ThaddeusW

How road worthy is it?

Ah yes I have heard of this system before, the redneck pickup air brake conversion kit.

You could pull the tires. Its an ass load of work but it should drop it about two feet making it 13'6 legal. The tires are monster 18.00-33, maybe bigger. Those are something in the neighborhood of 5 to 6 feet tall.

Hey Paul, The entire steam generator system down there is DC although there are two vintage diesel gen sets, one is from a battle ship! They had a motor-generator set running up until 2004 when the replaced the DC powered manual Otis elevators with modern elevators. The MG set converted 3 phase 208V AC to 120V DC. I got a personal tour by Chief Engineer and steam aficionado Conrad Milster. He even started one of the engines for me, ran dead silent save for the terrifying knocking sound the flywheel counterweights make when it spins up. I even tried getting a job there and he even was willing to hire me if I had a boiler operators license since the steam pressure is over 100PSI. The only way to get one is you have worked with a boiler system for 5 or more years. But you need a boiler permit to work on a steam system. How you get one is beyond me, chalk one up for retarded government bureaucracy.

NICE! There are three reciprocating steam driven generators in the basement of a building at Pratt university in Brooklyn. They all still work. If you look at the flywheel, it has the inertia type governor. As the flywheel comes up to speed, the offset weights push up against the spring and pull the connecting rod (disconnected and half laying on the ground). If the generator is loaded the engine will slow and the spring will push the weight, which pushes the connecting rod against the lever pulling on the rod going into the steam chest. That lets more steam into the engine to compensate for the load. As the generator is unloaded, the engine will try to run faster pushing the weights up against the spring which in turn closes the valve in the steam chest a little slowing down the engine. Shame they are outside rusting away.

I like that 350 Ton lowboy. You could haul two D9's with ease.

Rob, You have no luck starting trucks, do you

I like the idea of CAT giving the truck market a try. We have been loosing brands so this is a welcomed addition. I would love to see one setup with a big C15 pulling a low-boy with a big piece of CAT machinery on the back, all painted yellow.

That 3406E will tear an old Mack twin stick up like no tomorrow. Your first problem is those trannys had single disc clutches (maybe they can be itted with twin disc) and single countershafts. Your CAT has what 1850-2050 ft/lbs? The Mack duplex/triplex/quad was designed to go behind an engine that produced around 600 ft/lbs. Hell even the 800 something ft/lbs (820 or 890, i forget) of the 237 Maxidyne can damage an old (pre-maxitorque) twin stick if improperly driven. The newer twin stick setups are based the the TTC (ex Spicer) 6 speed and 4 speed aux. Even the new TTC 6 wont handle the 1850-2050 ft/lbs, it tops out at 1400. The Mack T306 is a six speed that can handle 1700 ft/lbs so that might be a good place to start. IMHO, I would leave the gearbox alone. The 18 speed is a great match for the big power coming out of your engine and you wont have to worry about matching gear ratios or other nonsense. If it aint broke don't fix it (unless you can make it better).

You know the pig problem we have here will work itself out. We like guns. We also like bacon. I dont see a problem here.

You should see how they size the tires for the load. Those are only small 17.5's designed to carry a little over 4000 lbs at HIGHWAY speeds. But since these monster setups rarely go over 5MPH, you can put a hell of a lot more weight on a tire at lower speeds. I believe those tires are carrying somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000+ pounds! Read that in a brochure from Nicolas, a company that builds those types of hydraulic platform trailers. Those trailer also self level front to back and side to side. so going up an incline, the trailer will have the front most axles low to the ground while the rear most axles are extended. Also same for side-side. Wild stuff.

Yup I was going to say the same thing too, tru-hitch. Basically it works like an underlift, the front wheels/steer axle rests on the front of the boom close to the goose neck. Then at the rear of the boom there are clevises that you chain to the frame rails. So when you lift the goose neck, the boom lifts the front wheels but the rear of the boom wants to stay put on the ground since the 5th wheel is a hinge. So the chains tied around the frame rails start to lift the rear of the boom and now you have converted the truck/tractor into a trailer. The weight actually goes on the pin instead of creating a see-saw effect like that of a regular wrecker. Here are pictures I took at '09 and '10 macungie of how the setup works: This picture shows lifting using the wheels This one shows lifitng using the steer axle This is a frame clamp at the end of the boom, chains can also be used like I mentioned above. Overall its a pretty sweet setup. Would be a great way to move antique trucks around (as long as the tires hold.)

I fell for an April fools today and so did a coworker. One coworker came inside from smoking a cigarette and told me he heard a plane crash at the nearby airport and saw smoke billowing up, I ran out to check but saw nothing and then it dawned on me. My friend and coworker came into the room I was working in sat down and told me he was just pranked big time. He said his girlfriend called sounding very upset and told him she was pregnant. She then said she was moving back in with her mother across the country. He was distraught for about half an hour until she called back and said "april fools!". People are cruel

From my impression I am surprised you even wear em.

It is a great idea to make an affordable mack for those who might want a single axle box truck or flat bed wrecker. to me but I still think they should shorten the hood and put it up against the Peterbilt 335 and the Kenworth K300.

I like the contrast

Thats not sad, thats dinner. Rob you got any road cat recipes kicking around?

I still watch some kids cartoons. My two favorite modern shows are Adventure Time and Regular Show. Both air on the Cartoon Network. My random: Silicon Graphics Origin 300 servers I just got the other day

They are going all hub pilot. You don't see many Le's with spokes anymore. No tube tires, forget the tire size though.

From what I have heard, the new MP10 is a hand full of trouble. The Pelletyears Titans have been is the shop allot and one was rolled. There was another fella on here who bought two gray Titans with the white stripes and Sisu axles. He also has nothing but problems with them. It looks like the sad truth is the MP10's are very buggy. I don't know what Mack is doing with those Volvo engines but something is not working out for them.

In addition to what Rob said the reflection in the polished trailer is accurate. Also, the ice covered tree which is clearly seen both through the windshield and passenger window and outside the cab matches perfectly. The EXIF data says it was takes with an iPhone 3GS on Febuary 18, 2011 at 8:53 am.

I know of at least two people who ignored any pains they felt or ignored the idea of getting one all together. Unfortunately for both of them they now have a colostomy bag. One of the people was a young man who had ulcerative colitis and ignored the pain. He is my age (30) and now has a colostomy bag. Image being so young and having to crap in a bag for the rest of your life because every inch of your colon was removed. The other person is a friend of my mothers who had polyps and never went for an exam. Had she went when she was supposed to (her doctor even recommended it) they would have caught the growths and been able to remove them before they covered her colon requiring it to be removed. Awful stories.

Its good to hear you don't want to scrap it either. I mean how many of these trucks still exist? One of three M100's is by me and still parked with its trailer. Once they are gone they are gone forever. From the brochure it should weigh in at about 74,500 lbs tare weight. its 13'10" wide and 14'2" high. Its only 26' long so any 50 ton lowboy would make short work of the haul. Would be a nice pair: the M100 and its little brother the M50. I would love to own both of them.

Thank god! How many times have I driven on roads (highways mind you) that have faded lines that are nearly invisible in rain at night.

Dear lord! Did they have to carry you out? lol. In all seriousness though, how was the ride?