2005 Western Star 4900 FA

Details

This 2005 Western Star has had a long, strange journey to becoming the truck it is today. Bought brand new, Greg Tatro purchased this vehicle in Maine. It was colored blue, and was about 20 feet longer than it is now. The cab and chassis were specced for a logging truck. Justin Day, our equipment manager, and Dale McKnight, one of our lead welders cut the frame, shortened the whole truck to its current dimensions and moved the axles forward. In other words, it was transformed into the dump truck in the pictures above! It was quite a process, and is an example of the ingenuity of the team in our shop.

                Though it’s over a decade old, the truck is still very reliable, is balanced well, and has terrific power. It is perhaps best known for the superb traction it gets.  It’s a tandem dump truck, so it’s a bit shorter than some of our other dump trucks. This means it can get around better on some of our road sites, where space is at a premium. For all the miles we’ve put on it, it’s held up very, very well! The Mercedes engine, according to our Equipment Manager is still “bulletproof!”