Fwd Trucks

td25c

td25c

Well-known member
This has been one of my on going restoration projects . It's a 1969 FWD 6x6 whith 6-V 53 detroit & 5 speed main transmission with 3 speed hog box . It started life as a concrete mixer then a lime spreader truck.It sat for several years then I bought it as a cab & chassis.Wasent sure what we would build out of it but decided on oil field / riggup truck. Still have some work to do to it but its pretty close.I'm trying to stay traditional in the spirit of the old riggup trucks and just using odds and ends of material we have laying around as many of them in the past were built. Used old 8 inch I beams & 12 inch H beams for the bed & tailboard .Used old dozer bottom rollers for the tail roller.I did have to buy new steel for the floor. Winch is old garwood mechanical drive. Cut all the pieces to fit then glued it together with 6011 & 7018's . Still need to build gin-poles & few other small items .It has a nose & face only a mother could love:D
 

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willie59

willie59

Administrator
Staff member
Interesting truck TD. I recall back in that day that our local power utility had some FWD line trucks. And as you stated, they were butt ugly. The think I find curious is that rig has Dayton hubs on the front tandem, and what looks like Budd hubs on the rear tandem, haven't seen that before.
 
Steve Frazier

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
Nice job! I'm pleased to see one of these giants preserved. I was wing man on an FWD plow truck with the 6V53 and a 5 speed, by the end of a shift I couldn't hear myself think. It had the newer cab with the angled windshield. I also ran a '63 FWD plow truck with the same Dodge cab as seen here, but it had a 6 cylinder gas engine and front axle in the standard location. They were tough trucks!
 
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Mitch504

Well-known member
Dang Td, something else you have that I want. Let's see, maybe if I shoot you and marry the widow....
 
td25c

td25c

Well-known member
Thats pretty cool that you got to operate the FWD's in the past steve.I got familliar with FWD trucks from a man I worked for through high school.It was quite a treat as a teen ager hopping in the FWD beast to go to a job site. Dont see many operating today so when I got the chance I bought the 6x6.Surprisingly The old truck was in pretty good shape mechanically and very little rust on the cab.Most of the work was building the bed.

Damb Mitch dont give my wife any ideas.:D She has all the equipment inventoried rite down to the measurements on the pine box to put me in. LMAO! Between Dad and myself we sold all the muscle cars years ago ( couple chevelle's ,Nova,& a dodge coronet). We seem to be more attached to old muscle trucks . Almost forgot the truck under the Grove is also a 1969 FWD.
 

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Oxbow

Well-known member
Nice work td, those certainly are ugly in a beautiful sort of way, or, ah, beautiful in an ugly sort of way, or something like that. Come to think of it, may family describes me that way.:confused:
 
C

C R A F T

Well-known member
Oxbow said:
Nice work td, those certainly are ugly in a beautiful sort of way, or, ah, beautiful in an ugly sort of way, or something like that. Come to think of it, may family describes me that way.:confused:
Click to expand...
WHAT are you saying Oxbow ???? ….. You've got a face that only a Mother could LOVE ???? …. You shouldn't be so hard on your self ….. We're your friends here !!! …………………. LMFAO ……..Cheers
 
td25c

td25c

Well-known member
LOL The old FWD sure wont win any beauty contests . We were thinking it looked even more homely after the new paint. Oh well .....Ugly truck made for ugly jobs .:D
 
td25c

td25c

Well-known member
On the FWD winch truck I normally run the main line under the 5'th wheel plate though the bed . Farmer needed an old electric pole that is no longer in use removed from the field so We took the FWD to the task . Being I under wrap the drum the cable cuts in to the 5'th wheel when I rig for pulling on top of the bed . I made a " pillow block" roller set up to cure this problem . Just a couple of 4" X 6" blocks and another Allis HD 16 bottom roller . We were backing in the field as the farmer showed up .

http://s1016.photobucket.com/albums/af282/td25c/100_2805_zps4fb4db44.mp4.html

Winching ..... I really need to lube up the door latch:) . http://s1016.photobucket.com/albums/af282/td25c/100_2807_zps030d0791.mp4.html

All went well . Pole was in the ground about 6 feet . I pulled it up to the top of the tail roller then let out a little line & backed the truck in to the pole to get it to lean back and then reversed the winch & letter down easy . http://s1016.photobucket.com/albums/af282/td25c/100_2808_zps2bdb7aa9.mp4.html
 
Steve Frazier

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
Pretty impressive!! Does the pole naturally want to fall away from the truck or did you have to coax it in that direction?
 
td25c

td25c

Well-known member
Yeah Steve , I pulled on the pole until the loop in the chain was at the top of the tail roller then let out a little slack in the cable . At this point the pole was still in the ground about 1 1/2 foot . Then backed the truck into the pole until it would fall backwards on it's own letting it down with the winch in reverse . The other option would have been to raise the chain location on the pole ,pull the truck forward a little and pull the pole forward up on the bed letting the top of the pole rest on the headache rack . Then I could have hauled the pole on the bed . Being I just had to move the pole about 1/4 mile I went the easier route and just drug it behind the truck .

The truck has an interesting PTO on the transmission that drives the winch . It's a Tulsa brand and has two speeds pulling forward and one speed in reverse . I had it in the slow speed pulling the pole . I want to say at engine idle speed in the low gear the line speed is about 2 feet per minute . Pretty slow but sometimes that's what is needed . On the high gear it's about 4 feet per minute at engine idle speed .
 
Steve Frazier

Steve Frazier

Founder
Staff member
I didn't even hear the engine pull down just a little bit when the line took up the slack. That thing must have some snot! When I saw the size of the machine the farmer had I wondered why he was calling you but your solution worked perfectly!
 
td25c

td25c

Well-known member
The low geared mechanical winches are that way . You would think the engine might pull down or at least change in sound a little but they don't seem to much . My 750 Holmes beds are the same way . I guess the horsepower requirement is not that great for the pto running the winch . 10 horse Honda gas engine would probably run the winch being it's geared so low .

We do a lot of work for farmers in my area . Could be crane & rigging , wrecker to pull something out or haul a dead truck in , in field service repair , and excavating . It's never boring and I enjoy it .

Talking about pulling old electric poles .... We also have a 1977 Ford F-600 4x4 digger derrick truck (old power company line truck) . It has the Pitman Polecat bed & boom on it . I think it's in the background on the first picture in this thread . Being a pole can pull pretty hard they recommended not using the boom & winch but a (pole pulling ) cylinder attachment that came with the bed . Pretty much works like a big porta power that ties in to the hydraulics on the boom .You would position the cylinder at the base of the pole then the chain went around the pole and the link hooked at the top of the cylinder rod . I didn't get the cylinder with the truck but hose reels are at the right rear compartment on the bed . And pole puller lever is up on the boom controls .
 

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td25c

td25c

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