Brains trust , I dunno what it is

Was posted on my Facebook group. Not sure if it is a bitza or what
Go ya hardest brains trust .

I will start.

FWD front.
Front chassis rails trimmed for straight bumper
Bit of fancy metalwork on front of guards
Extended Chassis (see original spring hangers)
Mack chain drive rear end.


I thought maybe Ward LaFrance/Kenworth but the radiator is too far back.

I think I know this truck, near sawmill at Bilpin on Bell of Line Road, the bonnet has been extended it could be a Kenny or Ward Lafrance, the tin ware near the jerrycan is the same to and you can see the spring hangers on the chassis and it appears to be extended not original chain drive check out welds on chassis just behind original spring hangers shes a real bitsa

Looking at the guards, I think these appear home made - then again???

The FWD theory does not stack up when the two vehicles are compared.

The Ward LaFrance/Kenworth looks more like it. I don't think the bonnet is extended - just a bit of rough tin. The radiator cowl or tin-work is missing just leaving the support frame.

Look at the mudguard design.




The angles seem a bit wrong on John Belfield's Kenworth but pretty close.






The other prime suspect is a Diamond T but although the radiator/front spring relationship is right the cab design and swept up chassis rails don't do it.





Lang

I have noticed it has extra unusual spring hanger type doo days in front of the chain drive diff
I wonder could this have been a half track machine with them extra spring hangers ?????? but I have no idea at all
But I reckon Langs middle photo in the last post is about the closest it has the little checker plate step welded onto the rear of the mud guards


Paul

Paul

I don't think it is a half track with a different cab. They were relatively lightly constructed compared with the Ward LaFrance/Kenworth machines.




The half track suspension was a volute spring (in the square box) not a conventional spring requiring hangers. For interest a volute spring is like the spring on garden hand pruners and allows a lot of spring action in a very short distance.

I've got NFI what it Is/was..

But I think It has had a Pusher axle under it at some stage, going by the set of spring hangers in front of the drive axle..

http://www.hcvc.com.au/forum/attachment/3337

Guess n the xtra spring hangr doodadds could've been a home grown pusher axle

Drive is definitely Mack. The extra spring hangers seem rough as guts and not a factory item. The ring-in pusher seems likely.




Maybe it is not as complicated as we think. Could it just be a Mack chassis and rear running gear grafted straight on to a WLF/KW chassis at the point where chassis rail size changes at the front "pusher spring hanger" with few other changes?

Like Hayseed, I too have NFI !But, you have to admit it has a certain "rustic" charm.
What caught my eye was just how close the rear spring hanger mount was to the end of the chassis, but if it's a "Bitsa", maybe somebody took to the chassis rails with the gas axe??
Dave