The last time we saw this Mack Granite it was little more than a bare frame and now it’s a full grown snow plow. After my trip to Trius I know how much work goes into these trucks to get them ready for service. It doesn’t just happen!
And here is that Oshkosh from the very same post back in December. Still no word on the eventual destination for this one.
Resting in the wilds of Herkimer County one can find this vintage Autocar U-7144, a veteran of World War II, if they keep a sharp eye.
One of 11,000 trucks built during the WWII, this U-Model picked up a Quick-Way crane along the way. From what I can tell the U-7144 and their larger U-8144 brother were primarily used as tractor setups to haul bridge pontoons and other heavy equipment. However, resident heavy equipment expert Matt Folsom does tell us that Quick-Way supplied over 2,000 cranes for mounting on various truck chassis during the course of the war so perhaps this really is an all original combitionation.
Powered by a 529 cu. in. Hercules RXC gas engine the 7 and 8 series trucks were rated at 4 and 5 tons respectively. Gearing came through a 5 speed manual transmission with direct in fourth and an overdrive gear. A two speed transfer case provided 4×4 power. (Wikipedia)
The Quick-Way name originated 1922 when Luke E. Smith mounted his prototype crane on a surplus World War One truck making in the first American truck mounted crane. In 1961 Quick-Way would be purchased by Marion Power Shovel Company to expand their small excavator line.
So what do you think? Is this an original combination?
Do you have an Autocar you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!
Heavy truck builders have always enjoyed using letter abbreviations to denote model lines. It would seem over the years that only a few certain letters were deemed good enough to be a truck name as the same letters would surface again and again. While no one dared to use the letter B for their trucks other than Mack, the letters R, L, and A were both shared among International and Mack over the course of their storied truck building careers. Here we see what I believe to be a Mack LJ and a L-Series International. The production of both model lines over lapped by a number of years with little confusion. I’m not sure what the letter L means to truck building folk but apparently it was the right character for the job.
Found in the hillsides of Herkimer County these two trucks eagerly await the day their letter is called again.
It’s not hard to imagine that if this truck pulled up behind you on a country road you might begin to have flashbacks of the movie Duel in which Dennis Weaver is chased through the countryside by a maniac trucker. After all, the 351 seen here is the same model used (along with a 281) in that now classic movie. The movie truck happened to be a 1955 model while this truck is from 1972. While there are more than a few differences between the two trucks, with the most striking being the square style fenders and quad headlights, the vibe is there.
Matt happened across this truck near Cato, NY and new right away he had to stop for a photo. The last I knew, this truck belonged to the Henderson family, and to the best of my knowledge still does. They have a few other nice trucks in the fleet including this 1949 Autocar DC100.
Nice find Matt. It won’t be much longer to these trucks are back on the road and heading to shows.
Here’s another one for the eternal debate of do you like big rigs turned into custom hot rods. Currently for sale on ebay this former 1989 Peterbilt is powered by a 427 Chevy connected to a Eaton Fuller manual transmission. Personally I would have stuck with a diesel but to each his own. Aside from the trans, some truck features still exist on this rig including a rear axle riding a New Way air ride suspension and an air ride drivers seat.
So what’s your verdict. Heard turner or head scratcher?
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Big island. Big Trucks. Work in the sugarcane fields of Hawaii was demanding on both men and machines. Naturally the work of hauling sugarcane to the mills fell on the shoulders of Autocars Trucks. Seven days a weeks, both day and night, Autocars trucks and their drivers traveled over roads and through weather that varied from excellent to exceedingly terrible. With average cane loads regularly grossing in excess of 100,000 pounds drivers were expected to supply mills with 1.5 millions pounds of sugar cane an hour. The timing had to be precise with a truck arriving every three minutes to avoid bottlenecks and “no cane” shut downs.
Check out the video below to see how these beastmode trucks operated in their prime. The action starts around the 3:25 mark. The narration indicates these trucks received extensive modifications by the company and were in excess of 200,000 dollars a unit.
The last commercial sugarcane operation on the big island of Hawaii ceased operation decades ago but the legacy remains. Clearly this tanker is one of the trucks from the Hamakua Sugar Company video witnessed above. The tropical climate has done wonders for it longevity! We should all be so lucky.
Do you have an Autocar you would like to see featured on Autocar Mondays? Email eric@dailydieseldose.com today!
Some days I yearn for a simpler time. A time when the local town dump was nothing more than a smoldering, uncovered, rodent infested pile of refuse on the edge town. Back in these days pigs would eat our garbage and we in turn would eat the pigs. As long as you thoroughly cooked your bacon and ham the specter of trichinosis was kept at bay. It the summer it was advisable to keep your pants tucked into your socks to avoid rat bites carrying Murine Typhus or Weil’s disease.
I’m being sarcastic of course but the state of refuse collection of the early 50’s resembles little of the modern and mostly clean methods of the 21st century.
In this period film Caterpillar took a look at the various methods of waste disposal and offered their take on the new method of cut, fill, and cover. Of course, Caterpillar equipment features prominently in the film with an interesting non hydraulic lift bucket setup. I found it interesting that most of the garbage shown in this film would be considered recyclable today.
What an age we live in.
Remember the other day when I alluded that I went to an International dealer in Virginia and took some photos but then never posted any? Some of you were probably like “what? this world renowned International homer is acting like he isn’t going to post photos?” LOL, right.
This is what I saw, a new HX620 with pusher axle, Cummins engine and a 18 speed Fuller.
At the International dealer back home this 5900i has been floating around the lot for awhile now. Pushing four years old this truck has yet to find a home. The dealer has this truck listed as new with 15 miles on it. Presumably under the hood one will find the larger Maxxforce engine which very well might be the reason this truck is still unsold. Like its replacement above, the 5900i has an 18 speed trans, air ride transmission and 19 foot Bibeau dump body. Asking price 119,000 U.S. dollars. Click here for more details.
And just to break up the white wash of paint jobs here is a Durastar in black with Jerr-Dan rollback.
A building once stood here but now there is nothing but rubble. The Brennan Motor complex demolition is about 94.7% complete with just the hauling of broken bricks and concrete left on the agenda. Some of this material will probably be left behind to bring the lot up to grade and help provide the base for a new parking lot.
Dig. Fill. Repeat.
Why does it always the seem the sun is the wrong place for photos?
What better day to post about snow plows than the second warmest February 23rd ever recorded in CNY! Back when I shot this truck from the Town of Dewitt Highway Department two weeks ago such warm temperatures were nothing but a dream.
And just one week ago this past Monday they were still nothing more than a dream when I visited the Trius shop in Fort Edward.
Although when I took a photo of this Freightliner M2 on Tuesday the dream was becoming more of reality. If you zoom in on the photo you can almost make out what appears to be a wing on the passenger side of the truck.
Notes from the gallery below, new International Workstar for the NYSTA, City of Syracuse 4×4 WorkStar, NYSTA Western Star 4700, another angle of Fort Edward International.
