Lately I have been seeing a number of various fancied out log trucks around here that are not like anything I have ever seen before. Petes with fancy flake paint jobs, polished aluminum/chrome all over, name/number printed on the fuel tank in fancy script that you cannot read with nothing on the door. Lower profile tires, and a headache rack that holds the stinger where the sides slope down/out rather than in so it is not seen as much. My question is why would somebody go to all that trouble for something that gets beat through the woods, and how do they keep them so clean? They must spend hours washing them in the dark after work, or maybe in the heat of a hoot owl afternoon. It seemed like in the past log trucks were strictly utilitarian, with the expectation that they would be beat to death before they got real old, and the independents' trucks were usually second hand and more so than company trucks.
Around here you see the same but one large factor is logging/forest service roads are a whole bunch better than years ago. Most rigs are air ride that helps but you don't see many company rigs around like years back so most are independents and I suppose are taking better care of their rigs. Truck Shop
I remember in the early/Mid 80's there was a guy on the Seattle docks that had a 352 Pete with air bags all around and he dropped it low when he was empty. Looked completely stupid to me... oh well. I think it had "Street Freak" lettered on the sides.
Oh man, must be different down there Up here our roads have turned to crap. Bare minimum on road maintenance on old main roads (main lines) and any of the new roads are just pure garbage. Just enough to get in, get the wood and get out. Potholes and ruts. Beating the crap out of the trucks With the air ride suspension, air ride cab and air ride seats, the drivers do not feel it like they used to so they don't slow down like they used to. BEATING THE TRUCKS! As far as pretty painted up trucks go, not very often you see one. Even the independent guys (Owner/operator) don't spend the coin to tiddle them up. During the dry season, they are covered in dust. During the rain, covered in mud. Hit it with a fire hose at the end of the day but it is not going to get clean. Heck, I used to take about an hour just to get the truck and trailer cleaned off enough so that I could do a decent inspection on them.
Well long hauling logs has become the way anymore. I see rigs hauling logs from the Cascades {Cle Elum} area to Elgin, Ore, roughly 265 miles one way one load a day. So as far as Chromed out log trucks, sure-it's mostly highway miles. And if a driver is beating a truck, most likely he isn't paying the bills.--It's odd seeing a log truck headed to Elgin with a load cruising along through the desert at Vernita crossing the Columbia river. {logs in the desert} Truck Shop
I see them almost every day on I-90 (in the desert).
Seeing log trucks go through the desert would be interesting. Last time I was in the Driggs, ID, I ran across some guys hauling logs to Livingston, MT. About 200 pavement miles and they have to navigate all the tourists in West Yellowstone.
Around here a log truck looks like something that barely passed it's last inspection.... Ed
Fewer saw mills and most specializing in different types of wood. Prices paid per board foot usually determines distance. The other side of the story is that if law enforcement sees two trucks pushing the speed limit, one clean and looking nice and the other appears to be a rolling wreck, guess which one gets stopped and is handed a thousand dollars worth of tickets.
My last thought is that there are few big company fleets rolling down the roads anymore. You might see the lazy W trucks around Aberdeen, Raymond and Longview areas but who can name another large timber company hauling their own logs anymore. Boise Cascade, Simpson Timber, and Rayonier are about all I can think of right now that no longer exist with the associated truck fleets. Most all log hauling in Washington and Oregon that I know of are independents.
Few guys here in town that still do Republic area to Bullfrog past Cle Elum for export logs, we did for a while on Fridays coming home from up there. I've seen them coming back empty from Oregon on 82 through Tri Cities a few times as well. Not fancy chromed out log trucks though lol, didn't know those existed
Sierra Pacific is about the only other one I can think of.
SPI has quite a few, they are very big in this region I'm sure you know. Robinson Timber here in town have a fair number but they only do the jobs, not own the timber. It seems strange to me that the companies up north would not want to have their own fleets to try and control any shortages in trucking that might crop up. But the gyppos stay pretty busy, some of them with the fancy ones and some with the old ratty ones.
Availability of trucks doesn't seem to be an issue up here. It's finding guys willing to take light loads of pecker poles 6+hrs one way for $18/ton that's the issue. Either to a mill across the state or completely out of the state for one a day and no loading over unless you wanna spend the night on the reservation. That being said local company here in town has been hunting down DNR jobs and staying local/semi local in the last few years. First few years were a little rough though.
I have three shiny trucks I'll sell ya!
This is a real log truck in my book-3408.
That is like our 5-axle truck, it has the most horsepower of the fleet & the least axles.
That one is very nice and what I would expect to see in a log truck. But the ones I am talking about have much lower profile tires, lower stance, horns and lights and air cleaners hidden, etc. And the roads around here are never as good as that one, either.
Maybe they are bull haulers, moonlighting during the day hauling logs, to try to make the payments on them fancy turd movers.
They look more like hay haulers but not quite so lightweight.
Lots of talk about fancy trucks but so few pictures!
Before logging went to #### in 2008 in BC quite a few guys would run nice, new iron. Maybe not fancy custom paint jobs (hard to justify when you trade them in on a brand new one every 4-5 years) but a fair amount of chrome and some chicken lights. Can't believe anybody would consider running lo-pro tires on a logging truck. Just sounds like a horrible idea. You're in diff deep mud 3 months a year as is.
I wish I had some pictures, have not seen as many this year as when I posted it. But I am not quick on the draw with my camera. They look a lot like the same style as hay haulers and such, tires not so low-pro and suspensions not as low, for obvious reasons. But a far cry from the old days of everything painted and fading and tires as tall as you could get. Here in California, for the most part logging only gets done when the roads are dry and dusty. When it rains it turns to slop and everybody goes home for the winter.
Spent some time northern Northern California this summer, broke down in Willits, spent the night in the Napa parking lot for an alternator. Made the ride over route 20 to fort bragg and then up the coast cutting west in Humbolt over the mountain to Petrolia what a ride! Guys there can drive, had 2 log trucks come up behind me in the hills out of no where, i pulled over for them to pass and i couldn't keep up then they shot off the road into the woods like they where shot out of a cannon, amazing driving. But people there know how to drive, lead follow or get out of the way, people that are slow pull over and the faster guy gives you a wave to say thanks, driving fast and you come up on a slow car they pull over and give you a wave, nothing like driving on the east coast. Out here if your to fast you get the finger, to slow and pull over you get the finger, pretty much you are getting the finger, or giving it i guess.
I had the same experience in West VA. Two log trucks, I pulled over and let them pass. I tried to stay up with them, couldn't do it and feel safe.
Used to run I-90 westbound over Snoqualmie summit every day, going down I would get in the far right lane and ride the gears down easy. The log trucks jumping on at the summit would get in the far left lane and leave a trail of black smoke going down. I guess if you do it 6 times a day...
When I lived in Ellensburg I knew lots of L drivers, I rode along several trips during winter logging. You use to find on Cummins powered loggers with non anroid pumps, A pair of vice grips on the return line and the pump would be shimmed to 2,400 rpm or there about, but it caused the engine rpm to fall slow so a short jake burst was used to drop rpm to speed up the shift.
I was sent to a Cummins school one year while working for the Komatsu dealer. I asked the instructor about that. He said he liked people who did that as it made for lots of work for their people. He wouldn't say what kind of damage it caused. At the time I thought is was pretty normal as a Cummins engine was always slow to decal after you took your foot off the pedal.
The damage was holes burned through pistons, plus broken cranks or bad cam shaft wear. Any of them that were shimmed-the bottom rod bearings looked as bad as the top bearing from the high rpm constantly yanking the pistons downward.
Can't say logging near here is as good paying. Most of the boys here are cutting Walnut(Furniture/veneer grade), Cherry and White Oak(barrels), a few are cutting massive amounts of Red Cedar for Chips and shavings(Mulch or animal bedding), trucks are a Hodge Podge of extended frames, conversions of old Road tractors, absolute epitome of crap trailers with some form of bunks on them and haul short distances. Running gear is kept up as are brakes and tires but sheet metal is let go to Iron or Bauxite Termites.
Had to take Engine Failure examination courses with Cummins and Detroit years ago with Gelco Leasing, learned a great deal as to wear indicators, piston failure points and progression, even with catastrophic failures whether were materials or modification or poor operational skill causes.
I laugh every time I see these guys with stretched Pete's and their "750 h.p. programs" going logging around here. They last a couple months and are in the shop broke and blown up. Here's a real log truck in northern Ontario. Twin steer, tri-drive, DD16 600/2050.
The logging industry has changed so much, #1 is the payload-you just can't run a puny piece of equipment. The only thing about using DD15-16's and I work on a lot of them is those engines can and do have cylinder head issues, but that said anymore there isn't a diesel out there that doesn't have issues at one level or another. People always bring up that Cat engines are so expensive, well they haven't been around the high dollar DD15-16 engines. Depending on the style of water pump it can run as high as 1,000 and is about what you would find in a car. Nice looking equipment can be run in the woods but it's not a place for pansy {look at me} equipment either.
Everybody wishes they still had a pre-emission Cat. But thanks to the gov, those days are gone now. So far I have had better luck with Detroit than Cummins. I have had emission system issues with both, but so far the only hard parts on the Detroits is the fan belt tensioner and idlers. Cummins have been injectors, fuel pumps, air compressors, ERG valves and coolers, thermostats. Same mileage on both doing same job. But like you saidTtruck Shop, I never complained about the price of Cat, because I got return on investment. And minimal downtime because they always had parts overnight at most.
Detroit was first with electronic control engines Suspect they had their bugs worked out first Not been around too many engines of later trucks, one dying ISX Cummins and a ancient 3406E that both had aged issues. Have paid attention to the complaints and costs increases DD seems to retain the better bargain even as expensive.
The costs nowadays really doesn't matter anyway, because you CANNOT keep them past warranty. We tried going one extra year to 6 years with our ISX and DD15's and it ended up costing $11,000 to $30,000 in emission system repairs and replacement. Name of the game now is extended warranty and dump them at 5 years. It's pretty sad.
See that here with the Local Truck Lines, nothing older than 6 years, defined by warranty. Dealers are sitting on a lot of used machines No Buyers so go to wholesale and trade in pricing beginning to show that.
Loggers around here are barely getting by, I haven't seen any pretty modified rigs yet. But there are suckers who read magazines in every walk of life so it's just a matter of time before some fool decides to "make a statement" by conforming to the fashion police. Personally, I associate low profile tires to low intellect. I wouldn't be caught dead driving a vehicle with tires that have an aspect ratio of less than 75.
Paystar your trucks looks pretty sharp beside the logger.
On Over the road rigs anyone who isn't running 295/75 22.5 tires is just adding extra weight, almost 20 lbs difference per tire, besides the fact you lose one those are everywhere. And yes there is the warranty factor, our last 20 came with a 750,000 mile warranty on drive train. The 1 box is the killer part of emissions $10,000 to replace but if you buy the warranty on the emissions-it's covered. The company is turning them over around 500,000, easier to trade with some warranty left. But because of recalls and constant issues the next five are going to be W990's with 525 hp 1850 torque Cummins and 13spds with disc on steer and drum brakes on drive and lift axle. With the truck manufactures anymore it's not what you as a buyer want or need, It's all about the manufacture because they think they know what you want and need. Just remember when buying a truck or talking to a service representative they know better than you because they are farting through $125.00 pants, and your Wranglers only cost $39.99. I only have 4 years to retirement, I've only been a mechanic for 46 years and I already want out!
We have to realize the main beneficiary of limited vehicle lifespan is bankers. If everything we buy lasts the same length of time as the payments, bankers get to charge interest on money "issued" by the Federal Reserve (not their own money, not depositors money). The bankers are greater beneficiaries than the manufacturers themselves. Also of note is the fact that none of the manufacturers truly compete. If they did, one would make vehicles that lasted and put the others out of business.
Somehow I doubt bankers are smart enough to manipulate the manufacture of vehicles or equipment to their benefit. And the theory of building vehicles to last, well the real money is in OEM parts sales and dealer service. That's the reason for proprietary parts and keeping repair info reined in. And truck sales-Freightliner has 33% of the market.
Why disc brakes on the steers?
The disc on steer axle seems to have a good life span, why? I can't answer that as of now. But I have a feeling it has to do with the fact it is running in less road dust and grime as the axles behind it, plus the caliper is more open and it plus rotor have a better cool air supply.
better life than 5" drums?
Probably about the same, best guess. The steer axle always has a better life span on brakes.
Yeah, I have usually seen 3-4 times more life than drives
The company I drive for now seems to retire their trucks at about a million miles currently they are getting rid of anything with any emissions past egr and also anything that’s not a 60 series Detroit
I love disc on all axles!
You will until you have to start spending for major parts.
Uh oh, spill the beans Mr.
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