Rod Simmonds has been promosing me some nice logging truck shots and has sent me this one of a mighty Kiwi M<ack. Not sure of the model (anyone? Vic?) Apparently it's around Kawerau (wherever that is...it's not next to Ashford I know that much!) Anyroadup here's some more...
Nice orange Kenworrth...bet that makes a racket when it goes past.
Wait a minute...this isn't a logging truck. What are you trying to pull Rod?
Well I'll forgive you as this looks like your favourite layby for finding loggers...
Now we're back on track...with another Kaywhoppa too...now click through here for more including a tantalizing glimpse of a stem truck too....
See what I mean? It's the one at the back with the long twiglets...
Another Kenworth. So tell me Rod, what do the drivers do when they see you taking pictures at the roadside? You must be quite a local fixture by now!
And to finish here's a nice Big Mack with (wood) chips to go....great stuff Rodders.
You are right, Brian, Kawerau is not near Ashford! It is in the Bay of Plenty district in the central North Island, roughly in the middle of the area between Rotorua, Whakatane and Tauranga. The main reason for the town's existence is that it is the site of a huge timber and paper mill, hence the abundance of logging and woodchip trucks around there.
The two Macks in the photos look like, and probably are, Titans, although they could be Super Liners. The visual differences are very small and with the various options of bumpers etc, one can be made to look like the other. My guess would be Titans although I am willing to be corrected by anyone who knows the actual trucks in the photos.
Cheers, Vic
P.S. In answer to your question about what the drivers do when they see Rod taking photos, they give a long blast on the air horns, wave with either one or two fingers, and think "Does that b....... ever do any real work?".
Yes special off road Mack Titans, wide bolsters to get as much on as possible!
The chip liner is a unique extra wide road train for the private roads between the sawmills (Rainbow Mountain, Kaingaroa, Kawerau, Broadlands etc) based on a FLD Freightliner.
I was working Vic, just having a short break........honest
I was "inbetween jobs" mate....and its always a polite reaction, many stop and chat when they piggy back the trailers.
Might be those big bins are for recovering the "waste" trimmings of the forest floor aprt of the total clean up total green up deal in logging today All the bits trimmied of the lumber is chewed up on site and hauled away in these trailer units.. Am I close?
Billet Wood (the short bits left behind)is usually carted by hiab equiped semis as they self load. The Godfrey FLD120 Cat 550 is a wood chip unit trasferring waste between post,pole and other processing yards into the pulp and paper mills.
Stems are also brought into processing yards so can be cut to order, again trying to minimise waste. Some waste is also used to fire boilers to process the final product.
Hi all,
As was mentioned before, the Macks in these photos are correctly id'd as Titans - the father of the Titan was an Aussie man named Don Hoey! The Titan came with a E9-525 V8 which was then uprated to 575hp and again to 610hp, which, at the time, was the most powerful engine to ever be fitted to any Aussie Mack, let alone any truck in the known world! They were powerful trucks with a appetite for work!
the big green Mack owned by Vern Higgins murupara bay of plenty