Low Boy 60 ton .

Similar learning with me. 1970 Pete with 318, 5spd main, 4 spd progressive brownie, both boxes overdrive, 529 rears, Hendrickson pad suspension.

We could haul plenty heavy, but VERY slow. Lol

 

An antique junk trans that was basically a 9 speed with a lower low hole and deep reduction

 

The 8LL is 10 speed with VERY low first and second gears.
The 8LL (direct) has/had a first gear ratio of 19.58 compared to a 10 speed (direct) first gear ratio of 14.80.
The jump from first low to second low (LLtoL) was 55% for the 8LL compared to 1 to 2 34% for the 10 speed
Second low to 1 (L to 1) was 51% compared to the 10 speeds 2 to 3 ratio of 36%.
Gear 1 (3rd position) in the 8LL and 3rd in a 10 speed were mostly the same ratio and the transmissions from there up were almost the same ratios up to top speed.
It was like having 2 super low gears for getting a load to move then a wide ratio 8 speed to get it down the road. Those 2 low gears were great for heavy loads and poor ground conditions (crawling out of a pit loaded or soft ground). They were and still are popular for the gravel/ construction industries where loads are heavy and traction is sometimes bad.

 

Yes I ran a 68 Western Star with an early big cam 350 same trans setup but with a power tower pto to run a 50ton Garwood winch and the rears were 55 ton Hendrickson sprung walking beam( I believe there was 14 leaves in the springs). The power tower pto was able to provide 3 times the torque of a low mount pto and had the advantage of 5 speeds from the main trans. I did tear up the driven gear on the winch once by using low in the main trans and trying to pull a large dead Excavator over the beavertails of a 12 wide 16 wheeler. (OOPS)
And yes slowww 2 3/4 days to run 190Klbs 490 miles at 130' long and 14' wide and 15'8" high

 

Ha, loading over the back. I don't miss that much

 

A 318 and pad suspension. So, you can’t hear and all your teeth are chipped?

 

Eh?

The blue truck has pad suspension too. It rides pretty good with 55K on the drives hauling our 345!

 

In 1970, I was driving a 59 Westcoaster, 240WB with Hendrickson Pads. at around 40 mph on a concrete hwy, I had to bite on a pencil and close one eye to keep it from shaking out.........

 

I’d recommend an 18 speed and 4.10 or 4.30 axles if you’re looking at hauling a 60 ton cargo on a 13 axle trailer with a jeep and a booster , also gonna need at least two pilot cars ,
Maybe some police escorts depending on the state .
In Ohio you’ll need police escorts to block traffic so you can slow to 10 mph to cross every bridge .
Hauling a super load in Ohio is no fun at all ,
Not too bad in most other places .