More imports

This Cat digger arrived by ship for the local Cat dealer. Owen Davis Sons & Daughter Ltd of Lower Sackville, NS got the job to drag the unit away from the pier.

Their Western Star day cab unit was up to the job using a Raglan dolly and a Blackhawk trailer. They are waiting for quieter traffic before getting underway for the short trip over to Burnside.

Big things on trucks

1. Singh crusher on Mills four axle trailer. Due to its height and width it has escorts front and rear. Also a nice new Mack Titan doing the hard work.

2. Davis Western Star on Young Avenue - not where you`d expect to see a truck.

3. Another Davis Western Star, this one with a Verboom grinder heading into Point Pleasant Park. It also had escort vehicles.

There seems to be a rash of big crushing things moving around Halifax on trucks in the last few days. First off was the Singh Crusher - a very large piece of rock crushing plant that arrived by ship and was moving down Lower Water Street, brushing the trees on the way. Mills Heavy Hauling had the job, and I just missed getting their new Mack Titan three axle on the lead of this load. (November 3)

Next was the Verboom grinder and Cat backhoe that Owen Davis Sons&Daughters were moving down Young Avenue, into Point Pleasant Park, where trucks are prohibited according to the sign. The grinder is used to grind up trees, and produce usable bio-mass, so presumably it will be used to dispose of the many fallen trees still left from Hurricane Juan, as part of the Park`s restoration project. Verboom is based in Truro, NS and has a web site: http://www.verboomgrinders.com/ This particular grinder unit appears to be a Peterson.

(November 4)

Interesting story here, that the original Owen Davis heavy hauling operation was purchased by Mills a few years ago. Then the Davis children who were in the landscaping and site work business, rejuvenated the heavy hauling operation, keeping the traditional Owen Davis colour scheme and loyalty to Western Star trucks.

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Random Shots #35 Western Star

Owen Davis Trucking of Lower Sackville, NS, with its distinctive colour scheme of red and black with pinstripes, has been around for better than 55 years. They are also noted for being loyal Western Star customers (and why not?) with an entire fleet of exclusively WStars.
There are actually two lines if business that I am aware of in the Davis group. Owen Davis Trucking, also known as Davis Specialized Carriers are the big guys that haul oversize loads, and their trucks have been pictured here before (always Western Stars.)
They also have a topsoil and compost operation known as Owen Davis & Son Contracting. They run dump trucks and tractors, also Western Stars.
I noted a new wrinkle in the group last night at Fairview Cove, namely this Western Star day cab with a big Raglan trailer. The trailer consists of a two axle dolly, trailer, two axle dolly, and two axle steering dolly. The whole works has an air suspension, and as shown with engine off, the air bags are empty and the trailer is sitting on the ground. The cab is also down on the frame. Once the engine is started up and the air is pumped up, the whole rig sits up and rides on air cushions.
The big Caterpillar 385C crawler came off a ship in the past few days, and is a typical Owen Davis cargo.

The unusual wrinkle is the company name on the cab door, which now reflects the active participation of another family member in the company, and an apparent sharing of resources between the two companies in the group.