Anyone else like old lorries?

[Fatboy]

spaximus said:

I used to drive one of those as a recovery truck in Rotherham. Fuel consumption was almost gallons per mile. Funniest moment was when Hoghway recovery went to get a bin lorry that was stuck in a field with one of their new wreckers, it got stuck and so did the six wheeled transcontinental sent to get the now two stuck trucks. I went with the Scammell and with the tank winch pulled then all out at once, lots of embarresed faces when you bear in mind they had probably £100k of tackle and ours was about £3k. It was also used to crush car shells, you could get all the axles at huge angles.

I'd love one of those Scammel Explorers - looks like great fun for a bit of heavyweight off-roading

I'm loving this thread - some great pics/stories

[Foxtrot Oscar]

http://krwalsh-classics.com/default.aspx

Website of a chap i know. Absolute mad man! Obviously too much time on his hands.

[tankerman24]

BruceV8 said:

tankerman24 said:

I used to drive these things in the nineties, its a swan neck trailer with a 20' container tank, horrible things as most of them had no baffles (treacle was the worst thing I carried as up to full weight only half filled the tank) when you stopped you felt sea sick with it slopping about,
Like I said the photo shows them looking in the top whih is a strange place to do it parked there lol, would be interested if you could find out what was going on

IIRC both lorries were hijacked and abandoned on a bridge near the border crossing from Northern Ireland into the Republic - in effect stopping all Belfast to Dublin traffic. The tanker had a device placed on it somewhere - probably inside the tank. This was at a time and place when the IRA were particularly cunning so it took some time to clear. In situations like this where there is one bomb there is often another and I think that was indeed the case here. If memory serves there was another command initiated device buried alongside the tankers. It had been placed before the lorries were stolen and they were really there to lure the security forces onto the bigger buried device. I'll check on Monday. I should state that I had nothing to do with this task - I was 10 years old at the time!

Bloody hell, scary times hey, some of the stuff I used to carry in those things was dodgy enough without bombs around. brave guys

[Vipers]

BruceV8 said:

I learnt to drive in a HGV too.

The most amazing thing we had to do on our course in the Bedford RL's, was to put it in 4 wheel drive, low ratio, your pal actually had to hold the gear sticks in place incase they jumped out, then we pushed the starter button, with the low ratio so low, it actually turned the motor on and fired it up.

Then with feet OFF all pedels, we went over this ridge, cant recall the angle, but bloody steep I can tell you, "Just steer it straight" the Sergent said.

It was interesting going from a motorbike, to a 3 tonner. When I brought my first car, the salesman remarked on my gear changing, to which I replied "Thank you, by the way, I have never passed a driving test in a car"...................... panic set in quickly until I explained it to him

[Who me ?]

YEARS AGO - I found a history site dedicated to Sneddon trucks etc - in Lanark - Can recomend a visit .

[unclegrouch]

Yep, I'm fairly keen on old trucks, not the vintage stuff but more those i grew up with (Dad had a haulage business). Would particularly like a 60's Trader, Commer TS3 2-stroke, or a S39 Foden, but they all make too much money now :-(

One of the best fleets of classic trucks is less than half a mile from my house, Knowles Transport, fantastic collection although I have yet to see them in his "showroom" - will catch him one day & ask to look ;-)

Here's one i had for a year or so as a "toy" & race transporter for my Son's car. Great fun converting the ex supermarket trailer into a massive camper / transporter :-)

• Can't find the latest pics when it was complete, added quite a bit of bling to it & we loved it (except the diesel bills !).

Edited by unclegrouch on Sunday 2nd November 19:25

[BruceV8]

unclegrouch said:

Yep, I'm fairly keen on old trucks, not the vintage stuff but more those i grew up with (Dad had a haulage business). Would particularly like a 60's Trader, Commer TS3 2-stroke, or a S39 Foden, but they all make too much money now :-(

One of the best fleets of classic trucks is less than half a mile from my house, Knowles Transport, fantastic collection although I have yet to see them in his "showroom" - will catch him one day & ask to look ;-)

Here's one i had for a year or so as a "toy" & race transporter for my Son's car. Great fun converting the ex supermarket trailer into a massive camper / transporter :-)



Now THAT is as impressive as a big bag of impressive things!
I have an ERF EC11 wagon & drag and I'm doing something similar. Doubt it will look as good as that though!

[unclegrouch]

Hi Bruce,

shame i can't find the pix of it all finished, the bling wheeltrims really finished it off & although the trailer never was painted, we did tart it a bit.

I really wanted a magnum, always fancied one & even after being offered a lovely 4400 foden at silly money, I had to go for it (never regretted either, she was a gem).

EC11 - bullet proof technology there :-) Cummings hooked to a twin-splitter ?

Somewhere I hosted all the build pics from the trailer conversion, will dig it out soon to see if it gives you any ideas.

[gazza_3]

unclegrouch said:

Yep, I'm fairly keen on old trucks, not the vintage stuff but more those i grew up with (Dad had a haulage business). Would particularly like a 60's Trader, Commer TS3 2-stroke, or a S39 Foden, but they all make too much money now :-(

One of the best fleets of classic trucks is less than half a mile from my house, Knowles Transport, fantastic collection although I have yet to see them in his "showroom" - will catch him one day & ask to look ;-)

Here's one i had for a year or so as a "toy" & race transporter for my Son's car. Great fun converting the ex supermarket trailer into a massive camper / transporter :-)

• Can't find the latest pics when it was complete, added quite a bit of bling to it & we loved it (except the diesel bills !).

Edited by unclegrouch on Sunday 2nd November 19:25

LOVE IT! .

[JulesV]

Old trucks are great. I have always liked these, the Leyland Octopus. Cool name too.



There was the remains of one for many years behind my local.

Edited by JulesV on Monday 3rd November 07:36

[Dunk76]

Olf said:

I've got a thing for old Scammels.

Edited by Olf on Saturday 1st November 22:17

My Father drove an ex-Army one of those for Caffyns in the late 60s...

[Olf]

Dunk76 said:

Olf said:

I've got a thing for old Scammels.

Edited by Olf on Saturday 1st November 22:17

My Father drove an ex-Army one of those for Caffyns in the late 60s...

And my father drove the civilian versions on heavy haulage for Pickfords.

[Ecurie Ecosse]

I've always had a thing for GUY lorries, after seeing one gave a starring role in the 1970s kids movie The Battle Of Billy's Pond.

[BruceV8]

unclegrouch said:

EC11 - bullet proof technology there :-) Cummings hooked to a twin-splitter ?

Indeed. 11 litre Cummins turbo & 12 speed Eaton twin splitter. Absolute bd gearbox to get used to, but once you do, what a joy to use!

Must have been hard turning down a Foden 4400. I love Fodens (and Scammells and AECs etc). But I remember seeing a prototype Magnum (although I didn't know what it was at the time) in the High Wycombe area in 1990. It was painted olive green to look military and perhaps deflect some attention, but to a young bloke used to Bedfords and AECs it looked like the Martians had arrived in HGV form. Never been in one, but I'm told they are great trucks, even now.

[ronj]

Hopefully covered most of the vehicles mentioned
in this thread ,all taken at the Dorset steam fest this year.

















Ron.

Edited by ronj on Tuesday 4th November 22:41

[Vipers]

Same tread as the tyres on my Bedford RL we used on the roads in 69, rumour was that they were illegal, no idea why, dont recall if we had power steering or not, probably not. We managed to remove the governor on it, and buggered the engine up, whoooooooooops.

[dilbert]

ronj said:

The rear bogie does that too I think, but in the other axis. And then it's six wheel drive.

I've not seen one properly off road, but I would have thought you could dig a hole pretty nearly the same size as the vehicle, and it'd still be able to climb out.

They are really clever machines, with the mobility of a tank, but without the tracks and and most of the road going penalties that come with it.

Edited by dilbert on Wednesday 5th November 05:21

[BLUETHUNDER]

BruceV8 said:

Vipers said:

Went from a bike to an HGV3 in the Navy, (which gave me a car licence), then qualified in HGV1 before I left, the initial HGV3 was in a Bedford RL, but the best one I ever drove must be the AEC Merurcy

I learnt to drive in a HGV too. The day after I passed my test, they gave me a metro to drive and I kept hitting all three pedals at once. When I got to my first working unit in 1988 (before I joined my current trade) they still had these:



AEC Militant Mk 1, dating from the late 40s and early 50s. 11 litre engine in the cab, with just a metal cover between you and it, loud and hot; 6 gears - all crash; No power ANYTHING - sometimes took two people to get one round a tight roundabout; Top speed 32 mph; but could slog its way through anything. I never once saw one get stuck off road. Lovely!

They were replaced by these, Bedford 14 tonners (relating to the payload, not the gross vehicle weight). They were a revelation to us at the time but would probably be considered classics now:



And of course we had the workhorse of the army, the Bedford MJ 4 tonner:



Everyone loved to hate the old Bedfords but I developed a real soft spot for them, driving one most days between the ages of 17 and 21 (as well as Land Rovers, which I also love). In the early 90s the army began to supplant the Bedfords with Leyland DAFs which were faster and more comfortable, but nowhere near as rugged. Funnily enough the DAFs are now being sold off and the Bedfords remain in service.

Withams were doing some ex reserve MJ 4 tonners at a show during the summer.Mint condition for £2500.The other half went to go and get her credit card(shes always liked them).But when she came back they sold the lst one.

[M3John]

Ah yes as a young kid i loved lorries (my grandad being a trucker helped a little ). There are far too many for me to choose from and i've not the time right now to post some pictures but i will very soon ! I much prefer the older stuff. As a lad i always wanted a Scammell Crusader but at the age of around 10/12 ish i was treated to a ride in a Thornycroft Mighty Antar. My god what a machine ! I'd love to have one of these but first i must find a aircraft hanger to keep it in !

Really liking the offerings up already guys The picture of the Scammell Explorer (must admit that i always though it was called a Scammell Highway man) - I've a Dinky toy vertion of that knocking around somewhere along with a couple of other Dinky pieces that i'd like to know more about.

Edited by M3John on Wednesday 5th November 19:59

[Balmoral Green]

Bloody 'ell, we'll have people posting about stationary engines and ex-military vehicles next