Hello, this thread will concern my old Mack tractor which is to go back to work in near it's original configuration. I am the third owner of this tractor with the prior owner making purchase in 1972 from JM Steel Supplies out of Chicago. It ran a dedicated route between Chicago, IL and St. Louis MO for many years hauling a flat with headboard and loads of steel both ways. The tires installed when I brought it back to my shop were even branded JMS in the sidewalls. All 10 were caps, very old and unsuitable for any type of on road usage. The engine is a Mack ENDT-673B with a Mack Duplex TRD-720 overdriven transmission. The rears are Mack 34K tandems with 5.77 ratio. I've not driven the truck but am told by the prior owner it would run about 65mph wide open. The engine runs very well but I have no history on it at all. Now for some history on how it came to me and it's a bit "windy": I was in the auto body collision repair business for a lot of years along with working a full time job to fund college educations for both my kids. Back in mid August 2009 a gent whom I'd never seen before stopped by the shop as I was repairing a lawnmower deck for work and asked for me. Upon our meeting he stated he had an older Mack truck he would like me to have knowing I was a collector of them. I of course asked what he had to ascertain interest to which he stated that he did not know. Keep in mind this is an older gent whom is obviously a farmer by appearance, (wearing overalls) and unlaced boots which is common in the cattle lots around this area. I have an "A" model Mack, several "B" series, and several "R" series in the shop so asked what the cab of his looked like. He immediately responded with "like that" pointing to a "B-61" cab I have on a stand. He also stated the back of the cab was "caved in" to which I asked if the back window followed the contour to which the answer was "yes". I also asked if the cab had a "doghouse" and "yes" was the answer to this question. I asked if it were a "B-67" series and that rang a bell. I was also told the engine had a "blower", was a "full screw" and plenty of power for what it was. Ahh, was my realization as he most likely had a B-67ST or variant of the series. As it turns out he had owned and ran the truck for many years in both his farming and bulldozing operation(s). The truck was replaced in 1998 when the Alcoa aluminum manufacturing plant closed up and auctioned their 1988 R-690 tractor. This B-673ST still has the IL state inspection sticker in the window that expired in 1999 as it never moved once the R model went into service. He showed up to the shop to ask me about acquiring it after purchasing a new planter and this truck was in the way where it was to reside. When asked what he needed for the truck, (unseen at this time) his answer was "Whatever you think it's worth" and man do I hate answers like that..... Figuring without seeing it I'd offer scrap price at the time we arranged a time to meet to where I could view the truck. Now being through that, the truck was kept inside a barn and as was all of his equipment. Turns out he has hogs, cattle, and farms several hundred acres for both feed and sales. Pretty busy guy really. I later find out he is a very good dozer operator too. Anyway, I meet him up at his barn and this is the first sight I see of the truck: Starting a walkaround: Former owner is on the left of photo: Overall pretty good shape for it's age in this area. Birdshit is complementary I'm told. The engine is not stuck, the oil and coolant are full, batteries are still connected, and all 10 tires have air in them. He has not even opened a door on the cab for over 10 years but the new planter needs the space this truck occupies. Grasping a tire, and with great effort I am able to shift the weight of the truck so it will roll easily. Now with my interest peaked I again ask what he has to have for it to which his reply literally "stunned" me which doesn't happen very often. He said, "Nuthin, I want you to get it out of here so I got someplace to park my planter!". I'm obviously living right as I had absolutely no inkling that was coming as he handed me the title from his bib pocket. I'll continue if the interest is still there and the audience hasn't fallen asleep..... Thanks,
Signing in. Want to hear more of this story.
To continue: I arranged to borrow a gooseneck trailer with a winch to extract this tractor as there was plenty of room to get around. It pulled up onto the trailer without fanfare and I got it back to the shop which was about 16 miles distant. In between the time I'd been given the title and actually picking it up was about two weeks and I had received the antique license plates back in almost record time by this state. "62 Mack" is it's number but I call the truck "Snuf" for "Short Nosed Ugly @ucker" as the engine is actually nine inches into the cab and offset to the right about 15 degrees for enough room to drive it. The passenger side is quite cramped. The truck is beautiful to me however, but the name is catchy. Nothing much left of the vinyl and burlap interior citing age and probably critters but even the "eyeball" interior lamps are there: Upon opening the rt. hood panel, here is the "blower" that was referenced: Upon closer examination you can see on the side of the turbine housing where it has been rubbing on the fender filler panel. There are no rubber insulators left in the rt. side rear engine mounts allowing these items to contact each other. The installation is tight but there should be about 1/2" clearance at a minimum. With the filler panel removed: Arrival at the shop under the cover of darkness: I unloaded the truck to return the trailer and will show the first outside photos in a follow up as can only attach four photos per post. Thanks,
Oh there is lots of interest, and i'm not asleep til 7:45 p.m. PT. This will be a good thread.
Continued: It rained a bit in the overnight hours but here is the truck seeing it's first light of day in just over 10 years: I was tempted to retain the "custom" full rear fenders, but elected not to..... Upon dragging the truck into the shop and after installing two new Group 31 top post batteries to replace the four six volt cells, the engine wound around easily. I let it spin for about 45 seconds with the fuel cutoff pulled to ensure it would have a light oil coating on all surfaces before attempting to start the engine. I then started to work the manual fuel pump primer to which I could get no resistance. Evaluating further I discovered underneath the fuel crossover tube, (hose actually) had rotted in two and there was no fuel in either tank. After chipping crud from around the shutoff valves of both tanks, they closed and I dumped a fresh five gallons of offroad diesel into the right fuel tank as that is where the pickup is located. Now working the hand primer I got some resistance but immediately severed a discharge hose leading to the fuel pump gallery. Off into the storeroom I go and replaced this piece of hose with another section to use as a test. With this installed fuel pressure came right up and the engine readily fired off taking a few moments to settle down to a smooth idle. First smoke: Turns out the truck really runs very well and no blue smoke at all. Plenty of black as you get into the throttle but old Mack engines tended to do that..... The engine readily fires very easily now with oil flowing to the governor as it has the "Woodward" throttle installed and require engine oil pressure to operate correctly. Once it warms just a bit the idle is very smooth, acceleration is crisp, and return to steady idle is very satisfactory. After verifying the clutch disc was not frozen to the flywheel I found the transmission easily slips into and out of all gears. Also found the foot valve was very much stuck and when forced down, it wasn't coming back up!! Grabbing the plunger with a pair of "Channelock" pliers I was able to get it freed up so elected to go for a "jaunt" around the fields surrounding my shop. Didn't take but just a couple of feet to discover the brakes were not all working as upon light service brake application the truck "darted" to the right and jerked the steering wheel loose from my immediate grasp. I'll follow up on this a bit later. Now knowing the brakes were questionable I took it easy until getting onto a field service road then wound it up a bit. The truck accelerates well, shift nice and is overall pretty good. It was pretty easy to tell the truck needed king pins by the transfer of motion up the steering column but I ran around about 1/2 hour in the field bouncing and smiling all the way. Getting back to the shop and exiting the truck to open the overhead door I could smell antifreeze which was hot. Thinking I had a leak I noticed the smell and steam was exiting the engine through the crankcase draft tube. I quickly backed into the building and parked the truck in the stall where it is now. Removing the oil cooler and disassembling the same I found the "O" rings had shrunk from setting and were bypassing the coolant into the oil. I ordered a sealing kit which was still supported by Mack and rebuilt the cartridge. The crankcase oil level was now about 1.25 gallons over full where it was at the full mark prior to starting out. Knowing the truck is not arabic and should not be making oil, I figured the oil cooler had failed as have seen this many times in the past. I did drain, install new filters, and cleaned the sump screen installing fresh SAE30 oil, (as per prior owner) and then allowed it to run almost two hours in the shop without any additional cooler leakage. I then washed the cooling system twice with "Cascade" dishwasher soap and recharged with a fresh 50/50 mix of antifreeze. I'll update with some on the teardown as time goes on. Thanks,
That sounded promising from the stand point of the engine runs well without IP problems and the gearbox is working well. The sheet metal on that 67 looks good.
Nice acquisition!! I’ll enjoy following this thread. Darryl
Now I'm going to tell you why the truck was "gifted" to me at no cost. As mentioned I was in the auto body business a lot of years. I also ran road service calls and had rollback trucks. One hot afternoon I crested a hill and seen a young lady with a Dodge Caravan on the side of the road with the hood up. As I went around her I noticed two car seats with little ones strapped in and knowing it was mid 90's in temperature and a hood up usually meant a non runner, I pulled over to investigate. It turns out the engine ran fine but she did not know the spare tire was underneath the van between the seats, nor how to extract it! The hood was up to allow the engine to stay cool till she could get help. I, (feeling her plight) changed the tire and sent her on her merry way without charge. Sometime later and just before Christmas I had a Dodge Charger come in after a deer hit. The gent had a $1000.00 deductible on his insurance coverage and although I usually didn't do this, I allowed him to make five $200.00 payments to the shop over 10 months. Never really thought too much of it but that old "Bah, Humbug" attitude must have subsided for a bit in a moment of deliriousness..... Anyway both of these were the prior owner's kids. Unbeknownst to me I'll add, but I was certainly remembered for many years through Christmas cards and a couple other small jobs on top of the truck gift.
Dang. Really enjoying this thread. I’d love to see your other rigs as well.
Continuing: Deciding I really didn't like the brakes being as they were I decided to get after them to make it right. Boy was I in for a surprise when I started breaking the hubs apart! Only three of the six brakes installed worked at all. The rt. front, the left front drive axle end, and the rt. rear rear drive axle brakes were operational. The rest either had blown air chambers, or were frozen solid. Here are a few shots of the rt. front of the forward drive axle end: The left front wheel had a type 16 service chamber which the shell was rusted and had pieces missing from it. It did not stroke with shop air applied. The left rear rear had a Wagner Power Amplifier chamber and was frozen solid as was the wheel end shown. The other two ends were Bendix Rotochambers and one of those on the right side of the rear rear was near frozen solid but did break loose. As you can see from the photos the one wheel seal was leaking terrible. I think the "Good Ole Boy" rules applied in this truck getting through inspection myself. After stripping off all the defective brake components, the drums all cleaned up with plenty of meat remaining. I then had the original cast aluminum brake shoes relined complete along with all new wheel end hardware. They did a nice job with that but it is expensive to have done any more. The original slack adjusters are good and usable but the cams themselves were beyond shot. They were almost an 1/8" down in the bearing surfaces. Unable to find replacements, I had my uncle anneal, build up, turn, reharden, then regrind them to the 1.50" dimension needed. They look new although there is minute wear to the splines. The slacks still fit tight so should be alright for use. I wanted to go with auto slacks but the centerline pivot to the rears is 7.0" and I can't find auto slacks with that much available. The fronts are 5.50" pivot so they are going there. The brake spiders are too large to allow mounting larger brake chambers so going to install new type 20 service chambers on the drives, and stay with type 16 on the steer. If someone could show me where it is legal to make spacers to relocate the brake chambers and use offset arms I could squeeze in type 24/24 spring brake chambers or possibly even 30/30 types but I'm not willing to find out they're not legal on the side of the road by a DOT cop. I have pulled the cam bushings from the spiders and do have new but they've not been pressed in yet. I'm needing to paint strip and refinish the spiders yet. More about the brake hardware in the next installment. Thanks, I did install new king pins after finding a vendor in NOS parts for the series axle I have which is not that common any longer. They were the ream to fit but I still have my expansion reamers and had a friend make tapered pilots to keep things centered. All front end parts are tight now.
Continuing: Probably going to be the last installment for the evening but here are some shots of the brake hardware: Sandblasted clean: Same parts painted: What is not shown is the spraying of the bare ferrous parts with a 20% solution of hydrochloric acid to remove the flash rusting seen in the first photo, then the high build epoxy primer/sealer followed by the 2K custom tinted Mack red polyurethane enamel. This stuff will take the heat of brake drums and not lose it's sheen. I could not get all the grease and such removed from the rear spokes and drums so separated them and they are currently at the blaster to be stripped clean. Getting anxious to get this part wrapped. These are the rim spacers. I went with Ford Argent Silver for these. They too were blasted clean, (although new) to get the same treatment: Hope the posts so far have been entertaining at least. Thanks,
I'm surprised she wasn't fitted with wedges. Got real lucky with S-cam foundations.
That’s an awesome story and a great truck! Gotta love the B Model. I’ve had a few and worked on quite a few. I don’t believe in much than I cannot see but I am a FIRM believer in karma. If your story isn’t proof positive.... I don’t know what is!
I have one truck, (1974 RL797LST) with wedge brakes and they work well. They have been taken care of however.
I have a single truck with wedge brakes. It is a 1974 RL797LST. They work well but that one is very torn apart for a frame up restoration. It is serial number 19001 which I think is the first truck built for the 1974 model year but not certain. It is all original with engine, trans, and rears. Going to replace the cab on this one as after removing the rust found out this one was unbelievable rusty. It worked the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in CA for a lot of years and I guess the salt air really ate it up. I got it on a trade deal from a guy in MN whom bought it out there and brought it back but never touched it. The Mack V8 engine runs very well.
Love me an E9 V8. They sound awesome and look bada$$ sitting low in the frame rails!
Found these of the front brakes backing plates and chamber mounts. Same paint treatment: The parts are sprayed slick enough they should be fairly easy to keep clean. Found one of my license plate:
Drove an early Superliner for a while with the 450HP version. I thought it sounded like an over jetted gasser. But then I like 2 stroke Detroits. Love a bit of 12V71 music. Found that old Mack sitting by a cornfield a couple weeks back near my house... Still working hard after all these years.
I don't have any E9 series engines. I do have three ENDT866 engines and one ENDT865 engine which belong in trucks I have. This is my "Water Wagon" and it has an ENDT866 engine: This is an R795S series. It currently has an ENDT865 that has been turned up but I purchased this truck to install a 12V-71T Detroit Diesel into. One of these days I'll get around to it:
A Hah Your Rob from over at Big Mack Truck Forums, the radar engineer gave you away, and the long winded descriptions.
Yup, but no longer a participating member there. Not much into drama myself and the site has sidelined what was of primary interest to me. When I tell a story I like to relate to the listener/reader as if they were there. Little "windy" at times but that is what it takes. You know as well as I the amount of labor, time, money, and love it takes to do this kind of work and we both know it sometimes isn't easy. I no longer have employees so work by my lonesome. I'm not a "checkbook builder" with anything I work with, or on, and if I say "I" did it, it means exactly that; otherwise I give credit where it is due. I burned the candle at both ends a lot of years with both the radar job and the body shop and fight employees and customer relations on top of that. Now retired I have a bit of time to work on projects I've accumulated over the years and really enjoying it to say the least.
Never saw a "B" model with that caved in rear of cab, was that for clearance when hauling trailers? Then again all the "B" models I was around were either single tandem axle dumpers in the various quarries the company had in this area of the country. Well now that I think of it there were some pulling trailers, but those were used as tractors pulling Easton side-dump trailers to the primary crushers at a couple plants. Could not find a picture of a "B" model hauling one but here is a picture of a model with a Euclid R-15 tractor. At least one quarry actually hauled doubles of these with a tractor.
Here are the parts to rebuild the brake system so far: Lots are obsolete so has taken a bit to accumulate the needed items. As mentioned having the brakes being relined was expensive and I was able to conjure up the parts for the wheel ends that will work. I've relied upon my uncle and friends to do precision machine work, but he has since had a very debilitating stroke and will not work again. Using almost all wheel end hardware new including wedges, nuts, studs, etc: Even replacing both the service brake and accelerator pedals as the current installs are from the R model series: This truck is actually going back to work with it's original drivelines and relatively "as built". A friend of mine whom is the local New Holland implement dealer farms a lot of ground, and I do a lot of pickup and delivery for him using his truck and trailer. I'm going to utilize this B-673 to do the same for him as he cannot justify keeping the semi tractor for the limited amount of time it gets used. I can run farm/mileage plates much cheaper than 48 state apportioned as I will only run local hauling his implements, and grain during planting and harvest. Should be a good fit as his grain wagon, (semi trailer) is a 1968 model year if memory serves, but it's been kept up and does not set in the weather if not being used. I have another Mack B-61T I'm building up to replace my worn out and shot 1996 Dodge 3500 pickup which recently collapsed the frame from rust degradation. Thanks,
The "contour" cabs were brought out to clear the then new "square nosed" van trailers. Length laws were still short in those days, (45' if memory serves) so with the fifth wheel all the way forward and you could still pull a 35' flat, or van trailer with squared front end and clear the cab. Made the interior of the truck "cozy" to say the least. I find it comfortable myself but many did not. I've seen side dump trailers but they weren't that popular around here for some reason. Bottom dumpers seemed to be for a spell but nowadays is all end dump whether frame or frameless. This truck I'm the second owner of and it always pulled a bottom dump when working: That is a 1978 RL755LST and still has it's original 1693TA and 13 speed. It runs well but won't hardly pull itself the needs for a clutch is so bad. It was purchased in Paducah, KY back in 05 and driven to the shop barely pulling the hills in southern IL on the way back. The cab is very bad but I have another low mileage fire truck cab to use on it. I've not driven it off my property but it starts easily but you almost can watch the fuel gauge plunge to "E" as it idles..... Thanks,
Around me, almost every rock jockey in the surrounding counties ran R686STs . I blame those and them long nose Henry's for being ground down to nothing now. I tell folks in my 20s I was 6'2" , now I'm 5'4" from setting all those camel backs and hendricksons in place .
This is a great thread! I’m admiring the work as well as the workspace- definitely set up for doing the work! Keep ‘em coming.
Man I know. Never was a driver myself except for a local lumberyard when I lived in Springfield. Always was a mechanic till going into the Navy and getting some formal training which I developed into a career of 34 years. Damn how I lived through it I'll never know..... Don't know how many Camelback's and Hendrickson beams I've rebushed and rebuilt over the years but they were the suspensions to have in the vocational trades for many years if you wanted durability.
Myself and two friends using my old crane truck put that building up back in 2001 - 2002. I've not touched every bolt but probably half of them for sure. I contracted the concrete work, overhead doors, along with the office and employee bath/storage room(s). I need to install new lighting as the 400W MH fixtures are expensive to operate and at their end of life cycle. They are quite dim as opposed to when they went up. Will probably refixture next spring. No longer in the body repair business, I'm going to sell off my frame machine and a few other infrastructure support items no longer needed and build a new paint room large enough for a semi tractor. Currently I do large painting in the open and that works well but I cannot control the heat or airflow like my current room does. Did this tractor last week to generate some funds to pay for truck parts and it would have been nice to be in a controlled atmosphere: Certainly don't mean to come on here and sound like I'm bragging but usually if it will fit in the building, I will work on, or with it.
Got a small job in the paint room going now re glassing some of the ridges on the bottom of a lightweight duck boat. Dragging up a concrete launch finally wore it through. I'll snap a couple of that repair a bit later. Couldn't locate the inner wheel seals for the steer axle the other morning so pulled a hub to ensure I'd installed them as that was the only place I couldn't see. I set up my "Back Buddy" as I really don't wrestle these heavy parts any longer by hand and pulled the spoke and drum easily: I really like that thing as it saves the back and is precise in placement. The seals were installed into the hubs but I surely don't remember doing it.....
Autopilot. Its weird the things that you do subconsciously without even thinking. Ever wake up sweating bullets trying to remember, "did I torque that last fastener?" Only to confirm it was tight first thing in the morning?
Had a Superliner E9 it was definitely weird sounding... put straight stacks on it. Kind of sounded like homesick moose chasing a couple piccolo players. When the E9 gave up (had really poor bottom end torque starting around 197,000 gross loads) we shoveled a Cat into it.
Yup. Drain plugs for certain. I've been known to go out into the parking lot and crawl under something because I don't specifically remember tightening a drain plug after an oil change. Tell you a little story about that subject right there: Back in the summer of 1974 and at my first paying job as a handyman mechanic's helper, the owner, (Ed) and one of his buddies, (LeRoy) wanted me to change the oil in a very clean 1967 Chevy 1/2 ton stepside pickup. LeRoy owned an autobody shop and the truck was very clean and Ed and him had been friends for over 30 years at the time. Anyway, here I am a young punk kid just starting out and these two keep harassing me to not forget to check this, check that, etc. The engine was a 327 and still had the cartridge oil filter which I'd never seen in the past on a vehicle that new. I changed that, got up from the creeper and dumped five full quarts of Penzoil 10W-30 motor oil into the engine and from the bulk decanter out the drain plug which I'd neglected to install. When just about four and a half quarts were dumped in these two ******** start to just about doubling over laughing at me as the oil slick grew in size underneath. Boy did I feel like a heel but by the end they decided it was worth the cost of the oil for the laugh and didn't even make me pay for it. I have not missed a single drain plug again and that one has stuck with me over 45 years as one of those things I'll never forget.
The Mack V8's all pretty much sound the same to me and definitely a different tone to them. Far too expensive of engine citing lack of parts to run distant with any longer. I have two spares, (both ENDT865) which are complete but unknown running condition for spares.
You mean you forgot you told me if I put them in while you were on the phone the other day you'd pay me $50.00 for my help!
Well you know they say the mind is the second thing to go, or was I dealing with one of those robocalls again.....
Took a break from the truck today to work on a friends duck boat. Dragging it up by the back across a concrete boat ramp is a bit abrasive to fiberglass. I didn't take any photos before starting it but here are a couple near the end. I'll paint it tomorrow:
I caught that right away, He and I have derailed a few threads on another forum (welding) bringing up old Macks and Detroits
Yup. Two of the things in life I understand the most.
No updates today as far as trucks as worked hauling tractors. Had a couple come back to the dealership for warranty work now that harvest is wrapping up and some farmers can let the equipment go for a spell. One was operator error running on the hard road locked in 4 wheel drive and "pretzeled the front driveshaft in a sharp turn. I got it out by combination torch and wrenches and that one's probably not going to be covered under warranty..... I spoke with the duck boat owner and I would like him to use it and bring it back before it's painted to ensure all the water leaks are taken care of. It's an old boat, (1977) and has been beat on pretty good so want to hit it only a single time. Buddy I painted the tractor for sold a new diesel 72" Grasshopper mower, and took in on trade a 2011 Woods Commercial "Mowin Machine" 61" mower with a D902 Kubota diesel engine. He sold this machine new also. Nothing wrong with the Woods having only 345 hours and I'm going to purchase it as it's priced very right to me. Been wanting one of those things for quite a spell but never would part with the money. Brought the old R795 back into the shop this evening as it is supposed to snow tonight. The truck has been tarped but it is ripping and don't want snow inside the cab. It hasn't been started since I put it outside in April and I'd wager not 10 blades went by on the engine cooling fan before the engine fired right off. Always has been a good starting engine so this really is no surprise to me.
I was a Grasshopper dealer at one time. Those 72" diesels are quite the machine, he got a good one there. The Woods trade in, well, I am not so sure about that. I am not sure about who was building their mowers in 2011. Grasshopper quit building for Woods in the mid to late 90's. Since then, Woods tried building their own machines, then had Gravely build them, then had possible Ransomes Bobcat build them. It is hard to tell who built them in 2011. Also not sure where you will find parts for that Woods. hopefully, you have a good Woods dealer near you. At least you have a great engine to run the thing.
Thanks, the same dealer has Woods, Gravely, Simplicity, Dixie Chopper, Troy-bilt, and another lesser brand I cannot remember also. They did have SCAG, but let that one go as not very popular in this area for some reason. I was under the impression they built it after the Grasshopper contract expired? Can't claim to know however. This one is quite clean and the former owner wanted another, (larger) but the Grasshopper was a better deal as in stock where the Woods would have needed to be ordered. This one has that power jackscrew to elevate the deck too which is kind of nice for pressure washing underneath. This one is 25hp and the Grasshopper is 29hp but the larger deck is what he was after as he purchased the neighboring property. I've about worn my Woods RD-7200 mower deck out I purchased new in 1999. I've had to do quite a bit of welding on it over the past couple of years but I mow almost three acres, (rough) weekly and have since it was new. I'm wanting the zero turn as it's so much easier to trim with the deck out front now that my wife has decided to start planting trees. I'm under three bills for this one so not hurting even if it needs some work although it doesn't appear to need anything.
You did get a nice deal on that Woods. Woods did try building their own machines for a while. However, they almost got into a lawsuit over patent rights with Grasshopper. Sometime after that, say 2006 +or-, they got someone else to build their machines.
When you look at the layout of this machine and the grasshopper you can see they are near identical in equipment placement and such. Minor differences is about all. I was really wanting a used Grasshopper, (900 series) but by the time they come around reasonably priced they are practically worn out from what I've seen. I'm not one that rotates equipment very much and purchase for the long term as generally the next owner is a scrapyard. I told my buddy, (the dealer) about three years ago I was wanting one of these and he assured me when he got a good one in he'd do me right. So far this looks to be what I was after. They've serviced it every year since new, with new blades every two years and I have the log book that was kept. The belts and blades along with the magnetic clutch were all new this spring and it mowed twice this year before I got it. Looks pretty clean to me and I'll post a photo tomorrow for your opinion. Thanks,
Got a call they are finished "touching up", (reblasting) my rear drums and spokes so will retrieve them later today. I need to paint strip and refinish the rear brake spiders and then push the new bronze bushings into them so I can build up the brakes. Broke out both of my tumble blasters the other day and started working the brake hardware over to remove the rust on these items. It works well with glass beads and 15 - 20 minute cycles turns rusty/corroded parts in something a bit different: As example of before: After: BB0 Blasters from Empire: These little machines save one hell of a lot of work dressing up small parts. I usually paint the parts afterward but am considering sending them out to be cadmium plated, or black phosphate. I don't need the EPA on my ass so won't bring those processes into the shop. Here is a link to another blaster I have, (same one) but have never used. It requires my screw compressor to run but I don't have everything in place to use it at this writing: All three of the blasters came out of medical appliance manufacturer in Wisconsin a few years ago when they replaced with automated machinery. These were actually working the day before I loaded them onto my trailer and brought them back to the shop. As they came out, their replacements were installed in the same spaces.
My old Worthington "Blue Brute" 250cfm compressor: This has a Continental B-427 gas engine and really makes the air. Not an oil burner but does like gasoline. Runs really well but the carburetor needs a good refresh so another project. It was used by a truck body builder to paint there products and was replaced by an electric driven unit. They, as I, used this compressor to start their operation(s). I have a 300# pressure blast pot but probably won't do blasting as it leaves such a mess; sometimes best left to specialist(s) in their respective areas. I craned the compressor off the flat bed that delivered it and installed new tires to drag it back to the shop. Both sidewalls on the former tires were split badly and I wasn't going to trust them the seven miles back to the shop.
Woods: Runs perfect and mows nice. Needs new foam on the right steering handle as he caught it on a tool belt ripping it last year and never replaced. Machine has 372 hours on the meter and the oil filter has 340 hours written on it. It was always kept inside and will be during my tenure but it got caught in the snow last evening at the shop prior to bringing it in this afternoon. Now that it's in the shop I'll make a hole for it to reside.
What ever happened to the 6V92 IH, It running good?
Yes, runs very well and I use it for my yard horse. Really haven't done anything else to it since we spoke last. Easy starting thing and cranks easily when cold with a pair of group 29 cells installed. Need to rebuild the alternator as has a shorted diode trio and will pull them flat in a couple of weeks. I disconnect them when the truck is not in use. Not going to put the truck back on the road as far too rough, but it serves a good purpose now. My 96 black Dodge one ton, (Krusty) finally *hit the bed, (rust thinned frame broke) so going to get one of my Macks active for it's replacement. Thought serious about shoehorning that 6V92 into this B-61, but have several Mack engines in the shop so elected to stay that way. Truck is a 1957 I've had since 1979 and it now sports an 82 E6-350 engine and double over triplex I'd built up almost 20 years ago installed. This is the one I re railed and installed an air ride under: The intercooler, or more correctly "charge air cooler" on the deck is to be chin mounted and I'll fabricate the front bumper to incorporate this feature. Kinda hard doing a lot of this by myself but I do tend to get along pretty well with all three of my personalities depending upon the time of day. Also rely upon my skid steer a lot.....
Named him "Nestor". I pulled all the 9A90 injectors out and apart, soaked them in a heated solvent bath, reassembled and all seems to be fine. I have a fresh reman set of 9B90 series, but these work well so never installed them except for a short spell till cleaning the originals. Took a while to get the governor calibrated correctly, (and it really does need rebuilt) but the idle is smooth and power is very good for the duty he assumes. Lots easier to work on them when not all greasy and nasty: Very little electrical worked thanks to all the years of setting and rodents. I did finally rid the pungency with the help of gutting the interior, bleach in a yard sprayer, then ammonia a couple weeks later and it finally subsided. Wiring is bad at terminations of the main junction block behind dash as the area was solid encased in rodent nest. Exterior lighting and signals work, but need additional effort applied which I may or may not do. The interior panels were so chewed up they've not been reinstalled, and the cab is bare aluminum of which I found several cracks in the supporting structure. Setting in this same spot for one month shy of 35 years was conducive to the rodent problem: That tree did not exist when the truck was parked.
I like your shop! Looks like a great space to work. What size is it? It seems set up pretty well.
The building itself is 70'X100' with 18' sidewalls. The office area is 18'X26', and employee bath and storerooms take another 13'X22'. The spray room is about 18' deep and 12' wide. Car wash bar at the rear is about 9'X18' deep. There is also a wash bay out back. It was setup to be an auto body shop but I happen to like large trucks so figured I'd build it big enough for both. There is a 50'X100' "lean to" section never erected out back but they've hit me pretty good on taxes, (citing industrial zoning) so that won't be erected here. Thanks,
very nice. I'd be interested in seeing how the wash bays are set up. I am looking to build something in the 50x100 size and always appreciate new ideas and pictures. Great job with the old Mack's. I love old trucks and equipment. Thanks for taking the time to post up all the pics!
Nice looking mower. Nice trucks too and a great shop to work on them.
The inside wash bay is just a steel lined stall with a 36" square bar grate in the center. I did depress the floor so it drains toward the center of the stall 3/4" from the outside. It's not sloped enough you can really feel it but it does make the water flow towards the drain. The outer stall is set up the same way except the center is depressed 1-1/2" and the grating is actually a traffic rated unit like you see in a public street. You can literally drive a truck over it and it won't bend. This stall is open and it's an extension to the approach apron. Both sumps under the grates for the wash bays are 48" deep and formed concrete which I did myself. The building is on a septic system and I didn't want to fill it with mud so built these pits as to allow the dirt and grime to settle out before discharging to the oil/water separator, (buried outside) and then onto the septic field. It all works pretty well. I laid everything out myself and purchased a transit to ensure all the slopes were correct for the drains before they were buried under 8" of concrete.....
Boat owner and I decided, (at my insistence) he put the boat in the water to ensure the water tight integrity has been restored before I paint it all up. I'm just going with a matte black finish so he can apply a scheme to his liking. This way if it still leaks it's easy to facilitate additional repairs without absorbing more in paint costs. I picked up four gallons of paint stripper this morning so am going to submerge the drive axle brake spiders tomorrow to get them cleaned. Another buddy has offered to push and fit the bushings/seals into the same after they are painted up. Hope to get that done the first of next week to finally get the brakes and wheels back on after the paint work is finished..... Been raining and snowing here the past couple of days so still haven't picked up the rear spokes and drums yet either. Probably get that done tomorrow.
Boat rode the waves placing decoys and hunting over nine hours today without a drop of water entering the hull. Going to bring it back in mid week and get it painted up. Did paint strip a few parts including the brake spiders and they are at another friends shop to have the bushings pressed in. After that they'll be painted in the same red most of the other brake hardware is. Running a bit low on paint activator so not going to run shy on a mix and have to throw it out. Should finish with tumble blasting parts tomorrow and will get to thread chasing all the fasteners to ensure the hardware will go back together as it should.
Good to hear of your progress. I'd be interested in a little more info on that oil/ water separator.....
It is a commercial unit I'd dug up from an auto dealership teardown several years ago. I cut the side out of this one, (30" square hole) leaving a bare 600 gallon tank with two top access ports , (manways) to gut the rusted internals. I then basically fabricated sets of tracks to replace the original framework allowing for easy servicing from the top. Here is a link: https://www.ecologixsystems.com/product-oil-water-separators-below-ground/ I think the brand is the same but I was poised to purchase new till running across a former dealership being torn down and knew one of these was in the ground. I've never had to pump or clean this one yet but the sludge is readily removed when it's time. The discharge water feeds right into the septic and it's not oily so the unit must be working.....
Thanks.
Got the boat painted today. Went with a simple Rust-Oleum brand matte finish black. Simple job but being low gloss goes with blending into the blinds and such. Did nothing with the B67 today as was cleaning/organizing on the shop.
Boat left yesterday afternoon to a very happy customer. Temperatures are supposed to nosedive pretty much by the weekend so he's hoping to get a bit of duck hunting in today and tomorrow. Said that given the black the bottom is finished in he's not going to do anything else to it. Decided to pull the deck from my Woods mower as it's never been off the power unit to give it a good evaluation. Both universal joints for driving the deck are non serviceable types and have wear so going to replace. The splines the driveshaft slips onto was an ordeal to get loose and ultimately took a 10# slide hammer and hook to get it free. Like a tractor PTO overrunning clutch, there is a collar you pull back and it should easily pull from the splines but this one has no provision for greasing and was rusted/stuck fast. I'll get this stuff addressed while it's apart over the winter months. Figured while I had it broken apart I'd go ahead and knock all the weeks and grime out of it. This photo is so I could get under without any stands in the way. I stood the mower up to about a 45 degree angle and worked well but the next time I think I'll just hang the power unit from the gantry crane so it hangs vertical. The battery is a gell cell, and of course the engine oil needs drained first but this is a maintenance type action so would be done at the same time. Takes all of about 3 minutes to remove the deck so really not too difficult to do good routines. Prototyping and surveying for a lift point I initially used the engine lifting bails: I didn't think to snap photos when I had it to maximum lift but I'd wrapped to the rear frame and run the car lift all the way up to gain unobstructed access underneath. It worked well.
Poor old "Krusty": Probably going to look for another truck to slip the V10 engine into as this one still runs very well. I purchased the truck new in 1996 so know it's history quite well.....
Those are not rust holes but lightening holes to get better fuel mileage!
That truck needed all the help it could get with mileage including a tail wind!!
This project has been placed on hold for a few days citing the ongoing harvest timeframe. Been making some mobile welding repairs, (along with some "heat & beat" on equipment so a farmer friend of mine can continue pulling in his crops. Just yesterday one of his helpers hooked a gauge shoe on the combine head into something buried and twisted a 30ft. head out of alignment. Heat here, twist here, burn here, etc. was the order of the day but replacement parts easy climb north of $3K for what was damaged, so we repaired for a fraction of the cost.
Well, It was running well. I installed new fuel filters just before getting it brought home last December and the truck died on me today while I was moving stuff around the yard. Could not get it to restart. Still has 1/2 full saddle tanks which equates to about 70 gallons. Decided to see if the primary fuel filter was starved. This is what I found just as I broke the seal loose: After the filter was removed: Guess we would say that filter is plugged, and history. The fuel tanks must be a mess inside? The discharge path from this filter and the secondary filter are clean so purchased another primary filter on the way back to the house to install tomorrow. Think I may pump those two tanks into a couple barrels and clean the tanks somehow.
Ooh, that is nasty.
Someplace around here I have a "Schroeder Bros." filtration cart which has cleanable filters. If I can find it I'll use it to pump the tanks down rather than a Graco double diaphragm pump and just keep recirculating a couple gallons of the same fuel stripping out contaminants with each pass through the filter media. I was really surprised the secondary filter was not visually contaminated also. I opened it's petcock and virtually nothing drained so knew the problem was upstream from that which is the filter shown. At that point had no idea if a compromised suction line, or rotted fuel pickup tube but wasn't getting fuel regardless. Little bit every day they say. Keep the thinker engaged and retirement isn't so boring.
That filter is fine, just flush out a bit and reinstall!
Yup, since it's clean on the output path thinking I'll just flush it backwards so it unclogs and reinstall it back on the truck.....
Found my filter cart but there are no filters in it. I was using it for a waste oil transfer pump prior to switching over to air powered pumps in the shop several years ago. Went ahead and evacuated the tanks into a pair of barrels and will let them settle out a few days before working with them. The sludge and algae in the tank interiors is phenomenal. I'll get these cleaned out with my steam cleaner and various nozzles to reach everywhere. I went to the parts store after rounding up a couple filter heads and purchased both a 30 micron, and a 10 micron filter as these are better than the primary filter on the truck to catch anything that breaks loose after refilling. I'll temporarily bypass the primary filter housing till the fouling is done.
I don't think the mechanical driven gear pump is pulling fuel. I cannot get freshly filled filters and housings with an inlet hose into a five gallon can of fresh diesel to pull through. This could be a compromised suction line, or an imperfect seal on a filter housing, but I've not progressed that far yet. I may plumb in both a vacuum gauge, and pressure gauge on each side of the fuel pump as my other trucks have them as quick troubleshooting aids.
Could also be a problem with the yoke that drives the pump or even the splined shaft that turns the blowers. I might be tempted to take the hose off the primary filter housing that goes to the suction side of the pump and support it up straight and fill with fuel and have someone bump the starter while you watch to see if it sucks the fuel down into the hose. Or stick the hose in to a small can of clean fuel and crank over to see if the pump is pulling the fuel out of the can.
I agree on all points. The truck is a 79 and the braided fuel lines are very stiff and crusty. I've not broke any of those loose yet; only the ones from the pickup in the tank, and coarse filter housing. I was wanting to blow compressed air backwards through the lines to ensure the pickup tube is not plugged as the crap that was in the bottom of the tanks was thick. However not sucking fuel from the can is a different scenario. I can set a gallon can higher than the engine and gravity feed the inlet on the fuel pump without issue to see if she's pulling there. I have plenty of "Push-Loc" style hose to custom make any length needed. Raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock right now and the truck is parked in a muddy spot so don't know if I'll get to it today or not but will report back with findings. Really want to get it into the shop for filler work while I await other parts for other projects. Thanks,
Running again. New filters of course but the problem was the 90 degree transition from the top of the fuel tank where the flexible hose running to the primary filter connects. Had a solid blockage there and couldn't pull fuel through it. After I removed this line the protruding gunk looked like rust filings stuck to a magnet. Removing as much as possible, I then blew the remainder back into the tank via my little hand pump used for priming starved out diesels. After reconnecting the line and priming the system, the truck fired right off making smoke again: Having 8 bald drive tires it's not about to be able to be moved till it dries out a bit. Even with the power divider locked in the truck won't budge. Oh well, glad to have this problem rectified.
Got the truck out after releasing the trailer. Kinda greasy back there but a couple of fore an aft runs while avoiding tire spin till I got on solid grass and she walked right up to the gravel drive. Now in the shop it can dry out overnight and I'll address some non working electrical issues. This truck having a short wheelbase and sharp steering cut makes it ideal for jockey work. On top of that it has hydraulic power steering which is much nicer than the "Air-O-Matic" of the B-61.
Had a couple trucks with that system. Did not seem too bad if there were not too many leaks! Just a bunch of air hoses in some of the worst areas for rub through leaks. All the newer Mack trucks, and we had a few as the company that originally owned the quarries in this part of the country also owned a Mack Dealership in Pa.,had various versions of Sheppard power steering.
Not really a bad system in it's day when readily supported. After Maradyne acquired the company and raped it for profits, it declined from lack of parts support, and age. The control valves replacing the standard drag link were crimped together and to rebuild it required a new housing. Not bad before they were discontinued. Rubber and leather packings along with the aluminum tube which was the cylinder were easy to work with when parts were available. Pretty trouble free system really when maintained. The system got a bad rap for something it was never designed for which is close maneuver operation such as docking. It would deplete your air reservoirs faster than compressors of the day could keep up with. No real harm as the system automatically reverted back to manual steering. During nor.al city driving they were a great relief from the then prevalent manual steering. You didn't want to run loose front end parts with it however as the system would fight both itself, and you in operation.
Truck fired right off this morning. Right at 31 degrees and it's not plugged in so fat, dumb, and happy I am.
That's pretty good for a turbo 92, must be a pretty good tuning job.
Thanks. The injector settings are right on the book numbers. Still has a bit of governor "hunting" for about 30 seconds upon cold start, but does smooth out and runs pretty even. Really turns over fast with two group 29 batteries installed. Appreciate the help.
Got the rt. headlamp burning but the metal bowl is rotted out. Lt.headlamp does not light as one of the spade lugs is corroded off. Now have intermittent dash lamps but the dimmer switch is bad and it only works in a couple places. I'll probably go around it allowing full brightness. Blower motor functions on about medium speed but the blower motor switch is frozen in place. Radiator is bad and coolant level is low enough the water pump does not appear to be circulating into the heater core. A water control valve could be present and closed also but haven't got that far yet. AGC fuseholder is a mess from rodents. The turn signals and 4 ways work if the fuseholder for these is jumpered as one of the legs is corroded off. The right power window works when power is directly applied to it's wires but not through the switch. Didn't get far enough to ascertain if switch is defective but certainly could be.
At least its yard duty only. My yard horse that I picked up last spring. It's been out on the road quite a few times though. This was ditty bopping back to the shop with a customer trailer.
r rz. if you happen on to one i need a good hood for an s2200 corn popper 88 yr.mod
Yup this one will most likely never see open road again. Too far gone. After pressure washing the chassis I found the rear spring shackle on the LF spring pack just about busted through from fatigue. Virtually no insolators remain intact. Several hydraulic hoses either leak or seep. The outer jacket on almose all hoses is dilapidated exposing the steel braid. None of this is major in itself but in sum......
Will let you know if I do. Got a pic to refresh my memory?
Lucky for me, mine is all nylon on the air side. I did replace all the power steering hoses and heater hoses that were looking kind of ugly. The last thing I need is a problem with the DOT on I-90 picking up a set of trailers after the wrecker towed away the tractor.
Yup. Newer trucks went with the much less expensive nylon lines. I could easily convert most of these over but they still function as is. If I had intention of working this truck off the property I'd be spending a lot to get it to what I'd consider road worthy. Mice wreaked havoc on the air and electrical above the windshields so don't have much of that repaired, but rather capped to stop leaks. No air horn, wipers, ect. which are routed up there. Amazingly the electric city horn still works..... Only real reason I like the truck is it is short and turns very sharp. Not the easiest thing to enter and exit, but visibility is good once seated. It has an RT-9509 trans and 4 spring rears that are "IH" branded. Don't know rear ratio but pretty low as it was used for a lowboy tractor and 4.11 or lower I'd assume. It doesn't move very fast, but does pull my junk around easily. Ultimately I may break it down for parts as I have an old LeRoi compressor that was powered with a 4-71 and the engine is locked up. I guess the engine leaked oil faster than it burned it and the prior owner didn't keep up? However the compressor is in good condition so this engine may go to power that unless I run across another 4-71 some day; but those aren't too common any longer.
Shame is I know where there is a almost new 4-71 that has been just sitting in a heated shop/store room for close to 15 years. I know it ran back in 2015 as it was one of the last things I did just for kicks before I retired! It was originally a two valve head 4-71 in a NorthWest Crane. compnay had a project they needed a small diesel to run a jaw crushers. So Norm and I were let loose with this one. Rebuilt with a four valve head and N-65 injectors converted to all spin on filters and installed one of those old time Detroit Diesel emergency shut down systems. As the crane application had a Rockford clutch already it was an easy unit to make into a POT engine to run the crusher. As it turned out the project only lasted for a few months that year and engine was stuck in the back of store room and then moved to another shop a few years latter. Probably 10 years ago a guy tried to buy it to run a saw mill but they wanted too much money so there it sets. Talked to a guy just a couple weeks ago and it is still there but they stole the battery off it to put in a drill rig that was working at the quarry. Sad thing is someday someone is going to stick it outside and then into a scrap trailer, I know how that company thinks. If you want it it is worth a million dollars but if they decide they need the floor space out it goes!
I replaced a lot of 4-71 generator set installations with John Deere 4.5ltr turbo diesel powered Kohler gensets. Not a much more reliable engine than a two stroke Detroit on generator duty IMO. Just can't get parts like in days gone by. Sure wish I'd have been able to keep one or two. Unfortunately they were returned to depot and used for parts to keep others still in service operational till all were replaced, or spare quantities built up. They were backup sets in the national airspace so quite important. Never did work on the two valve variety; all "N" series heads and injectors. This "92" in the truck is the only one of those I've worked on. Ran a lot of them as maintenance routines, but never worked on one. When I retired there was several 92's still going in the system as they were not being replaced on that contract. Same thing happened with the Continental, Hercules, White, Studebaker/Onan, Caterpillar, IH, and several other names/sets until replaced in the Kohler contract to bring all under current builds. Many sets had nothing wrong with them other than ready parts availability being problematic. Now they have trained monkeys to do the maintenance work; all they have to know is how to call the problem in so a subcontractor can be dispatched to make any repairs.
I saved this one from a replacement project back in July of 06. I had maintained this set for 16 years myself so was quite familiar with it. Here we are rolling it out the ventilation shutters onto my skid steer trailer: I swapped out the 12V-71N with an 8V-71N onto the 400kw generator installing an SAE #1 flywheel housing and 15" flywheel onto the 12V-71. Purchased this truck to install it into but haven't got around to it yet: Another project for down the road.....
I got my hands on nearly the identical engine in 2002 to install in the front end of a Terex TS-24 LoadRunner. All I got was the engine (no generator and the skid was torched off right behind the rear mounts) IIRC it was rated at 625HP as a standby. Had to change the flywheel housing and oil cooler (Terex had a trans cooler too, the double square box) We derated it to 500HP and near as I know its still moving dirt. There was a lot more to it but we had the parts from the original engine to swap on to it.
I'm thinking that is the same rating this one carried. N-90 injectors and slightly retarded timing in comparison to the 525hp rated industrial rated series. T18A40 turbochargers. The flywheel housing swapped right over from the 8V-71 to this one. I can't remember if it was an SAE #0, or SAE #00 but it was large, cast iron, and damned heavy. So heavy to handle I purchased the line up studs for sliding it onto the rear of the engine to keep from damaging anything. I kept everything else original including the cartridge type oil filters. I'd convert to spin on filters but haven't located the adapter yet. The flywheel housing on the engine now is aluminum.
Well Donaldson does still list them for the oil filters: https://shop.donaldson.com/store/en-us/product/P174779/17562 A few other numbers that come up for those adapters: GM 25010854 Luberfiner A340 Fram K3390 Baldwin OB1303 Quick check online and they are available but not cheap! $80 to $90+ each!
Ran all my fine threaded bolts and fasteners through a thread chasing operation this morning. About a hundred bolts and all but two are reusable with a couple needing replaced due to thread damage, (corrosion). I actually have two 5/8X18tpi bolts 2.75" in length that are victims of overzealous use of an impact wrench and are "bent" as the head oscillates around a circle when it's run into a nut or die. Closely looking at some of the load bearing flat washers I think I'll replace them along with the split lockwashers. These have obviously been off the truck a time or two prior to my ownership so going with new as will be any nylock nuts. In the blast cabinet I've had four split lockwashers broken into chunks so definitely fatigued. Getting ready to run into the truck parts store as wanting all new studs and nuts to retain the rear axle(s) into the hubs, and need hardener for the Mack red they will be in the next few days.
I’ve seen so many lock washers spread of late everything now gets a lock nut or some form of loctite. Even the grade 8 stuff is suspect. if it absolutely has to have a lock washer I’ll source the hardware from Cat.
I agree but this is old hardware and assume original to the truck, (1962). I did order 100 5/8-18 nylocks this afternoon along with grade 8 SAE 5/8 washers. Most of the fasteners are grade 5 but there are some that are grade 8. Not enough cost difference to worry about. I won't reuse the split lock washers but rather the SAE washers on both sides of the bearing surfaces as they clamp the aluminum brake spiders to the steel axle flanges. I wanted to order the bolts too but forgot and left the bad ones on the bench at the shop so didn't know the correct length. I'll get that tomorrow as everything will ship on Monday anyways.
All replacement bolts are ordered. Was shocked at the cost of replacements so I found the original studs which retain the axle flanges to the hubs. About 1/2 of them had come out with the nylock nuts attached and clamped those in a vise, heated the nuts and slowly spun them off with a cordless impact. Not wanting to damage them as they are $3.12ea and there are a total of 32. I then ran both ends through a thread chaser die so they will be good as new once they come out of the blaster tomorrow. Hopefully get some paint and assembly done before the holiday as I'm traveling this year. Been taxing on my remaining memory cells as it's been 10 years now since that truck was torn into.