JohnTN Posted August 8, 2005 Share Posted August 8, 2005 Greetings all!First, a word of introduction. I grew up as a farm boy in southern middle Tennessee in the early 80's. During that time, a lot of phosphate mining was going on in that area. About 90% of the tri-axle dumps hauling phosphate were Macks. I spent many an evening in Spring Hill sitting on my pickup tailgate enjoying the show as steady stream of bulldogs pulled the grade through town.To this day, I still remember the unmistakeable sound of the 285s and 315s. The errie pitch of the turbo spooling up with the high-pitched whine of the tip-turbine slightly lagging behind it was music to my ears. When the drivers let off the throttle, you could hear the pitch of the turbo fall, while the tip-turbine seemed to stay high, I suppose, propelled by the boost pressure backed up in the intake plenum as the engine RPM dropped.I've even had the pleasure of piloting what I believe was a late-seventies RS700L tractor with a 285 on a 30 mile bobtail run.All of which brings me to the point of my post. I'm looking for a project truck to re-create and re-enjoy these memories. I'd like to find the smallest and most maneuverable platform that was equipped with a tip-turbine aftercooled engine. Perhaps a single-axle dump or a single-axle tractor. It would basically be a toy, but I operate and develop a number of pieces of rental property, so I could probably find some limited work for it, hauling a bit of topsoil, or pulling a small lowboy to haul equipment.I'd sure love to hear any suggestions that you veterans might have on an appropriate platform for this project.John[Edit] I also remember that some of the larger Ford ag tractors were equipped with the same Garrett tip-turbine aftercooler setup. I remember being at a tractor pull with a Ford TW-30 pulling the sled back and hearing that unmistakeable sound. Is anyone aware of any other engine applications that used this unique setup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmackattack Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 welcome to the board John. Im no veteran as im only 26 but I do have a long family history of owning macks. and you are correct tip turbines do sound cool pulling a load. as a kid I thought they were twin turbos... LOLLots of R models are becomeing fairly cheep to buy so just keep your eyes open on ebay and truckpaper.com. thats where I found my current truck. A tandem axel would be best in my opinion, that way you can basicly pull what ever you want. A short WB is great for the city but I always liked the med stretched frame as it will ride a little better and have room for tool boxes and other goodies. just dont be in a hurry I made that mistake with my first truck and later found all sorts of major problems. take your time and ask lots of questionshere is a pic of my mack with your favioret 285 Tip Turbine.trent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmackattack Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 try again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnTN Posted August 9, 2005 Author Share Posted August 9, 2005 Trent,Thanks for the welcome!This is sort of what I had in mind:http://www.truckpaper.com/listings/forsale...C3C5441069A6AB3I expect most of these little s/a tractors will have 675/237 power. Would an engine swap be required to get to a 285, or would it be possible to turn a 237 into a 285 by swapping out turbo/injectors/pump/aftercooler, etc?Johnwelcome to the board John. Im no veteran as im only 26 but I do have a long family history of owning macks. and you are correct tip turbines do sound cool pulling a load. as a kid I thought they were twin turbos... LOLLots of R models are becomeing fairly cheep to buy so just keep your eyes open on ebay and truckpaper.com. thats where I found my current truck. A tandem axel would be best in my opinion, that way you can basicly pull what ever you want. A short WB is great for the city but I always liked the med stretched frame as it will ride a little better and have room for tool boxes and other goodies. just dont be in a hurry I made that mistake with my first truck and later found all sorts of major problems. take your time and ask lots of questionshere is a pic of my mack with your favioret 285 Tip Turbine.trent← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmackattack Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 im shure you could swap the injectors and pump etc... but the pistons bore stroke may be diffrent? not shure. that U model looks real good for $2500 .Not much room for the dog in the passenger foot well... LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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