The incomparable Ryan Pedone is at it again folks! He is busy hitting up truck shows all over the West Coast while the rest of sit at home looking at dirty snow piles that refuse to melt. Life on the West Coast my friends. Taking in the sights of the Truckin’ For St. Jude Charity Truck Show with his family in tow Ryan was able to grab some shots of two extreme heavy haulers. These are setups you don’t run across everyday unless you work in the oil fields of Canada or some other industrial paradise.
Dave C. was in the Poconos a few weeks ago when he went looking for loaders. He found quite a few old Case machines and one well preserved Clark Michigan.
The first find came in the form of this Case W20. I would agree with Dave that the color seems a little off, not the usual shades of brown typically found on this model. Interesting blade mount setup on this machine.
Further down the road was this smaller Case W14 in a less than well preserved state. It’s hard to tell if the bucket is scooping the earth or returning to it. The cab has been left open to the elements by the lack of doors. Despite the sad shape it does hang out at a cool looking former Mobil gas station which is better than nothing. See gallery below.
Finally we have this pristine Clark Michigan 35C on the grounds a car wash. No excuse not to wash this old warrior after each snow event. I would say this machine has been repainted at some point but the classic yellow and blue Michigan paint scheme was retained.
I stopped by the newest heavy truck dealer in town, Milton Cat, to check out what was new the other day and found this nice looking CT660. I was hoping to find a CT681 but I guess that will have to wait for another day. In related news another new truck for the Cat line is expected soon in the form of a long hooded tractor. The number? You guessed it, 680.
Speaking of big hoods I’m glad to see International still offering square jawed trucks like the 9900i. Traditional big rig styling. Nothing wrong with that.
Over at the local Western Star dealer this 4700 with brand new J & J dump body awaits delivery to is new owner. Tracey Road Equipment can’t seem to sell these quick enough to both private and government entities. Demand Detroit!
Here is a classic Autocar with a Holmes 750 wrecker attached. Operated by Courville’s Garage of Montville, CT this truck is still out there earning its keep with the best of them. The visor and Peterbilt headlights really work on this truck which only reinforce the timeless style of the DC & DK line of A-Cars.
The past two editions of Autocar Mondays have featured tow trucks but this shouldn’t come as any surprise. You need the toughest truck to play the hero. Great catch by Nate. Hopefully we can see more in the future!
I happened to be at the local car wash a few months ago when I noticed the white Peterbilt seen below rolling by with an off road dump truck. For a moment I was intrigued and then I remember that Anderson Equipment has a branch just down the street. It’s crazy how close the location is to my house yet I never bother to keep an eye on the comings and goings. Stopping by for a look I caught this Paccar family photo. The red Kenworth is of Vitale Heavy Hauling. I’m not sure of the red oval warrior’s owner. Mysteries of the universe.
Even the helpers need help sometime. Here are a pair of International trucks lettered up for the local Caterpillar dealer. The DuraStar I spotted back in December of last year while the TerraStar was just on the dealer lot this morning.
Maybe we’ll see a CT660 or CT681 lettered up a service truck someday.
I almost scrolled right pass this gem while browsing ebay a few hours ago. At first glance I thought it was another “bro truck” lifted, chromed, and stacked for pointless reasons but then I noticed that rear cab. This my friends is a GMC General crew cab. You won’t find another rig like this and anyone you pass on the street will either love it or hate it. Such is the rat rod paradox.
Clearly a work of passion you will notice that two General cabs have been fused together. Super singles ride under a 2014 GMC Sierra dually pickup bed. A Detroit Diesel Silver 92 lurks under the hood blowing black from 12 inch stacks. A 13 speed transmission handles the over 500HP generated while you cruise in a custom leather upholstered cab. Marble vinyl floor, drop down TV’s, old school round headlights, toolboxes and more. WOW! Like I said, you either love it or hate. Despite Generals becoming increasingly rare and quality parts hard to find I’m leaning more to the love it side of the spectrum. No matter what you think it would be a fun ride for the summer.
Below is a walk around video of the truck provided by the seller
Starting bid is a steep 17,900 and with two days left on the auction there has yet to be one taker. Check out the official auction by clicking here.
I had to travel to Watertown, NY the other day to fix a problem that couldn’t be fixed. Needless to say the entire trip was pointless and left me in a bad mood but when I saw this first generation Mack Superliner sitting at a hydraulics shop just outside of Adams, NY my outlook improved just a tiny bit. Owned and operated by Butterville Farms, Inc this Mack is in great shape. Farm living is the life for me! I’m unsure of specs but browsing through the Superliners on TruckPaper.com it seems that a variety of engine options were available including Cummins, Detroit and of course, Mack.
Have you ever looked a manufacturers ID plate and wondered what all the letters and numbers mean? They are far from a random collection of characters. If you have the right key to decipher the meaning a whole world of knowledge can be accessed that will inform you of all the critical details. Certified Walter Snow Fighter nut Mike Bartlett has put together a comprehensive guide that will helpfully answer all of your questions. He has really done a great job and I’m happy to share his hard work with you all.
Cab
F – standard 72” wide cab set back ( has standard Walter manual transmission with integral transfer case and front bevel drive)
A – 84” wide cab advanced forward (has standard Walter manual transmission with integral transfer case and front bevel drive)
C – standard 72” wide cab set back with Allison semi-automatic transmission (has independent Walter transfer case and front bevel drive)
E – standard 72” wide cab set back with Allison fully automatic transmission (has independent Walter transfer case front bevel drive)
Q – 84” wide cab (set back) with Allison Automatic transmission (has independent Walter transfer case and front bevel drive)
N – new angled sided cab introduced in 1975
V – half cab used on twin engine airport model
S – set back half cab used on single engine airport model
Z – tilt cab used on Junior models
Engine
E – Waukesha GZ140 554 cid gasoline engine
G – Waukesha GK145 779 cid gasoline engine
W – Waukesha WAK 1197 cid gasoline engine
R – Waukesha/Roiline TH570 V8 gasoline engine
S – Waukesha/Roiline TH884 V8 gasoline engine
X – Hercules HXE 935 cid gasoline engine
H – Hercules gasoline engine
L – 391 cid Ford V8 gasoline engine (used in Junior models)
F – 534 cid Ford V8 gasoline engine
V – 702 cid GMC V12 gasoline engine or 637 cid GMC V8 engine
C – Cummins diesel engine (all models)
D – 8V71 Detroit diesel engine
K – 6V71 Detroit diesel engine
P – 6V53 Detroit diesel engine (used in tandem on airport model)
Chassis
N – 20000 GVW
M – 28000 GVW
K – 36000 GVW
B – 40000 GVW
G – 40000 GVW (high speed model)
R – 48000 GVW (B-model with 30,000 rear axle)
U – 54000 GVW
Junior Models (conventional Rockwell axles and Walter transfer case))
H – 28000 GVW, L – 33000 GVW, Q – 36,000 GVW
Wheelbase
A – less than 126” wheelbase
D – dumper 126” wheelbase
S – standard 138” wheelbase
L – long wheelbase 150”, 162”, or 174”
Notes
-The early Walters only used a 3 letter model code, all starting with F. At that time, all trucks used a Walter 5 speed transmission and a 6 cylinder flathead Waukesha so there was no letter for the engine. By the late 30s to early 40s, most trucks were built with the 6 fwd/2 rev transmission and an OHV engine and more engine choices were available so a letter was added to the code for the engine.
-Since the Walter manual transmission also has the transfer case and front drive in one unit, the main driveshaft rotates the opposite direction of the engine with the ring gear of the rear diff being on the passenger’s side and the ring gear on the front diff being on the driver’s side.
-Midsize B, K, and R models with an Allison automatic use a more compact 2 shaft transfer case and the half shafts out of transfer case also rotate the opposite direction of the engine with the ring gear of the rear diff being on the passenger’s side and the ring gear on the front diff being on the driver’s side.
-The large U model with an Allison automatic uses a larger and heavier 3 shaft transfer case the and the half shafts out of the transfer case rotate the same direction as the engine with the ring gear of the rear diff being on the driver’s side and the ring gear on the front diff being on the passenger’s side.
-Although the 3 Thruway G-models were a midsize chassis, they used the larger and heavier 3 shaft transfer case due to the smaller final drive ratio.
-Models using a manual transmission have inboard drum brakes on the front bevel drive portion of the transmission, conventional drum brakes in the rear, and inboard mechanical drum type parking brakes on the rear bevel drive. Models using an Allison automatic also have inboard drum brakes on the front bevel drive and conventional drum brakes on the rear, but the parking brake is a mechanical band type brake on the transmission (the Walter transfer case is a single speed transfer case).
-When the N-Series cab was introduced, Walter stopped building their own transmission as well as their 2 shaft transfer case. The 3 shaft transfer case with an Allison automatic became standard and a Fuller manual transmission was an also an option. Gas engines were dropped at this time in favor of diesel.
-Midsize K, B, G, and R models used either 11:00×24 tires with dual rear wheels or 12:00×24 tires with single rear wheels. The large U model used 14:00×24 with single rear wheels, but a few special production ones did have duals. The smaller M and N models used 8:25×20 tires. The junior models, with normal axles used 10:00×20 tires.
-GVWs and axle ratings did change over the years. These are mostly from the late 60s to early 70s.
-The twin engine airport model used 2 6V53 Detroits or 2 534 Ford V8s and 2 Allison automatic transmissions and a the 3 shaft Walter transfer case with the front engine and tranny coming in on the input shaft of the transfer case and the rear engine and tranny coming in on the countershaft.
-The single engine airport model uses a setback halfcab with an 8V71 Detroit or NTC-350 Cummins and a heavier duty Allison automatic.
Mike has also supplied me with a running narration of my video shot at Dobbins Auto Parts a few years back. I’ve provided his notes as annotations so please feel free to watch again.
Yesterday I caught this new Freightliner 114SD of Riccelli Trucking as it dropped a dumpster off at job site. I’ve seen similar unlettered trucks sitting at the local Freightliner dealer for a few weeks now and always suspected, based on the red color, that they would end up in Riccelli hands. Suspicions confirmed.
I watched as the driver dropped the bin and then left for his next pickup. I wandered off to the other side of downtown when I spotted him again a few minutes later picking up a dumpster from the Hotel Syracuse renovation.
You can see a demolition chute hanging in the background that feeds a steady stream of debris to waiting dumpsters. Often times I expected to see massive boulders come flying out based on the sound but instead only witnessed a few chucks of plaster or scrap lumber. Seems like a fun way to get out of the building in a hurry.
It’s possible this 114SD replaced a truck like this awesome yet smokey old Mack.
