Howard Shanks•3 Oct 2017

REVIEW

2017 Kenworth T9: Operator Review

Name: 2017 Kenworth T9: Operator Review
Brand: Kenworth

The timber country of north-west Tasmania is as tough a theatre as you'll find. Sounds like a job for Kenworth's T9…

Shortly before 9.00am on the corner of Wilson Street and the Bass Highway, in the northern Tasmanian town of Burnie, a small group of people wielding umbrellas clustered together to shelter from the ice-cold wind. They were held there by the red 'Don't Walk' signal across the Bass Highway and watched as a red-and-white Kenworth T9 headed east through the green light.

Way over to the southwest, dark clouds swirled low around the nearby mountain range. Further to the south a small break in the dark clouds revealed a hint of blue sky, teasing that there might be some relief to this bitterly cold wind and icy rain pounding the northwest Tasmanian coastline for the past fortnight.

Driver Paul Aitkin wasn't impressed. After all, he'd spent most of the night before washing and polishing the T9 Kenworth he drives for Bazzajack Logging for the photo shoot. He had just arrived at the mill with his first load for the day with mud from the bush track sitting heavily in the polished alloy rims and dripping down along the chassis.

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Paul reckons he's been logging Tasmania's northwest for more years than he cares to remember.

Hopeful that the weather would clear, he headed back to the wash-bay at the nearby depot to give the new Kenworth one more scrub.

Rugged gear

Time and experience in the game has revealed some enduring lessons of the type of gear that is required to get around the steep countryside here in the northwest corner of the Island state. For third-generation logging contractor Dwayne Beaumont, or 'Jack' as he's more commonly known, the choice was relatively simple: a rugged Kenworth T9 coupled to a locally made Elphinstone "Airider" tri-axle jinker.

Jack learnt the logging trade from his father Barry and the pair teamed up to form Bazzajack Logging a few years back. Even though modern machinery may have removed some of the backbreaking work out of logging, it is still one of the most dangerous businesses around. And, in these harsh economic times, it could be argued that it is a harder game now than when Jack's grandfather logged the area with a cross-cut saw and axe many decades ago.

An hour or so later Paul notched up the control on the heater and started stirring the stick, "swapping cogs" in the 18-speed transmission behind the finely tuned 550-horsepower Cummins ISX engine under the hood. This time of day the traffic heading west out of Burnie is relatively light, and a string of green lights made for straightforward work getting out of town.

This is Jack's first Kenworth and so far neither he nor Paul can fault its performance, citing Kenworth's ability to custom build the truck specifically for their needs from the ground up, the rugged construction, proven performance and good resale value all attributes that attracted him to the brand. He adds that the performance of the Cummins Signature isn't too bad either, while the backup service they get from CJD Equipment is first class.

The number of other Kenworths operating in logging applications in the same area only reiterates Jack's comments about the durability of the product.

Strong heart

The Bazzajack T9 boasts a Cummins ISX rated at 550hp and 1850lbft of torque. The cooling package on the new T9 is impressive too, with an all-new 1800 square-inch radiator ensuring even on the hottest day the truck runs at optimum temperature with minimum 'fan on' time.

A key feature that makes the T9 popular with logging operators is the set forward front axle, which means that maximum axle weight grouping can be easily achieved.

Added to this Kenworth T9 is an Elphinstone Turntable Slider, which enables Paul to shift the turntable position depending on the load to ensure that his axle weights are spot on each time. Some of the features of the Slider include its low height and tare weight with cabin-controlled activation.

The unit has an Elphinstone on-board weighing system, which also features the remote Easy-weigh hand held display.

Tasmanian roads are unpredictable, with plenty of dangerous corners and windy turns. The Bass Highway from Burnie to the bush turnoff near Stanley is no different, as it follows the scenic coastline. This time of year, around the rich fertile farming land of Wynyard when the tulips are in flower, they have what's known as the 'Bloomin' Tulip Festival' and the tulips' colours are a magnificent sight as you pass them while heading along the highway.

Into the bush

Just out of town Paul eased off the throttle, dropped a few gears and flicked the indicator to the left. From here the bitumen gives way to a narrow dirt track that winds its way deep into the mountains. Paul picked up the UHF radio hand piece and called his position when he poked the Kenworth's bonnet up the narrow dirt bush track. A reply came back from an outbound truck leaving the landing. Paul acknowledged the driver and made arrangements to pull off the track at a junction, a few corners up the track.

"It is essential for safety to call your position up here," Paul explained as he looked out the windscreen for his mate.

"There's not much room for error on these tracks."

There was the customary wave as the trucks passed and brief conversation about the weather before the radio signal faded.

Tough construction

Now well up into the mountains, deep corrugations in the road below were really putting the Kenworth 8-Bag air suspension to work. Apart from the odd rattle from the chocks of jinker on the back there was nothing inside the cab to indicate the road had deteriorated.

"It is really well put together truck," Paul volunteered.

"I've been really impressed with it overall performance and so far I haven't had any problems with any of it including the engine, which I cannot fault either."

The ride inside the T9 Kenworth was exceptional. Paul added the handling of this truck is by far the best he's ever had. Observing his steady hand on the wheel from the rider's seat and the seemingly effortless ease with which Paul guided the T9 around the winding track, its road manners were equally as impressive too.

A short time later Paul, reversed into the landing, climbed onto the back of the chassis and released the dog and chain that held the jinker in position. He then released the trailer brakes and the jinker slowly slid to the ground before he moved the Kenworth forward, stretching out the pole.

Outside the cabin the wind howled and the air chilled through to the bone. Jack climbed from an excavator at the landing and extended his hand in greeting and asked how the trip was so far.

Midnight shift

Paul usually starts about midnight and if all goes well he can get three loads in by lunchtime when he knocks off. Jack explained that this way the bush crew get time in the afternoon to get in all the logs ready for the next day.

"Otherwise we'd be spending all day loading trucks and the bush crew would be working in the dark trying to get logs in," Jack added.

Paul reckons this is where you really get to see the Cummins engine work at its full potential.

"The engine braking on these Cummins is really magnificent," he said.

"That's pretty important in this country and it makes a considerable saving to the life of your service brakes.

"You only have to see how it holds the load on these steep declines."

Power-wise Paul and Jack have no complaints with the new Cummins ISX; he admits the fuel economy is a little heavy but concedes that steep grades do eat up a lot of horsepower and the only way to get the horsepower is to feed it fuel.

Jinker preference

Paul and Jack both admit that they're not big fans of B-Doubles in the bush, especially for this application.

"I've never been interested in B-Doubles," Jack explained.

"If I can't make a living out of tri-axles then we'll give the game away. They're just too much mucking around; at least with a jinker you drive in, turnaround, then go.

"We can get a 31-tonne payload on this yet only gain and additional seven to eight tonnes with a B-Double. Around here you're only allowed shorter bogie B-Doubles, so there is no advantage for one on our application."

It would take Paul another couple of hours to get to mill to unload, before he'd head home for the night. "Typical," said Paul with a shrug, as the weather report predicted finer conditions tomorrow.

In terms of driveability the package of a smooth ride from the cabin of Kenworth T9, the power of the Cummins engine under hood and rugged durability of the truck's construction make it an all-round versatile logging unit.

2017 Kenworth T9 specifications

Model: Kenworth T9

Engine: Cummins Signature

Horsepower: 550hp (410kW) at 1850rpm

Torque: 1850lb/ft (2508Nm) at 1100rpm

Gearbox: Eaton RTLO20915B 18-speed Roadranger

Air cleaner: Dual Cyclopacs with raised air rams

Fuel filter: Fuel Pro and fuel/water separator

Electrical: 160A isolated alternator

Front axle: Meritor MFS73LA, 7.3t capacity

Front suspension: 7.2t multi-leaf

Power steering: TRW Ross TAS 85