Deals on Wheels #464
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Jarrod (yellow vest) may<br />
be camera shy but he loves<br />
getting out to work. Here he<br />
watches a massive log loaded<br />
<strong>on</strong>to his T900. The log can<br />
now be seen at the bottom of<br />
the Gibraltar Range as a sign<br />
post, welcoming drivers<br />
A big part of the Burgundy<br />
workload is now carting away<br />
the mulch. Here <strong>on</strong>e of the<br />
T909s is seen in the back<br />
blocks of Coffs Harbour, off to<br />
pick up a load<br />
under the then rules for towing his six-row<br />
platform. In order to have diff locks and cross<br />
locks fitted the axle centre spacings were out<br />
to 1,500mm, but the job could be d<strong>on</strong>e.<br />
The final decisi<strong>on</strong> was bunk size though. Up<br />
until this point in Burgundy Heights’ history<br />
their trucks had all been day cabs. There<br />
wasn’t a need for sleepers with the work<br />
they undertook. The 509 was coming with a<br />
50-inch (127cm) bunk, but before everything<br />
started Jarrod went and checked out a couple<br />
of other C509s that were sporting imported<br />
60-inch (152cm) bunks.<br />
“I looked in and looked to the back and<br />
thought: ‘Oh yeah, that’s a good size bunk.’”<br />
He added in that it makes sense to have a<br />
big bunk, if you’re going to live in it you want to<br />
have a decent sleeper.<br />
“Also with a tri-drive truck you’ve got a lot<br />
of room between the back of the cab and the<br />
turntable; hell, you could have an 80-inch<br />
(203kW) bunk.”<br />
So a quick price check and “hell yeah,<br />
might as well stick the 60 <strong>on</strong> then” was the<br />
comment to his salesman. Sadly though, it<br />
wasn’t that easy.<br />
The factory rang Jarrod to inform him that<br />
with the chassis length they couldn’t mount<br />
the suspensi<strong>on</strong> correctly for the 60-incher.<br />
Being the creative engineering whiz that he<br />
is, his resp<strong>on</strong>se was: “Well, send up the bunk,<br />
send up the truck and I’ll fit it.”<br />
He didn’t, though I’m sure he could have.<br />
Instead he c<strong>on</strong>tacted the guys at TruckArt in<br />
Wagga Wagga and had a chat. They actually<br />
offered to build and fit a whole bunk for him,<br />
so the day cab tri-drive m<strong>on</strong>ster went from<br />
the factory to Wagga Wagga looking like <strong>on</strong>e<br />
of the ugliest trucks around. However I’m still<br />
hunting for photographic evidence.<br />
120