Classic Refuse Trucks NEWS

Massive fleet of the Pak-Mor refuse trucks delivered to Mexico City are lined up for inspection. In attendance this day were President Don Adolfo Ruiz Cortines , as well as the Mayor and the Chief of General Services for the city
(June 11, 1954)

CRT News Update, Fall 2010

A GAR WOOD LIVES IN GREENVILLE

Another living classic refuse truck came to the attention of CRT this summer, when a vintage Gar Wood LP-716 was offered for sale on Ebay. This rare example of the once-ubiquitous Gar Wood residential rear loader is still in regular service for an independent hauler in Greenville, Texas. The 700 series packers were produced between the years 1965 and 1971, though the exact year of this particular body is not known. It rests atop a 1988 Ford F-600, powered by a 370 cubic inch V-8 gasoline engine with automatic transmission.

Jesse from Country Sanitation was kind enough to forward some information on this fine old packer by way of the CRT-Flickr Message Board:

"It's an LP-716 body with almost no rust and only a couple of leaks. While by today's standards it doesn't pack very tight, I am proud of the old boy. The most I've gotten in there was 7,400 pounds [ 463 lbs/cubic yard], and that's not too bad considering the age. The body was mounted on a much smaller truck before I got it.....it was the classic 'grandma drives it to church on Sunday buy' . No, seriously, I bought it from a 75-year-old woman that had 75 customers she picked up once a week, and then parked it! "

Jesse also posted some great videos of the pack cycle on YouTube, demonstrating why the Gar Wood was known as the fastest-cycling rear loader ever to hit the streets. The chain-driven rotary sweep panel partially clears hopper for reloading in three or four seconds, with total cycle time of around ten seconds or less! Myself, and other contributors to this site who remember using these can attest to the fact that they were usually well liked by the loading crews, not only for their speed but also for the low-loading height of the hopper and their payload. In top condition, they were capable of packing 600-700 pounds per cubic yard.

The 1.5 cubic yard hopper would certainly be considered small in this day and age. But this design actually dates to late 1956 (the LP-500 series), when hopper capacity of less than a cubic yard was the norm, and the Gar Wood was actually 20% larger than the closest competitor. It was, in many was perfect for it's time, and sold well over a model life-span of over twenty years. The hopper width of 75" was another breakthrough, the widest of any rear loader of the late 1950's, and the first to advertise "three man" loading capability.

This reserve was not met for the Ebay auction in August, and Jesse says he will likely offer the truck for sale again in the near future. He's also going to try and get us some more action videos of the LP-700 as time permits him. Let's hope a preservationist-minded owner can found to save this historic Gar Wood.

RELIABLE REFUSE ROTO-PAC

I'm happy to report that I have been contacted by the current owner of the 'Reliable Refuse' Roto-Pac, mounted an a 1960 International chassis (CRT News Update, Winter 2008). Daryl Gushee of New Gloucester, Maine, was browsing through the pages of CRT when he noticed his truck featured in the Living Classics section.

The Roto-Pac is part of Daryl's growing classic truck collection, some of which have been featured on the Old Snowplow website. He purchased it from the restorer, a former DSNY mechanic, and says it is in perfect working condition. "The body is so clean you could use it for a camper. He even used teak wood to line the rails on the rear. "

While updating the information in the Living Classics entry for Daryl's truck, I noticed that the packer body is older than the truck chassis. A check of Roto-Pac advertising indicates that the body is most likely a 1954 model. Nevertheless, the R-Series IHC is still a fine mate, having been available in 1954 and looking pretty much the same through 1960. It's good to know this classic is well preserved, and we look forward to seeing more of it in the future.

MST SERVICES E-Z PACK FLD

This front loader photo came to CRT by way of Brad Newsome of E-Z Pack LLC. It's an early 1980's E-Z Pack FLD front loader still on the job for MST Services in Georgia. This was built towards the end of the production run for the Clar-type front loaders (folding, top-hinged lift arms) which are now becoming fairly rare. The FLD was a special lightweight version. It's hard to believe these are now classics!

ALLIED WASTE GAR WOOD LOAD-PACKER

Another truck recently featured in the news was an old type B Gar Wood Load-Packer which is displayed at Allied Waste of Salt Lake City, Utah. Chad Hardy is the Solid Waste Superintendent for the City of Phoenix, Arizona. Chad wrote in to say that he was the one who found the truck and had it restored when he was a district manager for Allied SLC. It is a 1952 model on a Chevrolet chassis.

All of the above information has been incorporated into the Living Classics entries for each of these trucks, and will be updated whenever more information, pictures or video becomes available.

UNKNOWN AUSTRALIAN REAR LOADER

This unusual looking rear loader photo was sent in by Steven Di Battista, who regularly supplies CRT with information on Australian iron. Steven was unable to identify this one, and I also am unable to provide a positive ID at this time. However, I can say that is a design first patented by Japanese company called Kyokuto, and has been around Asia since at least the 1970's. As is the West, there has been a lot of "badge-engineering" in Japan over the ensuing decades, so I am reluctant to actually say if Kyokuto actually built this particular example. It is noteworthy that is has managed to stay in production (by somebody) into the modern era of curved-shell bodies.

It is somewhat difficult to describe how this one works, but suffice to say that despite its odd appearance, this packer functions similarly to the E-Z Pack C-200 rear loader of the 1980's. The big rams outside of the tailgate actually control the sweep panel, via the curved slots up top, and a pair of rams inside the body operate the slide panel. If these interest you, we have a video of a German version on YouTube which probably illustrates the method best (see video below).

I wish I could provide more information, but at this time I just don't know that much about the Japanese scene. There is a wide variety of equipment in use there, including miniature Gar Wood LP-600 copies, mimi-Roto-Presses as well as more conventional slide-sweep rear loaders. Trash truck enthusiasts visiting Japan would probably not be disappointed. Hopefully I (or a contributing writer) may be able to better document them in the future.