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| 1977 IH 1700 4x4 |
On the right is a 1700 series 4x4 of a Early 1970's vintage. It is Navy surplus and is unusual for a truck of this size and age in that it has air brakes. In its navy configuration it had a boom behind the cab and reportedly spent some of its life on the deck of an aircraft carrier doing what boom trucks do. When it came to us it had a short flatbed with space in front of the bed for a HIAB type boom (which wasn't there), and was Government yellow.
For more photos see here
We have refitted it with a large service body which was actually a U.S. Forest Service fire vehicle body and it serves as a loggers crummy. The front winch is designed to be transmission driven, and the transfer case is also equipped with a full torque PTO shaft which we aren't using. The axles, wheels, and tires are all much sturdier than those found the the 1600 4x4 on the previous page. The Hub caps on the front are not for decoration. They actually cover the hubs which are a bulky steerable joint. This contrasts to the front axle on the 1600 Loadstar which looks like a slightly oversize front axle such as you would find on a 4X4 pickup complete with twist to disconnect 'Warn hubs'. On this vehicle, the 20' spoke wheel just slips over the 'hub', but there is room for the air activated brakes on the front axle. The engine is the familiar IH V345, and the cab is the same one as was used of the LoadStar series for 20 years or so beginning in the early 1960's.
The service body has a fuel tank for refueling the logging equipment and a service center for chain saws as well as miscellaneous spares and safety equipment. There is a long compartment in on the top right side accessible via a rear door (which the USFS used to store suction hose) which is long enough to allow the storage of a full 8 foot stretcher. Stretcher Storage is always a problem for loggers. You see, a clean usable stretcher is a required safety item that loggers are suppose to have on hand at all times, but a place to actually store (in the clean) something 8 feet long is problematical. Often loggers get folding stretchers, but even they usually just fold in half to 4 feet and there isn't in many vehicles a clean place to stow an object 4 feet long either. For some years we tried using a pickup for all this, but loggers have a way of wanting to haul everything around, and the pickups always seemed to have a broken spring or axle (or worse). Loggers call the vehicle that hauls them and their tools to the woods 'The crummy', and there is a good reason for the name. As a 1700 series vehicle, it sports a heavier frame, and larger axles than the 1600 series vehicle. With a 5 speed transmission and a 7.35 rear end ratio, it is better at hill climbing than freeway cruising. The VanNatta's bought it on Vashon Island in the Puget Sound region of Washington and hauled it to Oregon because the thought of driving it that far was too much to bear. A real dog, but just right for a crummy, and the air brakes (with spring cans) mean that it parks and stays where you leave it. The presence of a little compressed air to blow the dirt out of a chain saw once in a while is welcome as well. Cabinets are available for a potable water supply, as well as stowage for rain gear for the crew in addition to a selection of 'spares' and tools that a logger might need on the landing.
The particular winch on this vehicle is PTO driven off the transmission.