1955 LTH , The adventurous sister .

[1961H67]

I’ll start with a picture of the first time I saw this truck, and is probably good that I start a topic on it so later on I can read it and remember some of the things I have learned about it, and some of the interesting people I have talked to concerning it, and hopefully someone will have some more information on it. It may take me several days to remember and post what I have learned so far. I saw it parked on the side of the road leading to a truck show we were having in Waynesville NC in May 2022 , it wasn’t up where all the trucks were, just setting with no one around it . My Grandson and Me walked down to see it ,, it’s very rare for a LT of any kind to be seen here in the mountains of NC , we stayed till the show was over and never saw anyone, no one knew who brought it but I did look under it and saw it had a V8 Detroit,, so I took a couple pictures and left scratching my head! With no clue who brought it or what the meaning of the odd name “ 10 Tucky “ was all about. 

[mowerman]

well ill be first,,,,whats the difference between a LTL and that one?????theres not many here either,,,in my travels ive seen more in northern califonia,,and Oregon

[h67st]

Here's some info from a guy on here named fifth wheel, looks like it's been a few years since he was on the site.

 

LT- Just about an all steel truck, early production units had a different front rear spring hangars and frame arrangment in that area compared to

the later units. 1947-53, production 415 units, all 3 axle (sw's)

LTL Same as the later LT's with a lot of aluminum components, (engine mounts,front spring brackets,belly band,frt.cab mounts,radiator support

cross members, steps and battery boxes,steering column,trunnion support,wheel hubs,brake spiders,brake shoes,air tanks,axle stops, auxilary

trans case, and wheels.) 1950-56, production 1216 units 3 axle

130 units 2 axle (designated LTLT)

LTH Same as LTL except some or most of the structural suspension parts were replaced with steel (spring hangars,trunion supports, and brake

brake spiders) 1953-56 production 248 units, all 3 axle (sw's)

Total production 2009 units All models have aluminum hoods and radiator support sides.

[cruiseliner64]

Super looking truck....im waiting with bated breath for the whole story....

Paul

[mowerman]

lol yeah,,,,extreemly clean,,,,doent look like it needs much more than paint,,,bob

[1961H67]

That’s a great explanation of the LT Models ! The summer went by and I really didn’t think much more about the truck, I was busy with the LJ , Grandsons baseball and was trucking a lot more than. So October rolled around and we went to the truck show in Cherokee NC I think I took my Dad’s C Model. When I pulled in the LTH was there! A friend of mine said a fellow dropped it off early and left because he had a business about 10 miles away. Well we walked around it all day, he had raised the hood, he had not returned when the show was over, so I left a note in the seat to call me about the truck thinking I would probably never hear from him. About 9pm that Saturday night he called me and said I found your note,, we talked about the truck a bit and I asked him if it was for sale, It belonged to him and his Dad and they had talked about selling it because they didn’t have a good shed for it . I asked him about the price and we agreed on it . I  had to haul a big forklift down to the outer banks of NC Sunday and would not be back till Monday evening, he said that was fine. As it turned out my Son was trucking out that way Monday so he stopped and left a deposit with his Dad and actually brought a older bulldozer from him also. So Tuesday afternoon we went back with a Superliner and lowboy and got it and the dozer. This is where I started asking questions and after about a hour I knew some of the history,,, but the interesting part had just begun! 

[Brocky]

I meant to ask you Saturday, that trailer brake handle / valve set up is different than any I have ever seen.. Does it have any connection to its life in Alaska???

[1961H67]

That part is original, the fellow ( Johnny ) I got in from took me inside before I left and gave me some information on the truck, he had a magazine, the information from the Mack Museum with all the information and gave me the name and number of the fellow ( Joe) he had gotten the truck from near Kingsport TN a few years before whom was a family member  of the fellow that had it in Alaska , John C “ Tennessee “ Miller . So here is where several questions were answered, I called Joe ,here’s his story of the truck, His Uncle John C Miller had hoboed a train near Newport TN in the 50s  and worked his way to California , there he started in the construction business until he started his own, then moved up to Alaska, continuing to build a bigger company in Anchorage, he had a lot of equipment and most of the trucks he brought up there he would change the engines out to 2 cycle Detroit Diesel, because they would start better in the colder climate . He had a top notch shop in Anchorage, and you can tell it by the craftsmanship of the engine swap. He did a lot of road building, and in 1964 he put together a caravan of D7 Cats to  take equipment to Prudhoe Bay for Richfield Oil , Joe said he has the missing fingers to prove it from frostbite! They had to go from Fairbanks north in the middle of winter so they could cross the Yukon River when it was frozen, This was not the way the Dalton Hwy runs today, they basically went around the mountains , I have a good article about it from the Anchorage Museum. He said the LTH was used to haul equipment with lowboys to Fairbanks . 

 

[Freightrain]

What a cool story!

 

I've tried for 25 yrs to get the previous owner to get me pictures or some kind of history of my truck at General Towing.  He just never wanted to.

 

I do have a huge file folder of "repair orders" through the years.  Every little trinket that was changed out.  I would love to have pictures from its heyday but I guess he wasn't a picture taker.

[1961H67]

Since you mentioned the previous owner, I asked Joe where Mr Miller got the truck, he had no clue but said Mr Miller had a guy that would go down the west coast and buy equipment and ship them up. He did tell me about the color and the name on the door,, we will get back to that later, the first month or so I had this truck I was trying to get all the information on it I could so I got on the computer, I saw from the copy from the Mack Museum that the truck was delivered new to  Kay Hyatt , Booneville CA ,I  found a Hyatt logging in Booneville, I thought what the heck so I called and a lady answered and I told her this was probably a strange call but had she heard of Kay Hyatt,She said it was her Grandfather and had passed away years ago. I told her I might have a old truck of his , She gave me her Dad’s cell number, I called and left him a message, later that night he returned my call and I explained the situation. He knew exactly what truck I was talking about, he told me his Mom took Him and his Dad to Oakland in 1955 when he was a kid to pick it up after having the log bed ( Reliant) I think he said I should have been taking notes! He asked if it was still original I told him about the changes and sent him some pictures on his cell, he said his Dad brought another one in 1956 and  he thought his cousin had a picture of them ( Red & White) at the Booneville fair in 1956 but hadn’t seen it in years. He said the best he could remember his Dad traded it in on a Peterbilt in the early 60s . This is where the story gets interesting,, I can’t believe no one’s asked me about the name of the topic, Adventurous Sister “

 

 

[Brocky]

OK!! I will bite!!!!!!!

[cruiseliner64]

6 hours ago, Brocky said:

OK!! I will bite!!!!!!!

Me too....dying to know....

Paul

[Nor'Easter]

Our LTH was built with a few weeks of yours.

[1961H67]

Ever heard of two sisters or brothers that grew up together than went separate ways, one settling down and starting a family and the other taking off to seek fame and fortune? ,, this story takes a lot of twists and  turns. About the same time I talked to Wayne Hyatt about his Father’s truck and the missing picture,  I remembered reading the great article in Wheels of Time magazine about the LTH log truck that Dan Thomas had purchased from the original owner’s family in Oregon ,I  still knew very little about a LTH ( a guy about 20 miles away bought 2 LTLs from out west and would bring one to our show, but I never talked to him about it very much) . I remembered the build sheet showing the next truck after mine was sent to Medford OR. I didn’t know Dan but found a number for his company on the internet, I called and asked to speak with him, the lady asked me what the call was concerning,, I told her “ A Old Mack “ if I remember correctly he called me within a hour, I told him about the truck and was wondering about the truck after it on the build sheet, I gave him my vin number and immediately he said that’s the sister truck to his! I told him about talking to the original owners son , he said he would call me back, I think less than a hour he sent me a picture of my truck ( left ) when it was about a year old and the new 56 that Kay Hyatt had bought,, it was the picture at the Booneville fair in 1956 ! “ MACK DADDY “ is the Perfect nickname for him! So his unmolested LTH spent its whole life in the same area,,, the older sister is just getting started! 

[Latrobe Construction B-61]

That is an awesome story.  Finding the trucks, working on them , and enjoying them is truly only half the hobby.    Getting the history and connecting the dots is just as exciting.     

[1961H67]

Thank You! I’ve tried to connect the dots as well as possible, Many of the people I have talked to about it tell me they were more pictures back in the day,, but with people moving and time their probably lost forever. But I’ll try to keep putting the story together as it was told to me by some of the owners of the truck,, I would never got the opportunity to talk to this many people all over the country if it wasn’t for this truck. ,,, It gets better! 

[cruiseliner64]

7 hours ago, Latrobe Construction B-61 said:

That is an awesome story.  Finding the trucks, working on them , and enjoying them is truly only half the hobby.    Getting the history and connecting the dots is just as exciting.     

Have to agree 1000%.When we got our Cruiseliner it was all I thougjt about but as my son began to uncover its history it was just amazing.The people we have talked to about the truck including all the folk on BMT has made owning the truck even more worthwhile that we ever imagined....

Paul

Edited Thursday at 07:25 PM by cruiseliner64

[1961H67]

At this point after talking with Dan Thomas and having the picture I called Joe for more information, he told me that Mr Miller had a lot of equipment, Along with swapping the Cummins out for a Brand New 318 Detroit ( By the way, the younger sister was built pretty much identical when they left the factory) Then they reinforced the frame, you can see where they shortened the frame when it was converted from a log truck to a 5th wheel, the frame reinforcement is very precise for a shop in Alaska in the early 60s . It’s still unclear how it got to Alaska but it was a fairly short period of time between Kay Hyatts trade to Peterbilt and when the Engine was switched and frame modifications,, according to Joe , Millers  nephew he thought it was in Alaska for about 8 or 9 years. John C Miller , the guy who  hobobed a train with no money, no education,,, but according to his nephew had brilliant mind when it came to road building and moving any kind of equipment had amassed a huge fortune by the 70s . 

[Brocky]

Does it still have the cable operated spring lock brakes??????

[Freightrain]

I have met up with Dan a few times at national conventions through the years.  He has quite the collection of trucks.  Crawling into the Aussie Superliner at York was a definite highlight.

[Brocky]

11 hours ago, Brocky said:

Does it still have the cable operated spring lock brakes??????

What is the third stick for????

[mowerman]

I’m assuming it’s a two speed browning for top end I don’t have any history on mine except the seller told me it grew up in Texas sometimes when I’m pulling out bolts, I’ll be thinking to myself when somebody put the bolt in. I was only 10 years old and grade school 1500 miles away. It’s kind of a weird feeling. Bob

[1961H67]

I assume they added that spring brake system when the engine was switched, it’s pretty neat, it works well. It doesn’t have a Jake brake on it, I have one for a 318 but really doesn’t need it now except for fun . I think Dans truck has had a Jake installed. I don’t think they came out with one for a Cummins ( Mr Cummins was the inventor of it ,, Another story) I have a real low serial Model 20 on my LJ ,, According To D.A. Strickland it’s one of the first around 1963 I think,, he has a B73 with the same model. Any way if you look at the dash in mine and read the article on Dans it shows a lot of stuff that has been added to this one ,, Mostly in Anchorage. The 3rd stick behind the fuel pedal is the 3 speed “ Browine “ 

[Brocky]

The only other air over cable parking brake I have seen is on the Early 60's Diamond T that a friend of Jeff Lakaszcyck from Connecticut built and was at the 2012 Springfield Mass show, and also at Macungie in 2013. What is the original Transmission set up??, that they needed another 3 speed auxiliary???

[mrsmackpaul]

I imagine it had a "true lock" park brake (disk btake on the rear of the transmission) or hand brake as we call them originally and with the normal modifications and improvments over the trucks life it waa removed and replaced with the spring brake jobby it has now 

Very cool truck

And yes I am jealous but in the very best of ways 

Thanks for a sharing the story

 

Paul