Coachbult.com - Hayes Manufacturing Co. Ltd



Hayes Manufacturing Co. Ltd - 1928-1969 - Hayes Trucks Ltd. 1969-1975 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Originally known as the Hayes-Anderson, this was the best-known Canadian West Coast make of truck, and earned its reputation in the logging industry. Hercules, Continental and Leyland engines were used, and production of logging trucks ran at about 100 per year during the 1930s. The company developed a special hitch which permitted trailers to track closely behind their tractors. Models ranged from 1 1/2 to 15 tons, but actual loads often reached 50 tons or more. Another Hayes specialty in the 1930s was that of dockside and warehouse trucks with dropped frames giving a low platform for easy loading, similar in conception to the American Doane trucks. Like the Doanes, the Hayes low-loaders were very long-lived, many surviving in Vancouver's dockland into the 1960s. Other Hayes products of the 1930s were buses and coaches, some of which were supplied to Greyhound Lines, and tandem-axle conversion sets to make a 5-6 ton 6-wheeler from a Ford Model AA or Chevrolet truck.

In the late 1930s Hayes became British Columbia distributors for Leyland vehicles, rounding out their own range with the British product. They also used an increasing proportion of Leyland components such as engines, axles and transmissions in the trucks, and as these carried a lower tariff" than United States-built components, Hayes vehicles were exceptionally good value. After World War II a line of highway tractors was added, and these were steadily developed during the 1950s and 1960s, along with the logging trucks. Engines used included Rolls-Royce, Cummins, Detroit Diesel and Caterpillar, the largest logging truck, the HDX 1000 using a 430 bhp Detroit Diesel V-12 in conjunction with an Allison 5-speed transmission and Clark rear axle. Buses were no longer made after 1947.

In 1969 Mack acquired a two-thirds interest in Hayes, and continued the range with the addition, in 1970, of the Clipper 100 cab-over-engine highway truck similar to the F series West Coast Macks. These were made in rigid and articulated models, together with the conventional Clipper 200s, the HS series of rigid off-highway trucks including dump trucks, and the HDX logging tractors. These used Detroit Diesel and Caterpillar power. In 1974 Hayes was sold to a subsidiary of Pacific Car & Foundry of Seattle, Washington, and a year later the new owner shut down the operation.

For more information please read:

Ed Strauss & Karen Strauss - The Bus World Encyclopedia of Buses

G.N. Georgano & G. Marshall Naul - The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles

Albert Mroz - Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks & Commercial Vehicles

Donald F. Wood - American Buses

Denis Miller - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses

Susan Meikle Mandell - A Historical Survey of Transit Buses in the United States

David Jacobs - American Buses, Greyhound, Trailways and Urban Transportation

William A. Luke & Linda L. Metler - Highway Buses of the 20th Century: A Photo Gallery

William A. Luke & Brian Grams - Buses of Motorcoach Industries 1932-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Greyhound Buses 1914-2000 Photo Archive

William A. Luke - Prevost Buses 1924-2002 Photo Archive