Some EX Kwikasair / Comet 8 wheelers

The last 18 years before i retired was spent with Alltrans Bulk Div Chullora

drivin EX Kwikasair / Comet 8 wheelers delivering bricks for Zacuba Brick works.

If things were slack or what ever we would do a bit with the tanker div where

they were using EX Kwikasair SARs under the tanks.

When i say " using" what i mean is , what ever branch ordered trucks , what ever colour

they were painted, & what ever fleet No was allocated to them, they all "" belonged""

to, & were maintained by TNT Equipment .

I dont know when that started , but was the case from when i had my first trot with them.

Tied every thing up for tax purposes, but the branches paid a tidy sum for their use .

Alltrans Chullora used at least 14 / 8 wheelers that i knew of.

Assuming that the basic fleet Nos stayed the same they were................

814 , 815 / 819 / 820 / 821 / 822, all with 8v71 donks.

As far as i know the 871 was pretty good on the parcels

unlike Ansetts , who were peed of with them because of piston problems

Then there was 834 / 835 / 836 / 837 / 838 / All with 6/92 donks that gave

a fair run. Then was 843 / 844 / 845 . With later 6/92 donks which

gave a heap of problems main bearing wise for what ever reason.

They would chew out the centre mains, the slippers would turn in the block,

cut of the oil supply to the crank & stuff every thing. 843 & 845 both stuffed

2 donks a piece. I was drivin 844 & managed to pick up the vibration early

enough to have new mains fitted without damage. In the 12 years i was in it ,

it had 2 sets of mains & 1 in frame rebuild. Some short time after i left it seized

the donk & stuffed every thing.
....................................................

...thanks for the fascinating info and memories Billy.....that would all add up very nicely considering that two 8 wheeler ghosts went to the West, with, it is believed Nephew Jason's truck being 816 (recently returned from over there) and guessing that 817 or 818 was it's brother ....cheers

A little about the brick yard we ran out of.

Started in (i think ) late 50s By 3 Italian blokes ZAcarati, CUnya,& BAyutti (spelling suspect)

Financed by Sir Norman Nock ( of Nock & Kirbys fame) & remained that way till Sir Norman

passed away. Bought by PGH & then CSR

How Alltrans got involved i dont know but they were there from the start.

First with hand trucks while crane trucks were being fitted out. These were Leyland

Cameronians (8 wheelers) 500 donk & 613 R/Rangers with split opening bodies (to get

the grab between the packs) & HIAB cranes.

The brains behind the trucks (i think) was Lloyd Glasby who came to Alltrans from

Jack Seaton Transport . When the KWs came off the parcel runs they were gradually

phased into the brick operation.

The first to front up was 815. & was then driven by Norm Lumby , a couple of blokes

were in it , then Kenny Barlow jumped in it & eventually bought it.

Kennys old man was an old Kwikasair driver
.
After Kenny Barlow finished wit it, it was bought by Kenny Foster.
………………………….Billy...……………………...

Those old Slimlines were a bit rough to ride in & were bloody hot in summer.

You would burn your leg if you leant against the gear lever for too long.

and seeing as the gear changing was never ending at times i used to wear a glove.

The left leg was ok as the only time i used the clutch was taking off . skip shifting or

going in or out of deep reduction.(which didnt happen all that much)

while unloading i used to block the shutters open & flick the Horton fan on , that

cooled things down a bit.

A LITTLE STORY about heat

When the SARs first came out all the purists thought it was the end of the world,

WHAT!! no more W models, & as such , a lot of people were picky about the SARs.

Rattling gear sticks , top exhaust brackets breaken away from the cab,

slop in the Shephard steerin boxes, & mostly, heat in the cab, burning the drivers footsies.

Shields around exhausts etc, were tried and this was when radiator shutters got the flick.

only supplied there after at the owners request.

This created more air flow around the donk & cab area & helped enormesly.

A modified thermostat & housing completed the mod.

Other than being a little annoying to work on they turned out ok.

.................Billy......……....

Billy .... Alltrans were there from the start as they won a contract very early on and from my TNT research I believe Abeles had a hand in designing the cranes to speed up loading/unloading .... So he could make more money.

Werk,

That sounds ok ,
The whole bit was supposd to mean bricks were un touched by human hands till

the bricky grabbed them , that was why there was no pallets involved.

did you get my PM ? .............Billy..............

Sorry mate ... No PM yet

Would that Ken Barlow be in his late 60s and used to hang around Parramatta in the late 1960s in an immaculate star model Ford Customline?

Zacuba bricks - Billy, you must know Ken Hodge who did the same job, but with a stetched twin steer Volvo F86. He only retired the truck when it had diff trouble at about 850,000. By the time I got it (when Ken moved to the Bundanoon area) it only had one bricktray and a very rusty cab. Still has the Zacuba mudflaps.

Great Billy, thanks for sharing, that was very interesting. I just LOVE that tachograph keyring.........simple things lol

Overnite
The age bit could be close , but cant help with the rest ,sorry.
.............................



Mammoth,
Yeah , Hodgy was just a great bloke , I liked the way he laughed at
his own jokes.
He had another Volvo (im sure ) after the 86 before he retired.
When he first came to Zacuba he had an old Butterbox 8 wheeler
with a 2 stroke UD donk, bloody noisy thing , you could hear it for miles.
Spent all his spare time fixin tail shafts in it.

Cunning,
Nothing like a bit of nostalgia
……………...Billy ..............................