Above: Rotorua-based Honeycombe Log Transport’s ol’ No.12 as she is now, immaculately presented in the caring hands of Central Plateau logging legend Charlie Meihana. “It’s a great truck. As a general driver, you respect the gear and equipment that you are given, regardless of its age and miles travelled,” says Charlie. Photo: Charlie Meihana Collection.
EKB511 – 2008 Freightliner Argosy
This month’s inductee into the New Zealand Trucking magazine Million Mile Club is this tidy example of what was to become the final chapter in Freightliner’s development of the cabover engine variant within its stable.
When the Argosy model was released to market in 1998 it quickly formed a strong following. Many companies built their fleets around the Argosy’s reputation, and the example featured here is case in point. In its time, it has featured in no less than four well-known Argosy fleets and run the length and breadth of New Zealand.
This Argosy was first purchased new by Warren Gray, at the time contracted to Burnell & Son out of Ashburton. It was specced with a Detroit Series 60 Legacy engine at 500hp. This was mated up to a three-pedal Eaton AutoShift transmission, running to a set of Dana axles.
“It was a good truck for me, but we did have a couple of issues. It was part of a bad batch of Dana diffs, so it had a couple of sets of those, and then the Detroit Series 60 unfortunately started to burn oil really badly at around 550,000km, so we did a full rebuild of the engine near 650,000km. But it certainly was a good truck for us,” Warren says.
In early 2014, with about 850,000km on the clock, Warren sold the Argosy as a cab and chassis, with it making its way into the Ferndale Farms fleet near Maramarua a little south of Auckland. As it was prepped for work, the Ferndale team decided to give it a bit of a birthday makeover, and it was here where the rig’s physical appearance was changed, removing the series one Argosy grille and replacing it with the series two version. The truck was a solid performer for Ferndale Farms and it spent its time there as a bulk tipper with an alloy bathtub and matching trailer, working the North Island.
Three years later, the Argosy moved back to the South Island when the entire combination was purchased by Laurie ‘Ferg’ Ferguson of Milton. “They are a good truck, the Argosy, we have had our fair share of them. This one was good for us and it did a couple of seasons with ‘Shag’ at the wheel. We had it for about two years. We then stripped the gear off it to go onto a new unit, and sold off the truck as a cab and chassis,” says Ferg.
In mid-2019, Nasser Honeycombe of Rotorua’s Honeycombe Log Transport could see the truck’s potential. A deal was done, and the Argosy moved north again, taking its place as No.12 in the HLT fleet. Nasser’s son Achie explains: “We were sold on the Argosys because we had FLBs, which were unreal trucks. As we have got to know the Argosys, we have found them to be real good as well; simple and effective, with a lot of really good ideas in the way that they designed things, and also good components all through them.
“In the nearly five years that we have owned No.12, it has not had any major work done to either the engine or the transmission, just our normal servicing. When we first got it, we removed the Dana diffs and fitted a set of Rockwells instead. The Danas might be good for tare weight, but the Rockwells have proven stronger. So, yeah, it’s been a real solid and reliable truck for us.”
We congratulate ol’ No.12 on a job well done, and welcome it to the club. Here’s to the next million.
