Truck Shite

[busmansholiday]

Time for some more pics from the York Trailers archive.

Plastic cab Foden,

 

Couple of Ford D Types,

Not 100% sure, but going with Saviem even though it has a very MAN style cab.

 

Shite personified in the York Trailers car park.

 

Some Tractor Shite (behind an early Scania 111),

 

 

 

 

[martc]

Right, stand by your beds. I've found a rich seam of Russian/USSR lorries, brace yourselves -

We'll start with some civilian ones -

GAZ-34 6x6 prototype, did not make it to production. Looks 'cobby' to me.

 

URAL-43206 4x4 above and a KAMAZ-4326 4x4 below.

Some military ones -

KAMAZ Typhoon-K 6x6 MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) Vehicle. Available from your local arms dealer.

Talking of successful arms dealing -

BAZ 8x8 and Ural 6x6 military lorries in service with the Turks, our NATO ally, photographed in Sinop, Turkey.

A KAMAZ 8x8

ZIL E167 6x6.

And because it's Russia, there's snow and there's ways of dealing with snow...

KRAZ-255 6x6

ZIL-157 6x6 Snow Blower. And finally, here's something to bargain with -

KRAZ-255 6x6 with a MIG-15 Jet Engine for De-icing runways.

I've put a couple in the stolly thread. See you there.

[willswitchengage]

On 7/21/2021 at 10:06 AM, worldofceri said:

Computer-controlled gearboxes.

However, they can and do 'learn' in the way that AI is making slow but admirable progress. DAF for instance is gathering route learning data from its trucks to understand what a route really does look like so that the gearbox's shift strategy can be constantly tweaked accordingly or match a certain road. Human ability to use a gearbox has effectively 'peaked', whereas automated manuals are playing catch up. Eventually they will get there, but with the benefit of being more consistent and eradicate driver-to-driver variation.

[bigstraight6]

10 minutes ago, willswitchengage said:

However, they can and do 'learn' in the way that AI is making slow but admirable progress. DAF for instance is gathering route learning data from its trucks to understand what a route really does look like so that the gearbox's shift strategy can be constantly tweaked accordingly or match a certain road. Human ability to use a gearbox has effectively 'peaked', whereas automated manuals are playing catch up. Eventually they will get there, but with the benefit of being more consistent and eradicate driver-to-driver variation.

The Scania I drive can accelerate better when it’s on cruise control than if I’m in control, It’s a very clever system.

[worldofceri]

1 hour ago, willswitchengage said:

Human ability to use a gearbox has effectively 'peaked'

What you mean is companies aren’t willing to invest in training their staff to use the equipment effectively and simply want to go to an agency and get an arse on a seat.

 I remember as a kid watching wagons on the roads thirty odd years ago, they would slow to a crawl on the approach to red traffic lights with the aim of cruising through at 5-10mph as they turned green, thus eliminating unnecessary gear changes and ultimately saving fuel. Today’s crop of steering wheel attendants will race up to the lights, stop, and gun it from a standstill seconds later. The telematics don’t know the difference, But which is really the most economical?

It is actually technology that has peaked in terms of the cost/benefit ratio of each incremental improvement, so we’re being led to devalue human skill in order to justify the investment in technology.

[quicksilver]

7 minutes ago, worldofceri said:

I remember as a kid watching wagons on the roads thirty odd years ago, they would slow to a crawl on the approach to red traffic lights with the aim of cruising through at 5-10mph as they turned green, thus eliminating unnecessary gear changes and ultimately saving fuel. Today’s crop of steering wheel attendants will race up to the lights, stop, and gun it from a standstill seconds later. The telematics don’t know the difference, But which is really the most economical?

John Lewis drivers still drive like that. When you've only got 300 horsepower hauling a fully-laden double-deck box trailer with the aerodynamics of a block of flats you really don't want to stop. When one did have to stop, he put his foot down when a car was right in front of him and by the time he got moving it was long gone.

[Crackers]

6 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

John Lewis drivers still drive like that. When you've only got 300 horsepower hauling a fully-laden double-deck box trailer with the aerodynamics of a block of flats you really don't want to stop. When one did have to stop, he put his foot down when a car was right in front of him and by the time he got moving it was long gone.

JLP's 4x2s are all* plated at 31,000 kg and tend to be 310-340bhp, so all of a sudden the maths work out a bit better; your typical 44 ton 6x2 tractor these days is 420-480bhp - so either way they all in the region of 10bhp/ton which is about average. When you see the little 4x2s with a 3-axle double decker behind them they won't** be running at the full 44 tons.

Mind you, the oldest DAF 6x2s on the fleet are 410bhp I believe which I'm told is rather slow going with 44 ton on the hook especially if you get lumbered with a tired unit, heading out to the west there are some hills that have them properly crawling - 

https://youtu.be/Q5PddX1fNw8

I imagine the reason you see JLP drivers driving properly is twofold - 1) they do actually seem to put some time and effort into driving standards, and 2) there's still quite a number of old hands who've been driving for them for donkeys years, and still use the driving techniques used on the old kit 30-40 years ago.

*AFAIK

**I think

[quicksilver]

That makes sense - most John Lewis/Waitrose trailers only have two axles so as a four-axle outfit they can legally only operate at 36 tonnes. The old DAFs seem to struggle most because they're probably pretty knackered by now. Oddly there is a spec difference in these DAFs although they look identical: the John Lewis ones are CF 85.360s but the Waitrose ones are 75.310s and 50bhp short of their darker green colleagues.

I've seen the local firm CJ Haynes subbing for John Lewis with a big 620 Topline V8. I bet that gets some jealous looks when it rolls into the DC amongst the little 340 day cabs.

[Vantman]

1 hour ago, Crackers said:

JLP's 4x2s are all* plated at 31,000 kg and tend to be 310-340bhp, so all of a sudden the maths work out a bit better; your typical 44 ton 6x2 tractor these days is 420-480bhp - so either way they all in the region of 10bhp/ton which is about average. When you see the little 4x2s with a 3-axle double decker behind them they won't** be running at the full 44 tons.

Mind you, the oldest DAF 6x2s on the fleet are 410bhp I believe which I'm told is rather slow going with 44 ton on the hook especially if you get lumbered with a tired unit, heading out to the west there are some hills that have them properly crawling - 

 

I imagine the reason you see JLP drivers driving properly is twofold - 1) they do actually seem to put some time and effort into driving standards, and 2) there's still quite a number of old hands who've been driving for them for donkeys years, and still use the driving techniques used on the old kit 30-40 years ago.

 

 

When i passed my Class 1  test in the 1970s i was given a piece of advice by an older driver--'Keep the wheels rolling,never square wheel it', i still use that technique today driving my cars.

[Crackers]

49 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

The old DAFs seem to struggle most because they're probably pretty knackered by now.

They are. While I was there (until late last year) they still had a few 60-plate DAFs running around and I had several drivers complaining about just how baggy they were becoming. Mind you those oldest ones had a pretty damn good innings, 10 years old on stop-start work running up over a million miles on the clock, that's a fair few for a little 9 litre engine.

I haven't seen any 60/61 plates on the roads recently on my travels, I assume the 63-plate batch are now the oldest on the fleet as I was told the 60'ers would be jettisoned when the new fleet were ready. Now that they have a load of new-shape P-series 4x2s (P340s I think), some in green, some in white, for the 31t work, I assume the oldest DAFs have gone.

53 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

CJ Haynes subbing for John Lewis with a big 620 Topline V8

Ooh, nice. During Christmas 2019 there was another firm subbing on the runs near Bracknell HQ, can't remember the name of them but they had a number of 500/540 Volvos which I imagine fairly flew along with the little distribution trailers on the back!

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, worldofceri said:

with the aim of cruising through at 5-10mph as they turned green

Surely, we all want to do that. Timed lights make it easy, the intelligent ones can catch you out, but overall seem an improvement.

[martc]

Ural-4320's coming down the production line in Miass, Chelyabinsk Oblast, USSR.

Two MAZ 8x8's towing some super heavy stuff. What are they towing, any guesses? My guess is a fractionating (or rectification) column used in mineral oil refineries to separate out the volatile components.

MZKT-74135 8x8 tank transporter tractor. From my experience of Russian engineering that bloke is probably using that massive lever to pop the bonnet.

 

[willswitchengage]

On 8/7/2021 at 9:32 PM, quicksilver said:

That makes sense - most John Lewis/Waitrose trailers only have two axles so as a four-axle outfit they can legally only operate at 36 tonnes. The old DAFs seem to struggle most because they're probably pretty knackered by now. Oddly there is a spec difference in these DAFs although they look identical: the John Lewis ones are CF 85.360s but the Waitrose ones are 75.310s and 50bhp short of their darker green colleagues.

I see JL trucks a lot around here as their big dizzy centre is down the road in Bracknell. For a while their DAFs were dual-fuel powered by CNG, Although having not seen one for a while they may have sacked off that system. Wonder how it worked, spark ignition or compression?

[cms206]

Can't comment on the wagons, but our DAFs in all flavours - Temsa, VDL and Irizar - are almost all gutless wonders and absolute horseshit on hills. The only exception is our 06 DAF SB4000 which runs rings round everything except my 08 Volvo on the hilly bits.

[Crackers]

2 hours ago, willswitchengage said:

I see JL trucks a lot around here as their big dizzy centre is down the road in Bracknell. For a while their DAFs were dual-fuel powered by CNG, Although having not seen one for a while they may have sacked off that system. Wonder how it worked, spark ignition or compression?

I don't know for sure, but I have a suspicion that they are still using dual-fuel/CNG on a lot of their wagons, I know they were definitely looking to expand their usage of that. It's hard to tell because all tractors have the tanks hidden behind fairings so you can't really see what's going on, but my reckoning is that they're fitted with the kit, they just don't apply the Dual Fuel branding any more as a) they've moved to the new livery and b) it's not exactly new technology any more.

[martc]

More Russian/Soviet wagons incoming. I'll do the ones that are obviously military first, because they are khaki -

A KAMAZ.

BAZ-69481M 10x8

KRAZ-255 in the UK! If I'm reading the reg no correctly (607UXT) the DVLA have it down as a 1952 Humber, untaxed since 2018.

ZIL-131

Another KRAZ-255 variant.

[martc]

And I'm saying these are civilian because they are not khaki -

A Ural.

Another Ural - the 'Next'.

RUSAK-3994 diesel electric hybrid 8x8 amphibious vehicle. 18 people can travel in this beast in any terrain or weather condition.

LITVINA 6x6 Amphibian.

TERRANICA amphibian.

Those Russians do like their amphibians, I've put some pictures of more of them in the Stolly thread.

[LightBulbFun]

13 minutes ago, martc said:

KRAZ-255 in the UK! If I'm reading the reg no correctly (807UXT) the DVLA have it down as a 1958 Kraz, Still taxed

FTFY  

would love to know the story of why/how it got over here  

[Dyslexic Viking]

If there is one thing I envy the Russians, it is the vehicles they can buy, they have so many interesting vehicles that I wish we had here.

And the durability of many of these is incredible I saw in a documentary a 50 year old Zil 130 who had spent his whole life in Africa and was still in use and this under harsh conditions and use and with probably little maintenance.

Zil 130

 

[320touring]

I think I'd love a Zil 131. Hand crank petrol v8 and in cab tyre pressure control.

 

Decadence!

 

Wouldn't kick a Deuce and a half out of bed either, if the chance arose.

[Dyslexic Viking]

By the way, I saw this Ural truck in Africa in the news today.

[808 Estate]

1 hour ago, 320touring said:

I think I'd love a Zil 131. Hand crank petrol v8 and in cab tyre pressure control.

Decadence!

Worth having one just for the noise they make.

Being virtually unstopable and unbreakable is just an added bonus. As its ability to be maintained with nothing more than a big hammer and lashings of vodka.

I remember a few years ago almost mint ones being sold on German ebay for about 5K euros..

 

[martc]

More eastern chod, military first, of course...

MAZ-537 8x8, it's 38l V12 Diesel engine produces 525 HP of power and 2200 Nm Torque!

URAL-4320

KAMAZ 8x8 in action.

[martc]

and some civilian -

1) A Ural 'Next' and 2) a civilian Ural-4320. I rather like the 'Next' range. More moderns -

MAZ-5440M7

The New KAMAZ-54901. A product of the Daimler KAMAZ Rus (DK Rus) joint venture . DK Rus manufactures cabs in Russia for both Mercedes and KAMAZ tractors.

[willswitchengage]

Having been to Russia not long ago I saw precisely 0 contemporary Russian trucks. There were loads of 'old' Kamaz cabs around, both in off road and normal civvy use variants, but other than that everything was generic European and a few second hand Yank tractors. The Gaz Gazelle was quite popular though as a van, including its 'NEXT' variant:

[martc]

More miscellaneous Soviet/Russian wagons. And a tractor (Ukrainian).

ZIL-135

KRAZ-255

GAZ-330811. Available now from your local authorised dealer. Assuming you're a dictator.

ZIL-E-167 from the 1960's. ULEZ exempt.

MAZ-7904 12x12 Truck - 42.4 litre V12 Diesel engine produces 1500hp. It has a second auxiliary engine (a YAMZ-238F V8) which is used to power the pneumatic pumps, electric generators, cooling system fans and other units, its output is 330 HP.  The curb weight of the chassis is 140 tonnes, it can carry a payload of 220 tonnes and the wheels have a diameter of 2.8m. Built in 1983.

Kharkiv T150K tractor from the 1980's. Kharkiv are still with us, as XTZ, in the now independent Ukraine. Their current range of tractors still have a family resemblance to the above -

http://xtz.ua/en/

[willswitchengage]

10 hours ago, martc said:

More miscellaneous Soviet/Russian wagons. And a tractor (Ukrainian).

The Zil 135 had two V8 petrol engines, each driving one half of the vehicle. Bizarre!

[quicksilver]

A couple of rarities seen this week. The USAF sent an actual American truck to Croughton this time, a Freightliner Business Class I think. Quite surreal seeing this on UK roads.

And this beast caught me by surprise, a Bedford J-type with a Reynolds Boughton Packhorse 4x4 conversion. Possibly the only one left as I've found several photos of it but no others.

[Crackers]

1 hour ago, quicksilver said:

The USAF sent an actual American truck to Croughton this time, a Freightliner Business Class I think. Quite surreal seeing this on UK roads.

That is just bloody bizarre. 

I bet a traffic rozzer wouldn't even know where to begin if he saw that rolling down the road!

[willswitchengage]

2 hours ago, quicksilver said:

A couple of rarities seen this week. The USAF sent an actual American truck to Croughton this time, a Freightliner Business Class I think. Quite surreal seeing this on UK roads.

Again, the trailer is puzzling. Rear mounted axles, no side protection, dual wheels and imperial measurements suggest it's an import. But the Boalloy badge suggests home-made and curtainsiders aren't really a thing in North America.