Truck Shite

[808 Estate]

Looks good. Still cheap.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194908679575?hash=item2d61766d97:g:tQ0AAOSwM1liK6CG

[willswitchengage]

On 3/8/2022 at 9:50 AM, sutty2006 said:

Yes when MAN bought out ERF they just stuck ERF badges over the MAN badges for shits n giggles, then they closed it down and the ECT was no more. I remember the ERFs had the M11 Cummins Celect in it, but the MAN had its own inline six (D08? Or D28 can’t remember). 

I think part of the logic there was fishing for the massive MoD deal for 10,000 military trucks which was being tendered at the time. Pretended it's a British brand or they're made in the UK or something to sweeten the deal.

But yes I seem to remember the only difference in the end was that they offered the ISMe as an engine option, just like Foden did in its dieing days. I guess it was the last of the British/American trucks where the engine would be 'specced' by a buyer as opposed to now where is comes just as a Mercedes truck with a Mercedes engine etc. Over in the US I think you still pick whether you get a Cummins, Cat, Detroit engine etc.

[sutty2006]

Yes long gone are the days of spec’ ing a truck with different parts from different manufacturers! 

[Dyslexic Viking]

This is also the case with DAF if I'm not wrong, they use Paccar engines that are also available in Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.

[Dyslexic Viking]

I had one about Tatra here before but has Finnish Sisu ever been mentioned here? Will assume that they are quite unknown outside Scandinavia and are probably one of Europe's smallest truck manufacturers they have also made buses.

 

 

Apart from some for military use, the only model they now offer is the Polar (bellow), which has a cab and engine from Mercedes and is/was available with a Mercedes automatic transmission or a manual unsynchronized Eton Fuller gearbox, which according to info from 2014 was chosen by half of the customers.

[sutty2006]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

This is also the case with DAF if I'm not wrong, they use Paccar engines that are also available in Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.

I think I was wrong. Detroit is just a part of Daimler. The truck engines are Mercedes own from what I can find. But there are a lot of Daimler Benz shared parts with freightliner trucks. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

In Norway, we actually have 2 who make books about old Norwegian trucks and every book they are a few hundred pages and cover the history of each truck in them. They have released several of these and I have 3 of them.

 

The reason I found them now was to check if one of these is still alive and it is!

This is a 1992 Renault Magnum that went in long-distance transport down the continent and therefore only has 2 axles (3 are common here) so this passed 1million kilometer before it was 10 years so the mileage must now be very high. It was taken off the road last year but we can hope that someone will take care of it.

[willswitchengage]

2 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

This is also the case with DAF if I'm not wrong, they use Paccar engines that are also available in Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks.

Yep the USA is is slowly going the European way. I think Paccar realised since it'd spent £billions developing European market engines it'd be a good idea to modify their emissions for EPA compliance and sell them over there too. Freightliner mainly sells its own Detroit engines (both are owned by Daimler) and Navistar and Volvo naturally have their own engine choices too. I guess Cummins and Cat have dwindling market shares these days.

You may be right that Detroit engines are just rebadged MB engines days... seems silly not too. The small 1litre/cylinder MB engines have been used in Freightliner trucks for decades.

[Dyslexic Viking]

6 minutes ago, willswitchengage said:

Yep the USA is is slowly going the European way. I think Paccar realised since it'd spent £billions developing European market engines it'd be a good idea to modify their emissions for EPA compliance and sell them over there too. Freightliner mainly sells its own Detroit engines (both are owned by Daimler) and Navistar and Volvo naturally have their own engine choices too. I guess Cummins and Cat have dwindling market shares these days.

You may be right that Detroit engines are just rebadged MB engines days... seems silly not too. The small 1litre/cylinder MB engines have been used in Freightliner trucks for decades.

The American truck industry has seemed very old-fashioned compared to Europe, so Cummings engines and manual unsynchronized gearboxes will probably live for a while longer, I think. And Cummings has a very good reputation and has not CAT given up on road engines due to emissions? I think I read or heard it somewhere.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Something I want to share. On youtube now on several channels, there are documentaries called deadliest journyes, deadliest roads and similar they are of the same series. And for anyone with an interest in trucks, these are interesting. Post a small selection and is much more.

This old Bedford has been working with the same family since 1976 (this was filmed around 5 to 6 years ago) in Zambia and is completely worn out and is driven by an almost blind man. There are also surprisingly many old American trucks in Africa now.

MAN 8x8 military trucks working in Congo

Old French Berliet trucks in Mali

ZIL 130 in Guinea

 

 

 

[willswitchengage]

They're always behind, but catching up. For fleets over there Mercedes's automated manual is popular and Paccar and Volvo offer their own too. Most truck drivers probably work for a fleet these days as opposed to being an owner driver so I guess they just get what they're given.

[martc]

Bermondsey Street SE1, 1988.

[quicksilver]

A very rare sighting of a Hino 700 today, only the third I've seen in two years.

Thought that would be the spot of the week but I ended on a high with my very last spot - I almost missed it as I'd already crossed the road but managed to get back across to snap one of the last proper ERFs.

[sierraman]

Weren’t the Hino trucks licence built in Eire? 

[quicksilver]

18 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Weren’t the Hino trucks licence built in Eire? 

Yes, shipped CKD from Japan and assembled by Harris Assemblers of Dublin. Very popular in Ireland, less so in the UK, and discontinued in 2014 as Hino didn't have a Euro 6 engine.

[cobblers]

I always thought they ran Cummins engines. I was wrong!

[Datsuncog]

There were indeed many Hino trucks local to me in Northern Ireland during the 1980s and 90s - all the more visible as they looked quite different to most other trucks on the road.

They usually seemed to be in heavier duty use - quarrying and construction, rather than freight logistics.

Didn't realise they hadn't been so common in the rest of GB. It's been a long time since I've noticed one, though - the more modern 700s probably wouldn't cause me to look twice.

[Bradders59]

A schoolmate of mine was one of many sons in a family (Davidsons)that ran a fleet of Hino trucks for tipper work.

They lived just opposite the old Rolls Royce / Fisher bodies factory in Dundonald, so if your old enough you might remember seeing the trucks parked there.

In fact, for all I know, they might still be operating from there.

 

I spent 20 years working for a concrete flooring company  - Milbank floors, now known as Milbank concrete - a bunch of utter cunts but thats an aside.

The sister company was Milbank Trucks whose MD was( a  really decent bloke) - Dave Watson.

When the whole thing fell on its arse in 08/09 he bought out the remains of the transport business and renamed it David Watson Transport.

He  has now been built it up into a very successful business, with a very impressive fleet of over 100 mainly Hiab type trucks.

Nice to see the good guys do win sometimes.

David Watson Transport | Specialists Transport & Lifting Services : David Watson Transport (dw-transport.co.uk)

[martc]

Vauxhall, Liverpool, 1987. Cargo photo bomb!

[MR SCRUFF]

On 3/6/2022 at 8:24 PM, busmansholiday said:

MAN cabbed ones, after the takeover and just before they closed them down. Don't count as ERFs in my book.

We had one and it was a brilliant motor for us, even if the only ERF bits were the badges and the seat trim. Only a four wheel 18 tonner but was specced to be a drawbar so had a Cummins 385 with jake, ZF 16 speed manual with comfort shift.  Maybe not a real ERF but it sounded like one and didn't smell like a Reliant inside if you left it parked in a rainstorm.

[quicksilver]

On 3/15/2022 at 2:28 PM, Bradders59 said:

A schoolmate of mine was one of many sons in a family (Davidsons)that ran a fleet of Hino trucks for tipper work.

They lived just opposite the old Rolls Royce / Fisher bodies factory in Dundonald, so if your old enough you might remember seeing the trucks parked there.

In fact, for all I know, they might still be operating from there.

 

I spent 20 years working for a concrete flooring company  - Milbank floors, now known as Milbank concrete - a bunch of utter cunts but thats an aside.

The sister company was Milbank Trucks whose MD was( a  really decent bloke) - Dave Watson.

When the whole thing fell on its arse in 08/09 he bought out the remains of the transport business and renamed it David Watson Transport.

He  has now been built it up into a very successful business, with a very impressive fleet of over 100 mainly Hiab type trucks.

Nice to see the good guys do win sometimes.

David Watson Transport | Specialists Transport & Lifting Services : David Watson Transport (dw-transport.co.uk)

I see a lot of David Watson trucks round here - smart fleet all named after Greek or Roman legends and the drivers seem a good bunch who often flash and wave.

[sutty2006]

4 hours ago, MR SCRUFF said:

We had one and it was a brilliant motor for us, even if the only ERF bits were the badges and the seat trim. Only a four wheel 18 tonner but was specced to be a drawbar so had a Cummins 385 with jake, ZF 16 speed manual with comfort shift.  Maybe not a real ERF but it sounded like one and didn't smell like a Reliant inside if you left it parked in a rainstorm.

Ahhh comfort shift! Simply lovely. Manual with a thumb operated clutch. Those were the days! 

[scruff]

Picked this up today for a good friend of mine. Runs well, has been stood since covid began so could do with a once over and a good run with some weight on to scrub the brakes up.

[Supernaut]

Scruff!

I wondered where you, your low loader and your interesting selection of cargoes had gone.

[sutty2006]

Not an ex Moss & Lovatt ERF by any chance? 

[scruff]

It was Britvic before it went on the fairgrounds I think 

[sutty2006]

Ahh no mither. We had loads of M&L ec11/ecs/ecx erfs near us. Went bump a fair few years ago now but we’re still running them right up to the end. 

[808 Estate]

[5speedracer]

19 hours ago, scruff said:

Picked this up today for a good friend of mine. Runs well, has been stood since covid began so could do with a once over and a good run with some weight on to scrub the brakes up.

Doesn't look that wide

[scruff]

Not much chat on trailer shite, so here's a little something I've been up to since I was last on 

We had bought a old 1981 King folding neck low loader a few years ago, mainly for moving the vintage kit for ourselves and others, but it became increasingly useful for it's low ride height for some of the machinery we build at work. It was RAF originally and a pretty good bit of kit for it's age, but was getting tired and frankly I found the folding neck and the electric power pack for it a pain in the arse. 

A good friend of ours had this 1995 King for about ten years, purely for moving his steam engines. I had long coveted it - air suspension, ABS, a proper break-neck with donkey engine and a few years ago got the full shotblast/paint treatment and LED lights all round. 

The covid situation and an unrelated bout of ill health meant it wasn't getting used, so we did a deal on the understanding I'd move his engines if he decided to go out again. 

 

As a bonus, the workshop who look after the maintenance on my wagon had MoT'd it every year and pronounced it extremely good. There was a couple of holes on a crossmember to sort and the floor needed reboarding. I sold the '81 to another steam fella and fetched this one home. 

Immediately it was noticable how much more manouverable it was - strange as the bed length was identical to the old one. I put it down to the kingpin position and the axle spread for the air suspension. Whatever, I was well chuffed as the old one was a total bitch in tight places (Uttoxeter town centre a highlight) 

The floor was partly up to sort the welding so that was the first job. Fortunately at work we have some first class fabricators so I didn't have to subject such a throughbred piece of equipment to my dismal metal sticking.

I did clean and paint the rest before covering it up, honest 😅

The donkey engine is a Kubota which was originally in a fridge trailer I believe. I gave it a service, it starts and runs perfectly. 

When you split the trailer to load, a hydraulic jack called the stinger suspends the neck on the tractor unit. Traditionally, the stinger pushes down onto a hefty steel plate between the chassis rails. 

Since I last posted I've also started doing bulk work (long story) so we were reluctant to add a big old steel plate and add to the unit's unladen weight. The solution was to replace the Jack's simple "leg" with this bad boy. 

As you can see it rests on the trailer run up ramps, works a treat. 

The final addition to the neck was this King name plate which came off our very first trailer bought new in 1994. 

 

I had a job lined up for it so we needed a test on it quickly, so patched up the wooden floor and got it in. Happily it was a straight pass. We do have all the timber for a new floor waiting to go on when we get a chance. Bought it from Kings themselves who got the build sheet for it from 1995 out and cut the boards to fit! 

I've used it quite a bit over the last two years and it's a brilliant bit of kit. They are virtually worthless now as everyone wants rear steer/extending beds/more axles, but for us it's ideal. I took it to Southampton on Monday with a new machine: 

 

And here it is in action with a steamer.