Kenworth 849 (1970's)

All photos with blue borders expand if clicked

Below: 12 foot bunks

This KW849 showed up here just ahead of a snowstorm. These are the real KW trucks. This is a Classic British Columbia Logger, not often used in the US because of the lack of a private road system. As you can see the cab is pretty much a classic KW cab. The vintage of this truck is uncertain and can vary somewhat because this truck has been on the market since 1947 without a lot of visible change.

The dual headlights didn't come into vogue until the mid 1960's and the engine is an Cummins NTC 350 suggesting the vintage is mid 1960's to the 1970's. A cummins overhaul tag on the engine for 1987 provides an additional clue.

The frontbumper is authentic KW. You can bump most anything and the bumper won't be hurt. A follow me hitch on the front is suitable for pulling with most anything. The front axle is secured by large drag links to the front of the frame, so if a Preius trys to disable you by hitting the front axle it likely won't succeed.

The typical front axle is 30,000 lb rated and the standard rear ends are 60,000 lbs rated. As the heavy rear axles for the model were usually planatary drive, we assume that these are the standards. These look like a regular set of rear ends on steroids. The transmissions include a 6 speed main box, and a 4 speed brownie.

The plumbing beside the drivers seat are the controls for 'water on the brakes', which is pretty standard for off highway log trucks of this era. The water system managed by a water pressure tank and air pressure, and two valves---one for the truck and one for the trailer let you decide where to do the watering. In the summer it also manages road dust. One of the second batch of photos shows a water nozzle pointed at the brake drum. In BC the timber may be harvested at elevations to 10,000 feet, and most of the log destinations are at or near sea level, making brakes very important for heavy loads. This particular truck has a Jake brake, but water cooled brakes long predate the Jake brake and works well. You simply avoid hot brakes by squirting water on the drums. You know it's working when you can see a big cloud of steam coming out from the wheels. In any event Jacobs brakes were in the day after market items, and with an engine change as noted, it may not have had a Jake brake when new.

The Log bunks are 12 feet wide meaning that you can haul an enormous load of logs. The trailer that came with this truck uses a round reach which was typical of the Canadian manufactured Hayes off high log trucks of Post WWII vintage.

The hitch is quit on the unusual side. Far more typical of hitchs are the latching type hit typical of highway trucks instead of a drop pin. Also unusual is having the compensating head mounted in the truck instead of as part of the trailer reach. Indeed I have never seen one like this before, though it works just fine.