Cat 769B

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Eric

If you’re ever traveling west on NYS Route 318 keep an eye out for this Cat 769B off-road dump truck. Trust me, it won’t be hard to miss. This old hauler is starting to look a little worse for wear as sits by the side of the road waiting for the next job. Rated to carry 30 cubic yards of material the 769B has a 415 HP Caterpillar diesel engine. Gearing comes from three forward speeds and one reverse connected to an automatic torque divider the math ends up totaling nine gears for travelling forward and three for reverse.

Cat 769B

Just about the same time I snapped this photo Dave was looking over a fleet of 769’s at the Gerhart property. I can’t seem to make out what the name on the door reads. Anyone have a clue? Eitherway, they certainly put the truck I saw in perspective!

Cat 769B

As always, many thanks to Dave for sharing.

Posted in Heavy Equipment, Lost and Found | Tagged | 2 Comments

Ground Show

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Eric

This past weekend I attended the 2016 Syracuse Air Show and the first photograph of the day ended up being a snow plow! No one should really be surprised. I would say that about 1/4 of the reason I attended was in hope that at least a portion of the snow fighting arsenal would be on display. My snow plow faith was rewarded with a lineup right by the front gate.

Oshkosh Snow Plow

The Syracuse Hancock International airport is no stranger to snow, receiving on average 124 inches per season. Despite the high total Hancock has a closure rate of less than 24 hours annually thanks to the skilled ground crews and the machines shown here.

Syracuse International Airport Snow Plow

The vehicles on display this past weekend are just a small portion of the fleet. Behind the maintenance building and out of range of my tired legs, an army of loaders with massive blades were parked in organized rows. A few other big trucks were mixed into this fleet that are responsible for plowing that many roads serving the airport. Also seen but not photographed were massive cabover snow blowers similar in style to this one.

While I enjoyed seeing all the aircraft on display I couldn’t help but think that it would be cool to see a formation of these truck motoring down a runway. Maybe they could have been led off by this crash truck as it sprayed water and made high speed maneuvers.

Oshkosh Crash Truck

Below, a few more angles plus a shot of some militarized Freightliner Columbia trucks of the United States Navy.

 

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Autocar Mondays – Out in the Rain

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Eric

This weekend the 37th annual ATCA National Meeting takes place on the beautiful grounds of Memorial Park in Macungie, PA. This truck show is no stranger to the pages of Daily Diesel Dose with plenty of photos and videos originating from this great event.

The weather usually cooperates for this two day show but there have been some weekends in recent memory where the rain fell often and heavy. Those are the years in which the famous Macungie Mud traps man and machine alike.

This particular photo comes from the 2009 show, perhaps one of the most famous mud years ever to have taken place. I made the trek out to the show with my father. We came prepared with ponchos but ultimately they proved to be futile act of resistance. After toughing it out for a few hours we head back to the car. Removing our soaked shoes and socks we looked at each and agreed that we would never again attend in the show in the pouring rain again.

Even with the torrential rains plenty of trucks were on hand like this 1950 C90D that was worth a moment of reflection. Complete with sand traction tanks in front of the drives and what appears to be a tag axle of sorts behind the fifth wheel it is a classic piece of Autocar history. This truck is wearing the Frame’s livery, a historic fallen flag trucking company well know throughout Pennsylvania.

Autocar C90D

So far the weather forecast for this weekend is calling for mid 80’s with a partly cloudy sky. Keep you fingers crossed!

Have you seen an Autocar that you would like to share with the world? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com

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Still Working – Old Peterbilt

Posted on June 11, 2016 by Eric

I was heading into work the other morning when I saw this classic looking Peterbilt at the jail loading docks. Like always, I have trouble telling if these petercars are original or newer models made to look older. A Peterbilt is just about the only vehicle around that allows for that kind of stunt.

Peterbilt Big Rig

Nice looking machine no matter what the true story turns out to be.

Peterbilt Truck

 

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Macks from Gerharts

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Eric

Today we are travelling back to the wonderland the Gerhart Equipment Company. Thanks to Dave we’ve seen some great Autocars and Internationals but now it’s time to gaze upon the Macks. The Mahan Collection isn’t the only one to have an Mack M Series dump truck.

Mack Off Road Dump Truck

As mentioned before, Gerhart’s plays host to an “all” Mack truck show. While the most recent open house was focused on vintage equipment, previews of what you can see in October were to be found in nearly every direction. This Mack MH is setup with a heavy dump trailer. The round headlights point to the early years of this model.

Mack MH

And who can resist a seemingly original R-Model tractor?

Mack R-Model

As promised before, much more to come from this event thanks to Dave.

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Oshkosh W614 Snow Plow

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Eric

Most of us have a finite amount of money at our disposal at any given time. If you’re not one of these people let me know, I want to become you friend. When heading to an auction with a limited budget sometimes you’re presented with difficult choices. For instance, you could bid on this on 1960 Oshkosh W614 formerly of the Town of Bristol.

Oshkosh Snow Plow

To make the most of your cash and get a good deal you would have to take a close look at all the major components like frame, plow gear, running gear and cab. Looking at this old Oshkosh I wasn’t sure what way to go regarding condition. Sure, there is plenty of rust but it seems to be contained mostly to the surface. Inside, the cab was clean and original.

Oshkosh Truck Cab

Looks great if your ignore all that daylight coming through the floor. The frame seemed straight enough, even came with a birds nest.

Oshkosh Truck

The 6 cylinder gas was marked as not running. But back to the topic of decisions. This truck ended up selling for a mere 650 dollars. There certainly seems to be more than enough machine left here for that price. For perspective I present to you lot 301. It’s portajohn on a trailer that sold for, you guessed it, 650 bucks.

poj

I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure which one I would have bought. 🙂

Other views.

Posted in Snow Plows | Tagged | 2 Comments

Ford Traveling Show

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Eric

I can’t help to think that back in the day this traveling Ford road show would have utilized a Ford heavy truck like the LTL 9000 or maybe the now famous WT9000. Don’t get me wrong, this Peterbilt 389 is a fine looking machine in every way but you just can’t go wrong with the classics.

Peterbilt Truck

Along with the Pete, a Kenworth W900 was hauling a similar van trailer.

Kenworth W900

And then we have this Freightliner that when compared to the other two trucks particularly disappears due to its plain exterior. I guess this must be the new guy to the fleet?

Freightliner Cascadia

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Autocar Mondays – CT Edition

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Eric

Wandering through a car show is one of those perfect activities for a warm summer evening. It’s even better when a few big trucks show up to the car show and when those trucks happen to be Autocars you just can’t ask for anything more.

Today Zack shares with a few shots from the Cromwell Memorial Day Car show. This 1962 Cummins powered Autocar DC75 single axle truck is real beauty. I’ve always liked the rounded style hood and grill of the 50’s to early 60’s A-Cars. Just check out that pinstriping work, a New England truck tradition if there ever was one.

Autocar DC75

Next the DC75 sat this square nose brute. In case you could not tell from the paint and the attention to detail both trucks hail from the same collection. Previously owned by the South Windsor Connecticut Highway Department this Autocar now enjoys a life on the show circuit.

Autocar Truck Manchester Brothers

Below, a few more excellent angles of the trucks including a third Autocar of which I know nothing about other than it’s a real attention grabber. As always, thanks to Zack for sharing. Looks like next year this car show might become a truck show! Make sure you stop by Zack’s website for tons of great fire truck photos.

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Terex 82-50 Dozer

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Eric

You never know when you might need a bulldozer powered by a V-12 Detroit. That’s the very reason why Clarence recently picked this Terex 82-50 up for his collection. Considered by many to be the flagbearer of track dozer design for decades to come the 82-50 was powered by a rear mounted Detroit 12V-71T. The power generated by the massive GM diesel found expression through the aid of an Allison 3 speed powershift transmission and the Terex planetary final drive system. Standard blades for the 82-50 were a 13’3″ semi-u and a 16′ full-u. In case you’re wondering I’m no Terex expert. I leave that field of study to the good people at Contractor Magazine. Check out their well researched and authored article on the 82-50 by clicking here.

Terex 82-50

I hope Clarence has the U blade somewhere. I can’t imagine too many of those are laying around still!

Terex 82-50

Posted in Heavy Equipment | Tagged | 3 Comments

Long Time Coming

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Eric

Here is a shot I’ve been chasing for a number of years, a New York Susquehanna and Western train as it winds through downtown Syracuse, NY.

Not being a regular train spotter I relied on dumb luck to grab this photo. No scanners or other networks for me. Past experience had taught me that NYSW trains seemed to make regular appearances on this set of track near the 12:30 mark three or four times a week. Some days I would see nothing. Other days I would be too early or too late. With trains running on an elevated set of tracks there are only a few angles from the streets worth trying for which greatly reduced my changes. Sorry, I’m not bushwhacking through the weeds and homeless encampments for the money shot. Too make a long story short I was lured to this spot by the sound of an idling diesel and the hiss of air brakes. The crew of this train was waiting for a single to clear which provided ample opportunity  for a photo. The shot that I had lazily pursued for a number of years had finally presented itself on a golden set of tracks.

Seen here, 3802, 3800, 2806, EMD SD60 models.

NYSW Train Armory Square

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