DON, DAVE - Not to get too off-topic, but between my Dad & I we have over a million miles on 903-V8 Cummins powered trucks, Dad put over 400,000 miles on a single tractor, plus many more miles on other tractors. His were in IH 4300 FleetStar's & I put over half a million miles on two '79 RoadBoss II's w/VT903's. Dad's tractor was a V903, no turbo, think it was either 270 or 290 HP, mine was 320. Both my tractors ran the same loaded but the second one seemed "peppier" empty and had less electrical problems. Dad's had a 9-spd Road Ranger, mine had a 6-spd Spicer... Not near enough gears, a 9 or 10 spd RR would have been much better. Dad's lost a waterpump and threw the fan thru the radiator and got parked for a while, then sent to the home depot for his co. My tractors got re-po'd. Guess the co. I drove for was way late on too many payments, but at least my pay checks didn't bounce. The water leaking into the intake manifold was the only problems either of us had. Dad's had a LOT of hours on it because he hauled fuel & fertilizer and had to run the tractor often to run the PTO to pump off his loads.
I also ran 555 V8 Cummins in ready-mix trucks one summer. Engine was rated 208 net HP, less than my 7.3L PSD, and the 5-spd Allison A/T was not the right choice of transmission, but the 3-spd Brownie helped. 200 HP in a 52,000-54,000# truck is WAY under-powered. But they were better trucks than the '66 White's with 165 HP 6's & 5+4 transmissions. Mixer trucks sit around and idle for hours, then get run as hard as they can go for 30 to 60 minutes. Hard duty for any engine.
So yes, most of my Cummins experience is with the V8's, I'll take the higher HP and more gears anyday over the in-line 6's. Especially if I'm not buying the fuel. They do seem to be more thirsty than the 6's for similar HP.
The last tandem tractor I drove was a '78 IH S2200 w/290 & 10-spd R-R. It was tired, most days it would only run 55-60 loaded with a tail wind. When you get paid by the loaded mile you want something that runs faster than that!
The co. I drove for had lots of IH TranStar's. Some with 6V-92 TTA Dtroit's & 9-spd R-R's. Half a dozen with Big Cam 350's & 10-spds. My White with the 903 would hang right with the Detroit powered trucks but fall well back from the 350 powered trucks. Later they got some TranStar's with 13-spd R-R's, I liked that transmission, a gear for EVERY situation.
I like the 903's, lot quieter in the cab than anything with a Detroit, and even quieter than a TranStar with a BC 350. And the back half of the engine in my White was less than a foot from my right foot planted hard on the gas pedal, the rear half of the engine was in the doghouse that extended 2/3rds of the way to the back wall of the cab.
Most of my driving, like 95%, was in short nose conventional day-cab tractors, no sleeper bunk. I had a bed at home, I didn't need another one in my truck. That way if I got someplace and couldn't get loaded the co. paid for my motel room and a couple meals.
I enjoyed driving, glad I did it, glad I'm not doing it anymore!
If I had to buy a new 3/4 or 1-ton truck right now, it'd probably be a RAM w/Cummins. Only one of the Big 3 that offers a manual trans anymore, I don't care for the 4WD system, too many years of great service from my manual hubs & manual T-case in my Fords tat you can still get, but only with the automatic trans. But no more miles than I drive my old '96 F250 4WD PSD every year I'd have to get a gas engine. But my old F250 has right at 301,000 MILES.... not Kilometers. Still runs like new. But with $4/gal. fuel around here I try not to run it any more than I have to.
Anyhow, back to CC's, It was two yrs ago I think I "smoked" the mule drive belt on my 982 & 50C deck while mowing some 1-1/2 ft tall grass in my back yard. Had blue smoke rolling out the grill from the belt slipping on the PTO pulley. The belt had frayed a little and I though it was going to have a short life after I smoked it so I bought a new $50 replacement belt. Well, that old belt is still running just fine. Wish I could put a 5/8" mule drive belt on the 72 & 38" deck. Maybe it'd last more than a year. The new mule drive belt I bought a couple weeks ago is wider & heavier than the one I got 2-3 yrs ago. Just like Charlie said, people must have complained and MTD changed the spec's.
Paul R. & I missed the SEVEN and a half inches of rain west and south of here yesterday. Wes H. may have got more than the 1-1/2 inches Paul & I got. More rain predicted each of the next five days too. Reminds me of 1993, I'd drive a CC across the yard mowing and the ground was so soft the tires would leave depressions, and five feet behind the tractor the dpressions would fill with water.
