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Trucks on Display

 

Below is a sampling of the many trucks on display in our Trucking Hall of Fame® Exhibit Hall. Check out our app for more information, photos, and an audio recording for each truck.  Click here to download.

1926 FWD


Engine Type:
Model: BT 4-Cylinder

Transmission Type:
5-Speed

Truck Information:
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD) was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich after they developed the first four-wheel drive car. The company supplied 4x4 trucks to both the US and British armies during WWI. This truck is a 1926 FWD that hasn’t been used much; amazingly it still has the original tires. It is a heavy-duty work truck, weighing in at 13,400 pounds. Many states purchased trucks like this one in the 1920s to drill holes for electrical poles. The auger, which has interchangeable bits, drills the holes. It only uses power on the way up; it relies on its own weight (and gravity) to push the bit into the ground. The truck has a winch and a set of gin poles to make it into a crane for setting up poles. With this rig, you could dig 25 to 30 holes a day. By comparison, eight to ten men could dig about eight holes a day. The angle of the auger can adjust to keep the drill hole vertical as terrain varies. A worm drive that runs off the truck’s engine powers the auger. It could drill an 8-foot deep hole. Both the truck and auger still work. FWD was a very popular truck at one time; its simple design made it easy to operate and repair. Trucks like this one drilled holes for the poles that first brought electricity and telephones to rural areas. There’s been a lot of innovation since this truck was built. Just think, in the late ‘20s we were drilling holes to bring electricity to farms for the first time; in the late ‘60s we watched live television featuring men walking on the moon.



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