kscarbel2

Ref. http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/34267-macks-v8-powered-c-series-comin-on-strong/

.

kscarbel- May I copy and post all of the images here in my FWD Facebook page???

America's trucking history belongs to no one individual. This rich history is part of the fabric that defines what makes us Americans, and should be shared with all.

Long before the Mack/Savage FDM700* came into being, Mack Trucks had already been selling a front discharge mixer chassis in the form of the Mack HMM “Front-Runner”.

Produced from 1973 thru 1979, the Mack HMM was a solid product with “pedigreed” engineering. Featuring an ingenious side-tilting cab, the HMM offered unparalleled engine access.

Why didn’t the HMM succeed? At that time, Mack customers were accustomed to and satisfied with rear discharge. And, Mack’s sales network had no direct experience selling mixer bodies. As with other truck brands, Mack dealers typically delivered the chassis to the customer who would facilitate the body purchase and installation on their on. At the most, the Mack dealer might “drop ship” the DM mixer chassis to the body manufacturer for the customer. But with the HMM, the dealer suddenly had to be a mixer body expert in addition spec’ing the truck chassis. So due to the significant learning curve facing the regional and local sales level, and again a lack of interest from the mainstream market that was satisfied with rear discharge, the HMM did not take off.

But the main reason the HMM ended production in 1979 was because of an absurd lawsuit. Mr. J. Jack Willard had patented a front discharge mixer design in 1955, but never did anything further. Then Mr. Royal W. Sims designed a front discharge mixer in 1958, and in 1965 entered into a licensing agreement under the Willard patent that gave him all rights under the Willard patent.

Sims opened a small operation in Salt Lake City, Utah called Rite-Way Inc. and begun building trucks for his own use. The small Utah truck assembly facility eventually evolved into Savage Manufacturing (for a time it was called Savage Rite-Way Corporation).

A group of mid-western ready-mix companies obtained a license from Sims in 1966 to produce front discharge mixers in Fort Wayne, Indiana for their own use (Rite-Way, Inc. of Indiana, a.k.a. Indiana Rite-Way Truck Co., a.k.a. American Rite-Way Truck Sales Inc.). Rite-Way Inc. of Indiana went bankrupt in 1970, and was purchased by Moran Tank Company who went bankrupt in 1974. This operation then evolved into Advance Mixer, which began producing front discharge mixer for public sale. Terex acquired the bankrupt Advance in 2002.

What became a heated contention was that R.W. Sims claimed that he had total control thru his Willard patent over the production and sale of front discharge mixers. Sims had gone on a patenting binge in an attempt to profit from what by 1970 had become an industry standard design.

In the below excerpt outlining the position of Mack Trucks, you can gather insight on the DMM-based platform on which the HMM was designed.

“Sims has advanced no evidence tending to show that his manufacturing processes are unique as opposed to unprotected "general secrets of the trade." Federal law is equally unfavorable to plaintiff since it is clear that his broad claims impermissibly overlap the Willard patent. For these reasons it is extremely doubtful that Sims' manufacturing process is entitled to trade secret protection as a matter of law.”

Mack Trucks does not challenge the trade secret status of Sims' techniques but argues that even if Sims' manufacturing method qualifies as a trade secret, the plaintiff has failed to create a triable issue on Mack's use of his method. In support of its motion Mack has produced the affidavit of Robert W. Steig, its Chief Engineer for Special Vehicles, which states that Mack's front-discharge or "HMM" chassis was derived from another truck chassis manufactured by Mack, the "DMM".

According to Mr. Steig, the general purpose DMM chassis was modified in two, and only two ways to adapt to it front-discharge use: (1) the cab was narrowed to allow load clearance to the right; (2) the front axle was moved 21" forward to shift the load to the rear axles.

Steig also avers that he and another Mack engineer named Vogt developed the HMM chassis independently, without any information supplied by Sims.

Steig and Vogt state Mr. Walter May did not make any technical contribution to the HMM chassis and that they did not learn of May's 1963 visit to Sims' facility until after the commencement of this litigation and long after the HMM was in production.

Sims does not and could not claim as a trade secret the manufacturing process for the conventional DMM. Since the plaintiff does not dispute Steig's account of the derivation of the HMM, his claim is presumably limited to the two modifications required to convert the DMM to a front-discharge chassis. As to these two rather unexceptional changes, Sims must establish some factual basis from which a jury could properly infer that Mack used his methods.

The HMM was an advanced example of Mack engineering. Had the HMM been better promoted resulting in higher sales, the cost of further litigation to resolve the Sims lawsuit would have been justified. Mack won the initial court ruling, that was overturned, and subsequently the lawsuit against Mack was again found to be invalid.

By the 1980s, Sims had lost his grasp on the front discharge mixer concept in court, and manufacturers were able to design and produce trucks with his hindrance.

The HMM was available in both 6x4 and 6x6 versions. The majority of HMMs produced were the all-wheel drive variation, utilizing Mack’s proprietary full-time TC15 transfer case.

Unusual at that time, both tag and pusher axles were available as factory-installed options.

Additional Photographs:

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31616-never-seen-one-of-these-before/

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/10924-hmm-series/

Further reading on the lawsuit:

http://www.leagle.com/decision/19781657459FSupp1198_11494

http://www.leagle.com/decision/19801080488FSupp592_11001.xml/SIMS%20v.%20MACK%20TRUCK%20CORP.

The lawsuit brings to mind the Mack G model, and the ridiculous concerns by Kenworth over what became industry standard cab design features.

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/837-the-g-model-story/

* https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/34451-the-macksavage-fdm700-front-discharge-mixer/?tab=comments#comment-229321.

The subject of the Mack/Savage FDM has come up so often recently that I thought to re-introduce it in more detail.

Mack Trucks purchased Savage Manufacturing Corporation in 1989, making it a Mack subsidiary, Mack Trucks of Utah (for tax reasons). The resulting Mack FDM-700 model (FDM meaning “Front Discharge Mixer”) was available in both mid-engined and rear-engined versions.

When first launched, the 12-liter Mack E7 paired with a Maxitorque T2080 transmission was standard, but Cummins L-10 and Caterpillar 3306B engines, and Fuller 7-speed manual and Eaton CEEMAT automatic transmissions were also available (previously engineered in on the earlier Savage version). The 9-speed Eaton Auto-Shift AMT later replaced the CEEMAT.

The FDM had a cab that combined both driving and operational controls, allowing the driver to deliver and discharge up to 13 cubic yards of concrete from behind the wheel. Both single and tandem front steering axle configurations were offered combined with wide a variety of pusher and tag axle options.

The standard mid-mounted engine location enhanced handling by allowing for a lower center of gravity for greater stability. The mid-engine, twin-steer axle design was also engineered for more optimized weight distribution in anticipation of upcoming changes to federal weight and length laws.

In many ways, the mid-engine design was easy to service. However the placement also made camshaft replacement inconvenient.

Savage Manufacturing had produced their first front discharge mixer in 1976 (Mr. R.W. Sims built his first front discharge mixer at what later became Savage in 1964). Ahead of Mack purchasing Savage in 1989, the latter company was a small operation with gross sales revenues of just US$5 million in 1988 (the year before Mack acquired Savage). Savage was marketing the “Dynamix Magnum” and “Super Magnum” front discharge mixers which had been launched in 1983.

Savage Companies President Allen Alexander said of his decision to sell the mixer unit and focus on their principal business of material handling, “We recognized we had a great truck but (that) we’re not manufacturing people”.

In 1988, front discharge mixers accounted for 15 percent of the mixer market. As the market leader in Class 8 construction, Mack felt with the rising popularity of front discharge mixers that purchasing an existing player like Savage would be a wise move.

However after the purchase, it quickly became apparent that Savage was not a mature company with a mature product. For example, the crude Savage spare parts system proved a challenge to Mack dealers and factory branches.

Rather than simply fit a Savage mixer with a Mack engine and transmission, Mack should have examined and redesigned the entire truck from one end to the other, possibly hiring a few engineers away from Oshkosh and McNeilus in the process. And, production should have been moved from Utah to Allentown so that Mack engineers could be involved day-to-day with developments. The resulting "pedigreed design" would have been worthy of the Mack name.

In April, 1996 ahead of the ConExpo-Con/Agg show, Mack Trucks signed an agreement with T.L. Smith Machine Company of Springville, New York to produce jointly produce a rear-engined front discharge mixer.

That same year, the mid-engined and new rear-engined versions of the FDM were given the names “Victor” and “Conquest”.

Frustrated with the former Savage operation in Utah, Mack Trucks in December, 1998 announced that it would cooperate with Oshkosh and offer a Mack-badged version of the Oshkosh “S” Series front-discharge mixer chassis with a McNeilus mixer barrel system and Oshkosh front driving axle (Oshkosh owns McNeilus).

Oshkosh would assemble the trucks utilizing Mack E-Tech powertrains.

Making its official debut two days ahead of the 1999 Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, the new truck was called the Mack FCM “Conquest II” (FCM representing Front-Discharge-Concrete-Mixer).

As a result of the Mack-Oshkosh agreement, Mack discontinued production of the FDM in Utah and closed that plant, with production ending in September 1998.

The Mack/Oshkosh tie-up ended when Volvo acquired Mack Trucks.

Front-discharge is a very attractive concept. But even Oshkosh, with its superb “S” series front discharge chassis and McNeilus drum, has struggled to make front discharge a mainstream product. Other makers including (Terex) Advance Mixer (http://www.terex.com/construction/en/products/new-equipment/front-discharge/index.htm), Phoenix Mixers ( http://www.phoenixmixers.com), the Maxim Truck Company, Kimble (http://www.kimblemixer.com/mixers/front-discharge/) and now Navistar’s Continental (http://www.continentalmixers.com/continentalmixers/mixers/frontdischarge) on a MaxxForce-powered Phoenix chassis have also found profitability difficult in this challenging market segment. For as long as current technology encourages ready mix truck operators to stay with rear discharge design, for its lower cost and practicality, the front-discharge mixer market segment will remain small.

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/33736-mack-savage-mixer/

.

Here is a very interesting piece on the position of Mack Trucks in 1986.

The RWI Super-Liner II had been introduced the previous year. Assembled on the state-of-the-art MH Ultra-Liner chassis, the new RWI-600 Super-Liner is a sales success.

In addition, a severe service RWI-700 is available for logging, heavy hauling and other demanding market segments.

The R-model remains the country's best selling conventional truck.

In volume production from 1984, the Mack Ultra-Liner with its corrosion-proof Maxi-Glas cab has claimed 10 percent of the COE market. A composite structural cage of galvanized steel, aluminum and high-strength fiberglass yields unsurpassed cab integrity and the ultimate in driver protection.

With ratings up to 500 horsepower, Mack's E9 V-8 has become a legend around the globe.

Mack and Renault are doing an impressive job of working together where synergies are realistically possible.

The Mack Mid-Liner medium truck is a sales success as the number one selling medium-duty cabover in America. And, the conventional cab Mid-Liner "CS" series has now joined the "MS" cabover range.

Mack is test-marketing a Mack-powered version of the Renault FR-1 motorcoach in the US market (http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/34314-the-mack-fr-1-motorcoach/), and Mack Australia is selling the Renault PR100 municipal transit bus down under to the sum of 650 units (http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/34401-mack-australia-and-the-mack-renault-pr-series-city-bus/).

And where can you find a more impressive picture? Here are three of the five most stunning Mack trucks ever built - the RWI Super-Liner II, the MH Ultra-Liner and the U.S. market RS Value-Liner (the other two being the Australian market V8-powered Value-Liner and Trident).

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/30016-mack-australia-the-other-value-liner/

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/30035-mack-australia-trident-a-well-kept-secret/

.