Big trucks for big loads

 The importing of construction, mining and forestry equipment peaks in spring and the equipment is now arriving weekly from Europe. One of the well known manufacturers is Sandvik, makers of mining and construction equipment, based in Sweden. 

Recently I spotted a Ranger series and a Panther series top hammer, rock drill at Pier 9C in Halifax. I managed to catch them when they had been loaded onto flatbeds and were on the road.

A pair of Peterbilts from Delway Enterprises in Miramichi, NB were hauling the rigs.

Due to my position and their speed, I wasn't able to get great shots of the Sandviks.

The Peterbilts, with low rise sleepers and straight pipes, looked more than capable of doing the job. The Petes were not identical - they had different bumpers, visors and headlights.

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More RVs

 The European RVs keep rolling in (by ship) and some domestic ones are begining to appear too as tourist season gets underway. 

The desire for "stealth" RVs is a bit of a current fad. The idea is to make the RV look like an anonymous  commercial vehicle, and thus attract no attention when parked for the night, perhaps in a dodgy location. Leaving the exterior plain white and without signs of conversion is a good "cover", but adding a ladder and extra windows is a dead giveaway.

 

A Dodge Ram 2500 ProMaster is a good start for a stealth RV, but this one will fool no one.

Not exactly stealth is a an ex military ambulance with red cross on the roof:

I can't begin to imagine how uncomfortable something like this must be - even on good roads. Magirus-Deutz is certainly a rare find in North America. Does that cab tilt?

There are two or three "native" Scanias in Atlantic Canada, so the number of RV Scanias likely outnumbers them as they keep coming in.

I cannot help but smile when it see this VW with Karmann camper body:

 

I dislike the word "cute" on principal, but I can think of no other. I suspect it must be pretty wobbly in a strong crosswind.

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If there's someting strange in your neighborhood...

 The first line of the thme song from the Ghostbusters movie goes:

 "If there's something strange in your neighborhood

Who ya gonna call?

Ghostbusters."

There is a big sewer replacement project goin' on in my neighborhood and there are a lot of expensive and very fine Komatsu diggers and loaders, lots of pickups and some very nice support vehicles such Western Stars and Peterbilts, all owned by the Prime Contractor. 

 

When it comes to dump trucks however he has hired independants, and they are bringin' in some very strange equipment - not exactly fresh from the showroom. I'm not gonna a call ghostbusters - not yet anyway.

I believe this twin steer Navistar International is a Paystar model. I like that when the grill was removed, it revealed the original factory paint colour. I preferred the pre-fibreglass Paystars with steel hood and fenders, but this one will do for toughness - aside ftom the weirdly long wheelbase.

This beaut has a fleet number "97-04" on the hood, and it could well be from 1997. Mack introduced the R model cab, and the U and DM model offset cab trucks in the mid 1960s and they ran to about 2004. The DM was a heavier duty model of the U. This guy also has a newer BeauRoc dump body.

This Sterling carries a fleet number 07-038, which seems about right.

For a 2007 truck, it is in remarkable condition however.

Not in my neighbourhood, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it here, is this classic I discovered the other day:

Although it carries a Ford badge, I believe it is in fact a Sterling. The fleet number 09-051, if I am correct, would date it from the last year of production of the Sterling A series. Ford sold the Louisville plants to Freightliner in 1996 and the last Fords were produced in 1998. Sterling produced Louisville and Aeromax style trucks until 2009. They used second generation L cabs and aside from some labels were identical to the last model Fords. I believe it would be easy to swap out the name plate and remove Sterling lettering from the grille.

How about a house for sale with matching dump truck. Or vice versa?

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Deeres gone to the dog

 A pair of John Deeres were about to take to the road Friday May 6 on a tri-axle step deck trailer.

They are both AWD row crop tractors, models 6215R (left) and 7930 (right). Deere has tractor factories all around the world, but I guess these two were built in Mannheim, Germany. In charge of the trailer was a Freightliner operated by Little Max Transport Services of Norwich, ON.

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EuroRV invasion

 The toursit season for European RVs is in full swing, and typically many unusual looking trucks (not to mention RV conversions) can be seem coming through the gates at the Fairview Cove terminal. The vehicles arrive on ships of the Atlantic Container Line and this week's ship, the Atlantic Sky probably had between 25 and 35 RVs from what I could see.

 Outside the gates this morning, after clearing Customs, there were about a dozen more of all shapes and sizes:

Fiat van with Rapido V55 camper conversion.

 

Toyota pickup and ExKab 5S "drop on"

 

Mercedes and Nova LaStrada conversion.

 

Iveco model 55S 17W with Bimobil expedition body.

 

Nissan extended cab pickup with Tisher drop in camper.

Citroen raised roof van conversion.

Some of these trucks may have dealer support in North America, but I suspect most are very far away from service. Many appear to be new, but warrantees don't stretch across the Atlantic. 

Some vehicles don't appear to be RVs exactly, but this Swiss offroader, equipped with a heavy skid plate, immense driving lights and high breather looks ready for some serious back road travel. I hope he finds someplace to ski.

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What's new and not so new

 I don't often get to the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth, but when I do I like to swing by all the truck dealers to see what is on the lots.  Usually there is something of interest. Sometimes it is a new truck ready to deliver and sometimes it is an older truck in for service or resale.

Today (April 23) was a nice sunny day, and this is what I saw:

A new Mack Anthem ready for delivery to Municipal Contracting. It has some nice options including a serious headache rack.

Hansen's deliver high end autos in enclosed trailers, but also carry cars in the open. This Volvo was in the yard, maybe for servicing.

The Kenworth dealer had this "triple screw" T880 - surely a fairly rare beast - and worthy of two photos:

 

The Western Star dealer had this 4900 with a very serious bull bar:

 Speaking of W'Stars, and bull bars I spotted this twin steer, at the Navistar International dealer's lot:

To round off the trip, I also saw a rare International LoneStar, but not at the dealer's. It was at the Petro Pass fuel stop. It also had a serious critter filter, specially configured to protect the LoneStar.

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Heads I win, Tails you lose

 It was more aircraft components at Fairview Cove today as two tail assemblies were pulled out on flat bed trailers. We have been accustomed to seeing the smart looking Watson trucks pulling these trailers, but today it was trucks from Total Transport + Rigging, the company that acts as local agents for oversize loads. Watson may pick up the loads from TT+R, but it looks like these ones will be hauled directly by TT+R.

First out was a cleam looking Mack Anthem. It is hauling a Paron trailer, still with a Mills Heavy Hauling sticker. (Mills was the predecessor to TT+R under previous owners).

TT+R trucks, as were Mills trucks before them, are usually painted red, so this may be an owner /operator rig.

A Navistar International equipped with a third axle hauled the second trailer.

The tail assemblies arrive on ships of the Atlantic Container line and are destined for Bombardier's aircraft manufacturing facilities in the Montreal area or Downsview, in the Toronto area. Bombardier used to own the former Short Brothers factory in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but sold it to Spirit AeroSystems in 2020. It seems Bombardier still gets assemblies from Shorts, which ships out of Liverpool, England.

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