The FDNY CF Mack: pure genius!

A

AuxWarYearsCapt

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Jan 16, 2009
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2,610
mack said:
Mack started building trucks in Brooklyn and moved to Allentown, PA in the early 1900s. They had a firecapparatus factory in Long Island City in 1940s and early 1950s to keep up with FDNY orders and other regional area departments. They would probably have been the fire apparatus manufacturer of choice for solid rigs for a long period of time, even though there were many other good manufacturers.
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Mack...... The old MACK plant / warehouse was located on the south side of the LIE when you came down the exit ramp towards Maurice Ave.
I remember looking when we got off and l would see new Mack FDNY pumpers lined up against the fence. It was possibly 1958 or 1959..
 
M

mkeit

Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
70
AuxWarYearsCapt said:
Mack...... The old MACK plant / warehouse was located on the south side of the LIE when you came down the exit ramp towards Maurice Ave.
I remember looking when we got off and l would see new Mack FDNY pumpers lined up against the fence. It was possibly 1958 or 1959..
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It was a dealership and repair facility. 58th St and the LIE. It is now a Coca-Cola plant.
 
F

fdhistorian

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Sep 25, 2013
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916
Capttomo said:
Looking back now, the team that designed the FDNY Mack CF’s beginning in 1969 and through the 70’s were truly innovative and trend setting. They introduced so many new concepts to fire apparatus in a single package. Although some of the ideas may have been utilized by a department here and there, the fact that all these features and innovations were placed on a single rig, and those rigs were FDNY- a department that has National and international exposure like no other. These innovations included:
1. An extremely short wheelbase and overall vehicle length for use in tight urban environments 2. Front suction intake, 3. Hosebed cover (conestoga type) 4) Diesel engines - as late as the mid to late 70’s manufacturers were still building rigs with gasoline engines like the Waukaushau engine 5. The vertical booster tank - typically booster tanks were sandwiched between the chassis rails and the bottoms of the hosebed the vertical booster tank moved the center of gravity more midship and lowered the hosebed 6. Low hosebed - aided in repacking and quicker deployment of hose - ironically by the beginning of the 21 century many hosebed were 7-8 feet or more above the street. A growing trend now is the get hosebeds lower once again 7. Placing the booster reel under the hosebed near the tailboard - freeing up space on top of the pump panel. 8. The portable Stang - mounted on top of the pump house and preconnected via a short hose for use as a fixed deck gun yet removable for use as a portable ground monitor with the grating style base - this was the precursor to later monitors developed by Akron and Elkhart such as the Apollo and stinger. 9. Narrower pump panel - decreased vehicle length and wheelbase. 10. Vertical exhaust. - at that time it redirected the diesel fumes away from the side of the rig - eventually became a huge industry wide option until the advent of the 2007 and later Diesel engines with DPF fluid 11. The 4 door cab. Although the original versions in 1969-1971 did not have four door cabs, the rapid transition afterwards to 4 door engines became the industry standard with 15-20 years. We take all of these features for granted today and in some cases like the vertical exhaust have moved onto better technology. Looking back, the FDNY and Mack design team were revolutionary at that time and the results of their innovations were a true game changer for the Fire service.
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1968 Mack CF

Length: 26'2"

Width: 8’

Height (top of Stang): 10'9"

Weight: Approximately 20,000 pounds (booster tank empty)

Engine: Six-cylinder diesel turbo charger

Transmission: Automatic two speed torque converter

Electrical system: 12 volt

Wheelbase: 13'4"

Booster Tank: 1968 - 250 gallons, 1969 to 1972 - minimum 400 gallons

Fuel: 50 gallons

Diesel converter kick down: Uphill only, hold down until hill is cleared
 
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Capttomo

Capttomo

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Sep 7, 2020
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Thanks for a nice post. I did not know that the 68 CFs had only 250 gallons on rank water. Learn something everyday. Stay safe brother
 
S

soda-acid

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Mar 29, 2012
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233
In 1967 the CF Model was introduced and was designed with power steering standard. The FDNY ordered the pumpers without power steering citing a reason that there would be more accidents with it.
 
N

NPeruta96

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Jun 9, 2022
Messages
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Wish that Mack would make a comeback and make more firetrucks. I'm too young to remember them in service but i love looking at the pictures!!!
 
L

Lebby

Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
1,483
NPeruta96 said:
Wish that Mack would make a comeback and make more firetrucks. I'm too young to remember them in service but i love looking at the pictures!!!
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My first volley department has a 2012 Mack Granite tender. Complete lemon, many of the problems were from the fire apparatus side and not as much the chassis, with the exception of the auto breaking which the chauffers hated because made it prone to almost flipping when responding. Also the frame came to us bent, if I remember right. I never drove it, but overall it's construction was sub-par pump packing falling out, screws constantly coming lose, and whole pieces of body work coming off.
 
Bulldog

Bulldog

Bulldog
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Apr 16, 2008
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Lebby said:
My first volley department has a 2012 Mack Granite tender. Complete lemon, many of the problems were from the fire apparatus side and not as much the chassis, with the exception of the auto breaking which the chauffers hated because made it prone to almost flipping when responding. Also the frame came to us bent, if I remember right. I never drove it, but overall it's construction was sub-par pump packing falling out, screws constantly coming lose, and whole pieces of body work coming off.
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Who actually built a fire apparatus side of that unit? I know that Mack didn't do them anymore so it had to be a secondary supplier that bought the chassis from Mack.
 
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