(By Greg Rourke) – Show of hands please…who loves big tandem axle wreckers with Detroit Diesel power, and multiple transmissions under the floor? Hmm…I see lots of hands up, but not Brians. He’s on the floor, in a puddle of his own drool. We’ll take that as a “yes.”
Here we have a video of a sweet old International ( “thirteen letter manure spreader” to old time truckers) wrecker in the land Down Under (‘Straya to the locals). Back before the big hooks were a city block long with 60 ton winches and rotator booms, we had these. They just got the job done. No air ride suspension, just leaf springs if you were lucky.
Solid rubber blocks if you weren’t.
Let us go for a ride with this bloke. You drive a Detroit like you hate it. Note that this example doesn’t have a radio, just a big hole in the dash. Like you could hear it. The driver has grease stained hands and the look of someone who has seen some shit in his days. He works the two sticks like the master that he is. Note that some gear changes require double (and even triple or quadruple) clutching, some do not. This is not his first rodeo. He takes us for a short tour around the place where every one and every thing is the “c word”, then back to the shop. 18 minutes well spent.
Note the first comment…”very talented musician playing one HELL of an instrument.” He’s not wrong.
So he shifted gears and at some point seemed like he was in a gear that he had already been in? I really don’t think I could drive one of these. There is way to much going on for my brain to process. They sure do sound cool though!!!