Another Mack-My New (To Me) Mh

[Firemack]

I drove a IH Transtar II in 1979 and 1980, and always wanted to get another CO. Since I normally drive the B75 Pumper with a 464 gas engine- I have been paying close attention to my fuel consumption. Driving around town I get about 1.5 MPG, driving to Macungie and Lititz I got about 4.5-5.5 MPG. I decided that it would make sense to buy a tractor to haul the B75 Pumper.

Last week I checked out the 1985 MH 612 E6 2 valve 5 speed, which was posted on the BMT website

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?showtopic=15709

Everyone here said this was a good engine/trans- so checked it out and today decided to buy it.

It was used to haul race horses and was nice basic truck for the hauling the B75 Pumper. I have a Rogers lowboy that I can use from my local farmer on weekends. so all I need is to add the wetline and get the trailer inspected.

I plan on repainting the MH the same Mack medium red with a white roof to match the B75 Pumper. So now I have a Mack to haul a Mack. I pick it up Monday.

Hope to have it ready for repainted and show both trucks Macungie next year. The only strange thing is that the 1985 is already an antique!

[hatcity]

Nice purchase there. Should look good on the roadwith the color coordination.

Course, you may confuse some DOT guys with the antique hauling an antique.

"how'd he doo dat?"

[Bobby Covert]

Have them look and find the "front door" to the Sangamo tachograph as shown in picture#3

[Firemack]

Hey Bumblebee,

What is the the front door?, I have had one of these before.

Thanks

Firemack

[Green Dash]

Hey Bumblebee,

What is the the front door?, I have had one of these before.

Thanks

Firemack

Here are some pics:

The first pic here has tags. scroll down for a closed view:

Edited November 15, 2010 by Green Dash

[Firemack]

Greendash,

Thanks, I will go back to the owner and see if I can get the rest of it.

Firemack

[Firemack]

Picked up the MH yesterday, took a little while to get used to the MH 5 speed versus the B model 5 speed.

I was able to get some extra parts from a donor MH, so picked up the RH door with the Air window and lock, since it was a sister truck and had the same paint job, I may just swap the door. Anyone ever add the air operated controls to the door, or would it be easier to just swap the doors?

The truck runs good lots of torque- but a little tricky bobtailing as most cars think you can actually stop and had 2 idiots pull out on front of me on a 50 MPH road and was lucky I was traveling a little under the speed limit, so I could slow down enough to avoid them without locking up the rear!

Anyone know the specifications- displacement of the E6 2valve 300HP?

I heard they get about 8-10 MPG bobtailing- and 7 loaded.

Everyone has a lot to thank for today- I got a MH to haul the B model so I can be thankful for that!

Firemack

[vision386]

Good find! you shoulda' got them to leave the "horseshoe" on it! Ralph g. smiths trucks had a big horseshoe around the grille for many,many years before the truck types made it impractical....quite an interresting company, with a unique history....they used that color scheme for as long as i can remember,trucks were'rt the flashiest/fanciest on the road, but were always clean and well taken care of...should be a good one!........Mark

[Superdog]

The displacement is 672 cu.in.on the E6.I've got 2 wrecked MH's with budd front hubs if you ever want to swap yours to budds.Do you know anything about the company that had your truck?Saw some pics from Gerhart's show of it or one just like it and a F-715T.Pretty cool old truck,had a big horseshoe on the front.

[farmer52]

Picked up the MH yesterday, took a little while to get used to the MH 5 speed versus the B model 5 speed.

Firemack

It took some time for me to get comfortable driving the 5 speed in my MH612. It seemed like you had to run the engine up to 2000 rpm in order to catch the next gear. Mine had a T2050 (overdrive) and I never could get it into 5th gear unless I was going about 50 mph. Also the shift linkage does not help with shifting gears. I think a 10 speed would be more driver friendly. A friend of mine told me the 5 speed transmission was "bullet proof". Enjoy your new "toy".

[Firemack]

Superdog,

Thanks for the info on the E6. I got all of the maintenance records for the truck from Tom Smith, the owner. I spoke to Tom at Lititz where the MH sister truck 266 and F model were together. I would have liked an F Model but the MH is in good shape. Ralph G Smith Co. went out of business in January after 100+ years and the next generation did not want to take over. He mentioned that he had the MH I bought (but needs paint) and they have now sold all of the trucks except for one more 1993 MH, and 1 old gas Brockway. I saw the horseshoe for sale at the auction- but it was too heavy for the MH grill, so I let it pass.

Firemack

[vision386]

The displacement is 672 cu.in.on the E6.I've got 2 wrecked MH's with budd front hubs if you ever want to swap yours to budds.Do you know anything about the company that had your truck?Saw some pics from Gerhart's show of it or one just like it and a F-715T.Pretty cool old truck,had a big horseshoe on the front.

Ralph g. smith was based in west chester,PA for around 100 years,they transported race and show horses almost exclusively,ran macks pretty much the whole time,their trademark was the big aluminum horseshoe on the grille surround on all their truck,they also used the same color scheme,cream and maroon. From what i have heard they recently went out of business due to the fact the last generation did not want the hassle of running such a fickle business,which is a real shame they were around seems like forever,nice clean equipment,good place to work...not many outfits like that left anymore!.........Mark

[fxfymn]

Great rig! I'm jealous. I love the old rigs, especially the open cabs, but they were built for working, not driving. I've skipped several parades and meets because of thunderstorms or it just being too damned hot to drive an open cab rig to the event. Besides, I swore that when we got rid of our open cab stuff on the job I wouldn't ever ride in another one in bad weather!