The KENWORTH ‘S’ Model Truck & me
By
Ted Beamish (aka §wishy)
I was brought up in a transport business with a wheel spanner in one hand and a steering wheel in
the other, at the age of 16 when I left school to enter the work force full time, I was expected to enter
the family owned and operated heavy haulage transport business.
I was working among many other things, as a mechanics off-sider. He was a good teacher and
tradesman and I was a good learner.
At our home and transport depot at Alphington, an inner suburb of Melbourne, traffic was always busy
with lots of trucks passing, along Chandler Hwy and at times we could hear the sweet sound of the
Jimmy diesel powered Kenworth trucks travelling past our depot and were amazed at the size in height
of the cab and power that these trucks could accelerate at.
Later on Mr Ed Cameron from Camerons Transport ( the Kenworth Importer) visited our depot and
eventually sold my father a Kenworth S-925
It was powered by a V6-71 GM diesel opened up to the maximum Horsepower for a truck of 238HP.
When it was registered in September 1964 we soon learnt, what the KW truck was all about.
Never before had a truck been available that was finished and suitable for our type of work.
Most other makes of trucks at the era were just a petrol powered cab and chassis that had to be
fitted out with long range fuel tanks, mirrors, trailer connections, spare tyre carrier, suitable lights and
generally personalise the beast.
The Kenworth S-925 had many things not heard of or even dreamt of by many drivers and owners of
big heavy duty trucks way back then
Creature comforts were well thought of for the drivers:
Adjustable Air Ride Seat, Low Air wig wag signal so when you lost air the wigwag flag would lower
down in front of the drivers vision to warn of a problem, Spring actuated parking brakes that needed
air to release the brakes, GM 2 Stroke Diesel engine, vertical mounted Exhaust muffler @at rear of cab,
Spicer 12 speed single stick multi speed transmission that was able to be
driven easily at maximum efficiency, a fibreglass tilted hood for easy engine access, insulated cab
with full length piano type hinges on the doors for extra long life, Properly mounted and heated West
Coast mirrors, torsion bar suspension with remote mount grease nipples for easy access of greasing
suspension, Kysor shutterstat air operated louvres mounted on the front of radiator to control engine
water temperature, Air Horn with a roof mounted operated chain just like on a train locomotive,
steering setup with extra turns from lock to lock that you did not need power steering, Fuel tanks that
could hold about 120 gallons (450 Liters) that you could get more than a days work out of the fuel on board.
Trailer controls with tractor protection control that deliver 60% braking to the prime mover and
40% to the trailer all set up with a trailer control trolley lever mounted beneath the steering wheel on
the steering column that did not get any, or much use as the braking was well set-up via the brake pedal.
Also equipped with enough air supply with air tanks properly mounted and plumbed up with aero type
long life hoses and fittings.
The electrics were set up with a push to reset circuit breakers, the starting of the motor was 24 volts
and the rest of the electrics were 12 volt. It had a series parallel switch to enable the 4 of 6 volt
batteries to have plenty of cranking ability even though the GM was an easy and quick starter.
Turning lights were fitted as standard equipment. The turning lights mounted on the ¼ guard that
when you looked into the lens it was a magnifying glass and you could clearly see the filament in the
globe to see if it’s blown. These lights were magnified when switched on that made it easily seen.
Above the drivers windscreen was 3 oil temperature gauges, one for the gearbox and one for each
drive axle differential.
I was not old enough to legally drive a motor vehicle at the time our Kenworth was put to work so
I became the drivers off-sider till I was of age to get a car licence on my 18th birthday so I was then
setup to pilot and escort oversize loads that many of our trucks were doing. At this stage the driver of
the KW ‘S’ model left and I was chosen to steer the ‘S’ Model Kenworth with ‘L’ plates on it for about
6 months with my father as instructor/jockey till I was 19. This was the legal age to drive articulated
truck and obtain the required licence
On one occasion while driving past Camerons of Doncaster, we noticed a nice new KW painted red
with a timber jinker ( Hughie Waugh's )
also all setup to go to work, so we just had to pull up and take a look see
After being shown over the new KW log truck I enquired what dose this switch do On/Off Jacobs
Engine Brake and was informed that it converted the engine to a compressor by holding the valves
closed till top dead centre and the Horse power the engine normally developed could be about the
same in retardation, using the Jake Brake as our low loader wheels were of the small 15inch
variety and were air over hydraulic brakes as that was all that was available. We had many brake
problems and decided there and then to fit a Jake Brake to the V6-71 GM. We inquired but no one
was importing the Jake Brakes at the time but Bowstead Wood became agent very quickly and we
were the 1st in Australia to fit a Jake Brake to an existing vehicle. It performed well and exceeded
all expectations so we soon fitted them to our ‘B’ Model Macks.
Most Kenworths around Melbourne could only be spotted driving out or into Melbourne on interstate
routes, Adelaide, Sydney or Brisbane and were not seen on many other roads and back roads or
towns across Victoria. We were often called upon to transport earthmoving machinery to many off
the beaten track places and often people would hear you coming into a town and drop what they
are doing to look up and listen to the KW beast. When we stopped in a town to get directions or buy
lunch, often when we returned to the KW truck there would be men climbing all over it and asking
what’s it like to drive a Kenworth. It was becoming a problem with people climbing into cab when we
weren’t their so we fitted iridescent red stick on signs about 2”x 3” just below the door handle “KEEP
OFF KEEP OUT”
Many machinery operators that we were transporting their earthmoving machines often asked to be
carted by the KW and as it was a fast delivery service we often arrived before the operator of the
machine and the operators of that time asked their bosses for a new ute as the old ex army willys
jeep can’t keep up with the KW float.
When we heard that Ansett were trading in their KW ‘S’ models we were quick to buy one as we
realised that on highway work they might be a little tired in the top gears but for our stop start work in
low gears mostly driving around the suburbs of Melbourne they would have had little use
Some mentioned to us why would you buy an old Kenworth with a million miles on it when you could
buy a new truck like International or Ford or even Leyland so we showed them by buying 3 ex Ansett
KW ‘S’ models so that theory was soon put to rest
We were told, by us driving through suburban shopping centres, travelling and delivering machinery
that often there could have been an executives of large transport companies that would look and
see the Kenworth in action while doing there shopping and have recommended the purchase of
Kenworths to their board of directors
The last of the ‘S’ model Kenworths was traded in on a new KW SAR 8V92T built up for heavy float
work in 1976
There seems to be a keen following of the ‘S” model KW and many have asked for photos of the ones
we had owned
I had set up a web site for our family business with about 200 pictures on it. We had many enquiries
about some of the photos so I put up all the photos I had on our WEB Site. now about 2500 pictures on our site
With the interest of the ‘S’ model KW trucks I set up a web site just for these first KW to arrive in
Australia. There was about 40 ‘S” model KW trucks delivered to Australia and I have over 1000
pictures of many versions of the different owners and paint schemes that the KW 'S” model Truck
enthusiasts have supplied
There were a few special ‘S” model truck shows, small but many other makes also attended
I suggested to Phil about setting up a email group for the ‘S’ model KW
So the name KENWORTH - ‘S’ Model Truck Appreciation Society email group was formed with
more than 100 recipients on the ‘S’ model KW website. I have set up many thumbnail pictures to click on to
view larger sized pictures.
To view the above mentioned pictures or obtain more information please view the following web sites.
Beamish Heavy Hauliers web site @
www.beamish.biz
KENWORTH - ‘S’ Model Truck Appreciation Society @
www.kws900.com
Cya
Ted Beamish (aka §wishy)
There’s more WORTH in KENWORTH
