from the latest album on Hanks



Pureley fir eja cache anal porpoises only

LOL

cya

In NSW historic trailers (semi) were regoed seperately with the additional $fee, but now you just pay a $20 administration fee.

Wedgie - "distance" is a matter of being reasonable, so in more remote areas you go to your nearest service agent or test centre which in same cases could be a fair hike. The Bush Council negotiated the servicing and testing clause, the philosophy being that you need to periodically keep the oil up to parts and condensation warmed away to keep the vehicle preserved.

Bobsboy, Would have only been diesel anyway. I can't remember weather that semi trailer bus was a Athol Hedges body, there was what was left of one, as in the prime mover, for sale a couple of years ago and it was a Hedges body. Not sure if Watt Brothers may have made any either. The aluminium panelling on the sides was similar between a lot of the body builders. I remember talking to Barrie Watt about it when it was for sale last time but I can't remember the details. Barrie knew the history of it, or the later history at least.

I reckon you are right Cunning, the punters must have gone from listening to a screaming Commer Knocker to upgrading later on and listening to a screaming GM. LOL.

We had a thread perhaps a year back, and there was a matching one elsewhere. I bought the book on Australian articulated buses, but I can't put my fingers on it fast. It covers two era: those 1930s-40s-50s semitrailer buses, and the modern 'bendy' ones. It has a surprisingly good photographic coverage of the older era, and may well have colour of early Greyhound.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

There are many different avenues as to what may have 'failed', including the drivers concentration. Like Pete said, there is more than one brake on the truck so a single failure would not have caused this.

Greenie, you are on the money with the current ownership. I know a few drivers for the company, I was nearly one myself when it was owned by Ian. Like anything, there is a cost involved with running an impeccable operation and once a multi corporate takes over the first thing they do is cut cost and that stems down the line.

I don't think your post needs to be removed (as long as you don't get too personal ) but I agree and don't agree with your thoughts. As much as I fully understand and go along with what you are saying - ie in the good ole days you'd simply get under and adjust them - I'm sure that with your experience in the industry you know that you just can't do that anymore, COR laws (Chain of Responsibility) have stopped that from happening. Even with an apprentice adjusting brakes nowadays it needs to signed off by a fully fledged Heavy Vehicle Mechanic. I'll get technical for the sake of this friendly discussion : but without looking up the Australian Standards I'm thinking that the ruling would be that a person 'deemed competent' would be qualified to adjust the brakes. But if that's the case, a company would need to train and sign off the person as competent so as they could do it otherwise, leave them for the company mechanic. That would satisfy COR laws which is what makes the transport industry tick. Like Greenie is saying you would be expected to know what you are doing if you can operate a semi trailer but considering that most new drivers don't know what a crash box is, do you really think they'd know how to hold a 9/16 ring spanner

Well and truly, IF it's a brake adjustment failure that caused this and the driver could have adjusted them and prevented it, that would be an ideal scenario but all the other arguments come in then which would be ongoing. As for the defects, show me a list. This will be another media witch hunt. Were they defected for worn brakes, kinpins, suspension bushes or tyres or did they include reflectors missing, faded marker plates or headlight adjustment. Even when Bobbins got nailed six weeks back, his truck that were defected for 'Excessive Speed' were trucks that had been set at 103.6 km/h by Western Star from the factory. No wizzers, pulse rings or wires to the speed limiters. Don't believe everything you read in the papers

For what its worth, after 20 years in Transport, the last 10 of which I spent as a Transport Manager, I quit 2 weeks ago mainly, amongst other things, to get out of the firing line with COR laws. My future rode in the palm of the hands of 65 drivers that were under me along with a dozen or so mechanics and with every vehicle on the road, every day I faced time behind bars if one of them had a fatal accident. So screw that.

At the end of the day there will be a full criminal investigation into the Mona Vale tragedy which will be ongoing for a couple of years. Best of luck to all involved :-[

Until the club web site is updated here are the upcoming dates.


THE MONITOR July 2013
COMING CLUB EVENTS

Remember to fill in your Club Permit Scheme Log Book when attending any event.
Date Branch Event

Aug 11th VIC
Cobram Swapmeet at the Cobram Show Grounds. Opens 7am

Aug 25th VIC
Mornington Peninsula Mystery Run
The starting point will be at 9am at the BP Service Station on the corner of Thompsons and Westernport Highway, Lyndhurst. Melways 128 K8. Please enter via the Thompsons Road entrance. The Itinerary will be announced at the starting point.
NO SEMI TRAILERS PERMITTED BUT PRIME MOVERS OK. Part of the itinerary involves going up a steep, narrow and windy road. Anyone that wishes to participate must be a current financial member of a club. To express your interest, please contact or SMS Steve Camilleri on 0414 324 124 with your name phone number,email address (if you have one), your vehicle and club details. (Club Event)

Aug 25th VIC
Picnic At Marong

Sep 1st VIC
All Aussie Car Show. Flemington Racecourse Members Car park.

Sep 1st FATHERS DAY
VIC Emerald Bank Heritage Rally. A celebration of vintage and classic machinery such as tractors, working engines, cars and trucks. Also working Clydesdales and sheep dog trials. There will be kids entertainment, food and live music. OPEN 9am - 4pm free entry. HCVC have been invited to this. Camping on Saturday night is welcome. Shepparton Motor Museum. 7717 Goulburn Valley Hwy, Kialla. Cheryl Hammer 0410 561934

Sep 8th VIC
ATHS Australian Road Transport History Display at Rotary Park, Echuca. Camping overnight. Contact Ross 0428 506807.

Sep 8th NSW
Autofest at Border Christian College, Thurgoona NSW, open 9am - 3pm.

Sep 20th-22nd
SA Flinders Ranges Run- based at Port Augusta. will be based at the Port Augusta Big 4 Holiday Park. Port Augusta is well known as the Crossroads of Australia and due to a large number of travellers in the cooler months, the Caravan Park is extremely busy at this time of year. We have been advised to encourage our members to book as soon as possible and before the end of April to ensure that accommodation is available. A good assortment of accommodation ranging from Cabins, ensuite powered sites, powered sites and unpowered sites, is available. The facilities are excellent and there is a good camp kitchen. For a 10% discount please mention that you are members of the HCVC group. The Shoreline Top Tourist park is 2kms away and also has a wide range of accommodation. Port Augusta also has Motels. Port Augusta Big 4 Holiday Park - phone: 08 8642 2974, Shoreline Top Tourist Caravan Park - phone 08 8642 2965. (Club Event)

Sep 21st VIC
BB
Truck Run to Vintage Machinery Museum, Maldon. Museum open 12.00 --- 4.00. Cost is adults $5.00, kids $1.00. Meet at Museum at 12.45pm, Vincent St, Maldon or alternatively, meet at the Farmers Arms Hotel, Creswick at 9.30am. Contact Ian or Sharon Glasson on 0407847703. (Club Event)

Sep 29th
SA Bay to Birdwood, open to trucks manufactured up to 31st Dec 1976.

Oct 13th VIC Federation Picnic at Maffra

Oct 25th

s1141.photobucket.com/user/ronhorse/medi...zps079a73f6.jpg.html
All truck repairs are best made in the shade of a tree as it's light and cool as against a dark shed, this was changing an engine on one of Bond's Maple leaf semi buses used when Tuit and Bond joined together around '53-4 Bert Bond had a real thing for semi-trailer buses, built all his own running all over the country.
The next one I copied from Jack Maddox's book most of you have seen.

...welcome back Stevo .. long time no hear from ...

...Heil go back a long way as an American firm who have supplied all kinds of vessels and bodies to a broad range of industries....they made semi tanker trailers for the military in WW2 that were pulled by Beiderman, Reo and Federal prime movers, in amongst a stack of other general materiel for the war effort and civilian usage beyond....

...they remind me of the Swedish firm Kockums, who manufacture a lot of the bulk handling tankers we see on our roads in Australia....the weird twist is ...Kockums also produced pressure vessels that became the German U boats in WW2 as well (MAN supplied a lot of the engines) : :

Yeah mate, i'm back . I've been really busy with moving out to a new area recently, as well as focusing heavily on my new job in the waste industry.

Their a very interesting company Heil, they were established in the year of 1901. I was only aware of Heil building truck-mounted garbage compactor bodies. I'd imagine they would of built some very high quality machinery for the military in WW2.

www.heil.com/

I've heard of Kockums before, they acquired a company named 'Tusk' (who built garbage compactor bodies) many years ago. I heard that they moved the Tusk company operations from Queensland all the way down to Campbellfield, then went on to abolish Tusk altogether. It's shame, because Tusk built good quality garbage truck bodies, mostly front & side loader compactors.

It's a lot more complicated than that, what with selling out and then setting up again. There are still a few of the original employees at Maxicube. Maxicube bought the company just for the badge and killed the rest. I have a feeling that there was a split and it was Freighter Industries who built the bus bodies and the other half who did the semi trailers.

On the subject of Sully, just a few things about him that I can remember

---

He managed to wangle from Brambles, one of them big fancy A/C 4 x 4 'stump jumpers' as his daily wheels, this vehicle he put to good use by wasting as much fuel as he could, running up and down sand hills, out the back blocks of western Qld.
This vehicle had ALL the goodies required to flashen it up, to suit 'the poser' that Sully was.
One of these bits of flash gear was a large aluminium bar up front, if you hit anything harder than a blade of grass, then this bit of flash crap would crumple. One way he reckoned he could make it stronger was to add two alloy pipes,about six inches across, along the top of this bar.

Had been talking with a couple of crane drivers having a laugh about this bar, they reckoned Sully had filled the two bars with booze, one with Scotch, the other with Bundy, they talked about this as a joke, so me and a couple of other H/H drivers thought they were pulling our leg.

Anyway Sully parks this flash stump jumper where he normally DID NOT, it was near the dunnies and you could get at it with-out Sully spotting you, so, over to the stump jumper and low and behold, these bars/pipes/tubes are there, as described, one end was capped and the other end caps had these little taps fitted, did not take anytime at all, to find out they WERE filled with these vital liquids.

Over to the H/H workshop and the word spread faster than wild fire, about 4 of us are at the tap of what ever tipple you desired, did not take long to empty these bits of alloy either. A few satisfied customers went back over to the workshop, to do what ever we had to do.

Sully didn't twig to the fact that his booze store was empty until he next went bush, a few expletives would of eventuated when he discovered this, suppose he twigged to when it went walk-a-bout though, that vehicle was NEVER parked with-in easy reach of them Ar$eholes from H/H again.

Sully had managed to requisition a crane from Sydney, this particular jigger was made onto a low step deck semi trailer, you hooked on and moved this thingy to where ever you wanted it. You then folded out the legs from the side of the trailer, then started the hydraulic motor to set up the legs, then unfold the main stem/stand/whatever, this was able to go up to about 120 ft, then you could extend the mast out about 90 ft, so it had a good working arc and could be hired to someone who was doing a building in confined spaces, or whatever you needed it for.

Saw this brand new apparition up the other end of the yard being played with by one of the crane drivers called Richard, a small bloke but cocky as buggery, he was just practising with it that day, it could be operated from the ground with one of those long cables attached to a wonder box, once it was all out and up in the air, you could climb the thing and it had a small operators cab up top.

The next day was the funny one, Sully had some customers/suckers lined up to view what this wild bit-o-gear could do, the customers front on site, Sully gets the man cage out and Richard hooks this together, Sully and suckers get into the crate, all hooked up their safety harness, Sully's got the hand radio and the word 'up' is given.

Richard is doing this from the ground with that box, he had the stick flat and extended out fully, the main bit was pushed up to it's max as well. So when Sully gets up top, there's this wonderful view out over the Airport to Morten Bay, back to the City, halfway to the Gold Coast and you could even see way up towards the North coast.
The cage had just stopped, when Richard decides to go up the main mast as well, he gets there and all persons on the ground watching this, are about to have a heart attack, Richard just started to walk out on the mast, no safety gear at all and way up in the air, he got right out to the end of it and was looking straight down on top of Sully.

Sully must have spruiked enough B/S to the fellas and uses the radio to say - down, no answer as Richard has left all this stuff on the ground, a couple more times Sully gives the order, no movement AT ALL.

About now Sully gets pissed off and sticks his head over the side of the cage and hollers for Richard to get him down, all the while Richard is standing on the mast directly above him, this went on for a couple of minutes and Richard let Sully work up a head of steam when he eventually said - "what did you just say", Sully must of dirtied his nappy about now, he looks up and there's Richard

---

W.T.F., he's then into Richard, so Richard turns around and walked back in on the mast, gets to the steps and gets down, he was still laughing when he got down and then got the cage down.

Last I saw, was Sully marching back into the 'Taj- Mahal' with Richard in tow.



regards greenie [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

After looking at Swishies "Wotsit".Made me think if how they used to transport bus chassis up and down the highways.Just a seat behind the instriment panel.No windscreen,out in the cold ,rugged up in leather coats,leather helmets and goggles.Looked like they had fallen out of a tigermoth.Would love to see any photos of these tough men.Rain hail or shine they would go up or down the highways.I hav'nt seen this done since the early 1960s.I don't think semi trailers were long enough in those days to fit on.Even remember seeing them wrapped in plastic sheets for protection

G'day

Well that's exactly the same as what's under mine. What are the bushes in the pivot? Are they just rubber belt clamped by the ubolts around the axle?

I think mine are fairly worn cause when you turn tight the axle steps out beyond the body. It would b a good inch or so.

Cheers

bushwacker,s 1&2 belonged to the campbell bros romsey, always stayed for butchers picnic [ last car running] sitting on grand stand in middle of track [ semitrailer] . stock cars towed by a bar so you could push the tow cars up the hills on the way to track and home

Hi Guys
"The Overnighters" was originally owned by Sid Ward who owned Wards Air Cargo and this was his road transport division, I started there 3 weeks after operations started in September 1975 at Kingsgrove road Kingsgrove behind the bus depot, as an apprentice mechanic, originally we ran ex IPEC MAN,s 8.168's 6 of them. In 1976 the linehaul manager Lindsay King purchased two 8 wheeler Kenworths fitted with 8V71T's 350HP ( SA rego numbers SIH 436 and SIH437)they were fitted with Don Gray Pans ( Now Lucar) 29 foot long on torsion bars. This purchased was followed up with another 2 shortly after ( SA Rego numbers TIH 035 and TIH 036).Then 2 primemovers were purchased all fitted once again with the 2 stroke and the primemovers towed Fruehauf 41 foot tri axle vans.The move to primemovers was forced as Kenworths at that time would not build 8 wheelers with 450 to 500HP apparently we were maniacs. At this stage we were to my knowledge the only transport company running semi trailers in an overnight situation that was company owned. All fruehauls were fitted with nose cones, another first, these were purchased before Nose Cone Australia was even formed from J and S fibreglass at five dock. We moved depots twice, once to South St Rydalmere and lastly to Day street Silverwater. All trucks were painted Boeing Blue, a fitting name i might add.
There were the original four 8 wheelers that were purchased back in 1976 and 1977 after that we only ran semi trailers. All vehicles were fitted with Detroits progessively from the 71's right thru to the 92's. in about 1987 were purchased 2 new 8 wheelers coloured white as per the picture in previous blog for the specific purpose of carting air freight Syd to Melb once again for Wards Air who were no longer the mother company as we had be purchased by Mayne Nickless a few years earlier. These were both fitted with 6V92T's at 350HP. at about this time we moved to the series 60 12.7 litre a new era for detroit. 1991 i was transferred to IPEC (the enemy for many years) as Mayne Nickless was joining all the companies together. The Bat was removed from the doors in about 1985 and all the trucks become white. If you looked closley at the white 8 wheelers you will see just at the tip near the exhaust stack you will see a 2 inch bat running off the air foil. All vehicles were fitted with generally 4.11 ratio and 15 overdrive (always around the corner), although a few were specced with 3.3's and 15 direct for the brisbane run. These trucks were later fitted with 15 overdrives and drivers had the instructions not to use top gear ( lucky ).April Last year we had a driver, mechanic dock hand renunion in which about 40 employees from the beginning sat around at my place and did a few thousand kilometres in one night, all the original staff members about 40 are still with us and are regularly in contact. Long Live the Bat