As promised today is an all Mack day courtesy of Ryan and the Town of Minden, NY.
Nice truck but I think more lights are needed. 😉
The photos below contain some serious puppy power. While the fleet is mostly comprised of Macks there is at least one off brand mixed into the group. Can you spot it? It’s a good one I promise you that. Tomorrow we head to a town named after the second president of the United States and one that is no stranger to drifting snow.
Across the Northeast snow has been falling for weeks now along with the temperatures. With no thaw inducing weather on the horizon the snow is simply refusing to go. When then this happens you have to call out the heavy iron. The machines that can bench the snow making room for more. We call these machines by the name of Walter.
Ryan stopped by the Herkimer County Highway Department a few weeks ago to revisit a place he spent countless hours while growing up. As the grandchild of a county foreman Ryan had complete access to these trucks which we can only assume led to his continuing fascination with snow plows to this very day. There is visual evidence of these days but I’ll spare everyone the embarrassment. Never stored outside and meticulously maintained it’s hard to believe we are looking at 60+ year old trucks. Looking at the blower equipped unit I believe I see fresh paint dribbles on the ground. Ryan tells us it a Bros Blowers of equal vintage to the truck it is mounted on.
It’s unbelievable the grip Walters head on the snow removal market back in the day. I don’t believe there was a single municipality in New York with fleets larger than two trucks that didn’t have a Walter in the barn. The fact that many still exist on active duty are testaments to quality of these trucks and the workers that brought them to life.
*Editors Note* The Mack Truck action promoised on 2/15/15 has been rescheduled to 2/18/15
I was sitting in a left turn only lane the other day when I noticed a sharp looking truck for JPW Riggers coming from the opposite direction. I hit the wipers and snapped off a shot. I think it turned out rather well. Consider this a palate cleansing photo before we return to more plow truck coverage tomorrow.
Next stop on our world class snow plow tour..Town of Mohawk, NY! You may remember the first rig from the Town of Mohawk that graced the digital pages of Daily Diesel Dose, an insane 6×6 Western Star 4800. As it turns out that Western Star keeps some good company in the form of two equally impressive International PayStars.
Not sure which color I like better, the green or the yellow. Tomorrow, a brief break in the tour schedule before we’re back at it with some heavy duty Mack action.
Our tour of north country DPWs continue today with a visit to the Town of Lorraine, NY.
Those with sharp eyes for the old snow fighters will recognize the box behind the Oshkosh as a Walter’s. On the new iron front has a mix of International trucks raging from Paystars to Workstars.
Where will the Ryan Pedone tour stop next? Come back tomorrow!
Fans of old school heavy iron rejoice! Your International M-Series snow plow has arrived!
Can you believe the condition of this truck? Hardly a spec of rot or rust through to be found. This is nothing short of a miracle on an old plow truck. International produced the M-Series for a number years with production ending sometime in the mid 70’s with the introduction of the Paystar line. At the least we are probably looking at a truck that is 40 years old. A round of applause to The City of Little Falls who still has this beast in their arsenal of snow fighting equipment. Chains, single tires, 4×4, Frink plow gear and a Hi-Way spreader. What more could you ask for? The gallery below also contains a cool looking Oshkosh.
Speaking of M-Series, here is a fun little video I shot years ago at the Washington County (NY) fair. This particular truck is gas powered but still cool. 🙂
Once again, another great find and share by Ryan.
For the remainder of the week and probably into the following the material on Daily Diesel Dose will be coming from the prolific camera work of Ryan Pedone. During his short period back in NY he wasted no time covering an immense portion of ground and found some really great old and new iron. I’ve been sitting on his emails for too long now. We’ll start by paying a visit to Utica and their collection of brand new Macks and too tough to die FWD’s
I thought it was cool seeing the trucks lined up in the garage a few weeks ago but this is much better. The Macks seem to be hold up to the rigors of life in Utica.
Make sure you come back tomorrow as we travel to Little Falls, NY. You won’t believe what they have hiding in their back lot.
As I mentioned yesterday the City of Watertown DPW runs some pretty unique snowplows. During the warmer months (they do exist) these trucks sit in storage patiently waiting for winter. The ideal behind these singular purpose machines is to combat heavy snow as quickly as possible and as long as possible before returning to the garage for a refuel. Cutting out the material box means these trucks can stay out longer. The large counter weight and single tires in the rear provide ultimate traction. Ryan was in town a few weeks ago and paid the DPW a visit to photograph these monsters. Enjoy!
Ahhhmazing.
My weather voodoo doll is really working now with two consecutive Mondays receiving more than a foot of snow fall in most places around Central New York. Hopeful I’ll be able to turn this thing off by spring. Starting on Saturday the snow began to fall at a leisurely pace but quick enough to have plows on the move. Here we see an International 7600 with the NYSDOT laying down a layer of salt.
In the gallery below we have an Freightliner M2 with the Town Dewitt, an International 2674 with the Onondaga DOT, and another International 2674 with the Village of East Syracuse. Bonus points if you know the make of plow on the VoES rig.
Come Monday I found myself travelling to the City of Watertown, NY which is something you generally don’t want to do when heavy snow is falling. Surprisingly enough the further north I traveled the weaker the snow became before it eventually fizzled out all together. At one point in Watertown I almost saw the sun! If you’re from the area you’ll understand what a big deal this is for Feburary. I stopped for a quick windshield wiper smack at the world famous Grist Mill in Parish, NY. I’ll admit that I had ulterior motives in my stop as I knew they had these two vintage loaders for parking lot clearing. Sadly they lot had already been plowed.
Arriving in Watertown I noticed some parking lots being cleared by the Jefferson County Highway Department. As soon as the clock struck Noon I ran out the door to grab some shots. The workers were on lunch but had left their rigs behind.
Heading home for the day I passed a NYSDOT Mack clearing route 3 along with a City of Watertown Freightliner 108D.
While I was in town I did happen to catch a glimpse or two of the WDPW very cool dedicated plow rigs. These trucks sport large single tires on their single rear axles along with one very large counter weight. No salting or sanding equipment to be found. The theory behind this design is to avoid trips backs to the salt barn for reloading. Opening snow clogged streets is the number one priority. I may not have been able to grab a shot but Ryan was in town last week and received full access to these rigs. Come back tomorrow for the photos!
50’s Autocar with an intergral sleep? Yes please! Clarence came across this gem at Caledonia Diesel while searching for presumably something more modern.
A 855 Cummins is the heart of this classic while a 5 &3 gearbox setup is found in cab. Oddly enough this truck doesn’t show for sale on the Caledonia website so if you’re interested you’ll probably have to pick up the phone. Even if you’re not in the classic Auotcar market check out their page for some cool finds including a massive Pacific dump truck and a Kenworth C500 oil field truck.
Thanks to Clarence for sharing this amazing find.
