fdnymackcf

Being a Mack man, I was never a fan of the Hahns . When I was a fireman in DC, that was the majority of the fleet. When DC had severe (and I mean severe) money problems in the 90's, those Hahns (along with miles of bailing wire and bubble gum holding them together) saved that city many times. Them hummed along nice with the 6V92TA's and had awesome Jake Brakes. Good luck with that sweet looking rig.

Awesome, Brother. Take your time. No rush. Hope to FINALLY start working on the rig next week. Many, many thanks. Stay safe.

Looking for parts for my 1980 CF. Can use the inside headliner insulation and 'pegboard' type on the inside cab. Heard rumors of a machine shop in PA that can make CF fenders. Any idea who? Also heard rumors that front end and brake parts are getting harder to find. Barry, any truth to this? Also need a 3 hose suction rack, and either a Stang gun or Akron New Yorker for my deck gun (awaiting pics to verify). And a 3 piece bumper, preferably red. Thanks in advance. Stay safe.

Federal Q's are not cheap, as posted. The 'Sirenman' in Arizona rebuilds many types, including the "Q". I think his name is John Dorgan or something like that. Hope this helps.

Spend a few dollars and join firepics.net. Costs $2 a year. There are people on there who can find it with the chassis number. You will be amazed at what buffs who take pictures can do. Hope this helps.

Spaamfaa and Hemmings Motor News should have vendors to rechrome that radiator shell. Beautiful rig. Good Luck with it.

These rigs have been moved to Circleville, NY. Upstate. The man in question obviously is a mack fanatic. I met the man at a LI antique fire apparatus meeting. He had them in an indoor storage on the north shore of long island. When he lost it, he had them placed outside for awhile. Was on a FD website (firepics.net), and it was mentioned in a thread. Happy to say all the macks are back inside.

I recall NYC DOT having numerous 4 door R models. Not as dump truck, I used to see them on road repair carrying asphalt and towing a tar cooker behind it. IIRC, they had dump capabilities, but not as a true "dump truck". Sorry for the misunderstanding.

FDNYTRUCKS.com is run by a hackensack fireman. He has info on almost if not EVERY mack fire apparatus, when made, who bouught it who sold it, etc. I found my Mack with his help. IIRC, one may have been totalled, and the other 3 were scrapped. This is the only one left. But if ya got an inflatable fishing boat with a trolling motor, maybe we can make the hangar and see for ourselves. Now where can we put it if we can get it ? lolol

You're getting slow in your old age. That was one of 5 R model crew cab engines purchased by the FDNY in 1969-70. If you remember, the NYC DOT had many of these type rigs. FDNY bought them on a trial basis. Mack made fire equipment till about 1983, after that other companies bought Mack chassis and added their own. Obviously, a conventional nose with no power steering was a challenge already. But also very cramped for firemen and gear. But was tried due to the "upstanding citizens" in those "wonderful" areas we protect to get the firemen off the tailboard, where things were usually thrown at them (nice upbringing). This was also the infant years of the CF, and with modifications made to them (1st the fold up doors/windows, then the 4 door cab), so this R program stopped. The rig in the picture was originally used @ E-277 on Knickerbocker Ave. in Bushwick, Bklyn. Finished out at E-242 in Bay Ridge, was used as a Salvage truck, and signed over to the Dept of Aviation, which at the time ran Flushing Airport. As for getting slow in your old age , I also plead guilty.I was over there many times last year. Found a spot to get in, got about 75-100 feet from the hangar, and saw i needed either hip boots or a boat to get to the hangar. So I decided to stop in at the development office (trailer) near the cinema (a private for profit org. that took over from NYC Dept of Aviaton). OF COURSE, he told me this rig was already picked up by a buff, but no one knows who or when. News like that makes the Antique fire circle pretty damn quick. I saw this on the Forgotten NY website, which I picked up a ton of info on parts of NYC where I work and drive through (Yes, even the Suffolk kids can be curious about the city). While it was nice the rig was kept in a hangar and protected from some of the elements, it obviously has been stripped, and its cab set afire. Definitely a "Labor of Love" to get that thing running again. Hope this info helps. And while you're at it, think back to memories as a kid. Check this out. http://www.forgotten-ny.com/ Take care........................... Jimmy

Need a headliner and the insulation for my CF mack. Hole in roof somewhere and it fell down. Thanks in advance for the help

Seeing how owning a fire engine can be a hobby that is not cheap, is there anyone on the net who sells tires for an 80 CF-600? Think the tires may be 11.00 by 20 or 22. Thanks for the help. Barry, if I put this in the wrong thread, please move it and accept my apologies

Most important thing is hopefully no one was seriously hurt.

Will do, Barry. Thanks again. And you carry and/or can find parts for older CF's? I taught a class outside Scranton 2 months ago, and they were scavenging parts for the suspension of a 73 CF Aerialscope. I'm sure they would love to hear what you have or can find to keep that classic workhorse running.

Thanks, Barry. I remember seeing the museum thread, couldnt find it. If you want to delete this thread, please do with my apologies.

Anyone have the link or phone number to the Mack Museum? I would like to get all info on my Mack, since parts will be hard to get in the future. Does Watts carry old Mack suspension/chassis/engine parts for other than the B model? Thanks in advance.

Only drove fire apparatus. CF's and MR's. Nuttin like a CF, nuttin!!!!!!

Good luck with the Crown. It scares me to think what it cost to ship that across the country...ouch!!!

That Tower Ladder is from a vollie house near me. They bought it used from another dept. Heard they were gonna get rid of it. Some ppl there complained it was too slow on response because of the hills in the area. At least they are keeping it on the Mack Chassis. Kills me to see a tower ladder boom taken off a Mack and put on another chassis. Maybe we can have a telethon and buy them a bulldog........

Mack made the whole body, chassis and drivetrain, save for an Allison automatic or a Detroit or Cummins in it, and rears as well. (Please correct or add) Pumps were made by various manufacturers, like Waterous, Hale. Mack was flexible, you could build your rig any way you wanted. Add that to the Mack durability, and you had one hell of a rig. Like everyone else in the 70's, they had the rust problems with crappy metal. Live and learn. Leave it to the French to mess up something good. My job uses Seagraves, with Waterous pumps, Detroit Series 50 (underpowered), etc. Let something go wrong, and unless the Seagrave mechanic is certified to work on those things, it goes back to the company that made it. With a 5 year warranty, our mechanics can only do basic maintenance. After 5 years, our guys can repair it. I don't think we can blame it on Seagrave, I guess it's liability nowadays. I would assume if Mack was still making fire apparatus, it would still be the same. IMO, if the majority of the rig was made by one manufacturer, the problems would be less. I could be wrong. Shoulda went to diesel school.. lolol Merry Christmas to all.

Mack stopped making complete fire apparatus about 1983/84. But with the CF, MC,MS(yuk) and R, continued to sell these chassis to other fire apparatus manufacturers. IIRC, that is about the time Renault got into Mack and disemboweled it. Leave it to the French. If they ain't surrendering fire apparatus manufacturing, they will be surrendering something else. Must be a French thing.

Mack stopped making the CF cab in the early 90's, possibly 92-93, not sure. Like everything else, business reasons. And I have also heard the CF did not meet NFPA standards on cab noise. But I was told years ago it was more business as well. The European heads wanted a certain number of CF's guaranteed to be bought every year. Aerialscope, which is now a part of Seagrave, at the time was told to buy a set number. Aerialscope couldnt guarantee that. Many manufacturers also were using CF's (like they are using the MR and Granite), but supposedly buying a Mack and using their custom body upped the price. This is what I have heard over the years, how much is true, I don't really know. But I think the biggest reason was from the business side. Except for the Ahrens-Fox, nothing described a Fire engine like the Mack CF. And except for the American LaFrances bought in the early 80's, FDNY was ALL Mack with it's engines and tower ladders. Save for 4. 2 Sutphens in 1981/82, to Ladders 14 & 119, and 2 ALF/LTI behemoths which went to Ladders 14 and 163. Rear mounts and tillers were mostly Seagrave. Though Ladder 30 and Ladder 132 had 106' CF Bulldog rear mounted Aerials.

I would love this weeks winning lottery numbers. I miss it by 6 numbers every time. ......

Amen, Brother. I remember when Mack stopped making CF's and fire chassis', and Pemfab was advertising for awhile you could get their cab on a Mack Chassis. They should have bought the rights to the CF, and put it on a Mack Chassis. Like Mack did when it bought out Ahrens-Fox with the C model. You could always remove the Pemfab plate and buy the letters M, A, C, K. Smart people would have worked out the name and licensing agreement, unlike the Mack/Sutphen debacle, but was not to be. Not many rigs can take the abuse of a NYC street, but the Macks always did. Guys still talk about them, and some have posted on sites the new Rescue 1 should have been on a Mack, and not the Pierce. And it's getting bad press because of injuries, but the 21 year old tower ladder still running on the streets of NYC is a 1985 Mack CF. 21 HARD years, and it holds up. The only other CF's left in the FDNY fleet are the Foam Apparatus strategically located citywide. Eventually, they may be replaced by the Seagraves being removed from service over time. But they may stay a little bit longer with FDNY's disgraceful spare fleet status.

Thanks. Started out almost 25 yrs ago on Macks in the Fire Dept. when I first got in as a volunteer. Nothing like a Mack. Shame they stopped making them. These new rigs can't take the abuse the Macks could. Well, when you build trucks to carry tons of concrete, etc., 'nuff said. Barry, do you also carry parts for the CF's? Body, chassis, etc. Some Depts are scavenging parts off old CF's to keep theirs running. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah to all.