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HCEA 2014 Convention

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Eric

Last year I made a resolution to bring more snow plow coverage to Daily Diesel Dose. Looking back I think I did rather well. Click here to see a compiled list of all the action. This year my goal is to visit truck shows or events I have not attended in the past. One such show already on my calendar is the 2014 Historical Construction Equipment Association national convention that will take place in Canandaigua, NY. Held in conjunction with the Pageant of Steam this show promises to be the place for heavy equipment fans this summer. I have never been to a HCEA event but from the photos and videos I have seen from past shows I am excited. I particularly like the fact that equipment is allowed to dig, dump, push, and pile as if you were at an actual construction site from years past. Yesterday Jason sent me a few photos from previous shows. I think you will enjoy what you see.

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Where construction equipment goes so go trucks of both the display and working variety. It’s been a long winter. Time to get pumped about nicer weather and truck shows! The Canandaigua show will be held August 7-9th which just happens to be the same weekend as the Brockway Truck show in Cortland, NY. Tough choices will have to be made.

Thanks for the photos Jason!

Posted in Truck Show | Tagged canadaigua, heca, historical construction equipment association, ny, pageant of steam | Leave a comment

New Trucks For Everyone!

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Eric

It’s that magical time of year in which auto and industry trade shows pull back the curtain on new product releases. Usually the automobile industry steals the spot light but you can on me to ignore the latest Audi in favor of commercial truck platform news. In years past manufacturers have unveiled their new trucks at events like the Mid American Truck Show but with 2014 being the year of ConExpo (it only comes around every three years) it seems everyone is busy jumping on the excitement the show brings to a multitude of industries that trucks call home. Just yesterday we had some big news from Cat, Ford and Mack.

The 2015 Ford F-650 & F-750

Last week we learned that Ford was moving production of F-650 and 750 trucks from a Navistar plant in Mexico to their own plant in Ohio. To go along with this move a new body style will be available starting in 2015 that borrow body lines from the smaller trucks in the Super Duty line up, yup, the F-350/450 are small potatoes in this comparison. Production won’t start at the Ohio plant until 2016 but the Ford commercial trucks page is already touting their home grown pedigree. Along with the new body style comes the 6.7 Powerstroke V-8 diesel engine which has replaced a Cummins option. Paired with a V-10 gas engine Ford is now the only manufacturer to offer both gas and diesel engines options in their trucks. You may wonder why Ford even offers a gas engine. Simply put, it’s cheap…at least compared to diesel options, allowing them to compete with other well established medium duty trucks builders (Freightliner & International) on price alone. One transmission, a 6 speed Ford built automatic (bye bye Allison), is available for both engine options. No mention of any manual options. In fact Ford states there is no need for any other type of transmission. Confidence! Ford has it!

There it is and I think it looks great compared to the previous generation. There are no photos of the interior available but new user friendly gauges along with an easier to grip and use (?) steering wheel are mentioned in the press release that you can read here.

Cat CT681

I was starting to wonder about Cat and their foray in the U.S. vocational truck market. They hitched their wagon to International for production of the CT660 and it’s no secret that company has seen its fair share of trouble regarding their Maxxforce line of diesel engines. Many scoffed that CT660 was nothing more than a International Paystar with a different hood. A statement that caused more than a few Cat Truck dealers to writhe in pain. Grabbing market share in a mature industry with established players is a difficult challenge but Cat seems determined to make a go of it with the introduction of their latest truck, the CT681.

So what do you think? To me, this screams Paystar more than ever before. Check out this photo of a 2007 Paystar SFA.

No denying the family resemblance if you ask me. According to Cat this truck has already undergone what equates to three years of product testing after an extensive field follow program that placed the truck with real world customers. The CT681 will be offered with the Cat line of on highway engines and the CX31 automatic transmission (manuals too). Read the full press release here.

Born Ready

For about two weeks Mack Trucks has been teasing people through social media about a big news release on 3/4/14. After a solid day of tidbits the news finally broke shortly before midnight (EST) at ConExpo. And the news was?! The Mack brand has been relaunched. Boring. I was not won over by corporate rhetoric and marketing noise. A new logo consisting of a side profile of the famous Mack bulldog over the script normally found on trucks was the most interesting part of the night. I felt silly for staying up to watch an event that was little more than a glorified pep rally. At least we can take solace that the Volvo corporate overloads are trying to grow the brand. Hopefully there will be more than just stage shows in the future. If you were smart and went to bed you didn’t get to see this video. It’s worth a watch for the trucks alone.

Here is the new logo and tag line. It will look great on a t-shirt.

Posted in Industry News | Tagged 2015 ford f-650, born ready, cat ct681 | Leave a comment

Oneida Products Corp

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Eric

This past weekend I spent some time uploading photos to the Daily Diesel Dose Flickr account that I shot during the Dobbins Auto Pars auction last spring. During the middle of that process I received an email from Andy sharing some photos of buses he took at the same auction. Freaky. For the most part I didn’t take too many photos of the acres upon acres of buses that were left to rot in the fields of Dobbins. My bus knowledge is weak to say the best so I left them to the professionals. I was surprised to learn that the bus body you see below was built in Canastota, NY, just a short drive from my home town.

Andy included a great link in his email to a website that painstakingly recounts the birth, rise, and fall of all the companies that would eventually result in the business known as Oneida Products Company. Click here to learn more. The information about the company that built the buses found in Andy’s photos starts near the sales ads for the “cradle of steel.” If you have the time the entire article is worth the read.

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Posted in Free and Easy | Tagged dobbins auto parts, Oneida Products Corp, oneida school bus | 5 Comments

Autocar Mondays – The Autoway

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Eric

Here is a truck that can help you win a few beers of your friends. Ask anyone who is familiar with old trucks what they see in the photo below and the answer will always be Autocar. Who could blame them? After all, the truck is wearing an Autocar cab, hood and grill. Only the fenders are homemade. Appearances can be deceiving. Underneath this “Autocar” is Brockway 200 series chassis complete with a 238 Detroit. It was built by Jeremy’s father back in the day and would eventually be equipped with a fifth wheel mounted wrecker. I suppose this truck is the only known example of an Autoway?

A big thanks goes out to Jeremy for sharing this cool piece of trucking history.

Would you like to help keep Autocar Mondays alive? Send in your photos to eric@dailydieseldose.com

Posted in Autocar Trucks | Tagged autoway truck | Leave a comment

The ultimate T Bucket

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Eric

I don’t think much of T-Buckets. There is something about the cab that reminds me of an old time hearse. They just rub me the wrong way, simply not my style. However, with the right power plant my opinion may just change. I’m not talking about some Chevy small block or a tweaked Hemi. Nope, this is Daily Diesel Dose! Behold, a Detroit Diesel powered T-Bucket!

Posted in Youtube Finds | Tagged detroit diesel powered t-bucket | Leave a comment

The Story of Northwest Engineering Company: Manufactured at Green Bay, Wisconsin

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Eric

I would like to bring to your attention a recently published book devoted to the long and prestigious history of the Northwest Engineering Company. Just released this past January, The Story of Northwest Engineering Company: Manufactured at Green Bay, Wisconsin can be purchase directly through Amazon. It is the definitive work when it comes to the history,the products, and the people of Northwest Engineering. Inside the book you will find over 346 pages of photos, diagrams and personal accounts assembled by authors Matthew E. Folsom and Mario J. Torres.

The book jacket reads as follows..

Manufactured at Green Bay, Wisconsin” is an account of Northwest Engineering Company from its early days as a builder of tugboats for the World War 1 effort to the role the company played as one of the premier manufacturers of excavators in the world.The team of Folsom and Torres trace Northwest’s rise and eventual demise in vivid clarity giving an account of the company’s key personnel and products. Contained within, on over 300 pages, is informative text and over 400 b/w and color images plus drawings from the authors’, past employees’, and other contributors’ personal collections. Enthusiasts of heavy equipment and the heavy construction machinery industry, and devotees of local interest, will find new insight into this past enterprise of Titletown, USA.

If you head over to Amazon you can browse a few select pages of the book. I suggest you do. Most likely you will be hooked and want to read more. I know I was. Click here for the listing. Reading the introductions of both authors I could immediately understand their passion for Northwest and construction equipment in general. As children, both were fasinated by the jobsites of the neighborhods. I can relate to that! Torres shares with us a wonderful account of watching fully loaded Mack B-81s and DM-800 being loaded in the 50 foot deep pits that would eventually become the foundations of the modern NYC skyline. Once again I ask where is my time traveling Deloran?

Once you finish with this fine book don’t despair as there are more Northwest books in the pipeline. If all goes according to plan this summer should see the first release in a three volume photography collection. Each book will take a detailed look at a specific point of time in the history of Northwest.

Volume One – First and second generation machines (1920-1940)
Volume Two – The classic generation (1940-1965) including coverage of Murphy Diesels
Volume Three – The final Generations; The Series II machines along with the Hydraulic, & Experimental models

By the way, Matt Folsom has contributed to this site in the past. Click here to view his Euclid C 6-5 dozer in action.

Update 10/30/15

New information from author M.E. Folsom regarding volumes II and III

Volume II went to the publisher back in June (2015) and after a few delays I am told will be delivered from the printers next week. It will be available from the publisher: Buffalo Road Imports on their site and from the HCEA on their site. I also believe it will be available on Amazon too.

The upcoming Volume II has a lot in the back regarding the engines of choice for Northwest during the “classic years” especially Murphy.

Volume III is all set to be delivered to the publisher right now, I was just waiting to take delivery of Volume II first.

Volume III: Which I am most proud of, this last one in the series it is going to be 95% color and the longest at 216 pages. With a large section in the back on the very last Model 190-D made and its recent rebuild at Gerhart Machinery. This big dragline is now working in the Cape May area of New Jersey powered by a big Cummins KT 1150 with a Twin-Disc torque converter coupled to it.

I am hoping for a release date for Volume III this coming summer (2016).

Keep your eyes peeled!

Posted in Books | Tagged The Story of Northwest Engineering Company: Manufactured at Green Bay, Wisconsin | 29 Comments

Random Diesel Musings

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Eric

A New Journey

If you head over to the Mack Trucks facebook page you’ll find a post with the picture seen below.

What does it mean?! The return of the Superliner? Maybe a new cabover model? A new engine? Splitting from Volvo? A 2015 B-Model? Despite rumors on the internet that factory tours have been halted for some time I doubt we will see a new product launch. Something would have leaked by now. Most likely this is nothing more than a market attempt to highlight a “change” in attitude or something dull like that. At a recent press event, President of Mack Truck North American sales and marketing, Stephen Roy, stated the goal of increased overall market share through the growth of the on-highway market. Return of the Cruiseliner! Sorry, got excited again. Head over to trucknews.com to read the full article by clicking here.

SuperTruck

Diesel engine manufacturer Cummins and truck builder Peterbilt have been working together on a project known as the Super Truck. The goal is to achieve a double digit fuel economy number for a Class 8 truck, a feat once deemed impossible. The marriage of Cummins ISX15 to a Peterbilt 579 jammed full of cutting edge technology has resulted in a 75% increase in fuel economy, a 43% reduction in greenhouse gases and a 86% gain in efficiency compared to baseline model trucks. We live in a world were money talks so what do these percentages mean? For a long haul truck averaging 120,000 miles a year the fuel economy offered by the SuperTruck could represent a savings of $27,000. That’s a hard number to walk away from. With recent government proposals to further regulate emissions and fuel efficiency for heavy trucks these results are critical to both truck makers and buyers alike. For the full details on the SuperTruck, the technology and the test criteria used head over this BussinessWeek.com article.

JAC in the USA?

When I find myself bored and in front of the computer (typical work day) I often pull up Google Maps and explore the world. More often than not I begin to scout my surrounding area for truck hunting locations. Yesterday I decided to check out the world headquarters of Navistar in Lisle, Illinois. I wasn’t hoping for much but too my surprise the ever sneaky Google street view car had made a ring around Navistar Circle, the presumably “private” roads that surround the sprawling campus. In one of the outer parking lots a few large trucks were to be found and more than one raised my eyebrow. Check out this JAC cabover. Click to enlarge.

CRAZY! It appears this truck made the journey from China when JAC and Navistar signed an agreement in 2012 to jointly market both light and medium duty cabovers produced by JAC for sale in Brazil. Talk about global economics. Coincidentally Google snapped these photos in June of 2012, a mere two months after the agreement was announced. The International Trucks Brazilian website makes no mention of this vehicle (Handsome Bell) and I haven’t been able to find much more to indicate if the deal ever become a reality. You can read the 2012 press release here.

Some of the other vehicles in the parking lot were to be expected of company researching its competitors. A Freightliner Cascadia, Kenworth T660 and Hino are just a few of the non International trucks that can be found in various configurations. Also worth a mention is the strange looking red cabover. At first I thought it could be the latest incarnation of the LoadStar but then I realized there is a second axle behind the cab so most likely it is another JAC truck.

Why not take a moment to explore Navistar Circle. You might just see a truck you recognize from sales literature or the web.

Blue Diamond Trucks

Dating back to 2001 Ford and Navistar have enjoyed a joint venture by the name of Blue Diamond Truck LLC. I guess the name is a clever play on what the companies two trademarks would look like if merged into one. From a Navistar plant in Escobedo, Mexico the two worked to build the F-650 and F-750 heavy duty truck platforms. With the life cycle of the E-Series van coming to a close Ford had decided to move production of their heavy trucks back to the US, more specifically to their assembly plant in Avon Lakes, Ohio. Read more about the move by visiting the Detroit Press by clicking here. Production of the International ProStar also takes place at this factory which recently became the first Class 8 truck to be sold in South Korea following the enactment of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Read all about it here.

Image Source: Ford

Posted in Industry News | Tagged blue diamond truck, cummins super truck, International Prostar sold in South Korea, JAC Truck, Mack Trucks a new journey, navistar | 2 Comments

Lost and Found – Dueling Dump Trucks

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Eric

I recently stumbled upon a honey hole of old trucks and heavy equipment within easy access of a public road. That’s a nice change of pace. I was able to grab just a few shots of what rested near an old garage of a semi busy state route. I only had limited time so photos of all the treasures was not possible but here is a short list of what I saw. There probably is even more tucked away behind trees and other scrap metal.

Dodge C- Series, Western Stars, Cat dozers, Terex Dozers, huge International Payloader, Trojan loaders, Kenworths, Ford W-Series cabover(?) and Mack DM in full snow plow setup slowly sinking to the earth.

Ok, enough about what I saw but didn’t photograph. Thankfully a few pieces, like this International Fleetstar, were in prime position right by the road. A registration sticker from 1997 an old Lady Liberty style license plates give us a clue regarding the last time it was on the road.

Around the corner this GMC 9500 waits for the day when it can return the road. This truck appears to be solid, body wise, from what I can see. How about that Paystar doing its best to photobomb the photo.

Some day I will have to return and try to get a better shot of all the trucks and equipment but until that time I’m keeping the location a secret. 😉

Know of any old trucks or heavy equipment in hiding? Email Me!

*UPDATE*

The International is a 1973 2050A model with a 504 V-8 gas engine and 5+4 transmission.

*2nd UPDATE*

Shortly after the original post the owner of the truck contacted me with updated stats and a history of the truck. He also informed me it was for sale or scrap. Not long after his first contact the truck found a new home. Thankfully it looks like someone bought it for more than its scrap value. Thanks to Tim for sharing this photo and the information.

Posted in Lost and Found | Tagged GMC 9500, international fleetstar, old heavy equipment, old trucks | 2 Comments

The Air Titan

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Eric

Yesterday I found myself in the position to watch a NASCAR race. I had the time. I had the snacks. I had the TV. The race happened to be the Daytona 500. The stars had aligned. I was finally set to become a full time fan. Most of the year will go by with me creating grand plans to watch the weekly races only to find my interest or time drawn away by other events. I really enjoy the idea of NASCAR but I just can’t seem to get started. I don’t believe 2014 is going to produce a change in my viewing habits but who really knows what the future will bring. Believe me, I tried. I watched all of the coverage until Fox put on Bob’s Burger reruns six hours after the race was set to start. During that time my mind often drifted to this gentleman with his smooth latin accent.

The best laid plans of mouse and man. In between the replay of last year’s Daytona 500 (tricked me for only a second) Fox would tease truck fans with shots of this fun looking contraption slowly moving around the waterlogged track. NASCAR fans will know what this rig is but for the rest let me explain what you are seeing. This is the Air Titan and it is the newest weapon in the war against rain delays.

The semi trucks at the bottom of the track contain generators and air compressors that deliver hot hair to the pickup truck pulling the drying devices. Water is either evaporated or forced down the track where it removed by a vacuum truck. The driving idea behind this setup was twofold, dry tracks in a shorter amount of time and remove jet dryers with their highly flammable fuel source. Check out the video below to see why not using jet fuel is a good idea.

Innovative! The Air Titan had it’s work cut out for it Sunday with a heavy and steady persistent rain but some would argue it kept the track dry enough to allow for racing later in the evening. Honestly I would have been fine watching it circle the track for hours on end.

Image Source: NASCAR

Posted in Industry News | Tagged nascar air titan | Leave a comment

Autocar Mondays – 1949 DC100 Tow Truck

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Eric

Today for Autocar Mondays Jeremy shares with us a 1949 DC100 tow truck used by his grandfather and father in their towing business for many a year. The truck started life with a gas engine that eventually gave way to a 250 Cummins. For towing power the Autocar employed a home built wrecker using a 40 ton Garwood main winch with a Branden winch for the boom and rear drag. For good measure an army surplus winch can be found up front. A 18K front axle with Ross air steer and 55k Rockwell differentials complete the equation.

This is what an Autocar should look like. There are many great details on this truck so take a moment to soak in all the detail.

At work.

*Bonus Autocar*

Here is a 1955 Autocar with 10 ton National crane used by Jeremy’s dad in his towing business. A 220 Cummins with 5+2 transmission were the power combo of the time.

A huge thank you goes out to Jeremy for sharing these great photos and answering all my questions about the trucks.