This story is one about comparisons and contrasts, and centers on two older trucks. Both rigs are fully restored, conventional truck and trailer flatbeds that haul hay and alfalfa. Both trucks are based in Tipton, Calif., and as a matter of fact, the truckers are neighbors. Both trucks have Cummins engines, and both turn the heads of every person who sees them, either at truck shows or as they roll down the interstates.

So much for comparisons. We will start with the 1946 Kenworth, owned by F&J Schott. In 1946, Frank Joseph Schott founded Schott Trucking & Farming in Tipton, a small agricultural area located south of Fresno. His first truck was a 1946 1-1/2 ton Ford, and it seemed to do the job OK. But as business grew, so did the fleet of Schott trucks, and in a few years their fleet had changed from gasoline to diesel-powered trucks.

Schott Trucking & Farming is now entering its third generation. Frankie Schott and brother Joe run a sharp fleet composed mostly of Freightliner trucks, with a few Petebilts, and their "crown jewel," the 1946 KW.

Having been a family member for over 50 years, this low-mount Kenworth was originally powered by a Cummins 180 hp. engine, backed by a 5-speed main and 3-speed auxiliary transmission, and its original color was red.

Restoration of this neat KW was slow going. The Schotts were poised to begin the truck's first restoration in 1980, but put it on the back burner for another time. In 1987 and into 1988, a second round of restoration began, but was also put off for another time. Finally, the third time was the charm, and restoration began in 1995. Three years and a lot of money later, the truck and trailer were completed.

Restoring this KW was a joint effort between Dan Green and Victor Ceja, who did the body work on this rig, the Schotts say. Credit must also be given to Jack Yaphy, who did an excellent job of wiring this hay-hauler. Brent Upholstery of Visalia did a custom job on the interior, while a guy named Ruben did the pinstriping. The basic color of this rig was chosen from a 1956 Ford color and was painted by Frankie Schott.

The original powertrain was updated, replacing the older Cummins engine with a newer, 350 hp. Cummins small cam engine. The dual-stick transmission was replaced with a 9-speed "Brownie," with Rockwell rear ends, and Volvo air-ride suspension. When asked how much the truck's original builder was involved in the restoration, Frankie Schott's response was, "None ... we barely could get any help from Kenworth, and what help that we got, was usually the wrong part that we needed."

At truck shows, this rig really turns heads, as, with a flip of a switch, the truck slowly lowers itself. Other goodies include air conditioning, power windows, and ear-splitting sound systems including 2 pro series 10-inch JL audio woofers, 4-MB 6-inch mid-range speakers, nine PR-series Boston aquatic tweeters, and precision power pre-amp, compliments of brother Joe and Lee's Stereo. Future plans include taking it to truck shows.

Just down the road from the Schotts, Art Van Beek owns El Monte Dairy. Art is the present owner of a fine 1952 Autocar - but more about that in a minute. In order to fully appreciate this A-Car, we must first delve into history and start from this rig's very beginnings.

Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Funk of Bakersfield, Calif. purchased this truck new in 1952, for $14,000. It was actually built in 1950 and held in storage at Oakland, Calif., by the U.S. military, as reserve equipment for the Korean War. Meanwhile, Arnold Funk had built a hay bed and started to haul hay and alfalfa over the "ridge route" into the southern California dairy areas of Norwalk, Paramount and Artesia. (These dairies are gone now, replaced by low-income apartments and gang-related crimes.)

Since you can't make hay all the time, even in California, Arnold had built a side-dump box for both the truck and trailer. He hauled cottonseed in the fall from the various gins to the seed houses. It soon became apparent that it was easier to haul bulk commodities like cottonseed, almond hulls and gypsum, than hand-stacking 130 lb. bales of hay in 100-plus degree weather, so the dump bodies remained and the hay-hauling was phased out.

Also, since gravity did the loading of the dump bodies, his wife could drive the Autocar, and soon Funk bought a second dump truck, and they worked as a team. In 1990 the Funks decided to retire, after owning the Autocar for almost 39 years.

Billy Greenfield, a former hay-hauler himself, then used the truck to haul cottonseed, and had entertained the notion of restoring "the old beast." But the rig was still in great shape and restoration was not needed. Art Van Beek had known the Greenfields, doing a fair amount of business with them over the years, and had noticed the rig parked in their yard. After some wheeling and dealing, Art became the third owner of this truck.

The pedigree of the three-axle pull trailer is less clear. Its first owner is unknown, but it is known that in the 1960s, the 1944 Weber 32-1/2-foot trailer was owned by El Monte Hay Market and delivered hay into the Van Beek dairy that was then located in Arcadia, Calif.

To add even more nostalgia, Van Beek's uncle had driven for El Monte Hay Market, and odds are good that the uncle had used this unit to deliver hay into their Arcadia Dairy! In the late 1970s El Monte Hay market sold off all of its equipment, including the trailer.

Charlie Olivieri of Bakersfield became the next owner of this trailer, once again hauling baled hay with it. It is not known why the Weber Bros. went out of business, as they had enjoyed a good reputation making flatbed trailers for both lumber and hay-haulers in the Los Angeles area. The three-axle design on pull trailers were quite popular in the West during the 1940s and early '50s, especially with hay-haulers and lumber carriers, as well as livestock and petroleum transporters. The third axle was very useful in braking, especially when truckers were descending "The Grapevine" or Ridge Route, where many a tractor and trailer lost their brakes and came to a sudden stop ... like against another truck or a mountain or over a cliff!

Today, this Model DC100N trailer remains a WORKING flatbed. Van Beek hauls loads of hay as far as Fish Lake Valley in Nevada, as well as to California towns such as Woodland, Arbuckle, Gilroy and Rosamond.

The original 200 hp. Cummins and the 5&3 transmissions have given way to a 400 hp. Cummins with a 5&4 transmission. If "real trucks have two sticks," as some fans swear, then Van Beek's Autocar easily qualifies.

This Autocar was featured at the 1998 American Truck Historical Society's truck show in Phoenix, Ariz., and those old enough to remember seeing this kind of rig on the roads daily all give it a "Thumbs Up."

The original colors of the rig, when Mr. & Mrs. Funk owned it, were green with a yellow stripe. The present colors, chosen through a Van Beek family vote, resembles the colors of the old C.C. Stafford Autocars that hauled hay from Industry, California in the 1940s and '50s. Future Improvements include updating the seats of this 50-year-old rig.