Hot damn, did I have some fun constructing this story. Seriously, I chased down this story because I happened to catch a glimpse of this impressive looking Mack getting a fit out at the Bling HQ headquarters in Hatton Vale, Queensland. My natural Mack admiration was peaked when I saw the not-so-subtle 780HP badges on the side. My inquisitiveness was peaked when I noticed the Super-Liner’s sleeper which seemed to be inversely proportional to the big badges on the side. My intrigue levels were peaked when I saw a hydraulic turn table concoction on the back that left me scratching my head and looking like a dog learning algebra. And then the crescendo of my curiosity was reached when Ryan from Bling HQ pointed out the inside of the truck, which was fitted out with more computer systems than my son’s bedroom.
It was all the ingredients I needed to put together an interesting article. I just needed to learn a little about the truck, meet the owner and fingers crossed catch the big girl in action. Let’s start with the big Mack itself and those impressive badges on the side.
Queensland House Removers’ newest Mack is sporting the latest and greatest in Mack Australia ingenuity – the new MP11 motor. Currently the most powerful powerhouse in the trucking world, the 17-litre MP11 can be specced from 600hp, all the way to 780hp. As indicated by the badges I saw on the side of this beauty, we’re dealing with the 780hp spec. The Euro 6 big block is charting a peak torque output of 2,800 ft/lb, or 3,800 Nm if you prefer your information that way. The MP11 is paired with the latest iteration of Mack’s monstrous mDRIVE transmission and is setting the bar for power and efficiency.
Along with the mammoth motor under its bonnet, the big Mack is sporting some other rather distinct extras. First thing you may notice is the diminutive 28’ bunk behind the big cab.
“We don’t do a lot of long-distance stuff,” Queensland House Removers owner John Wright says.
“So a big bunk isn’t needed. We needed a shorter wheelbase for manoeuvrability and the low roof because of where the truck has to get into.”
While it may not have a big canvas to deck out, John has always taken pride in his ride, and this new truck is no exception.
“I’ve always loved trucks and love them to look good. Ours have always been painted up and with the new ones now we send them to Ryan at BlingHQ to add the extras,” John says.
“I let Ryan do what he thinks, he’s very good at what he does. He’s not the cheapest but you know the quality of work that you are getting.”
There is plenty to rabbit on about with this truck, and in particular the performance of the mighty Mack engine, but we should move on and focus on the next part of this story. For the fact is, the mighty maroon Mack is impressive with all the right numbers and all the best performance. But it’s the company that has put this big rig to work that we need to focus on next, and the fun I had joining them as they put the Mack through its very slow paces.
Queensland House Removers is a habitat for the bulldog brand – John has had barking bulldogs in his veins since very early in his house-moving days. And those days go back.
“I’ve been doing this for a while. I think you are born into it really,” he admits.
“I’ve probably moved at least two houses a week for the last 30-odd years.”
His apprenticeship of relocation came about under his father’s wing, although that in itself was a result of miscommunication.
“We shifted over here from England in about 1972. When we got here, my Dad had applied for a job moving houses and when he got to work and saw the trailers he thought, ‘that seems a bit strange for carting furniture’,” John laughingly informs me.
Yes, Eddy, John’s Dad, had assumed ‘House Removalist’ was lifted boxes and washing machines, not actual house removals.
But he took to the work like a Pommy takes to whinging (honestly that’ll be the last Pommy joke, well aside from their League team) – within six years Eddy started his own house removal company.
“I was about 10 when Dad went out on his own. Dad had old GMCs and old Army Blitzs. I used to drive them all around when I was young, with the dog hitch on the front, pushing trailers under houses,” John recalls.
“I left school at 13, I’d already been working for Dad and that’s what I wanted to do. I was just doing general labouring work, but was kind of driving from about 14 or 15.”
John recalls with reluctant admiration the first truck he drove.
“It was an old AEC Leyland, 100hp downhill with a tail wind I reckon. It was horribly slow,” he says.
“It had a 6V light system so you couldn’t see in the dark, which was no good for our work.”
But the GMCs and even the Leylands pretty soon made way for the bulldogs with the introduction of some B-models into the company colours. The B-models were an integral acquisition for Eddy in the formative years – their strength and manoeuvrability helping to make the bigger and bigger shifts more manageable. John cut his teeth on the Macks, along with a few other manufacturers, but those formative bulldog years would lead John back to the brand when he decided to branch out on his own.
“I took off by myself around ‘95 or ’97,” he says.
“I was actually hiring a truck and trailer off another guy to get me started. The first truck I bought was a bit later, it was a N12 Volvo.”
John’s experience soon led to rapid expansion and massively increased workload. He bought his first new trailer in 2003, but because of his Mack passion, it was a while before he purchased a brand new truck.
“The older trucks are perfect for what we do, I had a couple of older CH Macks and still have them now actually,” he admits.
“They are running 18 speeds with two speed joeys behind them. That allows us to get the gearing right down, because it is slow moving most of the time.”
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That need for the lower ratios was the driving factor behind Queensland House Removers’ accumulation of the older, gearstick equipped bulldogs. It has only been with Mack’s introduction of the 13 and 14 speed mDRIVE option that has allowed John to look at the newer equipment, including his new 780hp Super-Liner.
“The new 14 speed boxes are just too good,” John remarks with certainty.
“You can get 13 or 14 speed boxes and the 14 speed is lower than my 18 speed with a two speed joey, it’s incredible.”
John also points out that while the houses he moves don’t come fully furnished, they still pack some weight, so having that extra horsepower is a huge bonus over the older trucks.
“Plus the new trailers we have are getting heavier as well. My original trailer was around 11 tonne; this new one is around 25 to 26 tonne,” he says.
“Macks have always been a big thing for us. The old B-models were what sold us all originally, then we had several R models and the CHs. We have one here that’s about 20 years old, we’ve had it since new. It’s done about 600,000km.
“They don’t rack up the kms, but there’s lots of idle time, lots of slow work. The CHs have been a great truck; we ran those until the new 14 speeds came out.”
This leads us up to Christmas last year, where John was finding he was in need of another solid machine for his increasing workload.
“I went looking about the same time the 780s had been announced but I didn’t know about them,” he says.
“I was just talking to Steve Helms, and he told me they were just changing to the MP11. We needed the horsepower and the low gearing. We are normally around the 55t with a house on, and we are so stop-start. Over one kilometre we could stop a dozen times for all sorts of reasons, so the extra horsepower would be useful.”
As mentioned earlier, the tight pick up and drop off areas means the smallest truck with the most power becomes the goal for a house removalist. John achieved that with the short wheelbase and very conservative sleeper.
It’s worth noting the 780’s older brother, purchased a year previously, does not pack the same work efficient criteria. The MP10 powered 685hp Mack has the big bunk, high roof and a more generous wheelbase.
“With that one, I just bought that because it looked good. I couldn’t say no when Steve drove it around to show me, I just like trucks too much,” he says.
Now, we’ve had a little run down on what the big Mack is packing – big power in a very practical persona. You have skimmed the surface of the man responsible for the acquisition of this amazing ride and behind the massive moves it makes. Now let me fill you in on the evening I had experiencing how perfect this practical truck is for its role and how next-level the Wrights and their team are when operating this big Mack.
This for me was the highlight of this story. I was invited along on a move to attempt to grab some photos – I say attempt because any photographer will know how difficult night shots of moving vehicles are. The evening began around 9pm where I was introduced to John’s three sons Adam, Brendon and Jayden and the driver of the big 780hp Super-Liner – long-time QHR legend Clayton. Along with a team of highly experienced operators, they who would be driving the trucks, organising and overseeing two nine-metre buildings from North Brisbane all the way to Ferny Glen in the foothills of Lamington National Park. It was a distance of around 150km that would take the best part of six hours to complete.
What makes these moves possible is not just the impressive Mack powering away out the front, but the trailer investment sitting in behind the trucks.
“The trailers come from New Zealand and are the best part of one million dollars each,” John says.
“Most of our trailers are made by MTE, Modern Transport Engineers, over the ditch. The Kiwis make the best house moving trailers.”
The trailers Queensland House Removers use basically come with their own doctorate in moving. They are modular set ups, they can raise and lower to unreal heights, they can steer all the axles, they can walk them sideways and it can all be done by the computer systems installed in the trucks, even on the go.
Watching and listening to the teams negotiate roadworks, lane closures and even a hazardous spill accident on the Gateway Motorway was impressive, but the real skill became obvious as the teams left the three lane motorways and embarked onto the very poorly lit back roads.
Much thanks should be awarded to both the drivers, their pilots and the police escorts as they accommodated me and my attempts to document their travels. I aimed to grab shots wherever there was any ambient light and enough room for me to get back around the nine-metre wide convoy. Eventually though, as we approached the back of Coomera and closed in on the drop off, I packed the cameras away and followed the maps to exactly where the building would be dropped and restored to one single dwelling.
I had a good 30 minutes at least on the wide loads and thought I would scope out any vantage points for final shots. I am not kidding when I tell you I was livid. I got to the ‘location’ and firmly believed I had been given incorrect info, or Google Maps was just toying with me. A single lane road, with a sharp 90-degree right hander onto a narrow bridge, at the bottom of a steep 10-15m pinch, that was surrounded by massive trees and huge bushes. Nope, can’t be done. Wrong address.
I even went back out and spoke to the pilot coming in.
“This can’t be the place, there’s no way they are getting in there, nope not going to happen,” I said, to which the pilot smirked and replied, “You’ll be surprised”.
Well, a couple of hours later I am sitting watching these guys park up in a vacant lot, awaiting sunlight to position the building and remove the trucks. There’s a bit of a shout out here to John’s younger brother Simon who is another integral cog in the team. Along with all his other skills, one of his roles is to organise and scout out the moves, including this one. Where I saw an impossibility, Simon had already seen it, analysed it and worked out how to Tetris the load in. Even with the move complete, I was still denying it could be done. Watching the Queensland House Removers team deal with an American Ninja style obstacle course, all while staying calm, communicating with precision and caring for their loads like it was their own child, I was a little lost for words.
Back to the big rig for a moment, that pinch out of the single lane bridge emphasised how spot on the purchase of the 780hp Mack was for the company. Being able to inch its way up a steep incline while lowering and raising the trailer to manoeuvre around the trees, it was poetry in very slow motion. The big Mack was on par with the Queensland House Removers team, working with the precision of a Swiss clock and the temperament of a chilled-out yoga instructor.
“The modern equipment gives us so many more options in this line of work now,” John says about the modern Mack and MTE trailer.
“If we can get an inch either side, we’ll get in or out.”
And that is not just a figure of speech, as I watched John’s team work with mere inches to spare.
A big thank you to Adam, Brendon, Jayden and all their team. It was a massive privilege to see Mack’s top of the line power train at work, and seeing it used to its fullest potential by such a skilled specialised group. It still puts a smile on my face.
Hot damn, I had fun constructing this story.
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