Posted by Russ Roth [67.5.224.66] on Thursday, November 07, 2013 at 23:33:56 :
In Reply to: Re: Detroit Diesel 3-53 posted by Marty [50.68.51.62] on Thursday, November 07, 2013 at 20:44:18 :
They were very reliable. Except the one @ the station that was delivered gasoline instead of diesel. =( My biggest complaint was not enough power. Some were not real bad but I drove one for about 10 years that was rated 350 ponies and I would always tell the mechanics if it had that many they had to be Shetlands.
We had a 2 mile very steep and twisty response route that we always let the engine go first because we were so slow climbing. One of the guys was always complaining about being passed by bicyclists! I always said I had to get out and pound a stake to see if we actually moved. Rig pulled down to 12 MPH for a stretch. Everything changed when we got a new truck with a series 60, 470 horse.
SOP was always the truck go first except for a couple of response areas like this one but that ended with this new rig. I think it even was able to stay with the rescue rig and certainly would outrun the engine by far, even on that steepest pull. I was a real happy camper!!
RR