How Tough They Were

rheltzel

rheltzel

Senior Member
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The next time you have your flathead-powered Early Ford V8 out on the road, climbing a long 6% grade at highway speeds, and you start worrying whether it’s tough enough for the job, just think of this picture of a 1935 Ford 1 1/2 ton truck, hauling two giant old-growth Douglas Fir logs, deep in the Whatcom County, Washington forest. Imagine how hard its poor little 21 Stud flathead with babbitt main bearings had to work to haul that load! Sure, the truck’s frame and suspension, 4 speed transmission, 11” clutch, and rear end were necessarily built to handle heavier loads than a passenger or commercial vehicle, but the engines were essentially the same. What a testament to the incredible design and study construction that went into the Ford Flathead V8! So, get out there and drive your V8!! It was built to take whatever you might give it!!
 
Thanks, V8Coopman. I've figured out how to add to my album, but can't seem to get it from there to a thread. Maybe one day, I'll figure it out!!
 
Tough duty indeed! - looks like its tapped out on rear suspension - looks down to the bump stops to me!
 
I bet that rode well with all that weight on the rear.
Don't write off those 221 Babbit motors,our 33 babbit engine towed the caravan for thousands of miles all over QLD.
Lawrie
 

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It's not the pulling up the hill that would have worried me with that load.. My concern would be the brakes coming down the other side of the hill
 
Our family friend ran a lumber yard right up to the 1970's. He ran a fleet of 1935 fords painted blue and yellow. The trucks were laid up when his father went bankrupt in the 1950's but he restored the business and use the old stock in his new operation.

These trucks hauled lumber day and night and were very impressive. I still remember the sound of the flatheads laboring under a heavy load, He hauled big logs to his mill and sawed them into lumber the next day! His maintenance cost was practically nil. Engines seemed to last forever.

He finally sold the business. The trucks were sold off and replaced with newer models.
 
Lawrie
If you ever have the time, would you post up some pics of the trailer hitch you have on the 33?
Thanks
Jim
 
A former supervisor at work had a lot of accounts from his dad about logging around Flagstaff, AZ in the '30's and '40's. The local sawmill used '40 Chev trucks for some years. Engine swaps were a near daily occurrence. Must have been all the extra power (Chev 90 HP; Ford 85)!
 
It's amazing how tough these old flatheads are. I drive mine pretty hard and it actually seems to enjoy the exercise.
 
35fordtn said:
It's not the pulling up the hill that would have worried me with that load.. My concern would be the brakes coming down the other side of the hill
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I read an book about early truck logging in the Pacific NW. The train guys laughed at them at first...'so flimsy'. To help in stopping on the long grades they rigged up water reservoirs to the rear drums to cool them. Later they went to air brakes on the rear. Guy coming down the mountain with the last load of the day hit his new air brakes too hard and the load shifted up to the back of the cab. First curve after that he couldn't steer around it. Having only an axe he had to cut the ends off the entire load so he could get home. That would take me a week.
 
My uncle told of using the uphill side of the road bank to assist in braking when descending steep hills in the Oregon Coast Range. He joked about the fenders and body wearing out before the engine did. Some loads contained a single log on a 28 foot trailer, the log being 12 feet thick on the butt end.
 
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