Young Guy, Old Mack (B61 Dump Truck)

[mowerman]

Yes the pre-trip is very difficult I took mine and a triplex U model in 1976 kind of cool to brag about it now .good luck.. bob

[tjc transport]

here in new jersey, they make you parallel park.

and only give you 15 foot over the vehicle bumper to bumper length.

more people fall the road test for a simple thing like not being able to open the hood than failing the driving test. 

people are now getting smart and advising learners to use a truck with a small hood or one with hydraulic lift assist instead of taking something like a superliner, W900, or 379 Pete

[mowerman]

Ooooooo hell I forgot about the parallel parking I had to do that in Massachusetts but not in California or Nevada.... out here the pretrip is easy to fail .... and seems to be the hardest part... bob

[Freightrain]

I had to parallel park a trailer for my class A.  The little S series Binder made it pretty easy to do.  Along with the reverse serpentine!

[tjc transport]

believe it or not, but i have no problems at all parallel parking a truck, straight job or trailer. 

put me in a car or pickup though, and i either drover the curb, or am three foot off it. 

[tjc transport]

Just now, tjc transport said:

believe it or not, but i have no problems at all parallel parking a truck, straight job or trailer. 

put me in a car though, and i either drive over the curb, or am three foot off it. 

 

[Smoothy]

2 hours ago, tjc transport said:

 

Hope I'm not the opposite....I can parallel park my pickup 😵

[Smoothy]

Just got back from my first drive in the W900L. Wow that's a big truck compared to the B! I did manage to run it up the road pretty successfully and probably drove it for half an hour or so. I'm not 100% sure that's what I want to take my test in however, I think I might try and press on with my B and take the test in that. It might have a quadbox, but it's a whole lot less intimidating for some reason.

[General Ike]

Took my CDL in White Plains, NY when I was 18.  Had to parallel park on a city street.  Nailed it on the first try.  The pre-trip inspection was the hardest.  Guy was a stickler though.  1979 GMC with a 6V53 5sp with a two speed rear.  Would not let me skip a single lo-hi shift, which was fine because I was proficient but I remember my DTI in the fire department telling me to disconnect the two speed switch and hide it under the seat.  Like a bonehead I overshot the left turn back into the DMV parking lot and had to back up.  Luckily I remembered to pull the brake, shut the motor off, get out run to the back of the truck and look for clearance before backing up.  Guy told me he'd of failed me if I didn't do that.  26 years on and I've never overshot a turn again.

[Smoothy]

Just delivered the first load of dirt today to the church up the road, making it my first run in the truck with a load on. Once I made it onto their paved parking lot I started hearing a noise from the back I haven't heard before when running unloaded. It was a clunking noise that I was only hearing when turning to the right. I'm really hoping it isn't an axle. A gentleman that works for the church, used to be a coal miner, said he heard it and sounded to him like a loose wheel. The truck has Daytons. Does this sound like a possibility? I haven't spent much time around these old dogs so everything is a mystery. 

[mowerman]

On 4/12/2021 at 12:06 PM, tjc transport said:

believe it or not, but i have no problems at all parallel parking a truck, straight job or trailer. 

put me in a car or pickup though, and i either drover the curb, or am three foot off it. 

 Same here I just spotted this back up doubles can’t park the mustang ha ha… bob

[mowerman]

Kind of makes sense  you spending your whole life in the big rig…..10-12 hours a day.. bob

Edited November 6, 2021 by mowerman
Misspelled

[mowerman]

55 minutes ago, Smoothy said:

Just delivered the first load of dirt today to the church up the road, making it my first run in the truck with a load on. Once I made it onto their paved parking lot I started hearing a noise from the back I haven't heard before when running unloaded. It was a clunking noise that I was only hearing when turning to the right. I'm really hoping it isn't an axle. A gentleman that works for the church, used to be a coal miner, said he heard it and sounded to him like a loose wheel. The truck has Daytons. Does this sound like a possibility? I haven't spent much time around these old dogs so everything is a mystery. 

Possible loose lugs  Almost always loud noises are inexpensive .. bob

[mrsmackpaul]

Truth be known its probably nothing

 

Things I would check are, 

Diff lock if fitted, is it disengaged

Wheel nuts as mentioned 

Elephant ears are still there and working as they should 

And if the trunion is brass bushed make sure all is okay, I  guess the same goes if it's rubber bushed

 

Paul

[Belak]

Any Updates to this thread?

[tjc transport]

he last logged on 11-08-2021

[mowerman]

Hell, I forgot all about him…. Another one I just kind of came and went…. Bob 

[Smoothy]

On 12/17/2022 at 9:50 AM, mowerman said:

Hell, I forgot all about him…. Another one I just kind of came and went…. Bob 

Well, for a breif time there, sure. Life can do that to you. One minute you're changing tires and the next thing you know you're changing diapers. But, sometimes life is funny and tells you it's time for another bulldog, and that's what happened. Just brought home a '77 R686 today. Another ENDT676 but with Maxitorque transmission. This one's ready to go to work, so that's what I'm going to do. I still have the B, hasnt changed much since my last post. I have plans to repaint it soon. For the meantime here's a short clip of me and my son in the new to us R. 

[mrsmackpaul]

Well I can honestly say you aren't the first bloke to have life get in the way of a good plan 

Next thing I woke up, 30 years of marriage, a few farms later, milked some cows, burnt some sugar cane, made some hay, had a family driven shitty old Mack all over this wide brown land pulling road trains, managed power plants and the list goes on

And all would you believe in the blink of a eye ha ha ha

Don't worry smoothy, life gets bloody crazy for a while yet 

So my 2 cents of advice, enjoy the family, I mean really take time to enjoy family life as the kids are teenagers in a blink of an eye and hate their parents until they are 25 or there abouts

Oh and the Mack is as cool as all get out!!!

And congratulations on the bub and fresh almost new Mack, the 80's was only yesterday after all 

 

after all that I still have the Mack and the bride, my Dad that's in one of these photos not so, my niece, the little girl in the pink jumper is all grown up

 

 

Paul

[mowerman]

paul,,,,you just about said it all...and welcome back bud,,,love the new ride,,,,,and yes my DM is always back burner,,,has been that way since i bought it 31 years ago,,,i didnt even have a place to put it,,,i had to pay to store it,,took 25 years to get a place setup to work on it,,then working 12-14 hrs a day,,,couldnt do anything at all during the week,,i finally started  on it on a somewhat steady basis,,,after many years of back burner,,,still to this day,the mrs usually has something going on,,,that has to be done,,,even retired,,im still trying to squeeze it in between everything else,and i have  no job,and no kids,,,and for sure,,,spend all the time you can with your little ones,,bob

[cruiseliner64]

6 hours ago, mrsmackpaul said:

Well I can honestly say you aren't the first bloke to have life get in the way of a good plan 

Next thing I woke up, 30 years of marriage, a few farms later, milked some cows, burnt some sugar cane, made some hay, had a family driven shitty old Mack all over this wide brown land pulling road trains, managed power plants and the list goes on

And all would you believe in the blink of a eye ha ha ha

Don't worry smoothy, life gets bloody crazy for a while yet 

So my 2 cents of advice, enjoy the family, I mean really take time to enjoy family life as the kids are teenagers in a blink of an eye and hate their parents until they are 25 or there abouts

Oh and the Mack is as cool as all get out!!!

And congratulations on the bub and fresh almost new Mack, the 80's was only yesterday after all 

 

after all that I still have the Mack and the bride, my Dad that's in one of these photos not so, my niece, the little girl in the pink jumper is all grown up

 

 

Paul

Great pictures Paul.Mack looks class.A lot of my mates went to Austraila in the 80s when there was no work here.Some came back and the rest I lost track of.....Im thinking I should have went but thats water under the bridge now......oh how old is your Mack? Just interested.....

Paul

[mrsmackpaul]

1 hour ago, cruiseliner64 said:

Great pictures Paul.Mack looks class.A lot of my mates went to Austraila in the 80s when there was no work here.Some came back and the rest I lost track of.....Im thinking I should have went but thats water under the bridge now......oh how old is your Mack? Just interested.....

Paul

1981