john&bet wrote:
Makes me wonder how a 225CID engine from '61 moved 16,000# of truck and grain to the elevator? Or any farm grain truck from the '50's and early '60's got the job done.
I know what you mean, being a bit of an old farmer myself. I used to drive those farm trucks. We had a '50's IH with the Black Diamond six...( 200 something cubes), a '48 Fargo (Canadian Dodge) with a 250 cube flathead six...both grain trucks.
We could and move the heavy loads of truck and grain...but the distances were relatively short and the speeds were generally slow. From the combine to the grain bin, from the grain bin to the grain elevator.
On the fields and in the farm yards, generally we were going about 15 to...maybe 30 mph (top speed)and the grain elevator was about 25 miles away. With a load of grain we would go to the grain elevator about 25 or so miles away. With the Ford F 700 (370 V8)we would do about about 50 mph, with the '50's IH about 45 mph and slower with the '48 Fargo.
The engines...both OHV gas with the Ford and IH....but they didn't have a lot of punch.
Pulling a good sized travel trailer with a modern half ton pickup (F 150, Chevy/Dodge 1500)...at highway speeds in different terrains, racking up many 100's to 1000's of miles....is more demanding than the short miles and lower speeds, that many farm trucks put on.
However those old farm trucks were plenty rugged and could take a real kicking.
I agree with you 100%, about how much truck/power do we need to get the job done.
I think we have gone over board in that area, with monster HP/torque figures we have now.
Modern light truck power figures remind me, of the '60's muscle car Detroit HP wars.
Les
