B Mack 8 Axle Heavy Haul

Hi, Folks.
That looks like very late 1950s-early1960s DowNunda to me. Brambles were a biggish outfit with all sortza gear then and later and had their own heavy haul division as well as earth moving and cranes.

That sort of thing was not uncommon for the times - especially 'just a little further out of town', so to speak. The early Toyota Land Cruisers in the background were also pretty common back then as Thiess Bros brought thousands of them into the country in the early 1960s.

I don't know if Brambles also had branches in New Zealand.

Just my 0.02.

D9 up front D8 on the back?

Out of sight out of mind, just load her up and go for it was the slogan here in Oz a few decades ago, most thought that axle limits was the minimum weight you should have on, not the maximum.

The worst I ever got to was a fully rigged D9N on six axles, legal max was 49 tonnes gross, I think it went about 70 tonnes, pulled with a 285 Mack f/w 6 speed box in the mountains. Flat country has its own problems, tends to roll down in front and create heavier pulling.

We had to get more inventive as time went on, move in the middle of the night and use a lot of stickers ie, D9N would have D8N stickers etc, was surprising that they took a while to wake up to these tricks, finished up more recent years having to do it legally, 4x8 trailer with 2x8 dolly, Drake swing wing widener, the best combination in the world, apart from steerable platforms have never seen anything else come near the combination for practicality or design.

Wombat

Hi, Wombat.
I once had an American 'heavy haul' driver say to me that he would LURRRVE to be able to drive a D11 fully rigged up a set of ramps onto a deck the size of a small landing field, chain it down, raise the ramps and GO.

He was talking about our platforms.

Just my 0.02.

[quote="Deas Plant."]Hi, Wombat.
I once had an American 'heavy haul' driver say to me that he would LURRRVE to be able to drive a D11 fully rigged up a set of ramps onto a deck the size of a small landing field, chain it down, raise the ramps and GO.

He was talking about our platforms.

Just my 0.02.[/quote]

Like this one?

I know a bloke, won't mention any names, who was being pursued for overweight loads etc, so one Friday evening loaded a D9N up onto six axles in full view and left it sitting there for the weekend, said authorities spent the weekend staking out the site, hiding waiting for the Shift. Monday morning unloaded the tractor and continued working on the same site, some very tired and p...ed off weights inspectors had to return to the office empty handed.

Its important to keep ones sense of humour and fun in the face of the over zealous law enforcement officers, I think it became a real game of cat and mouse before I relented when they really got savage and started to chase any and everything.

Wombat

[quote="Deas Plant."]Hi, Wombat.
I once had an American 'heavy haul' driver say to me that he would LURRRVE to be able to drive a D11 fully rigged up a set of ramps onto a deck the size of a small landing field, chain it down, raise the ramps and GO.

He was talking about our platforms.

Just my 0.02.[/quote]

Like this one?

Imagine coming up on one of those from Charlieville to Quilpie! Great pic!