an automatic transmission.
Here we have a tandem axle 4700 wearing a similar shade of green. Another possible Manlius truck? This time the window sticker was not visible so let the theories run wild! This color green may also work for NYS DEC.
Here we have the perfect truck for Memorial Day and 4th of July parades.
Owned by John Saxton of North Carolina this ’78 Autocar is powered by a 290 Cummins matched up to the gold standard of heavy dump truck transmissions, the 8LL. Nicknamed Ol’ Glory for obvious reason this truck was completely redone by John and Mark Morgan of Marks Big Rig Garage in Wantage, NJ.
That spectacular paint job was completed by Mike Zeigler of ZRT located in Sussex, NJ. If it’s one thing the fine people of New Jersey know it’s Autocars and how to treat them. Great rig and great work guys. Thanks for sharing!
