Western Star 4900 Logger: Review

Shortly before 9.00am on the corner of Macquarie and Evans Streets in Hobart, a small group of people wielding umbrellas watched as a blue Western Star Constellation made a right-hand turn into Evans Street.

Way over to the southwest, dark clouds swirled low around Mt Wellington. 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 southeast coastline this morning.

Geoff Wagner wasn’t that impressed, after all, he’d spent most of the night before washing and polishing his blue 4900 Constellation for the photo shoot. He had just arrived at the port 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.

Geoff or ‘Wags’ as he’s known in these parts has been logging the south east of Tasmania for more years than he cares to remember. Time and experience in the game has revealed some enduring lessons of what sort of gear is required to get around the steep countryside at the southernmost tip of the continent.

A little over half an hour after arriving at the port, Geoff notched up the control on the heater and started swapping cogs in the 18-speed Roadranger transmission behind the finely tuned 600-horsepower Signature engine under the hood. This time of day the traffic heading south out of Hobart is relatively light, and a string of green lights made straightforward work getting out of town.

Even with the jinker folded up, the steep climb on the southern outlet of the A6 Highway out of Hobart makes the Signature earn its keep.

This is Geoff’s first Western Star and so far he can’t fault its performance, citing Western Star’s ability to custom build the truck specifically for his needs, the rugged construction, the proven performance along with good resale value as attributes that attracted him to the brand. He adds that the performance of the Cummins Signature isn’t too bad either.

The number of other Western Stars operating in logging applications in the same area only reiterates Geoff’s comments about the durability of the product.

Geoff travelled to the Brisbane Truck and Machinery Show to check out what was on offer before finalising his decision to specify the 4900FX Western Star for his logging operation.

“That show in Brisbane is one of the better shows in the country,” Geoff admitted. “You can see everything under one roof from the various brands and most are optioned up with all the features you don’t normally get so see when you look at stock trucks in dealerships.”

“If I hadn’t have seen a truck painted in this colour at the show then I probably never would have thought to choose this blue,” Geoff recalled. “But it really stood out and was very eye-catching.”

From Huonville to Geeveston, the highway follows the banks of the spectacular Huon River, and even through the misty rain the view along the foreshore was spectacular and the hour or so that it took to reach Geeveston from Hobart passed quickly.

Just out of town Geoff eased off the throttle, dropped a few gears and flicked the indicator to the left. From here the road winds its way further southward to the sleepy little town of Dover, and not far out of town the bitumen gives way to a narrow dirt track that winds its way up through the coastal mountain range.

Interestingly enough, even though there are small villages further south of Dover, Dover is considered to be the southernmost town of significance due to the fact it is last place where petrol and supplies can be purchased. The town was originally established as a convict probation station, however today there is little evidence of the town’s penal past.

By the mid 1850s the town had developed into one of the most important shipping ports in the state, shipping Huon pine to the world from numerous mills now established in the area. Today all that remains is a number of old steam-driven timber-cutting machines that can be seen in the local museum.

Geoff adds that if you ever get time, it’s worth dropping into see the machines that were used in the bygone era of the logging industry.

Geoff picked up the UHF-radio hand piece and called his position when he poked the Western Star’s bonnet up the narrow dirt bush track. A reply came back from an outbound truck leaving the landing. Geoff acknowledged the driver and made arrangements to pull off the road at a junction, a few corners up the track.

“It is essential for safety to call your position up here,” Geoff 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.

A short time later, Geoff backed 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 Constellation forward stretching the pole out.

Outside the cabin, the wind howled and the air chilled right through to the bone. Geoff climbed into an excavator parked in front of the log stack, this load of pulp was bound for the chip mill up at the northern end of the island. On average it takes around forty minutes to load himself then chain up and today was no different.

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

“The engine braking on these Signatures is really magnificent,” Geoff volunteered. “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,” Geoff adds.

Power-wise, Geoff has no complaints with the Signature, but he admits the fuel economy is a little heavy than he’d have liked. 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.

At a small plateau Geoff pulled the Constellation up and got out to check his chains. The view out over D`Entrecasteaux Channel to Bruny Island was sensational even through the drizzling rain.

Geoff admits that he is not a big fan of B-Doubles in the bush, especially for his application. “I’ve never been interested in B-Doubles,” he said. “If I can’t make a living out of tri-axles then I’ll give the game away. They’re just too much mucking around, at least with this jinker you simply drive in, turn around, then you’re set to go.

“With PBS and air-bag suspension concessions I can get a 31 tonne payload on this yet I’d only gain and additional 7 to 8 tonne with a B-Double. Furthermore, round here you’re only allowed shorter-bogie B-Doubles so there is really no advantage for one (B-Double) on my application.”

It would take Geoff another four or so hours to get to Bell Bay up at the northern end of the island to unload, before he’d head home for the night. “Typical”, Geoff said, with a shrug, as the weather report predicted finer conditions tomorrow.

In terms of driveability, the package of smooth ride from the wide cabin of Western Star Constellation, the power of the Cummins engine under hood and rugged durability of the truck’s construction make it an all-round versatile logging unit.

Western Star 4900FX 6x4 Logger
Engine: Cummins Signature
Power: 620hp (462kW) @ 1600rpm
Torque: 2050lb/ft (2779Nm) @ 1100rpm
Gearbox: Eaton RTLO22918B 18-speed
Front Axle: Meritor FG-941 6.5T
Front Suspension: Taper leaf 7.5T
Rear Axles: Meritor RT-46-160GP
Rear Axle Ratio: 4.56
Rear Suspension: Airliner
Main Driveline: Meritor RPL25SD
Inter-axle Driveline: Meritor RPL20
Brakes: WABCO Antilock Braking System with traction control
Fuel: Alloy 2 x 473-litre
Wheels: Polished 10-Stud Alloy
Bumper: Polished bumper