Trucksales Staff•11 Apr 2017

REVIEW

Cotton-pickin' Kenworth: Operator Review

Name: Cotton-pickin' Kenworth: Operator Review
Brand: Kenworth

The tracks that pass for Highways in Queensland a tough on any truck as we found out on a run in cotton country

Queensland’s cotton industry is facing tough times ahead with falling commodity prices, and growers are looking at transport operators to improve efficiencies to recoup profitability.

Queensland’s Central Highlands is home to some of the state’s roughest roads. Extracting savings from a transport operation already running close to the wire in this bone-jarring environment is proving more than the average challenge.

We met driver, Jason Hayne and the Kenworth T909 he drives for Andrew Keely’s Myamba Contracting, at the Moura Cotton Gin, two and half hours west of Rockhampton. Jason had not long climbed in it and admitted that he was still getting used to it.

Most of the Central Highlands region of Queensland is restricted to Type-1 road train operation, which limits the tenacious Kenworth to just two traditional flat top trailers. Consequently, gaining an upper hand in productivity by increasing the payload wasn’t an option.

The run from Moura out to the cotton farm would take a little over two hours, half an hour or so to load then a good two and half hours to return.

Our route this morning would take us 150 kilometres or so west along what’s officially known on maps as the Dawson Highway to Rolleston. However, according to driver Jason a few more apt names for this track spring to mind and could include the Broken-Windscreen or Busted-Spring Highway, which better reflect the condition of the road and what is more likely happen to your vehicle if you’re brave enough to travel on it.

At Rolleston we’d veer south along the Carnarvon Highway for half an hour before taking a left on to a dirt track that will take us into the heart of the Arcadia Valley, where cattle and cotton farms thrive.

Forty minutes or so into the trip Jason eased off the throttle and guided the T909 into the tiny Bauhinia Roadhouse, where he filled up the Kenworth’s three 450-litre tanks.

This morning he guessed he’d have to pump in at least 1150 litres, and he was pretty much spot on.

It took roughly 15 minutes to fill the tanks, which meant there was time to order a sandwich and grab a coffee.

Not far out of Bauhinia the terrain changes as the road crests part of the Great Dividing Range. The countryside is unusually lush and green with thick vegetation even after a long dry spell.

While Jason jostled with the bumps on the way back to load, it’s probably worth running over a few of the features of the T909.

First point to note was the smooth quiet ride inside the cabin. Crack the window and you instantly hear the suspension underneath working hard.

Cummins power

Cummins ISX-powered Kenworths dominate this cotton haulage fleet, with back-up support a critical element behind the preference.

“Everything breaks… it’s how a supplier deals with those failures that counts,” Andrew Keely explained. “Some of our best relationships are born out of problems. Cummins has shown a willingness to put up its hand when it has a problem.

“When you get a supplier doing that it’s very reassuring. By that I mean willing to work with you in an ethical and fair way, then your relationship becomes binding. You like to do business with them.”

Andrew said that Kenworth dealer Brown & Hurley is also rated highly for its support. “I don’t get hung up on purchase price,” he said. “Reliability, resale value, parts availability, and back-up support are the key reasons I buy Kenworth.”

However it’s pretty well common knowledge that trucks across the board fitted the Cummins ISX exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) engine didn’t live up to the expectations of many buyers and some previously staunch Kenworth fleets have flirted with European brands in the interim.

Launched in late 2012 the 15-litre ISXe5 uses selective catalytic reduction (SCR) instead of EGR to satisfy ADR80/03 (Euro 5).

Right from the start the, ISXe5 improved reliability by doing away with the troublesome variable geometry turbo (VGT) in favour of a more reliable waste-gated turbo and incorporating a single overhead camshaft rather than the twin camshaft set up of the EGR engine.

The industry response to the engine has on the most part been positive with Cummins operators reporting gains in both performance and in fuel economy. Reliability is also reported to have improved with the simplified induction system and the ultra-high pressure XPI common-rail fuel injection system.

The best news is at the fuel bowser, where the T909 is averaging 1.84km/litre running in a Type-1 road train configuration.

While Jason was getting the T909 ready to load, Paul Hatch, from Hatch Farming, who operates the loader showed us how the IPhone’s barcode scanner is saving time and paperwork in this year’s cotton harvest scanning each bail’s barcode. Incidentally, each bail is approximately 2.4 meters wide and 2.3 meters in diameter and weighs approximately 2.5 tonnes.

Half an hour or so after arriving at the farm with the tarps now tied down, Jason stirred the big Cummins into life and poked the T909’s nose back towards the Moura cotton gin.

Freighter Trailers

The Freighter Outback trailers behind this Kenworth T909 are no ordinary trailers; they’ve been designed and built in Australia to withstand the worst that the country’s roads can throw at them, and they don’t come much worse than this corrugated and pot-holed track.

We’re told that when Freighter engineers were designing the Outback trailer, they understood that they’d need a new approach in order to meet their reliability and durability goals. Experience reveals that if a part is loose or vibrates, it will eventually fall off. If it’s cantilevered, it will eventually crack.

So the Freighter Outback trailer comprises massive main-rails coupled with more cross-members that give the Outback its core strength. It has heavy duty coaming rails that are 25 per cent deeper than standard rails along with Freighter’s VE50 heavy duty-spring suspension designed specifically for outback road conditions. In addition, it has a heavy duty tow coupling, dual tyre carrier and lockable toolbox all designed to withstand the rigours of the off road use found in outback Australia.

Australia’s cotton industry is a lucrative one indeed and continuing the remarkable post drought resurgence for Australian cotton, the industry is now predicting this year’s national harvest will be the largest ever recorded, producing over four million cotton bales.

Cotton Australia’s production forecast estimates, 1,785,000 bales will be grown in Queensland, while NSW will account for 2,271,000 of the national total, giving a harvest worth around $2.3 billion dollars.

While most people will remember the start of this year as flood, cyclone, flood, and the season has actually produced very good cotton growing conditions allowing for some recovery of crops that went under water.

Growers unaffected by the floods are reporting they expect to harvest personal best crops in many areas and that productivity is driving the national crop forecast upwards. The previous record Australian cotton harvest was before the drought back in 2000/2001, when around 3.6 million bales were produced.

It was late afternoon when Jason finally pulled the first trailer onto the weighbridge at the Moura Cotton Gin.

Then a few moments later he rolls forward to weigh the second trailer before he heads around the unloading bay. Another load of Aussie cotton is safely stowed.

Specifications:

Engine: Cummins ISXe5

Horsepower: 550hp with peak 580hp (405kW) @1850rpm

Torque: 1850lb/ft (2507Nm) @ 1100rpm

Gearbox: Eaton RTLO20915B 18-speed

Air Cleaner: Dual Cyclopacs with raised air rams

Fuel Filter: Fuel Pro & fuel/water separator

Electrical: 160A isolated alternator & power distribution box

Front Axle: Meritor MFS73LA 7.3t capacity

Front Suspension: 7.2T taper leaf

Power Steering: TRW Ross TAS 85

Rear Axles: Dana D52-190 Tandem drive with diff locks to both axles

Rear Axle Ratio: 4.56

Rear Suspension: Kenworth Airglide 460

Brakes: HD (P-type) drum brakes with auto slacks

Windscreen: Two piece flat

Turntable: Jost JSK37

Sleeper: 50 inch Aero Roof 50 inch integrated

Interior: Shiraz cab trim, HD Diamond pleat vinyl

Extras: Severe Service kit, lower radiator pipe sheild, remote diff breathers, extended grease lines to clutch, icepack 2000s sleeper air conditioner, chassis-mounted tool box, chassis checkerplate, dolly pull to rear of chassis, 60-litre fresh water tank

Cotton-pickin' Kenworth: Operator Review

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