Makeri_Driver

Richie Brothers in CO has 2 B Models on their next auction coming up.

I always liked using U and DM for spotting log trailers on logging jobs. Sitting on the drivers side made it easy to drop and hook trailers and it was easy to jump in and out of all day. We routinely moved 28-32 trailer loads a day using 2 spot trucks with the one driver that also trimmed up the loads with a pole saw.

Weren't the 300 Plus engines considered Econdynes? I remember see those badges on the hoods of 300 Plus R's with 10 speeds.

I lost interest when he said 4 Speed Allison!

From my use the 3208 is the worst Cat engine ever made and probably one of the worst diesel engines ever made! I hated them in Louisville Fords! They had no power and my 534 Gas would out pull it. The only way I would be willing to work on a 3208 would be to remove it. I would rather run a 671 Detroit in its place! At least it would sound good!

When I was logging we loaded and set out trailers because of haul distances of 100 miles one way. We had W900 KW, 4900 Western Stars, 9400 Corn Binders all with air ride and 2 Superliner Macks with 350's and 9 speeds on 38 k camel back rears. In the winter when the red clay was the slickest we had to push every truck to get them off their landing gear and get them started. The Macks were about 20 minutes slower on the haul but they could drop and pick up their trailers without getting stuck allowing those drivers to pick up extra loads that were loaded after the crew had gone home. They just did so much better offroad than the other trucks did with air ride suspensions. Tough ole dogs!

Previous all Mack fleet I remember from childhood 70-80s was WC Fore Trucking Gulfport,Ms. Cotton ran all R models pulling short frameless Palmer Dump trailers hauling fill dirt. Later he ran Cruiseliners and Superliners. I remember them hauling fill dirt for a Standard Oil Refinery in Pascagoula. He had around 100 trucks on a 9 mile haul! A logger friend of mine still runs an all Mack fleet. He has one really nice restored R, a lot of Superliners, CH models and new Pinnacles. CF Marion Cumberland,VA

I have used 5 speed Macks in the woods as haul trucks and later as set out or spot trucks. Usually had to have the skidder push them to get started in soft ground. The low in the compound of the 6 speed was much better.

I can remember the first time I saw an R700 parked at our post plant loaded after getting in too late to be unloaded. The next morning the driver rides in with another truck and starts his Mack. The air starter first caught my attention but the buzzing of an 8V71 DD made me do a double take. That sound just seemed so strange coming from an R Model.

A lot of guys find luck getting their medical card and exam at a CVS clinic.

I have been around the forest products industry and Mack trucks all my life. My parents have a picture of my brother and I sitting on the hood of a brand new 1973 Red R 600 that my Dad drove home for use to check out. That truck was owned by Crown Zellerback and was used to deliver treated poles and pillings. Later we started our own business peeling fence post and poles. We used a local trucking company CE Jones to haul the waste products and bark. He had a large fleet of R Models and just started buying new Superliners. Our main driver got one of the new ones. It was an 87 with a 350 and 9 speed with a sleeper. A local logger still has that truck. It seemed like every logger and sawmill ran that same spec RW in those days. They were everywhere. I later worked for the Tapscott Brothers on a logging crew. They made to switch from tandem trucks to log trailers and used R Models for many years. We always used older ones as off road spot trucks and they still do to this day. Now days you just don't see many of the older trucks still working. CF Marion has a large fleet of Macks and still runs a few Superliners daily. I miss hearing the sounds of the older trucks and hate seeing them finish their days as spot trucks or worse as export trucks. So I would like to find a nice R to restore and maybe a Superliner too. I haven't drove in years but I still maintain my CDL. As for the username I had my own logging business doing cut to length first thinnings with a Lokomo Makeri 34T. It was a Finish made cut to length processor that did a decent job it was just too slow.

Thats a very rusty double frame.