Leader Trucks  The Australian Challenger (Including Western Transport and the Early Years of Mack Australia), by Rob Laurent 

Leader trucks have a unique place in Australia’s transport history; they were the only trucks produced in significant numbers by a wholly Australian company. The many models offered by this firm ranged from 12 ton, 4-wheel cab-overs up to 250-ton heavy-haulage bonneted tractors – some of the most powerful road-going vehicles available at the time.

Southern Cross Engines  (An Illustrated History of Toowoomba Foundry’s Steam, Internal-Combustion and Windmill Engines), by Rob Laurent

For 74 years Australia's Toowoomba Foundry produced a wide range of engines, windmills, pumps, generators, lawnmowers, milking machines, etc. ...even aircraft. This is the story of enduring Southern Cross machines and the people who made them.

The Mystery of the Missing Magnetos (with technical supplement).

This novel by Rob Laurent introduces young people to old machinery.

The author of Southern Cross Engines and Leader Trucks - The Australian Challenger has written an exciting adventure story for boys and girls aged 9-15. The Supplement includes such topics as the working principles of internal combustion engines; various makes of tractors like the Lanz and K&L Bulldogs, McDonald, Ronaldson-Tippett and Steiger; and brief histories of Ronaldson-Tippett, Kelly & Lewis, A.H. McDonald, Southern Cross, and H.V. McKay.

Southern Cross Instruction Manuals

We supply photocopied Instruction manuals for most Southern Cross products. Click on the book to see the range of manuals available.

Changing Horses  (The life of R.S. Porteous; soldier, sailor stockman, artist and author of “Cattleman”). by Rob Laurent

Syd Porteous packed a lot into one lifetime: A Light-Horseman in World War 1; Commercial artist in 1920s Melbourne; Jackeroo, then part-owner of a vast Central-Queensland cattle run; Pioneer tourist-launch operator to the Barrier-Reef islands; First Mate on a US Army merchant ship in World War 2; Author of several classic Australian novels, including the prize-winning Cattleman.