Farms & Farm Machinery #401

Review
‘Grunter Hunter’. With the new workload came
a Mercedes 2232 bogey drive body truck as
well as a two-axle dog trailer, both having 3-by-2
livestock crates.
Ian speaks very highly of Laverty, crediting his
out-of-the-box thinking, even back then.
“Syd was a very innovative bloke. Long before parcel
express came up with belly boxes, Syd had one
of his own on the dog trailer, which would fit about
20 bacon pigs or thirty lambs.”
Ian does admit, though, that there was a hell of a
challenge getting them out.
With the purchase of Laverty’s work and the
advent of four-deck sheep trailers, the Wilds left
the interstate lamb job to the blokes with the
four-deckers so that they could concentrate on
their growing southern Queensland customer base.
Side note here, the extra room in the Mercedes
cab was a bonus for Ian’s growing family. Ian had
married Fiona in 1982 and, by the time the Merc
was purchased, the couple had welcomed their
youngest child, Jessica, into the world.
Ian handed the keys of the Kenworth to his
brother, Rod, and took advantage of the spacious
Mercedes cab to bring his family along with him.
Young Jessica spent the majority of her early
years in the bunk of the Mercedes as she travelled
around with mum and dad. I could not get a quote
from Jessica but I’m sure all that time in an old
Merc would have been, as parents put it ‘character
building’.
CUSTOM KENWORTH
Back on task. The mighty Mercedes served Wild’s
Livestock well for several years and through some
major changes, mainly Rod and Ian deciding to
split. Rod took the Kenworth and concentrated on
the local work, with Ian and the Mercedes servicing
46 Farms & Farm Machinery
After 27 years this Kenworth has covered millions of
kilometres. Parts have been replaced over the years but
the original Meritor 46/160 diffs are still goin
those customers further away. Ian continued
with the Mercedes for a couple of years before its
limitations led to the inevitable replacement.
“It was a good truck, but we couldn’t get the
two levels on the front of the truck,” explains Ian.
“It wasn’t a full height two-deck stock crate.”
The decision was made to approach Kenworth
about building Wild’s a rather unique setup. Ian
knew of quite a few eight and 10-wheeler trucks
It was hard; they had
no idea where to
put the drive to
carry the weight
running around the central Queensland at the time,
so he had a rough idea of what would work. Having
taken into account the variety of work that Wild’s
Livestock were picking up and the locations they
had to enter, it made sense to stick with a truck and
dog combination. They just needed a custom truck
that could get a full load on and remain versatile.
The first issue was the length limits. In 1988, they
were operating under the 17 and a half metre rule
and the intent was to use the two-axle dog the
Mercedes was towing, behind the new Kenworth.
That meant the crate behind the Kenworth would
need to match the trailer, at 22 feet (6.7m).
Bring on the Kenworth engineers. They drew
up some designs and sent them to Ian. Other ideas
were floated and, as is often the case, they were
quickly redrawn.
“The first plans they sent me, you’d have to weld
the nut of the ring feeder on the rear diff o get it to
fit,” jokes Ian.
“It was hard; they had no idea where to put the
drive to carry the weight.”
In the end, to help work it out, Ian and Brian Russ,
an engineering mate, drew out a life-size plan on the
floor of the shed.
“We could physically see what it looked like and
could work out where the drive needed to be.”
When it came to speccing up the Kenworth’s
running gear, Ian worked with his good mate from
Detroit, Bob Nolan. The only stipulation Ian had
was: “I wanted an 892 in it!”, as much as Bob tried to
convince him otherwise.
“The whole time Bob kept trying to insist, ‘forget
about the 892, get a series 60’,” Ian recalls. “No, no, no,
don’t trust them, those f#$kin electronic motors. I’m
sticking with the 892.”
For six years the Kenworth flew along, quite
literally actually.
“It was good for 140, with a full two decks on,”
admits Ian, with a guilty grin. It seems that the 892
was living up to its reputation. Let us not forget to
add that it wasn’t always Ian either; Fiona had her
fair share of time behind the wheel of the Kenworth.
I have faith that she kept it closer to the speed limit.
So, with a lot of help from the right people, the
first ‘Grunter Hunter’ hit the road in 1988 with the
original two axle trailer in tow.
In 1991, Ian and Fiona chose to upgrade the fairly
well worn two-axle dog trailer. Ian wanted the same
length but a three-axle version. He approached
Mark Johnston at Haulmark Trailers. Johnston, who