We meet a 1977 White 4000 tractor unit, originally owned by the Dynes Brothers of Tapanui, in the keep of Canterbury’s McKay family since 1983.
Those who attended the 2024 Dave Carr Memorial Truck Run would have seen Carl McKay’s impressive, mostly original, 1977 White 4000 tractor unit. This truck has had a proud history, owned by McKay Earthmovers, shifting numerous motor scrapers, graders, excavators and bulldozers up to Komatsu D155A-size around the South Island. It used to tow a single-axle load divider with a five-rows-of-eight transporter behind that.
Rumour has it that Carl had a D155A “fall off the back” of the transporter one day when he was heading east, up the Waikari Hill. He said it didn’t really fall off, more just rolled off the back, ran over all the wooden blocks that were chained down behind the machine and started heading backwards down the hill until Carl managed to climb aboard the machine (as it was still rolling backwards), dive into the cab from the blade arm and apply the brakes to stop it. The man who loaded it onto the transporter didn’t apply the brakes, just lowered the blade and rippers.
Carl says that from that day on, the team chained every machine or item down on the deck of the transporter and any steel-tracked machines and things like cutting edges on scraper bowls all sat on top of old tyres, and nothing ever moved after that.
Before coming into the McKay fold, this White, which, according to the data plate, is a 4564 model, was owned by the Dynes Brothers of Tapanui. When they went their separate ways, the truck was rehomed in Tauranga and became part of the TD Haulage fleet.
Above: Fully oscillating 90mm Davis fifth wheel was fitted in 1983. Ringfeder allowed additional towing possibilities. Period correct 1000-20 tyres on split rims.
In 1983, when Carl’s father went to Tauranga to look at buying the White, the engine was out of it, having its first rebuild. The deal was subsequently done, and when it came time to move it back to the mainland, it towed a Bailey bridge logging trailer back to Tapanui for Dynes Transport, which paid for the journey south.
After they had got it home, the McKays changed the fifth wheel to the fully oscillating 90mm English-made Davis item that is still fitted today. This fifth wheel was bought from an old, well-known Canterbury heavy haulage operator, Tom Gilroy, who sold it to Carl’s father for $800 cash – about 10% of its true worth at the time. The White also has a drawbeam and Ringfeder coupling fitted to it, plus hydraulics to run either transporter ramps or a tipulator.
There are also quick-release air couplings on the side of the truck, as Carl says they were often used to change flat tyres and repair punctured tyres on the side of the road. The McKays team used to head away on most jobs with up to six spare wheels, a couple of them for the White and four for the load divider and transporter.
A few years ago, the White was re-cabbed with a Western Star cab sourced out of Australia for Carl by Kevin Twiss. This job was brought about by the original cab being infected with the dreaded tin worm, also commonly known as rust. Carl says for many years, they chased the rust in the original cab and, come each CoF, it got harder and harder to pass due to the deteriorating state of the cab.
Neil Paintin, known to many on account of twisting spanners for decades, performed the cab swap after getting a message to the Aussies who supplied the cab, asking them to undo the wires at the various junctions and connectors rather than cutting them. Carl says there ended up only being one wire that had to be joined. Another Kiwi victory over the Aussies!
The White stretching its legs on the 2024 Dave Carr Memorial Truck Run.
A ‘smart’ dash from another time.
Carl McKay and his 1977 While 4000.
The cab interior is as clean as the rest of the truck.
The original gauges were refitted, and the odometer today reads a low 764,250km. The cab has no air-conditioning, but Carl says if you wind the windows down and open the vents, you receive a decent amount of coolish air. Evidently, though, the heater works a treat.
Behind the bullbar and under the unique bonnet is a Cummins NTC 350 small cam engine, which had a second rebuild about 20,000km ago. Backing this up is a Roadranger RTO12515 transmission, which leads onto a Rockwell SSHD bogie with a power divider lock on Hendrickson walking beam suspension. Tyres are 1000-20 with split rims, which begs the question, how many of today’s tyre fitters would know how to work with these safely?
The loading certificate shows an 11,000kg front-axle rating, rear-bogie rating of 28,000kg and gross combination mass of 92,500kg – given these ratings, the White is, in fact, no lightweight. It may not be as heavily rated as the modern prime movers out on transporter duty, but she would still hold her head high and not give in easily if called back into active duty and coupled back up to a transporter trailer.
Carl is approaching his 73rd lap of the sun and now has a caravan he wants to tow around the country with his Hilux, so there may well be an opportunity for someone looking for a nice original classic truck that is a wee bit different from a lot of other classics out there to buy this gorgeous White. His only stipulation would be that it needs to stay original is because he’d hate to see it with twin 8in chimneys, a drop visor and alloys.
