Amtronic

Went a little crazy building lowboys. I think I maxed out on this one. The lift pylons are spring loaded so it rides up and down. Since I took the picture I have added a rear steer platform for the rear section. It took 3 lowboy trailer kits to make it. The tractor is a W925 with a kitbashed hood to make a T-800. A genuine transit mixer with torsion bar suspension. Found at a swap meet but I had to pay dearly for it. Lets go camping. Scratchbuilt cattle trailer.

The bulk hauler showing the dump action. The lite blue KW T-600 daycab. The teal Mack R685. W-925 with T-600 aero sleeper.

And more. Double drop kitbash of Fruehauf flatbed. DM-800 block truck with set forward front axle. Crane telescopes out. $5 swap meet find that had been melted with a tube of glue. I did what I could with it. Coal tractor/trailer combo. Mixer wreck recovery with part of a guardrail penetrating the cab. Old warhorse Autocar dumper. Scratchbuilt loader on another kitbash lowboy. One cabinet of models. More when I sort thru the pictures.

I get bored with building out of the box models after the first one or two. so I go down different streets with my builds. Mack H61 built using Diamond Reo kit. Killebrew dry bulk haul trailer built using gravel trailer frame. Twin steer KW mixer. Scratchbuilt scraper on kitbash 160T lowboy. Scratchbuilt Advance mixer using Ford box van frame and Ford/Caterpillar engine. Kitbash lowboy with detachable neck. Kitbash fuel/oil service truck - shortened cab, lengthened frame. Kitbash FLL Freightliner car carrier. Front rack lifts, cab tilts.

Mine. I hinged the back so it would open.

A red and black Mack LJ B-73 like the one my dad drove.

Dave, you guys do such great work. Thank you!

After seeing that picture, I had to build it. It was so ugly it was beautiful. I have never been able to find another picture of it anywhere other than the one above. I substituted a Cummins for the DD in the kit, mainly because of the heat shield on the right side of the hood. That would only be appropriate for the turbo that was positioned there on a Cummins or Cat engine. I like Cummins so that's what I used. Other than that, I used the AMT KW COE kit. Here is a pic of it mocked up while I was building it.

Let me tell you, if you haven't ever drove a COE, it will beat your spine out of you, even with a Bostrom Air-Ride seat. You sit directly over the front axle and every motion is directed straight up your spine. if you are lucky you won't get induced vertigo. And in every accident, you are there first w/o any crumple zone of engine, hood, and axle to soften the impact.

I built that. And here it is --

I still feel that box is a total of more than 13'6" high. Hmmm -- Box, front bumper, frame, and engine from the Ford Louisville kit. Change engine from a ford CAT to a Caterpillar cat engine. Wheels from Paystar kit. Radiator from GMC Astro kit. Front lower panels and fenders all Evergreen stock. Cab from AMT 53 Ford pickup kit. Interior is generic truck interior seats etc. Dashboard is ??? Front cowl scratchbuilt from sheet Evergreen. Sightliner windows scabbed from clear sheet stock. Headlights from KW W925 kit.

I kind of agree with the 12' box height. The cab is a minimum of 48" BBC, if you take that as a 4' unit of measurement it looks like the total truck height is at least 15' ground to top of box. If I can find a suitable Sightliner cab I will try and build it.

What do you estimate the box height to be? .

I believe Mr. Greer outdid himself with the original boxart. Daydreaming while looking at the artwork helped me get thru my youth.

AMT Kenworth T-600. followed closely by the AMT Kenworth W-925. Know those kits inside and out!

The clock showed it was the morning twilight where dreams easily mixed with reality. The rig sat there idling in the early moring chill. It appeared as if to be a bull, snorting, ready at a moment's notice to leap into action. Headlights glowed like yellow eyes - unfocused but seeing all. Today's load was a liquified creation of the processing done at the refinery. Each quarter, the accumulated compound was loaded onto a special tanker trailer, always under watchful armed guards, who always followed the truck and trailer when it left the refinery. Was it used for good? For evil? The Pete didn't care, it only wanted to feel the pull of the load as it got underway. Other trucks could carry ordinary loads. This job was what he was meant for. And he had the permits to prove it.