Increased productivity with proven reliability may have influenced key determining factors in the decision for Triple-H Contracting to specify a Kenworth T659 8×4 fitted with a Kennedy folding quad dog and AIR-CTI central tyre inflation, but it was the committed back-up service and improved safety features that finally sealed the deal, as Howard Shanks discovered.…
Expanding Harvest Fleet Words and Photography by Howard Shanks Growing grain and lots of it is what they do best in far north-west New South Wales, however with variable rainfall over the past few years it has highlighted the economic and environmental fragility of broadacre farming systems. We asked Howard Shanks to investigate one lot…
Built to survive the notorious Tanami Track Words and Photography by Howard Shanks There’s not many trucks or trailers can handle the pounding of the corrugations along the notorious Tanami Track deep into Western Australia’s Kimberly country or the 400 odd km run from Cloncurry and the Century Zinc mine near the top of the…
Scania 6×6 XT Spreading with Precision Words and Photography by Howard Shanks It’s somewhat uncanny that for all the technology coming into trucking today, the trucks themselves still lead hard lives and need to be built tough. And, no one knows that more than, Tim Murfett, manager of Launceston based Altrac Spreading, after all, his…
How truck air dryers work and how to maintain them Draining the air tanks daily was a lesson instilled into me at an early age in a very fervent manner, it became a routine task at the end of each day. For today’s drivers this is becoming a task rarely performed as more and more…
Cummins X15 Euro-6 Road Test. New emission regulations may be just around the corner, but Cummins and Kenworth are certainly getting ahead of the game with real world testing of their Euro-6 engines and models. Technical Editor Howard Shanks joined the Kenworth Safety Truck tour to experience the new high torque output of the Hummin’…
Barker B-Double Curtainsider Review For equipment to last when their regular runs are throughout the back blocks of Queensland, top quality components are a must. When Oakey based, Auchenroad Haulage’s Shane Wadley orders new equipment he always specifies the best components and that’s exactly what he did when he purchased this Barker B-Double Curtainsider from…
The rugged High Country of Victoria is a region where the measure of a workingman and his horse, or machine, is a revered honor, and in some cases etched in a poetic verse as in the tale of Banjo Paterson’s “Man from Snowy River”. What better place then, to put the new kid in the…
In the field, MB’s BF90.3 crusher bucket is more than living up to the expectations Otta Excavations first envisaged. Managing Director, Graeme Viney, cites its portability, robust construction and high productivity as significant attributes. Deep in the quarry near a pile of large rocks, the boom of the JCB JS200sc excavator was extended outward, it…
Kenworth Legend 900 – More than just a truck! There is no doubt that the limited-edition Kenworth Legend Series trucks are special. Special indeed! What makes them so special is often a simple story close to the owner’s heart … this is one of those stories … the story about Kenworth Legend 900 Number-16. When…