MAY 2009 OLD TIME TRUCKS
NOTHING BEATS A CLASSIC
By John & Shirley Sponholtz
The Kenworth Motor Truck Corporation began in 1923. In 1932, Kenworth was the first American truck company to offer a diesel engine as a factory option, which was a four-cylinder 100 horsepower Cummins. The 1980 truck in this photo is one of Kenworth’s most well-known models – the W900A. The truck is owned by M & W Payne Trucking of Shandon, Ohio and driven by Matt Payne. Matt’s family has been in the same gravel hauling and excavating business for over 50 years. They bought the KW because one of their other trucks needed an engine overhaul and they had to have one to take its place right away. Matt had wanted a W900 ever since he was a kid and a friend of theirs had one for sale. Matt and his brother went to look at it and decided it was perfect (the truck had a wheelbase that was almost four feet longer than their other trucks). They ran it that way for two years until they bought a new lowboy. At that point, they decided to shorten the truck. Matt unbolted the rears and the auxiliary transmission and slid everything forward 40 inches. The space between the two transmissions is so tight that the driveshaft between them is only nine inches long. The KW is equipped with a 400 Big Cam III Cummins pumping out over 600 horsepower, which allows the truck to pass just about everything on the road. It also has a 15-speed Fuller main transmission and a 4-speed auxiliary, Kenworth 8-bag air-ride, genuine train horns, and a wet line. Matt says that the truck may not have all the creature comforts of a new one, but there’s nothing like driving a classic.