Sector - Wool

A 1951 Ford Thornton 6x4 with a good load of wool bales. This truck belonged to S.J. Brensell Contractor & Carrier of Edievale, West Otago.

A 1951 Ford Thornton 6x4 with a good load of wool bales. This truck belonged to S.J. Brensell Contractor & Carrier of Edievale, West Otago.

West Otago Transport no.9 Bedford SLC8 powered by a Leyland 350 diesel engine.

An LAD cab Comet with a very tidy load of wool bales belonging to Reid's Transport Service of Luggate in Central Otago. In the mid-1960s Reids bought the Wanaka based carriers, McLeod's Transport and merged it with their own business to form Upper Clutha Transport. Reids had been loyal Leyland users since the Cubs of the 1930s. The LAD range of Comets comprising the CS3 model Comet-(8 stud wheels, hydraulic brakes) and 14SC model Super Comet-(10 stud wheels, full air brakes) debuted in 1958-59 replacing the square cab ECO.S2 cabover and ECO.2 semi forward control Comets. From 1962-63 the CS3 model was superceded by the 12C and 13C model Comets-still on 8 stud wheels but now having full air brakes.

42 wool bales could be carried on this White, a good load for the day, when tandem drives were still rare. There are 24 bales on the four-wheeler behind it, proving big is better.

White trucks were a mainstay of the Ward's fleet in the thirties, but the Leyland Comet replaced the Whites in the '50s as the go-to brand. This is a Leyland Comet 75 ECO.2 model 125" wheelbase tractor unit powered by a 75 horsepower Leyland O.300 diesel engine. The Comet 75 with 300 diesel was built from 1947-1951 when it was replaced by the Comet 90 ECO2 series with the larger O.350 diesel engine. The cabs fitted to the semi-forward control Comets were manufactured by Briggs Motor Bodies and were also fitted to Fordson Thames ET6 and Thames Costcutter trucks and Dodge "parrot nose" trucks. The early Comets were also available with a Leyland P300 petrol engine rated at 100 horsepower and while there were some petrol Comet buses here, I don't know of any petrol trucks. A weakness of the 75 model was the Eaton 1350 2 speed axle-certainly an adequate axle for a 5 ton Bedford OLB or A5, Jailbar or Bonus Built Ford V8, 5 ton Austin Loadstar or 5 ton Commer Superpoise, it was a bit light for the 7 ton Leyland Comet diesel. This situation was rectified with the Comet 90 which had the heavier Eaton 16500 axle.

Ward's Transport, Gisborne, trucks loaded with wool-from the left c.1935 White, 1937 Indiana and 3 Jailbar Fords. The Indiana Truck Company of Marion, Indiana was founded in 1911 and from 1927-1932 was a division of the Brockway Truck Co. From 1932-39 Indiana was a division of the White Motor Company. The truck in the picture was the last style of Indiana built.

O'Malley's Transport, Ranfurly Bedford KC or KD loaded with bales of wool. In the background is one of O'Malley's big Fiats. A little truck like this Bedford would have been a really good truck for a young driver to learn on.

A Te Reinga Carrying Company Leyland Comet loaded with wool. The truck is lettered as operating in the Gisborne, Te Reinga and Wairoa areas of Poverty Bay. Compared to most British trucks of the time which had somewhat traditional styling, the Comet was a very stylish vehicle when introduced in 1947.

Bedford OLB 5 tonner of D. Haerewa, Te Araroa. A neatly loaded load of wool.

An International D246F of Amalgamated Transport, Gisborne loaded with 53 bales of wool. Note the sticks used as twitches to tighten the ropes securing the load.

A 1951 photo of 2 of Chaffey Transport's Bedford OLBs carting wool.

A 1946 photograph showing some of the wool clip from Hukunui Station on a 1941-46 type Chevrolet truck. The men are from left-Norman Ward, Duncan McMillan, Jack McKenna, Jim Staples.

G.V. Dewes 1926 GMC K32 or K52B series Big Brute truck now fitted with 10 stud disc wheels with pneumatic tyres on the front axle. The rear axle retains solid rubber tyres on cast spoke wheels. G.V. Dewes ran a cartage service to and from the Tokomaru Bay wharf north of Gisborne. His business was taken over by Chaffey's Transport.

1926 GMC K32 or K52B series Big Brute truck of G.V. Dewes with a load of wool bales.

A very nice picture of a South Otago Transport 1948-1950 Ford Bonus Built Thornton 6x4-(notice the Thornton Drive badge on the side of the bonnet) with a good load of wool bales. South Otago Transport was quite a large carrier with their main depot in Balclutha and branches at Waitahuna and Owaka. Thornton 6x4 conversions were available in two models/weight ratings in these trucks depending on the diffs fitted-either model EF26F with Ford single speed diffs-26,000 lbs gross, or model EF29E with Eaton 1350 2 speed vacuum change diffs-29,000 lbs gross.

Bruce Jordan & Son Bedford SL model with a good load of wool bales at a Christchurch woolstore.

Solid tyred Dennis and Garford trucks belonging to W. Barwood of Fairlie loaded with wool.

Wright Stephenson & Co. Bedford SL loaded with wool bales.

A 22HT model Freightline series Leyland Hippo and 3 axle trailer of Kirbys Carriers from Nelson loaded with wool bales at the N.Z. Co-Operative Wool Marketing Association woolstore. Kirbys which was owned by D.D. (Don) Merritt were quite a large carrier in the Nelson region until taken over by Transport Nelson in the early 1970s. They did furniture removals, stock and other rural cartage, general freight and log cartage and mainly operated British trucks-Austin, Morris Commercial, Bedford, Leyland, Albion, AEC, Atkinson and ERF. Even after being taken over, Kirbys, with their smart red with white striping and signwriting colour scheme continued as a division of Transport Nelson, although in later years they were mainly doing furniture removals rather than general cartage.

A good load of wool on one of Solly's KG or KH series Bedfords. It would be a good workout for this truck as it faced the Takaka hill on its run through to a Nelson woolstore.

One of the first Leyland lorries to operate in New Zealand was this X-type Leyland truck belonging to the Mt. Cook Motor Company of Fairlie, South Canterbury. It is seen here loaded with wool bales with sticks used to twitch the ropes tight.

Todd Motors advertisement for British built Fargo and De Soto trucks. The British Dodge Kew trucks were built at the Dodge Brothers (Gt. Britain) factory at Kew in Surrey. This model was the 100 series, although it was popularly known as the "parrot nose Dodge" owing to the shape of the bonnet. Dodge offered identical Fargo and De Soto versions of these trucks. The cabs were made by Briggs Motor Bodies and were also used on the semi-forward control Leyland Comets and the English Fordson Thames/Thames ET6 V8 and 4 cylinder Cost Cutter trucks. Power for the 6 ton rated Dodge 125, Fargo F125 and De Soto S125 trucks was a 250 cubic inches Chrysler side valve 6 cylinder petrol engine backed by a 5 speed gearbox and Eaton 1350 or 16500 2 speed axle. In N.Z. prior to the late 1950s/early 1960s Dodge trucks were sold by the Dominion Motors and their dealers while Fargo and De Soto trucks were sold by Todd Motors dealers. Todd Motors acquired the Dodge franchise c.1958-1960.

Two White trucks of Ward's Transport, Gisborne loaded with wool bales. The 6 wheeler is a 700 series with a locally manufactured trailing axle fitted. The stylish 700 series trucks which were designed by the Ukrainian born industrial designer, Count Alexis de Saknoffsky were introduced in 1936. Although this truck is not fitted with an American cab-(it would have been imported in chassis cowl form to have a locally made cab fitted), the stylish factory cabs fitted to these trucks and the subsequent WA, WB, and WC series were used by White for getting on for 30 years. Later versions of the cab were fitted to certain White truck models as late as the mid-1960s. The other White is a 1934-35 model and is also a smart looking truck.

Three Austin trucks belonging to McLeod's Transport of Wanaka with very neatly loaded and roped loads of wool bales. From the right we have a 5 ton Loadstar, a 701 7 tonner with 4 wheel trailer and another 701. With their black cabs and white roofs, McLeod's trucks would have been a distinctive sight in Central Otago. In the mid-1960s McLeod's Transport was taken over by Reid's Transport Service of Luggate with the business becoming Upper Clutha Transport.