garden wolf

I bought this B-42 about a year ago to use for my landscape business, and it has done the job. But I don't have the time to put into keeping it in good shape. Looking to find a good home for it. It comes with some parts (dash parts, fenders, hood, radiator, grill, old rear end, etc). Also has a lot of literature and history with it. Essentially the full history of this truck records kept by previous owners as well as stuff from the Mack Museum. Bought it for $8,000 and have put about $4,000 into it (new front tie rod and tie rod ends, new PTO linkage, new rear wheel seal, new battery, PM service, etc). Would love to get that $12,000 back for it but understand that might be steep for this age truck, even in decent shape. We live in central North Carolina, previous owner was in southern Virginia, before that New York. Starts fine (if kept on trickle charger), runs, dumps... strong truck. Needs: new (or re-wound) alternator, electrical works with a few bugs so could use new wiring (has original), oil pan gasket has some leaks. Will leave some oil on a job site as is. Not a big puddle or anything but enough for a client to notice (saying this from experience!) Feel free to make an offer or ask any questions. Thanks for looking.

Hey, AMGeneral, I'm in Raleigh, NC and planning to sell my 1956 Mack. It looks and runs great, and I've been using it for my landscaping business. If you might have any interest, let me know, and I can send pictures and information.

Yessir! A wonderful new member of the family. However, our 2-year-old loves looking at it but is still a bit scared to get inside. 🤣

Thanks for the replies. The old dog is a real joy to take out for jobs!

I haven't posted on here in a while. I've been fortunate to see a lot of work come through and have stayed busy. After getting the new tie rod ends (required putting the knuckles on a CNC and hogging out the taper about 1/16") the 56 B-42 is running strong! Here are a couple of pictures of it rigged up. It's a bit hard to see but the second picture is a couple of 1800lb white jade foo dogs I transported to a local botanical garden.

Haha, I guess I need to plan on getting there myself! And thanks to everyone else for the congrats on the purchase. 😁

Thanks Terry, I'm really happy with this purchase. And thanks for the heads up, fuzzy buzzard. I'll definitely get it registered.

Woohoo! What a great feeling! B-42 was everything one could hope for in a seller... even delivered it a state away! Now I need to practice driving a twin stick. I've warned the neighbors that I will be taking laps and that they might want to keep their children and pets inside. 🤠 A lot of them have already come up and admired the new addition to the neighborhood. I'll be on here frequently with questions about maintenance, repair, operation, etc. Thanks ahead of time for all the help!

Thanks! I’m really excited about the new addition to the family. 😁 I will be on here (and perhaps the phone with Drrkgreen!) a lot as I learn how to drive a twin stick and work on an old Mack. Thanks to everyone for being such a welcoming community!

Thanks for the tip, PISTON06. I’ll check out that assembly to see if it will work for the B-42 I’m buying this weekend. 😁

Haha, thank you kscarbel2. Did I mention I’m a bit green? I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me and saving me from going on a wild goose chase.

I guess the tie rod ends are labeled as knuckle assembly left and right on the punch sheet? My eyes see 4QHA177A and 4Q?A157BP2. Is that right?

It looks like an OEM distributor will be the way to go. After calling Watts it appear the original kits are not available. I followed the link provided in the messages of this thread and it looks like there are some decent prices. Barry at Watts also recommended Automan. Looks like I have some homework to do. 🤓

Thank you, Steve, for starting this thread and thanks for everyone who has provided input. I will call Watts Mack today about the parts.

I guess my biggest question is: does the required maintenance make it a foolish choice for a daily worker? If I can celebrate the history, character and wow-factor of operating an old truck like this AND make money putting it to work for landscape installs then I am all in. If it can't be used practically as a daily worker then my hand will be forced. I'll need to buy something newer that requires less downtime. Both my wife and I are unsure about the possibility... she is just more risk averse. Thanks for the input from y'all so far.

I'm sure I wouldn't regret it! Just need to exercise due diligence so as to avoid the situation of my wife regretting it! I would be heading to VA with cash in hand tomorrow otherwise. 😆

Hey everyone, I've been considering buying a 1956 B-42 that's posted for sale here on the forums and have enjoyed browsing through the different topics and reading all the good advice/stories/knowledge that's packed into this website. If I buy the truck you can bet I will be on here regularly. Seems like a cool community and I have a lot to learn.

Thanks Steve, perhaps I should direct my questions into another, more appropriate section of this forum.

Hello, New to the forum... actually, inspired to register because of this sale. I have been bouncing emails back and forth with Steve about potentially buying. By the way, thank you very much, Steve, for such thorough and thoughtful responses to my many questions! I'm pretty green when it comes to working on vehicles and was hoping to ask for some wisdom from the forums about how involved/expensive a tie rod replacement on this B-42 would be? In general are parts difficult to come by? I have family members who are real gear heads and wrenchers so could enlist their help as long as the parts are available. Thanks for any input! Justin