Just as life as a journo isn't all beer and skittles (well skittles anyway) Vic Hungerford assures Biglorryblog that: "In NZ it's not all Fodens, Kenworths, Volvos and Macks, I thought you might like to see a few photos taken yesterday at Opara, on the edge of the Hokianga Harbour in the far north of NZ."
Vic goes on to say: "These two trucks are in regular use; the TK Bedford belongs to our nextdoor neighbour, the local farmer. The Atkinson 8-wheeler tipper (included for Pete Lynch!) belongs to his son, who is the local roading and earthmoving contractor. The Atkinson has a Cummins 335hp motor and a Roadranger 15-speed gearbox. Regards, Vic."
Now click through here for a classic side view of that ACCO cab...
Now that's what I call a sleeper...dig the tri-lex wheels too. What was it about them that the Aussies and Kiwis liked I wonder. less weight to carry around by having the rim and tyre ready mounted. How easy were they to change though? Presumably you needed to line up the spokes and rim---explanation required BLB army please. And thanks for the pix Vic.
Until tubeless tires on disc rims became standard equipment, they were popular in the Eastern half of the USA. Internationals and Macks carried them a lot.
They are easier for an operator to change with only a hand wrench, since the nuts cannot be tightened with an air wrench. However, they must be carefully tightened and checked or the tire will wobble and cause a bouncy ride. Also, hitting a pothole or rock will easily knock them out of alignment.
Fleet operators usually consider them to be too maintenance-intensive.
Spider wheels are lighter to change and you dont have to struggle to line up bolt holes, They do need to be tightened carefully to avoid wheel wobble, then retightened after an hour but wont readily go out of line again.
The Atkinson 4870 has a T-line cab, looks like an ACCO cab but is wider and has a big engine hump in the centre. It is a sprung, tilt cab with a 600mm bunk and well trimmed interior. A excellent lorry with slightly different badges on that Kiwi version.
I unintentionally told a bit of an untruth there. I was talking to the owner a couple of days after these photos were taken, and he told me that while this Atki originally had a Cummins 330 motor, it has now been fitted with a Cummins "big cam" 400. It's a bit of a mystery truck really, as it was first registered in NZ as a new truck in 1996, but according to AtkiPete's book this model was discontinued in 1989. I can't explain that one, Pete.
I wonder if it was stored for a few years before being registered? (like my Guy featured recently on the blog)Thanks for clarifying the engine details, I thought it would have been unusual for a "small - cam" Cummins 335 to be in that truck.
It did have the 330 engine in it when it was built however, the 400 was only put in recently by the present owner. We may never find out why it was registered so late as the present owner doesn't know; I have been talking to Pete Lynch in Australia and he is going to see if he can find out anything about it. It may just remain one of those mysteries!
Not sure, maybe it is a T-line with Atki grille. The chassis number suggests that. Compliance plate on the LH door pillar may clarify this.
But were T-Lines ever made with the full-size sleeper cab? Perhaps they were in Aussie but they never were sold here, all the ones with that cab were badged as Atkinsons. I have seen the original registration and the original motor was an L10 Cummins. I will have a look at the compliance plate next time I am up there. It has an Eagle badge on the side of the cab; did Atkinsons have this or only Internationals?
I am getting more confused every day!!!
After IH stopped selling the Atkinson 4870 in Australia, they sold a sleeper version of the T Line but most people went for the day cab. The main difference is the grille and interior of the sleeper. The 4870 had a velour trim but the T line had plain vinyl. I have never seen an Atkinson with an Eagle badge, it was an upmarket IH package.
I think I'll give up on this one, Pete. I have never seen a T-Line with a sleeper cab in NZ. This one has velour trim and an Eagle badge, so none of it makes sense. Maybe IH in NZ had a spare Atkinson cab lying around when they sold this truck. Maybe I will be able to get hold of the original owner and find out some time what the story was.
I do realise that it's not a very important thing in the whole history of the universe but it just got me a bit curious.
This truck is registered as a 1996 T2700 International - chassis number :6F2FK2700SBB11251 , it had an LTA-330 L10 Cummins from new which wasn't uncommon in the T2700 model...
Looks to me like an older International F4870 cab (approx 1981) fitted to a later model chassis with a retrofitted Atkinson grille.
Numbers of F4870 with this size cab (the sleeper version) weren't huge here and I seem to remember a 6x4 logger operating here in the early 80's with a very similar cab paintscheme which could tie in... or, maybe it's just a coincidence. Hope this helps - Rob.