WHITE TIPPER

Hi Steve , those 9000 doors are long gone sold to a guy in SA. I rang you a couple of years ago to let you know about the 3rd White Muster we where organising back in 2009. I hope to see your 9000 at the White Muster in 2011.
Cheers Ray

Hey Ray can I bring brand XX to your muster . Dave

Swishy - I owned a bog-standard 237HP Maxidyne, not a 285 or 300 or 320 (and the pic shows a tip-turbine intercooled, 285 Coolpower) .. it was a 1972 model, with the 6 speed box (5 on the main, O/D on the 2nd stick) .. and most importantly, there was 700-800RPM difference between the cogs.
Thus, I had a top gear that gave me 100 kliks at 2100RPM in top .. but you couldn't change back to 5th until the RPM's dropped to 1300RPM, such was the gap between 5th and top. So-o-o .. I had to wait until she lugged back to 1300RPM @ 60kmh, before I could even consider a change, that wouldn't make me slow down, instead of keeping up the speed .. :'(

As a result, on a seriously long grade, with a full load, the speed and RPM would gradually, but surely, decay .. until she got back to that 1300RPM mark and 60 kmh .. at which point I could consider a change back to 5th (remembering that maximum torque was at 1200RPM, and this was the recommended gear change point).

The minute or two when the old girl was producing the Maxidyne snarl .. from 1500RPM back to around 1300RPM .. was the time when that pyro was running up the numbers, and that exhaust was pitching out the flame ..

There's no way that 237HP will make you fly over one of those long hills on the Coolgardie-Norseman Rd, even with "only" 38 or 39 tonnes all up. They are long hills, and have 300-400 hundred feet of rise in them, making them real truck killers. Even the 450HP 3408's of Clevelands used to grunt on them, but the difference of course, was that the 3408's were dragging two trailers.

I can tell you, I wasn't a happy camper having a Mack-Muncher round me up on those hills, and sail past me with two fully-loaded trailers at a good 20kmh more .. but the 237 was no powerhouse, she was just a good lugger ..

Hi Dave, yes you can bring your pommy Mack to the White Muster.
Cheers Ray

Interesting info Ron, I've never driven a 237, but I used to drive a 285 coolpower with a 5 speed gearbox, and later we put a 10 speed overdrive in it. Your right, they have a completly different torque curve to a Cummins. I didn't know the technical stuff behind what makes them go. About 6 months ago a few of us went for a little drive out to Bob Simpson's to check out the Mack graveyard, and then we went back via Gatton, by coincidence we got to see 2 out of the 3 Brambles Leaders that day, not that we where expecting too. One of the blokes who came on the little ticky tour was Fred De Jong. Fred worked for Mack as an engineer, then Leader, and then went back to Mack. He used to have some of the Leader moulds under his house. Anyway, he was telling us that even though the new Macks have Volvo engines, they are set up by Mack to give them more torque that the Swede's hadn't figured. Here's a couple of pics of the R 600 I used to drive.

Cam, that's a nice classic old R600 .. it's good to see you've driven a real truck ..
You'd better start keeping your eye out for good examples of them, too .. they're getting thin on the ground, nowadays ..