ThaddeusW

FTF (Floor Truck Factory) was a Dutch specialty truck maker who until the 1960's was a Mack Dealer. They built a number of heavy haulers for various customers including the Dutch Army (tank transporters) and Stoof / Mammoet. They made a number of trucks with Mack axles including this beauty: (SOURCE: http://www.janvanwees.nl/oldFE/oldfe.htm, check out the heavy spec V8 F model!) Getting ready for restoration Pretty neat looking truck. There was another monster built with Mack 80,000 rears: http://www.flickr.com/photos/homer----simpson/4713476111/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/5088985711/ You can see this truck at the bottom of the source page.

Great restoration job on this single axle F model, and its in Spain no less! One thing I noticed right away is the odd hub setup on the rear. It looks like a Mack 30K rear with the 2 piece axle shaft BUT with 20 inch daytons as opposed to the 22 or 24 inch you normally see. I have never seen a heavy Mack rear with 20 inch tires. Must have been a European Mack option, they don't use 22/24.5 tires in Europe, only 22.5's. I like the look.

This has got to be the only long wheel base DM800 I have ever seen. http://www.auctiontime.com/OnlineAuctions/Details.aspx?OHID=3410827&lp=trk&bcatid=27

Plenty of heavy duty Japanese trucks in Australia and New Zealand. In those two countries American, European and Japanese trucks are all sold and operated. Now that's competition. My prediction is that Hino will be the first Japanese truck makers to offer a Class 8 truck here in the USA. They already build heavy rigs for Australia/NZ with mostly North American components, don't see why they wouldn't attempt to break into the North American Market.

These are the answers id rather hear about. Real reasons instead of trying to attack from a technical angle. Don't worry. If the American drivers refuse to haul for pennies then the Mexicans will be more than happy to help us deliver our goods!

Also, one thing to consider is the fact that the breaker might be prematurely tripping due to age. Old breakers do wear out and can trip at a lower current then they are rated for. The only way to solve this is to check the current draw or separate the heaters to two different plugs. The kill-a-watt is a home power monitoring device that lets you view volts, amps, watts as well as act as a watt-hour meter to see how much money what ever is plugged into it costs to run.

There is a certain someone on this site looking for a U.

That long wheel base B is sweet, you don't see many factory LWB's.

Al, Not familiar with the heater setup on a V8 but I assume that you mean you have two heaters and two plugs? I don't know the wattage off the top of my head but I THINK its something like 1500W for a diesel block heater. My B's block heater warms up the plug on a heavy cord so I assume its around 1500 watts. 1500W@120V draws 12.5 amps so two heaters will pull 25 amps. Try to find two separate circuits to plug them into and use two separate extension cords. Also, a 20A 120V circuit gives you 2400 watts of power. Maybe you have something else plugged into that circuit that isnt immediately obvious and is causing an overload when you plug the heaters in. If you have two 1000w heaters then 20A is plenty. You need to measure the current of each heater to see if one of them is bad. Its tricky to do without an amp-clamp meter BUT can be done with a multi-meter (MM). Some MM's allow you to measure upward of 20 amps using the current socket but you must wire the probes in series with the heater which isnt that easy unless you have basic electric skills. In the current setting with the probes across the 120v, you will just pop the fuse. You could also put a 100W light bulb in series and with a volt meter and ohms law (volts equals amps times ohms), you can determine the current by the voltage drop across the light bulb.

In Europe their 5 axle trucks are allowed to carry 40 metric tons which works out to 88,184.9 pounds, this is the norm. Their single drive axles are allowed something like 26,000 pounds. A tandem tractor (most always a 6x2 for highway work) is allowed 44 metric tons which is drum roll please: 97,003.4 pounds. This bill does nothing more then bring our trucks up to the European weights which have been in place for years (if not decades). And what puzzles me is many states allow more weight than 80,000 with permits. Example: NY allows 117,000 on 7 axles for dump trucks which are allowed on the highways. There is also a state out in the mid west (I want to say either Nevada or Utah) which already allows something like 100,000 on 6 axles. All this pissing and moaning by pussy politicians using the usual "think of the children" argument is laughable (The big trucks will endanger the lives your family!). I want to know who is paying them to run their mouth. Plus the AAA complaining about the sorry shape our roads are in only highlights the pathetic amount of money being invested in our transportation system (create jobs anyone?). Excerpt: "I feel confident we're going to prevail here, but we're here to tell the leadership of the House that we're raring for a fight here," McGovern said. "We are going to fight. This is a serious issue." Yea sure, real serious. What an ass hat.

I did mention it to Dennis when I bought my B61 but he said he had no knowledge of the front clip. Dead end there. Its been a while but it was a red tandem 360/361. Some people need their heads examined, or removed. Ass holes.

Any word of the price. I would like to know what he would want for that truck and if it still runs.

Makes no sense if your an all Mack outfit but they mostly have Westernstars which probably have the same rears. Makes parts and maintenance easier. Allot of people think stars are the cats meow but I always laugh as they have the same damn parts in them as any other generic make. You buy a Mack for its drive line which today is becoming a moot point with the Volvo engine. But Mack rears on camel back is still the Mack trucks strong point, the reason why every third world truck buyer wants them, they can take the punishment.

Hey Andrew, I know we spoke about this some time ago. Sorry again for the loss. That was a top notch truck, 20' roll back bed and all it needed was some pump work. I remember speaking to our Rob on the phone about your truck, it was a heck of a find. Forgive me if this sounds harsh, but you should have posted this sooner, right after you found out. That way you could have gotten the word out to people who may have seen the remnants or knew who bought them. I wanted to say something but I figured I would let you make that decision. Live and learn I suppose. Your a young guy, start saving for your next rig, there are still plenty of old Mack's out there. Also what ever happened to that Brockway that was next to your Mack? I remember asking but I forget.

Its sad to see them go. But as others have said its better they get a second life in a new country rather than get sent to the crusher and sent to china. At least you know the trucks are still around, just helping another country build its infrastructure. The third world owners will keep those trucks going until they fall apart. They don't have much in those countries and they will keep the trucks in as best of shape they can. Even if a truck does fall apart, they will use it for parts instead of throwing it away like so many first countries do with their trucks. You don't throw tools away unless they are irreparable or unusable. And its good to see the demand for Mack's is strong among third world users. This means if their country ever gets on its feet they will want to import Mack trucks. Good for business.

Been doing a little work on the B this weekend and the hand throttle cable is broken where it meets the throttle linkage. Can I just replace the cable or do I need to replace the entire setup? And where do I get the parts necessary, checked the Watts store and maybe I missed it but I did not see it.

Very nice truck! Its rare to see a C model let alone a long wheel base tandem. You keeping it a grain truck or are you planning to do otherwise? I would make it a tipping flat bed with stake pockets and wooden gates.

Exothermic is a silly name for a torch, its like saying you need a very hot torch. Duh! We know the burning of fuel produces heat energy. What he is probably referring to is called a thermal lance (also known as a: thermic lance, oxygen lance or burning bar). Its nothing more than an iron tube or pipe packed with thin iron rods/wire. Sometimes thay add aluminum or magnesium to increase the temperature. One end is screwed onto a valve that has a hose which hooks to an oxygen tank. You open the valve and light the open end of the pipe with a oxy-acetylene torch (or any other super hot heat source like the arc from a stick welder. Burns hotter than hell, upward of 8000 degrees which is hot enough to melt tungsten. The only thing is those are better for cutting something that is scrap or about to be scrap. Your going to destroy the bore if you attempt to cut through it using one. They are used mainly for demo jobs or cutting really big things apart. You can make your own thermal lances using nothing more than iron tube/pipe and iron rods. Just cut lengths of wire/rod the length of your tube and start filling it up. Then turn the oxygen on and light with a torch or arc welder. Add some aluminum welding wire for more oomph. Just try to make sure you dont let the tube burn too close to you or destroy the valve.

HAHA, good one