Some EX Kwikasair / Comet 8 wheelers

Just for a change, here is a bit of nostalga from yesteryear.

Driving an old 12 speed Spicer box. (8125U)






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Imagine jumping into that for the first time, 3 stick positions.....each slot used 4 times &

The stick has to move through neutral every time to activate the air shift.

Now, suppose you used to drive for Mortons from ACT. they had KWs & DCO Inters.

The Inters shift pattern was mirror reversed to the KW.

That really complicated things.
.............. ...............Billy.............................TBC...

Like the comment without giving the maintenance man the shakes
Would confuse the be gees out of you a bit like a zf that you keep shifting away from you

Jee zuz Billy

U must B 100 year old

they were a gr8 box for th@ era

we used all them 6 gears in reverse

n wen the range change ...... didn't we fling the rubber mat to the side n lift the wooden floor ( no bolts to hold it down)
give the box a dose of castor oil n away again in minutes

LOL
cya

.Replacing the Photobucket images takes a bit of time as there has to be some alterations to
the amount of pics that can be used each time.......................so not all might be in the same thread........

Not quite Swishy, ....I only feel that way.....
Yeah , they were good...........after you got used to them.
An owner driver box............as a fleet box where every one & his dog drove em
they got knocked around a bit.
I think as a fleet box the r/r was better suited to a heap of diffrent drivers.
Was that why they sorta fizzled out ?
Yeah, once the oil bit didnt do too good , a new set of quad rings in the
change cylinders was the go. (easy to do in the cab overs)
......................................Billy...............................

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.I shall to sneak this last spicer pic in here .....only way i can fit it in............




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Heres a pic of one of the cameronians unloading (this was before the KWs hit the scene)

All together.there were 11 of them, 9 carried 10 packs (4700bricks) & 2 carried 8 packs (3760)

The pic is a 8 packer with 6 packs in front of the crane & 2 packs behind. With this you could

unload the lot behind the truck.(very handy in confined areas) This was the truck that i drove

when i first started with Alltrans. I think i took this pic more to show the sites we had to unload at

rather than the truck itself.





Another pic at the same site.Pretty crappy but it is over 40 years old.




Here is a pic courtesy of Werk .............





Thats the only pics that i have of the Leylands, a camera wasnt high on the priority list then.

The Leylands wernt over burdened with power but ( the 500 donk with a 13 r/ranger wasnt a bad match.

The 10 packers had the HIAB mounted in the centre, with 4 packs in front of the crane & 6 at the rear.

All unloading was off the side .

Most of the bodies & cranes found there way onto the KWs (like the set up on 838 in the next pic )





When the cranes were mounted on the rear of some of the KWs (834...835...843...844...845|) the builders

all rubbed their hands together & said You Beauty, now we can get rid of the brick hoists & you blokes

can lift the bricks onto the floors above...........yeah......right. from then on it was a constant battle

when we arrived on site, as , mostly , the more we helped the builders , the more they wanted.

Then one day the drivers said weve had enough of this, some things only got to go pear shaped &

were in a heap of trouble. (there had already been a few near misses with the out riggers sinking into soft

ground etc) So when you arrived on site the builder would say we want em up there.

Sorry digger, its not on any more,...........Then it would start , there was the threats........then ,,every

one else does it....Then the pleading......then weel pay you to do it....yeah

One time i was in a sticky situation helping a builder out , he sez ile make it worth your while,

when i was finished he gave me 2 dollars & shot through smartly.

But as competition from other brick yards increased we virtually had no choice but to do a lot of

things we wernt too keen on (thats life).

One little story before i go...........

Years ago i used to occasionally talk to a bloke who ran an ex ghost 6 wheeler mainly, i think ,

on the Sydney....Brissy run, he was talking about the bad time he was having.

One time he was scooting along & an old Holden pulled out of a side street in front of him. The

back of the car was nearly dragging on the ground & with nowhere to go he whacks it up the

choofer, the KW climbing up onto the boot area .A pile of smoke starts to show so he jumps out

& assists this old bloke (the driver) out of the car, by this time there was flames as well as smoke,

Then bingo, up she went & the whole lot (car & truck) burns to the ground. The old bloke is running

around, like the chook with the head cut off. It seems that in the car boot was a couple of

4 gallon drums nearly full of silver coins he had been saving for donkeys years ,hence the rear of

the car dragging on the ground. I guess they were still good for bullion now,

Recovering from this,..ole mate gets another ex ghost on the road & as he said, was just getting

back on his feet again when disaster strikes again......,the sump plug falls out of the 8/71,with

rather disasteress results , as you would expect.

That was his tale as i recall it &

That was about the last time i saw him. Sadly, i believe he is no longer with us.

..........................Billy........................

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WOW. Get a load of that 8 Wheeled buggy.

I believe it was owned by Mal Cleary of Mt Isa, but i know nussing about it.

Bumped onto the pic purely by accident. Dont know who took the shot, but thanks any way.

It looked that good i just had to copy a pic............

Looking at all that pipe work at the back of the cab, i think i might have liked the power plant

in old 844.

Now...........

One cold cloudy winters Friday , i arrived back at the brick yard about 9-30 AM after the first

delivery. when i spotted 822 still loaded in the parking area. I assumed the driver comcerned

was having a long weekend off.

It was still there when i got back to the yard at 6-30 PM.

Picking up my load docket for tomorrow the Chief sez , Billy,when you have loaded , see me

before you fuel up , will ya.

OK here i am, whats up.

we have a problem, the load on 822 has got to go to night , the builder has rung to demand

the load to go....He s got brickys starting early in the morning & they are starting excavations

as well, so the load has to be there before then........Will you do it please...….. As ALLTRANS have been

fair to me i sez OK ...........Wheres it going to ?? Katoomba......Bloody hell ,...this time of night

OK OK... So i kicks 822 in the guts & makes sure every thing is ok, Then fuels & parks 844.

Arrives at the Katoomba site , its foggy & black as the ace of spades,the drive way is pretty

steep & narrow ,So i hooks up the unloading light to see to back in to the joint, then..into deep reduction &

away we go. Half way through unloading , it starts to rain & just pisses down. I thinks i dont want to be

here all night , so grabs the wet weather gear & finishes.

Now thats the easy part, next ive gotta get out of the joint

Cant get closer than 40 ft to the road , using all the unbogging tricks that i knew to no avail( it was still raining

with water running down the drive way , washing away anything i tossed under the wheels etc )

A long shot.....but.......Calls on the 2-way half a dozen times , the chief actually answers, (he was out in his

car some where ) I explains the problem & sez can you call Thompsons at Mt Vic & see if they can arrange

a tow ( They are Mack agents or were, & have some heavy towing gear)

OK they are on the way, with a unit near Katoomba , just finishing a job.

He arrives & drags 822 out onto the road, i signs the book & sez thanks mate & away he goes.

Now to set off home.........Bloody hell.....whats the matter now ???????? . The box wont come

out of deep reduction...........Jiggles & flicks every thing, still no go. soooooo, its still raining &

im as cold as all hell. What do i do now?????, wet gear on agin,then dives under to have a bo peep.

Step 1 , Have a look at the air lines on the deep reduction cylinder.

The constant supply from the regulator is OK

Step 2 ...Thers no air coming from the dash valve at all, So thats why it wont come out (i think)

Step 3 Take the constant supply line of the change cyl, move some fittings & hook it on to

the fitting that takes the air supply from the dash controll,(the other side of the cylinder).

Fires the old girl up & as the air pressure comes up the box jumps out of deep reduction.

Flicks the d/r switch to the in position.in case the blockage clears ,this blocks the air supply

to the hose thats now dangling in the breeze.

Gives the chief a call on the 2way . Suggests getting in touch with the work shop & getting Weeksie

to fix it tomorrow , so its ok for monday

Back to the yard, then home for a few hours kip , then back to the yard, into 844 for an early start

for a delivery down the south coast. Back to the yard, load for an early start monday morning.

Now for a whole day at home........Resting....not likely.

Not quite an ordinary day ....but not far from it..................Billy...............

...thanks for the great stories Billy .. just another day in the zoo i guess .....keep it all comin' mate.....we're not sayin' much, but we're doing a lot of lookin'!!

Here is a worms eye view of 844 . Ready for the Fishers Ghost Parade at Cambletown( south of Sydney)


Another story............

When Roadmasters got their 8 wheeler in the 70s along with it came a steering problem

that didnt show up for a while.. We got a call from them one day saying , the 8 wheeler has a bit of a

thing with the steering thats not right.................ok whats wrong with it .............we will drop it over &

the driver will fill you in( with the problem , that is)

Next day it fronts & the bloke that delivered it said, mate i only dropped it over, ive no idea whats

going on. OK. I thinks a run around the block is in order, so i gives it a burst & it handles ok

to me. Anyway, we dives under it , checks every thing that counts,No broken main leaves in the springs,

tyre wear looks ok, no play in any thing at all. Rear end tracking ok.etc ......Best give em a ring.

We willl put the driver on & you can talk to him ,.....I sez thanks, you could have done that in the first place.

So the driver sez ,hold the steering wheel hard on either lock & you will see the problem.....right.....

So, we does just that, and we did see the effect of the problem. The wheels started flapping like you wouldnt

believe, this was the same on both locks. Now Garrison power assist was the go then with the valve gear on

the drag link & a ram on each steer axle hooked onto the tie rod to move things about.

A pow wow decides the problem could be in the Garrison valve after a pressure test seemed ok but for the

fluctuations. ............The easiest way first up is to fit a re-con valve , this is done & makes no diffrence.

So we pulls the old valve apart , every thing looks spot on, so back together with it & sticks it back on

the truck with absolutely no diffrence...........No point in buggerising around any more , So rings Bayswater

& they sez leave it with us for a couple of days. So away the 8 wheeler goes (just keep it off the lock

wont ya )

A week later another Garrison valve appears with a note to say , whack this on & see what happens.

Gets the truck back later, fits the new valve & every thing is okey dokey. Problem solved.

BUT, what was the cause of the delemma ?. Well they sez we fitted a different reactor ring to it,

Now , you may ask, whats that ? at this point i will say im buggered if i know.,......many moons ago

i might have been able to tell you, but not now........I think it was part of the internal pressure relief

valve ass.

Any way every thing was ok & some time passed, along with a few people etc. Then i believe the same

truck fronted with a hyd leak in the Garrison valve , sooo whats the easiest way to fix it ?....why, fit a

re-con valve . Guess what ,it now suffers with the flapping wheel syndrome of corse.
...........................Billy......................

A little bit of nostralga again.

When the ZACUBA financier died (Sir Norman Nock of Nock & Kirbys fame) the brick yard was put up for sale.

PGH Bricks was the eventual buyer,they were expanding in the Sydney area & then bought Bathurst Brick, &

the old Pacific Brick at Warnervale, ( LLoyd Glasby left Alltrans & set up the transport at Pacific, taking with

him a few of the ZACUBA drivers ) PGH was looking to buy anything made with clay.

When all of the dust settled , CSR took over the lot & still have it ( all this is as i recall)

As far as transport was concerned i thought Alltrans did the best job & made the most cash out of it,

(A motsa actually).

PGH at one stage , (after TNT folded up) bought a fleet of Volvos , But they were that heavy they

were restricted in the load they could carry,( a monumental stuff up actually). So they gave the

transport away. A fleet of later Volvos & Scanias fronted on the scene, as i recall , with PGH at

the helm after some one else had a go at it for a while & wasnt too successful

Then Wettenhals stepped in ( they had been carting long distance loading for

a while) From there things went slowly down hill till they went into recievership.

Every thing was falling apart & took a lot to get the trucks goin again.


The transport is sort of still in limbo with ( i think 3 local blokes who are running some sort of consortium

at the moment) My son in law still drives for them & every time i see him i get a good ear bashing.

So......Alltrans & the ex Kwikasair / Comet KWs were really the flavour of the day.

even though the KWs had done a million or so Ks before ZACUBA, they gave very little trouble , except for engine re builds

& the occasion diff.

when i jumped out of 844 it had close to 2 million Ks on it., with 2 sets of main bearings & 1 in frame

re-build.(rememberin that unloadin was done with engine & PTO. they clocked up a lot of hours.)

Box still original (other than bein knocked back from O/D to direct.

one clutch replaced because the plate springs broke up , gettin tangled up in the works.

Diffs un touched.

So if they never made money out of that , they never would.
....................Billy........................

Hi Billy, I worked at Comet Townsville in the late 70's early 80's when the Burdekin Dam was being built. We had a daily run to the dam construction site, and when the old Hino became too small they sent up an ex ghost, ex brick truck with a hiab and 2 axle pig trailer with brand new Comet livery to do the run. Would this have been one of your Zacubas? was a very tired 8v71 10 speed direct.