History and comments Modle 80D CHASSIS NUMBER 304570

I have a 1938 Diamond T pickup Model 80 D, Chasses number 304570.

I purchased the truck in Butte, Mt. In 1985. The truck belonged to a dairy farmer who purchased the truck new and used the truck to deliver milk in the Butte area until sometime in 1963.

The engine and steering were in bad shape. I spent some part of a year searching for original engine parts. I met up with a fellow in Portland Or. Who had worked for the Zolander family who owned the company who made pistons. Detroit Piston. He remembers some Blank pistons that were in stock in a warehouse in Detroit. He located the owner and purchased the piston blanks and machined them to the 90 thousand over sized and machined the block to receive the pistons. He also supplied the rings and the rod and main bearings as well as all the other parts I needed.

I have been a diesel or heavy equipment mechanic all my life and for many years had my own shop in the Bellingham, WA. Area for many years. I worked on logging machinery and some construction machinery. I was very familiar with rebuilding engines. However this was the first time I had ever encountered rod and main bearings that were put together using shims to set the bearing clearance. Quite a difference as I was used to the standard of Caterpillar engines and had no experience using shims.

This is when I met the fellow Harold Moyer who lived in Everson WA., not far from where my shop was located.

Harold was the Diamond T dealer in Bellingham WA. from sometime in the 1940s until 1964. Harold was 73 years old when I first met him. Harold was a library of information about the Diamond T trucks and the family that owned the Diamond T motor company. Harold had been back to the factory several times and was somewhat friends with company owners and managers.

Harold had bought back nine of the trucks he had sold when he had the dealership in Bellingham. Some of the trucks Harold had restored.

The best was a 1963 three axle cab over tractor. The Truck had a 280 Cummings engine and had been turbocharged by Harold. The super charged had been removed and a different exhaust and intake manifold had been installed. Harold hauled hay from Eastern Washington area for a number of years after the closing of the truck dealership.
I was in Harold’s home when he told me this story and then proceeded to show me the truck and the set of double trailers he hauled hay with. Harold continued to haul hay until he was about 76, and the DOT, WA. State decided that he could no longer have a commercial driving license.

The first trailer looked normal for hauling hay. However the what looked like a box that would have normally contained the tarps and rope’s for tying down the hay and protecting the hay was not a normal box. The box enclosed a 1955 or 56 Cadillac engine and automatic shift transmission, coupled to a single axle on the first trailer. The engine and transmission were controlled with electric solenoids and air cylinders to do the shifting of the transmission and throttling the engine. Harold thought the Cadillac engine added some 400 hp to the rig.

Harold was setting on the tailgate of my Diamond T pickup when he told me this story.

Often times Harold would encounter other hay haulers who had much new trucks and most of these trucks were KW’s or Peter built trucks most with at least 350 to 400 hp Cat or Cummings engines.

The younger drivers would confront Harold about his old Diamond T truck and after a little ribbing from the younger drivers, Harold would offer a wager of $100.00 as to who would be the first to the top of Stevens Pass and have the first cup of coffee at a restaurant and truck stop, Restaurant and truck stop are no longer around, as now a ski resort now is in same location.

Harold never lost a bet. And the young bucks never knew about the Cadillac engine. Harold would break into a rib-grabbing laugh as he continued the story. He always told the kids driving the much newer trucks that the reason his old Diamond T truck would always beat them was because of the many years He had driving and the many experience he learned over the years that made him a better driver. This really made Harold laugh, and sometimes a tear would appear in his eyes. I often set through this story being told and never tired of hearing Harold tell many stories of the years past.

I have tracked down a 1931 Diamond T logging truck Harold told me about that lost the brakes and went over the side of a mountain. Harold did not have much good to say about the driver as Harold figured the fellow was not a good driver and most likely did not take care of the truck as he should. Not many Diamond T ‘s were sold into the logging community and the trucks were never equipped with large enough engines for the steep mountains in Northwest WA. I found the truck after much hiking in the woods, but there was not much left of the truck.

I did a lot of work for a logger by the Name of Bill Corning. Bill was a big independent logger employing some 200 men. Bill today is 77 years old and still as strong and health as when I first knew him in the early 1982. Bill is the only man that I know that I know who can really turn the woods blue. Bill has a vocabulary, when he got mad, that Webster never heard or could ever imagine. Bill had owned several Diamond T trucks and had himself driven the trucks hauling logs to Bellingham, WA. and as far as Everett, WA., some 100 mile round trip or more. Bill said the Diamond T trucks were damm dependable and if the trucks had larger engines they would have been the favorite of logging companies.

Haven’t found any photographs of Harold and his trucks. I made a few phone calls, but so far have not located any of his kids. I will keep looking though as this history is interesting and should be told.

Thanks

Ira Hagins
6531 Endeaver st.
Ferndale, WA. 98248
(360) 384-9116

My wife is setting on the front bumper of the Diamond T