Commer was a British truck manufacturer founded in 1905 as Commercial Cars Limited. Their primary business was manufacturing commercial vehicles, including car-derived vans, through to medium and heavy trucks and buses. In addition, they made engines, including their most famous, the TS3 Diesel. If you’ve got a senior’s card, you’ll undoubtedly remember the distinct sound…
Tatra trucks disregard all conventions when it comes to truck design. But the applications they’re expected to operate usually defy most conventional trucking tasks. Yet, new or used, they are sort after pieces of equipment for specialised unconventional applications, as Howard Shanks discovered. 435HP V8 Engine 8×8 All Wheel-Drive Indepenndant Suspension ROPS & FOPS canopy…
A growing roadworks and traffic control operation in regional New South Wales has added three Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks with Etnyre Falcon tri-axle walking floor trailers to its fleet. The advanced 2653 models will perform asphalting work for the business, which was founded in Forbes by Kevin and Colleen Gunn with a focus on traffic control.…
Inevitably when you hear about logging controversy and the last stand of tall timber in the world, there’s a fair chance you’ll be hearing about the Southern Forests region of Tasmania. Howard Shanks joined Lester Townsend on his regular run into the Deep South. The chilling arctic winds that often pound the southern tip of…
More than 80 scrubbed-up tractors lined the Scottsdale football oval early Sunday morning for the inaugural Tasmanian Tractor Show and Shine. Organisers were more than thrilled with the number of entrants, quality, and presentation of the machinery that rolled up for the day. Also, the fact the rains that had pounded the Northeast the day…
Since the birth of road transport, trucking operators have strived to reduce fuel usage and increase payloads. Over the past decade, the industry’s push towards alloy wheels because they’re far lighter than steel wheels has seen many truck manufacturers make alloy rims a standard fitment on various models. For instance, almost half a tonne (476kg)…
Elphinstone Engineering is redefining log haulage with the introduction of their ‘Self-Loader’ powerpack option to their EasyLoader trailer models. The new powerpack enables standard prime-movers to haul and operate logging trailers without the expense of specialised PTO and auxiliary equipment fit-up. Additionally, it is backwards compatible, meaning retrofitting the unit to older EasyLoader trailers is…
Way down a muddy dirt road on the wild west coast of Tasmania is the last place you’d expect to see glistening chrome and polished stainless steel reflecting from a T909 grill. But Adrian Cassidy is a workin’ man, and so is his immaculate 9OH and Lusty 4×4 deck widener. The bright flashing amber LED…
If, like me, you live in a cooler climate with long frosty winter mornings, then there is a high probability that you’d have undoubtedly encountered a battery that has failed to crank an engine once or twice. But let’s face it, replacing a battery on an icy cold frosty winter morning is no walk in…
From the late eighties through to the end of the last century, Eaton globally dominated the manual transmission market with their popular Roadranger gearboxes. So popular were Eaton Roadranger transmissions that many European manufacturers had to fit them merely to get a sale here in Australia. In fact, there was a time once, where if…