When Connor Krahnen’s 1986 model Kenworth C500 rig from BTHR Moving won Best Specialised Truck at Casino, he had no idea.
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“It was a bit of a shocker for me,” he laughs. “We weren’t even there, we had actually left early because we live across the border, so we got going a bit early to beat the traffic out of there.”
BTHR Moving have owned the truck for near 20 years, but before that, it was in the hands of three other owners.
Three Rivers Logging built it, before another fellow bought the truck from a Kenworth dealership a while later, taking it interstate for work.
It was sold to another company called Reed Transport that’s now no longer around, and in 2005, BTHR Moving bought the truck off them and have owned it ever since.
“For a while we used it as a backup truck, and it mostly just sat in the shed,” Connor says.
“Then about five or six years ago, we did a big upgrade on it. We upgraded the rear end of it to Neway suspension, and I put all my big tow hitches and toolboxes on it as well.”
Connor’s grandpa started the family business in the 80s, so Connor’s dad followed in his footsteps.
Originally, Connor helped out his dad on the weekends. He went to uni, became an engineer and started work in the office. After a year, he quickly discovered that office life wasn’t for him, and officially joined the business, moving houses while dabbling in some engineering alongside that.
The Kenworth moves houses for a living, and with some off-road works, things can often get a bit wet and muddy.
“We’ve got this push pull system on the truck, which is effectively a dehydraulic cylinder mount on the back of it, so the fifth wheel connection slides back and forth hydraulically,” Connor says.
“So, when we get stuck, we can use that by alternating the truck and trailer brakes. We can use it to push ourselves out of the bog.
“We did all that work to it, upgraded the suspension, then they put a 20-speed slicer gearbox in it, which is another very old bit of history.
“Then we put in a torsion bar suspension under the back end of it, which was very rough and lightweight, so a few years later we cut that off, and we extended the chassis a little bit, and then put the heavy Neway suspension under it.”
While winning Best Specialised Truck at the Casino Truck Show was a shock at the time for Connor, he understands why a rig like his took home the top place.
“It’s a Kenworth C500, there’s not a lot made and they’re a very distinct, unique looking truck,” he says.
He described the bonnet and front end of the Kenworth as very square, and explains that this truck shares the same cab as the old W models, but the bonnet is much different.
“It’s a much bigger, more imposing looking truck, and then that, along with what we’ve put on the back end of it – like the push pull system and the gantries – makes it stand out.
“It polishes up pretty good that old thing.”
This year BTHR Moving plan to roll into Casino again with not only their award winning Kenny, but also a K200 – and who knows, perhaps another win?
“We might stay around for the presentation this time,” Connor laughs.
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