Today we have a really cool find for Autocar Mondays. Jason spotted this late 50’s to early 60’s Autocar tow truck while cruising the back roads of Ohio. Little is know about this truck regarding history, specs or current use. It was last registered in 2012 but still remains in great shape with near perfect sheet metal.
This is one of those trucks that after you find you turn and go home for the day because nothing else will compare! Great catch Jason. Thanks for sharing.
Now this a nice looking shop truck. Tracey Road Equipment has really pimped out this Western Star 4700 rollback with some custom touches most notably being the low stance.
Toss in the addition of the visor, hood mounted mirrors, spotlight, cab clearance lights, and chrome everywhere you have a truck that is almost too nice looking to use.
Looks like they loaded this truck up with a variety of rental accessories, most likely for the Hard Hat Expo that was in town last week. I should probably go to that show sometime. It seems like something I would enjoy.
With the glacier that has encrusted much of New York over the past decade finally starting to recede old trucks like these two Fords are emerging like boulders in farmers fields. This little dump truck seems well preserved. It’s time for stripes to make a come back in the paint schemes of modern trucks.
A few years later down the Ford Family tree of heavy trucks this L9000 resides. It doesn’t seem as nice as the single axle from above but looks can be deceiving.
Construction crews are slowly returning to the roads around the area of CNY. As I mentioned last week Connective Corridor construction has resumed in downtown finally providing me with the reason to leave my desk at lunch. The situation, the equipment, and the trucks are from the same group we saw last year but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy another round of gawking.
This portion of the job falls into a part of the city that is fairly busy with plenty of pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Overhead light poles and traffic signals conspire to slow down progress but the skilled operators have been able to power through the challenges. Believe me, that excavator is much closer to the building and traffic lights than the photo shows!
A compilation video of the action will come in the following weeks.
Below is the new face of towing for the Onondaga County Department of Transportation. A Western Star 4900 with a Miller Industries rotator. I heard rumors that the a new heavy tow truck had been purchased by the county a few months ago and while excited by that news I immediately thought about the existing wrecker on a International Paystar5000 chassis.
Would they keep both I wondered. The answer is a resounding no. This truck is wearing number 74 which previously was assigned to the 1990 Paystar. I’m not sure if the old truck has been sold or traded in. I certainly haven’t seen it up for action yet.
I don’t have the specs of this one. I was so excited that I forgot to take a closer look but I’m guessing it has something larger that a DD13 under the hood.
Out with the old. In with the new. For a trip down memory lane Joe Kelly has a shot of the old 74 from an open house back in 1997. Click here to enjoy.
Dave C. sent me this pair of Diamond Reo dump trucks for the latest entry into the Still Working category. Employed by M. Scavello Inc these two dump truck see regular action in the King of Prussia, PA area. Model info and specifications are unknown but they appear to be in very good shape. No rust above the windshield on a White Corporate Cab is always a good sign.
On the topic of Diamond Reo could we be on the verge of seeing a resurgence in the storied nameplate? Head on over to the T-Line Trucks website and have a look around. A brand new cab for their line of specialty trucks is in the works. Checking out their Facebook page you’ll see the company gauging interest on a special run of Raider trucks. This group of 50 trucks would be identical to the original model in every way except for the use of the new Driver II cab. I don’t know about you but I think that is pretty awesome. Hopefully the interest and money is out there!
Thanks again Dave!
Yesterday a roll off truck went under and overpass. Nothing really out of the ordinary here except this truck had its boom in the raised position. As you can imagine the end result was less than optimal. Looking at the photo below you can see the tear created in the metal supports directly to the left of the telephone pole. I’m really surprised at how thin thin the metal appears to be in this support. In reality I’m sure it’s plenty thick but I always assumed these beams were of heavier stock.
The poor Mack Granite and its boom didn’t fair all that well. If you look closely at the photo above you’ll see that the right rear axle was sheered off and now resides in the bed of the company pickup. LTS Enterprises was called to haul away the disabled bulldog.
No word yet on exactly why the boom was up at the time of the accident. The driver received no external injuries but was taken to the hospital after complaining of chest pains. I guess roll off trucks don’t have a light in the cab to indicate the boom is raised? Make sure you head over to Syracuse.com for a lively discussion on the classification of the truck as well as more photos.
I was browsing through some old truck show photos and videos yesterday when I came across this gem. It’s a 1979 Autocar DC9964 formerly owned by J.H. Beers of Wind Gap, PA. Power and gearing is provided by a Cummins KT450 and a Fuller RTO-12515 15 speed transmission respectively. This DC also comes equipped with a two stage Jake, air sliding 5th wheel and 48,000 pound rear axles. Back in 2005 this truck was sold at auction when its name sake company ceased operations. At that time it was paired with a 50 ton lowboy trailer which some of you might have guessed was the case based on the specs and look of this truck.
Four years later this rig popped up at the 2009 ATCA Northeastern PA classic truck show. Browsing through my photos of the event I realized that I only posted a few of the videos from the day. This truck along with many other was seemingly lost in the digital filing cabinet. While the video and audio quality may not be up to modern standards it’s still worth the watch.
I don’t recall seeing this truck after 2009 so I hope it is still in good hands. Make sure you keep an eye out for videos to come from this show.
I came across this..thing…sitting on a rail car the other day. What can it be? Most likely it’s for some boring industrial process like making the green color used in Mountain Dew. It sure is pointy looking. Maybe it’s a coffin for an alien space whale?
I can tell you one thing, this is the section of rail where CSX parks the weird stuff as is passes through the yard. Way back in 2003 I saw this funky looking device. It seems like a massive turbine or pump.
Things are much cooler when left untarped.
I’m starting to see more and more new bingo numbers enter the board in the way of International Trucks for National Grid. This brand new DuraStar has been stationed on various jobs around the downtown area in the past few days. I’m not sure if we are seeing the start of a shift away from Freightliners or just a few odd balls making it when various vendors didn’t have the standard chassis on hand. Perhaps a testing vehicle? We may never know.
