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| Note the updraft carburetor |
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| Most of the underhood clutter has to do with the aircompressor |
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| IH K8 forest fire truck |
We acquired this truck for I don't know why in 2012, after it has been sitting under a tree for close to 40 years. The photos here are of 2012 vintage. We acquired it from a retired logger who had purchased it in the 1960's for the purpose of rocking about half a mile of road. It got the job done, and other than hauling some firewood around his farm for a few years after that it's been resting. It's a remarkable example of how durable an IH truck at least used to be. Few newer vehicles could sit for 40 years and still have the doors work, and sort of look like it might run.
I'm a bit familiar with the truck as I actually drove it some around 45 years ago, maybe a week or two as I recall. You will notice that the speedometer is red lettered for 50 and above. It's geared to go a maximum of 45 MPH which was the truck speed limit when this truck was built.
the truck has had several coats of paint, and my guess is that it was a Goat before it was made into a dump truck. It just doesn't look like it was always a dump truck. The heavy hearing and air over hydraulic brakes make me think it was made to pull a semi-trailer. Vacuum assist was plenty good enough for a truck of this class if it wasn't pulling a trailer. Likewise the big block gas engine--a Red Diamond 372 suggests this was a heavy duty truck of the day.
The cab is the same one used in the late 1930's in the D models. Different is the hood and grill which I believe were introduced in around 1942. Given the year model and the color, it wouldn't surprise me if this truck was actualy made for the military as most post war civilian models appeared in 1946 but who knows. Notably it has no ICC lights on the top of the cab implying at least that it wasn't made for interstate commerce.
The last truck photo is of a different truck, but effectively the same model. It had Budd Wheels but otherwise didn't appear to be different.
I've billed this as a K8 but I could be wrong. It might be a K6 or K7. This series dates to the late 1940's. The cab is the same is the pre war cab used on the "D" series, but the hood and grill are rearranged. This photo was taken in 1975 of my neighbors fire truck, and the exact model was not recorded. I have guessed that it was a K8 by the fact that a local grocery distributor (Hudson House) used to have a large fleet of tractors that looked like this pulling short semi-trailers. They were spec'ed fairly heavy for the time with the IH big block 372 (a predecessor of the 406/450/501 cu. in. model) with a 5 speed transmission, and air over hydraulic brakes on the tractor and full air for the trailer. The Truck speed limit of the day was 45 MPH and these were geared just under that.
I can't be sure that this was an old Hudson House tractor converted to a fire truck but it sure looks the part.