1969 Loadmaster LM320 "Big Red" Nineteen Years of Faithful Service (1969-1987) Big Red hauled trash for nearly 19 years for L.R. Stuart of Manassas, Virginia. This packer had a lot of welding over the years, but still outlasted two truck chassis as well two other packers in the same fleet. This 1987 photo shows her as she looked in the last year service. She was still functional but was replaced with a Heil 5000 due to the need to service a growing commercial container route. Operator presence controls were virtually unheard of on refuse trucks in 1969. By pulling the control lever out and rearward, the packing cycle would start and continue uninterrupted unless the operator stopped it. Additionally, Loadmaster used a "ride up" type valve in the packer hydraulic circuit. What this would do is incrementally release pressure in the sweep cylinders if the packing cylinders met a preset resistance. In other words, when the body was full (or the ejector plate needed to be moved forward), the sweep panel would slowly open and ride up over the trash so that the packing panel could travel to it's full upper stop. This was a great feature especially if the driver had to work without a crew, since the packing cycle required no operator attention. I first saw Big Red when she was new, and I was a lad of five. I last saw her in 1987, at rest among fallen comrades at Wilbar Truck Equipment in Springfield, Virginia. Big Red was often subject to severe punishment even in the last days, owing to the fact that our routes were somewhat remote. The truck was often subject to gross overloading and "tailgate packing", to prevent a second trip to the dump. I was always amazed how well the truck performed after all those years of punishment. The Heil 5000 that replaced her was a great packer, but I will never forget Big Red. 8/1/04 Text and photographs © 2004 Eric Voytko All Rights Reserved Logos shown are the trademarks of respective manufacturers