The subject of the Mack/Savage FDM has come up so often recently that I thought to re-introduce it in more

detail.
Mack Trucks purchased Savage Manufacturing Corporation in 1989, making it a Mack subsidiary, Mack
Trucks of Utah (for tax reasons). The resulting Mack FDM-700 model (FDM meaning “Front Discharge
Mixer”) was available in both mid-engined and rear-engined versions.
When first launched, the 12-liter Mack E7 paired with a Maxitorque T2080 transmission was standard, but
Cummins L-10 and Caterpillar 3306B engines, and Fuller 7-speed manual and Eaton CEEMAT automatic
transmissions were also available (previously engineered in on the earlier Savage version). The 9-speed
Eaton Auto-Shift AMT later replaced the CEEMAT.
The FDM had a cab that combined both driving and operational controls, allowing the driver to deliver and
discharge up to 13 cubic yards of concrete from behind the wheel. Both single and tandem front steering
axle configurations were offered combined with wide a variety of pusher and tag axle options.
The standard mid-mounted engine location enhanced handling by allowing for a lower center of gravity for
greater stability. The mid-engine, twin-steer axle design was also engineered for more optimized weight
distribution in anticipation of upcoming changes to federal weight and length laws.
In many ways, the mid-engine design was easy to service. However the placement also made camshaft
replacement inconvenient.
Savage Manufacturing had produced their first front discharge mixer in 1976 (Mr. R.W. Sims built his first
front discharge mixer at what later became Savage in 1964). Ahead of Mack purchasing Savage in 1989,
the latter company was a small operation with gross sales revenues of just US$5 million in 1988 (the year
before Mack acquired Savage). Savage was marketing the “Dynamix Magnum” and “Super Magnum” front
discharge mixers which had been launched in 1983.
Savage Companies President Allen Alexander said of his decision to sell the mixer unit and focus on their
principal business of material handling, “We recognized we had a great truck but (that) we’re not
manufacturing people”.
In 1988, front discharge mixers accounted for 15 percent of the mixer market. As the market leader in Class
8 construction, Mack felt with the rising popularity of front discharge mixers that purchasing an existing
player like Savage would be a wise move.
However after the purchase, it quickly became apparent that Savage was not a mature company with a
mature product. For example, the crude Savage spare parts system proved a challenge to Mack dealers
and factory branches.
Rather than simply fit a Savage mixer with a Mack engine and transmission, Mack should have examined
and redesigned the entire truck from one end to the other, possibly hiring a few engineers away from
Oshkosh and McNeilus in the process. And, production should have been moved from Utah to Allentown so
that Mack engineers could be involved day-to-day with developments. The resulting "pedigreed design"
would have been worthy of the Mack name.
In April, 1996 ahead of the ConExpo-Con/Agg show, Mack Trucks signed an agreement with T.L. Smith
Machine Company of Springville, New York to produce jointly produce a rear-engined front discharge mixer.
That same year, the mid-engined and new rear-engined versions of the FDM were given the names “Victor”
and “Conquest”.
Frustrated with the former Savage operation in Utah, Mack Trucks in December, 1998 announced that it
would cooperate with Oshkosh and offer a Mack-badged version of the Oshkosh “S” Series front-discharge
mixer chassis with a McNeilus mixer barrel system and Oshkosh front driving axle (Oshkosh owns
McNeilus).
Oshkosh would assemble the trucks utilizing Mack E-Tech powertrains.
Making its official debut two days ahead of the 1999 Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, the new truck
was called the Mack FCM “Conquest II” (FCM representing Front-Discharge-Concrete- Mixer).
As a result of the Mack-Oshkosh agreement, Mack discontinued production of the FDM in Utah and closed
that plant, with production ending in September 1998.
The Mack/Oshkosh tie-up ended when Volvo acquired Mack Trucks.
Front-discharge concept is a very attractive concept. But even Oshkosh, with its superb “S” series front
discharge chassis and McNeilus drum, has struggled to make front discharge a mainstream product. Other
makers including (Terex) Advance Mixer (http://www.terex.com/construction/en/products/new-
equipment/front-discharge/index.htm), Phoenix Mixers (http://www.phoenixmixers.com), the Maxim Truck
Company, Kimble (http://www.kimblemixer.com/mixers/front-discharge/) and now Navistar’s Continental
(http://www.continentalmixers.com/continentalmixers/mixers/frontdischarge) on a MaxxForce-powered
Phoenix chassis have also found profitability difficult in this challenging market segment. For as long as
current technology encourages ready mix truck operators to stay with rear discharge design, for its lower
cost and practicality, the front-discharge mixer market segment will remain small.
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