At the Dealer – From East to West

Clarence sends in these shots of a three new Mack TerraPros being upfitted for plowing duties at Trius Inc. Destined for the NYC Department of Sanitation these trucks will be ready for the next big storm in the Big Apple. From the pics we can seen onboard calcium chloride tanks wedged between the cab and Hi-Way XT3 multipurpose body. You’ll also notice the trucks have devices on the side to prevent pedestrians and bicycle riders from being run over either through their own ignorance or pain bad luck. Now, here is the million dollar question. Why are the rims green on NYC Sanitation trucks. Has it always just been that way or is there a deeper meaning?

Back here in CNY this sharp looking blue Western Star 4700 was on the lot at Tracey Road Equipment. It’s obvious that Tenco equipment is the gear of choice and it has what I consider to be “euro” style fenders on the rear axle. The single side stack looks pretty cool too.

Posted in At the Dealer, Snow Plows | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Cross Pollination

You’ve probably seen the quikry signs at gift stores with funny sayings like “If it ain’t red leave it in the shed” or “John Deere parking only”, these signs are to let the world know your tractor of choice. They are similar to the Calvin window stickers the depict him  pissing on the Chevy bowite or the Ford blue oval. In other words you get these items when the loved ones in your life have run out of birthday gift ideas. You have an easier time buying gifts if the farmer in your life runs both Deere and International products like those shown below.

I took this photo mostly because I like the looks of the International with its very long and very contoured hood. It reminds me of a Formula1 car in some odd respect. Now clearly this hood that over hangs so dramatically plays some role other than to enclose a big engine. If you know, please share with us the reason.

Now here is another IHC that I know even less about than the one above. It sits abandoned on an old farmstead near Oneida Lake.

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Wagner L60 Logstacker

I’ve always been fascinated by the exaggerated proportions of log stackers. At first glace they seem ungainly and ready to flip over at a moments notice but then you watch as the unload an entire log truck in one pass and you begin to think differently. For reasons unknown I thought this style of machine had faded in favor of traditional front loader designs but I was surprised to learn that log stacker is alive and well.

Did anyone else think the operator had his eyes on the control panel more than the area in front of him while moving? Maybe I’m just being an internet troll. Ignore me.

And if you didn’t get enough here is some B-Roll footage of the L490 at work.

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Front Load Dump Truck

This is odd. It’s a front load dump truck. I can’t say that I have ever seen on in real life. Typically you would find a cabover style truck used in this kind of setup as inevitably debris will fall over the hood. Even stranger is its location in the heart of downtown behind an apartment building. If you look closely you’ll notice an extension cord for the block heater so I’m guessing it has a regular use for someone. My first thought it was it used during renovation of nearby building but how is this better than a dumpster with that small bucket up front? Maybe snow removal? Once again, the small bucket comes throws everything into question. We might just never have a clear answer.

Posted in On the Job | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Autocar Mondays – Autocars of Rockland

We’ve seen some of the Rockland County plow fleet around this before. You might recall some they run a large selection of AWD trucks including  Oshkosh and International Paystars. Not too long ago they ran a selection of Autocar ACL’s as any self respecting garage would. Tom sends in these shots of a ’93 and 98 ACL.

The ACL was a popular plowing truck in many DPW fleets across the northeast and it’s not uncommon to still find a few in active service.

Thanks for sending in these shots Tom.

Do you have an Autocar you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!

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Ground Hogs Days

Ground Hogs Days. It’s a movie. It’s a semi national holiday. It’s the occurrence of similar events again and again. Just the other day I was out enjoying the warm weather and came across yet another pair of still working Fords similar to the ones we saw the week before.

Shawn’s Paving was out and about hauling snirt(Snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed). In the background is the Institute for Human Performance. Sounds creepy.

I suppose I’ll stop taking pictures of these trucks when people stop running them. Until then we’ll have to enjoy fresh off the farm trucks like this Ford 900. Thinking about it after the fact I should have poked around a little longer to see if there was a green leaker under the hood. It wouldn’t surprise me.

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Still Working – B-Model Mack Pizza Oven

Food trucks are all the rage right now with many vendors content to rock some old FedEx style cube van but for those who need a true attention getter I give you this B-Model complete with wood fired brick pizza oven. I believe that pizza is the superior from of food and I’ll eat it in nearly any style, shape, or concept. And I mean that.  I’m even down with pizza in Bagel Bites form. I do not discriminate. I have to admit that eating wood fired pizza from the back of Mack truck, thus combining two of my favorite things, never crossed my mind and for that I am slightly ashamed. Open Hearth Pizza would be vendor of choice if I lived in Vermont mostly because of this truck. I bet it makes the pizza taste better.

Thanks to Hugh for sending this cool rig along!

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Know Your Speed

A speed limit is just a number painted on a reflective sign but in reality it’s so much more. Ignoring or simply not knowing the speed limit could result in a serious accident and at the very least some serious fines. That being said the limit for a vehicle pulling a trailer is not always what is posted on the sign. The good people over All Pro Trailer Super Store have done the number crunching for you and compiled this interesting list of limits for both the U.S. and Canada. You’ll notice the some states are fairly casual about trailer speed while others have it spelled out to the letter. Take a look and you might just learn something. 😉

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Warner Swasey and the Gang

The equipment is long gone but the memories still remain. We return the Luber Homes auction of this past spring and look at some of the lesser know excavators by the name of Warner Swasey, Badger, and Insley.

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P&H 4100XPB

Oh you have an electric car? That’s cute. How about this electric rope monster, the P&H 4100XPB. All electric here, available in either AC or DC currents depending on your persuasion.

Matt sends in this shot that a friend of his took while visiting Australia awhile back. Here we see a 4100XPB moving to a new mine site. In the frame we see two pusher trucks riding on a large rubber and planetary axles that seem positively puny by comparison. In real life those C-500’s (at least one of them is anyway) dwarfs the average road going semi. This really shouldn’t be a surprise as the model P&H is designed to load haul trucks with capacity rages from 218 to 363 metric tons.

And if you ever wondered how one might learn to operate one of these multi million dollar machines look no further than the very screen you are probably staring at.

If they sold this simulator as a video game I would buy it. Thanks to Matt for sending along this great video.

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