Sunday, October 29, 2023

Loading up. That looks like a Diamond T truck.

 


3 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Indeed. That's the first machine I ever got loaded by in '74. I was 23, didn't have a care. Or a clue.

      Tobe Moak out of Oroville, California was the logger. Boy, was he good on that thing. His machine was a little different in that it had a cable operated grapple as opposed to a simple tong setup hanging at the end of a single lift cable. The grapple was much more efficient in that it would release itself, as opposed to needing a man to climb on the load to kick the tong or bell hooks loose.

      The guy standing on the platform on the head rack was called the 'Top Loader'. This guy looks like a landing man but usually the top loader was the driver himself. He needed to guide the loader man as the heel boom's cab wasn't very high off the ground and he really couldn't see squat once the load he was building got above stake high.

      I won't bore you with my history around a Diamond T, the first big truck I was ever around. I sure hope that old truck is still floating around somewhere in someone's collection. Talk about a classic with a history.

      Delete
  2. ...and that guy's last earthly act.

    ReplyDelete