Kenworth T909 Roadtrain: Review

Name: Kenworth T909 Roadtrain: Review
Brand: Kenworth

It came as no surprise when long-time Kenworth user Paul Milgate ordered his new T909 to run in the back blocks of NSW, after all, there’s not too many trucks that can survive beyond the Black Stump

Just on daylight an hour or so north west of Dubbo, NSW, in the tiny town of Trangie, Paul Milgate and his immaculately presented T909 Kenworth with two livestock trailers slowly stirred the dust as he headed off to collect a double road train load of sheep.

Paul told us his plan was to head along the Mitchell Highway to Nyngan, a decent hour or so drive to the west then take a right at the T-intersection in town and head up the Mundarro Road for another hour or so before veering left onto a dirt track where he assured us there’d be plenty of dust that would make for some interesting photos.

Half an hour up the Mundarro Road, Paul crossed a rickety old bridge then eased off the throttle and the big Kenworth T909 slowed steadily down for the left-hand turn onto the dirt road.

Paul’s earlier heads-up about there being plenty of dust along the dirt track was spot on as thick plumes of dust bellowed out behind of his last trailer.

Still nursing the scars of Cummins early EGR engines, Paul is hopeful Cummins have ironed out all the bugs with these newer model engines and is looking at fuel economy gains to boost his meagre profit margin.

Nevertheless, Paul is first to admit that it’s only early days for the big Cummins and at the time of writing the Kenworth T909 had only just clocked over 40,000 kilometres. “We’re hoping to achieve economy figures around the 1.8km/l or better, from this new Cummins when it’s bed in which would be tremendous in this sort running and so far it’s looking promising.” Paul said.

“Performance-wise I can’t fault it,” Paul added. “At night when it gets that cool air it is like a totally different engine than during the day. It goes extremely well during the night, extremely well,” he smiled.

Big on grunt

Out on the road, it quickly became evident that the Cummins certainly didn’t lack any punch and you’d expect it wouldn’t either, it is rated at 550 horsepower and thumps out 1850ft/lb of torque. It was more than willing to respond to each command of the throttle even from as low down as 1250rpm. It literally marched away. The turbo-boost pressure gauge displayed good numbers as the throttle went down and the turbo charger spun up, and it is nowhere as noisy as the turbo of the earlier models.

Most interesting was to note the pyrometer, which sat happily around the 400-degree mark for the majority of the trip. To fully appreciate the significance of this reading, let’s compare apples with apples so to speak, the pyrometer on earlier Cummins EGR engines climbs to around 550-600 degrees on a long pull and often sits at the start of the yellow band for the trip.

As the miles rolled by and the bonnet of the T909 pushed ever onwards, Paul explained that Cummins’ reputation for reliability and economy from the later e5 engine was another consideration in his purchase decision.

“There’s something else too,” Paul volunteered. “That’s reliability and service. Without question that is arguably one of the most important considerations in our business. In our operation we don’t have the luxury of service centres every 100 kilometres. Breakdowns out here are extremely expensive, and they are made up of the recovery cost to retrieve the stricken vehicle the added cost of re-scheduling the load and then there’s the downtime and associated cost of the repair. With these later Cummins engines we’re hoping to get improvements in reliability and that is what we’re looking for along with the engine’s performance and economy.”

Added to the intended savings in fuel economy another feather in the Cummins engine’s cap that Paul is hoping to will pay dividends is the extended oil drain intervals.

When Cummins announced extended oil drain intervals of up to 60,000km for its 15-litre ISXe5 on-highway engine operating in normal-duty applications, where fuel consumption is above 1.5km/litre, using the recently released Valvoline Premium Blue 8100 oil, it really caught Paul’s attention.

Cummins ISXe5 literature also suggests that oil drain intervals can be extended to 50,000 km using any 15W40 oil brand meeting CES 20081. The extended oil drain intervals do not require oil sampling. However, they do require the use of Fleetguard’s filter and its patented Nanonet technology for oil filtration.

In a Cummins Press Release, Mike Fowler, director of on-highway business for Cummins South Pacific said: “Because the engine is running so much cleaner we’ve been able to extend the drain intervals which further support our focus on delivering industry-leading total cost of ownership with the ISXe5. The announcement of the extended oil drain intervals for the Australian and New Zealand markets follows the most extensive oil validation field-testing ever carried out by Cummins Inc.”

“In a typical triple road train application where the fuel burn is 1.2 – 1.5km/l we’ve been able to extend the drain intervals to 30,000km (750hrs) when using CES 20081 CJ-4 15W40 oil,” Mike added. “Furthermore this can be increased to 40,000km (850hrs) when using CES 20081 Valvoline Premium Blue 8100 oil, that can mean a few extra trips between changes which is a huge saving.”

“Extending the oil drain intervals means the trucks are on the road more getting additional loads and that simply translates to better margins for us,” Paul explained.

“Drivers are too hard to get as well,” Paul added. “Well good drivers I mean. If your equipment is not reliable then you won’t keep the good drivers or your clients. And in the livestock business it is pretty cut-throat too, if you can’t do the job reliably there are ten other companies all ready to promise your clients that they can, and often at a cheaper rate too.”

In the cab

One of the first things you notice about the T909 is the exceptional visibility out over the long bonnet. The rear vision is another aspect worth a mention especially with the large wide-angle mirrors.

Another feature well worth a mention and often taken for granted in a Kenworth is the driver’s workplace. For example the wipers and indicators are located all on the one wand. What this means is that the driver does not have to take his hands off the steering wheel to access the most commonly used functions.

The switches are located in the overhead console and within easy reach. The dash is the traditional Kenworth wood-grain with gold bezel gauges to add a touch of style.

Ride and handling is one area the T909 excels, this is largely attributed to the set-forward front axle and large diameter supply lines to the rear air-suspension which allow the truck corner with confidence.

Paul is first to admit that the evolution in road transport is something he never would have envisaged when he first started riding in trucks with his father over three decades ago. “This new T909 will probably have a million kilometres on it in four years,” Paul explained. “Compare that to the first truck my father purchased back when he commenced trucking – it never even came close to covering have that distance in the that time. Back then, he’d typically rebuild an engine at half a million kilometres and now we expect to get at least a million out of them before we put a spanner on them.

“There’s no question we get a good run out of our trucks and we’re hoping to get the same out of the Cummins product,” Paul added. “Mind you, we do receive good service from Inland Truck Centres in Dubbo and Wagga.”

Paul says one of the key factors to his company’s continuing growth has been choosing the right vehicles for the right applications.

“When you’re carrying $100,000 worth of livestock on long, hot trips across corrugated roads, you can’t afford to use unreliable trucks. It’s not just a matter of satisfying customer needs and trucking schedules, there are other issues at stake, including the welfare of the animals,” he said.

Even though it’s early days, Paul is confident that the new Cummins powered T909 will deliver them the same if not better reliability they’ve had from the Kenworth product in the past.

From a driver’s point of view, we can see that the Cummins can only get better as it loosens up, even so, straight out of the box it’s not a bad thing either.

Paul told us that he has a B-double lead trailer that he uses when he travels further south where he can’t take the road train. Also, he connects up the B-Double combination with convertor dolly and trailer when he heads further north where triple-road trains are allowed to run.

“That’s another advantage of the T909 because it gives me plenty of flexibility with my combinations,” Paul added.

Bever and Jock – the workers

Paul told us that his Kelpie dogs were originally bred as a cheap and efficient worker that can save farmers and graziers the cost of several hands when mustering livestock.

“These good working Kelpies are heading dogs that will prevent stock from moving away from the stockman,” Paul explained. “This natural instinct is crucial when mustering stock in isolated gorge country, where a good dog will silently move ahead of the stockman and block up the stock until the rider appears. They’re the preferred dogs for cattle work. They’ll drive a mob of livestock for long distances in all extremes of climates and conditions.”

“Kelpies have natural instincts for managing livestock”, He added. “They will work sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, and other domestic livestock. The Kelpie's signature move is to jump on the backs of sheep and walk across the tops of the sheep to reach the other side and break up the jam.”

It’s a great sight to see these working dogs in action, they certainly don’t waste any time rounding up the sheep and herding them into the trailers.

Specifications:

Model: Kenworth T-909

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 and fuel/water separator

Electrical: 160A isolated alternator and power distribution box

Front Axle: Meritor MFS73LA 7.3t capacity

Front Suspension: 7.2T taper leaf