To Everyone....
I appreciate the remarks and replies about the pictures posted and am glad they stirred some memories of the past. I too am fond of what once was and do remember the early times of riding with my Dad. Great times indeed!!
As for the 1958 Chev LCF tractor we still own it but Hurricane Fran came thru Raleigh in 1996 and dropped a big red oak on "Pugnose" and totally destroyed it. We do have the rusty remains of a '59 Chev. LCF tractor that I'll post someday, but for the '58 its demolished. The '62 Chev. 80 series tractor is parked in the woods but I do plan to move it to a shelter soon. Its extremely rusty and will need a cab replacement. Its a project for the future.
Throughout the late 50s and into the 60s we ran almost all gas engine trucks, a few Fords but mostly Chevys and a few GMCs. By the mid 70s we were mainly running Whites with 250 and 270 Cummins, plus a few Detroit 238s and 318s. By the mid 80s we were buying mostly Macks but we did have a couple of Western Stars and some Kenworth W900s and T800s. Today we're still mainly with Mack.
We did have two Toro Flow Diesels in the 60s, one being a 1965 GMC 6500 single axle tractor with the 478 Toro Flow. Its fuel mileage was unbelievably good when compared with the gas burners and so Dad ordered a '66 Chev. 80 dead axle tandem dump with the same 478 Toro Flow. By the time the '66 Chev had arrived the '65 GMC had spun a main at 40,000 miles. Dad had soured on the Toro Flow by then because of the expense of a new motor. He converted that tractor to a 409 V8. The '66 with the Toro Flow gave much better service and went to nearly 100,000 miles, but we did not have the experience to work on them. We replaced that motor with a 366 V8. The Toro Flows we used were over worked and were not suited to pull a gross weight of 65,000 lb. (tractor) or 45,000 lb. (tandem dump). We did use several GMC's with V6 gas (478) and they did hold up well, but they did burn more gas than the 409s and were much more expensive to repair or replace. We could buy a new 409 long block for $600 and a 478 V6 would cost close to $1000.
I'll post some more pictures around Christmas when my son is back in. I'll also be glad to answer any questions you may have. Most of the pictures posted do have comments and explanations under them.
Thanks Again, James Bailey
