We’re doubling up with a pair of mostly retired house- movers this month. Why mostly retired? Because plans are underway to get them back up and running.

But for now, the 1979 Mack FR797RS and the 1974 Scania LBT140 belonging to Hamilton’s Jack House Transit are parked up.

Mike Rees, involved with the company since 1978, reveals their stories.

“The Mack is one of two. I drove No.2, which rolled over. They were both fire tender rescues at the airport. When Phil Ward was here, he shortened them up to make them better for towing. They had an extremely long wheelbase. In the days when they were fully loaded with water, there was nearly 16-tonne on the back axle.

“There’s been talk of getting the Mack back on the road. It has water in the oil so it’s a matter of getting into it and finding the problem.”

As for the Scania: “It has a rusted-out cab. If I could find another cab, I’d be keen to put it back on the road. It came from Australia, where it was a roadtrain.

“The beauty of that was it had cross locks and, for our sort of work, it made things so much easier. We had to set the deck back on it because the weight kept overloading the front axle.”