It hasn’t snowed in days. It’s quite possible that a full week has gone by without any trace of the white stuff falling from the skies. Despite the warming temps and generous amounts of sun large piles of snow and snirt still remain. City DPW crews have been busy removing these piles that have clogged the streets since early January. Over 10,000 tons of snow have been removed this winter and transported to empty lots for a slow melt that will probably last well into May. I know we’ve seen most of this action before but I just can’t seem to get enough. Hopefully you feel the same way.
Each day at lunch I ventured out of the office and wandered around hoping to be in the right place at the right time. I would strain to hear the sound of back alarms over the usual city noise. With a St. Partricks day parade on the horizon workers were all over cutting back the banks.
I have to give a round of applause to the determination of sometime downtown drivers who simply wouldn’t take street closure as an option. Protip. If the street you wish to traverse is blocked by a large yellow dump truck with flashing lights in such a way that you have to jump the curb and travel on the sidewalk you should probably reconsider your route.
If you like the 4 in 1 combo bucket check out the video below. Scraping, pushing, plucking and loading snow are all possible with this modern device!
We’ve seen many new Western Stars hit the road over the years at Daily Diesel Dose. Here is another one. This 4900 with a setback axle belongs to Curtis Trucking and looks to be another sweet lowboy hauler similar to the one for Associated Industrial Riggers and ERSI.
While not brand new this International 9400i caught my eye the other day while it motored through downtown. The lighting and pose really reminds me of a shot you would find in an old sales brochure, especially with the diamond road logo on the cab air deflector. I didn’t realize until after I took the photo that this truck belongs to some branch of state government. I’ll have to keep an eye peeled for return visits.
Monster Trucks. A motor sport uniquely American. Honestly, could this spectacle take place anywhere else? This past weekend the Carrier Dome played host to Monster Jam and all the madness that comes with it.
Call me old fashioned but I enjoy the period of monster truck history where the trucks looked like trucks. Don’t get me wrong, Monster Mutt with its lapping tongue is adorable and Crushstation with banded claws is humorous but it’s all just fluff. That’s why my favorite truck of the evening was Titan and his retro Chevy look. This truck looked better than it drove as it was the first of what would be many crashes. In fact, the entire evening saw about half of the show field flip in the same corner which really put a damper on freestyle. That being said it wouldn’t be a monster truck show without the crashes. If you think people watch Nascar just for the accidents what do you think people attend Monster Jam?
This year instead of taking still photos I focused more on catching the soaring jumps and bone jarring landings on video. Despite sitting behind some tall people I was able to put together a decent clip show of the best action. Even though the track setup caused a few too many early crashes it did contain one jump, that if hit correctly, allowed the trucks to do a complete back flip. You’ll know it when you see it.
One of the better accidents during freesytle occurred when Madusa took a jump, lost a rear wheel, nearly flip and then momentarily burst into flames. All this took place right in front of my seat. Of course by this time I had turned off my camera. LOL! You see, at the start of her run Madusa broke one of her rear planetaries causing the passenger side wheel to stick. This greatly hampered her speed and jumping ability so I wrote her run off as all but finished. Nope. Lesson learned. It’s not over until the methanol burns. At least I caught a moment of the aftermath.
Being a fan of heavy equipment I always feel like I get twice the show as I am perfectly content watching the setup and cleanup of the track. I think a traveling series of the latest and greatest heavy equipment should hit venues across the country. Take a look at this Massey Ferguson Equipment Expo from the mid 1970’s for inspiration. Much like last year Caterpillar equipment was in full force to build ramps and haul out disabled monsters. Below, a gallery of prime selections.
I stumbled across another classic Trojan Loader the other day. I’m unsure of the exact model but I’m guessing it might be a 304? This machine is in remarkably good condition for a unit of the late 50’s vintage. It’s been repainted at some point removing all logos and model identification but that just shows that someone cares. Loading power probably came from a Detroit but I’ve read of some loaders using International gas engines. Who can tell? Much like the Michigan 180 wheel dozer from last month this Trojan does not articulate in the middle but instead relies on rear wheel steering. Note the interesting style of lifting arms on this loader with the hydraulic pistons located near the rear of the machine. Click here to see an similar machine but from another angle. What a cool old beast!
The city of Largo, Florida recently held an open house of sorts where many public works vehicles were on display for children and adults to climb over. Ed stopped by and took a shot of this Autocar ACX-Xpeditor with Heil refuse body.
These events are not only popular with children but parents as well. The City of Syracuse, NY has hosted similar events in the past that I have attended. Below are a few shots form the 2013 and 2008 shows. Can you determine the year from the photos alone? Thanks for sharing Ed!
You can never have enough heavy equipment around and you can never have enough friends that can move your heavy equipment. Clarence brought home this 70k Akerman H14 excavator a few weeks ago on the back of a Mercedes powered Western Star 4900.
The stick on this one is 14 foot and covered every inch of the 55 ton Fontaine trailer used that day. Everything went well and soon the H14 was home safe and sound.
If while looking at this truck you get the sense that it resembles a fire truck you’re not imagining things. Seth set me this photo of a 1990 International 2674 that started life as a tanker for the Croton-on-Hudson Fire Department.
Originally setup with an EEI tanker body the rig saw refurbishment in 2004 and retirement a short eight years later. Eventually it was transferred into the service of the Croton-on-Hubson Village DPW and is now is outfitted with a Beau-Roc dump body.
Which incarnation do you prefer? A dump truck with lights and siren seems pretty cool if you ask me. Make sure you stop by x635Photos.com for more great trucks and photos!
What do you do with your old electronics? Hopefully you recycle them in a environmentally safe manor. Around these parts we dispose of our old televisions and computers by driving down an empty street in the middle of the night and tossing them onto the front yard of some unsuspecting sap. Problem solved. Eventually DPW crews pick up these orphans in a futile effort to stop streets from becoming a sea of broken glass and toxic metals. Hoping to stem the flow of illegal dumping a free drop off event was organized at the city garage for all things electronic. If it ran on electricity or had a cord you were encouraged to bring it on down for safe disposal. Never missing a chance to snoop around places I am usually forbidden from visiting I found an old clock radio to use as my cover story. Upon arrival I found the drop off line stretching around the block, up a street, and back to the interstate. I decided to head in the back way sparing the clock radio for at least another year. With the drop off taking place in the garage I was expecting to catch a glimpse of some displaced equipment. Sadly not much was outside but I did catch sight of an old Vohl snow blower that immediately set my mind aflame with the possibilities of seeing this vintage machine in action. With all the heavy snow falling I figured if the blower still worked it would make an appearance….sooner or later. For weeks I followed the clean up of downtown with anticipation of catching the Vohl but I never saw much more than loaders and dump trucks. I began to lose hope and wrote the machine off as being a relic that no longer ran. This past Saturday I found a few free moments to journey downtown figuring on seeing more of the same removal action. I was in for a surprise.
There it was sitting in the bright winter sun, the object of my obsession. Powered by two diesel engines the Vohl is based off an imported English 4×4 tractor. The head of the blower can raise and lower along with the telescoping neck and rotating chute. In the late 70’s this was the machine for battling the intense winters that seemed to wrack the Northeast on a regular basis. This 1978 article from the Montreal Gazette provides an interesting glimpse to the start of the company and the products offered. Despite the optimistic tone of all involved Vohl Snowblowers appears to be no more. Click here to read.
The tactics for clearing the streets using this machine are simple. Three loaders pull the standing piles of snow from the shoulders and sidewalks to the center of the street.
Next, a snow plow makes a loop through around the pile winging it closer to the center of the street with each pass.
Finally the Vohl is ready to make an appearance.
About 10 to 15 trucks were on hand when I stopped by. Within 10 minutes all had been filled and were on their way to the snow dump. Fill time varied by dump body with some trucks maxing out in less than a minute while larger rigs like the dumpster trucks taking significantly more snow. Loading tall and heavy was the name of the game.
Listen to the beautiful music! I’m not entirely sure this Vohl has two diesel engines. The one at the rear definitely was of the no spark plug persuasion but I’m fairly sure the tractor engine was gas. I assume the rear engine is the one powering the blower.
The cleaning process moves as quickly as the return of trucks allow.
Here is a second video as the removal effort moved down Erie Blvd right past the historic Niagara Mohawk building.
Last week the patron saint of Autocar Mondays, Clarence, went to an auction and found this 1971 Autocar DCDC9364 tanker truck. It goes without saying that this truck was built heavy. For power amd momentum a Cummins NTC 335 meets a 13 speed double over transmission. Out back heavy duty Rockwell SSHD rears are ready to carry any burden. Selling just north of 4,000 dollars Clarence believes this truck may have been spared from the scrap men. I tend to agree. We can never save enough of the old time Autocars. Never!
