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By Simon Teahan
Photos by Leon Williamson
This fine looking unit is owned by Leon Williamson of North Canterbury. Run under Cheviot Towing & Maintenance Company Limited it has undergone an amazing transformation. The 1985 W924AR Kenworth is an ex-McCarthy logging truck, which Leon bought after it had been through a few hands. He ran it as logger for a short while before turning a dream he had into reality.
After having a wrecker from the States delivered in October 2005, Leon ran a tipper to keep the dollars coming in until the conversion was completed in April 2006. X Trucking spoke to Leon about the whole project.
X. How did this project start?
L. Logging went through one of those dollar changing exercises and logs went quiet, so I had a yarn to Joe Sutherland who I brought the truck off and was contracted to carting logs, said I have a opportunity to get into Owens with a forty footer. He said get into it so that's about where the dream became a little closer to reality. I had been collecting bits for a number of years to do exactly that, turn it into a tractor unit, so that afternoon Joe and I pulled the bolsters off and the log crane which he gave me ten grand for. I shot back to Cheviot with a empty firewood bin on the back put all my bits in the crate and decided to head to Auckland for the initial change over.
I had a mate Robbie Edgecomb with a damaged 60" sleeper which we could cut down to 36". It took about five weeks for both of us on it full on. Move diffs, strip tanks, hood etc send to sand blaster. Between me painting the sleeper, Robbie painting the cab and shared painting the hood. Dodging rain showers it was a real team effort. With Robbie having fitted a couple of sleepers to W models before he knew all the tricks. We ended up getting a 42" sleeper from Semco transport all it needed was paint and bolt straight on. Saved us cutting the 60". We spent about two days measuring all sorts of units to come up with the solution that we could get a 42" on and still tow a 43' semi(grouse).
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