Deals on Wheels #464

Classic DEALS
his preference is still to get in and get his
hands dirty.
However, if you’re awaiting a magical or
romanticised back story for the Burgundy
Heights name, like it’s named after an area
that Jarrod’s parents first met, then you’re
going to be disappointed. Truth be told, when
you register a new business and don’t have
a specific name, they can and will allocate
you one. That happened when Dennis Smith
bought a small logging business in the central
coast area in the mid-’80s. The business
came with a couple of W-model Kenworths, a
couple of skidders, an old front-end loader and
a pile of pine ready to be felled. The complete
operation.
This wasn’t Dennis’s first go at logging
though. Originally in the late ’70s he
accidently found himself behind the wheel
when a debt that was owed to him was paid
by means of a little body truck. Dennis began
using it to start carting for a local sawmill.
Though Dennis may have ended up
owning the truck without intent, once he
started into the cartage game it was a natural
fit. A couple of years later he stepped up,
purchasing a Volvo to haul logs to the sawmill.
He ran the Volvo for a few years, replacing the
old cab-over with a bonneted Volvo before
starting to take note of the many Kenworths
that were appearing on the roads.
One weekend Dennis and his mates
decided to indulge their curiosity and head to
see the salesman in Melbourne to investigate
these Kenworths.
“They assumed the Kenworths were going
to be far too expensive,” Jarrod says. “But they
thought they’d go see anyway.”
It turns out the salesman did a great job
with Dennis and the boys. Not only was
the price more competitive than they’d
imagined, but they could build the Kenworth
to how it suited them. This was a huge selling
point as at that time one of the major benefits
of the Volvos was the factory diff locks – a
must in the bush. It turns out though, the boys
could spec up their Kenworth’s the same way.
So a boy’s weekend away resulted in several
Tri-drive – no lazy axle
here on the C509
The C509 in the midst
of its makeover
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