Absolute horse shit™ The official thread of Railton Heavy Industries Limited and it's subsidiaries.

[barefoot]

11 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

How do you know their intent? Is mind reading one of your special abilities?

Blimey James, I'm sorry.

If I'd have thought you'd have taken it the wrong way, I would never have posted such a comment.

[Heidel_Kakao]

2 hours ago, barefoot said:

Blimey James, I'm sorry.

If I'd have thought you'd have taken it the wrong way, I would never have posted such a comment.

No worries dude, I think it's just that ever since I got the Stolly people that don't know I often get manic episodes and do crazy shit genuinely think I have gone insane and it's a bit wearing so I just snapped.

We are cool 😎You are more than welcome to drive the Stolly barefoot 😄

[warch]

It always seems rather counter intuitive to drive into deep water in a vehicle, very much a leap of faith. Someone I know has one of these, which famously* crossed the Channel, but which usually float just above the water and look as if they're going to sink like a stone when they drive in.

County seahorse 2013 part 2 - YouTube

I am awfully envious though. Some people would have a dream garage full of supercars, mine would be choc full of tractors and interesting ex army vehicles.

 

[Talbot]

15 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

I hope this is a joke comment.

It was quite clearly a joke comment.  Anyone who buys a Stolly is likely to have that sort of comment made to them, as buying one is clearly utter insanity.  I don't think it matters who buys one, it would be reasonable to ask "have you gone completely round the bend?"

Edit:  Didn't see the comments on page 8 before posting.

[JimH]

From what little I have seen of people trying to maintain Stalwarts you're a braver man than me.

They cost the British taxpayer a fair old wedge to buy and maintain.

[warch]

15 minutes ago, JimH said:

From what little I have seen of people trying to maintain Stalwarts you're a braver man than me.

They cost the British taxpayer a fair old wedge to buy and maintain.

The postwar British Army had a real obsession with;

commonisation, so every vehicle had to have a Rolls Royce B range engine, so we ended up with the Austin Champ which was fast but incredibly nose heavy. They even fitted a few in Series 1 Land Rovers by the simple expedient of moving the front axle forward slightly giving an 81 inch wheelbase. As already mentioned they were optimised (or more precisely de-optimised) to run on all sorts of fuels.

vehicles that could float or that were air portable, presumably in respect of any potential future war in Eastern Europe (with the USSR) which features large very wide rivers, forests, swamps and other geographical impediments. I believe it was actually quite unusual for any vehicles to be transported by air or to spend any amount of time in the water in operational use, but it usually resulted in a very specialised vehicle that wasn't really any more use than a civilian derived 4x4 or truck 95% of the time, and cost a fortune to run and maintain. 

[Heidel_Kakao]

Just taken out a fully comprehensive insurance policy on the Stolly for 2000 limited miles including European cover (for trips to France etc) with Adrian Flux 😀

Cost?

£430.38

So next time I pop down to see it I might take it out on the road for a quick go 😀

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, warch said:

It always seems rather counter intuitive to drive into deep water in a vehicle, very much a leap of faith. Someone I know has one of these, which famously* crossed the Channel, but which usually float just above the water and look as if they're going to sink like a stone when they drive in.

County seahorse 2013 part 2 - YouTube

F*** me, that poor gearbox!  

[somewhatfoolish]

1 hour ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Just taken out a fully comprehensive insurance policy on the Stolly for 2000 limited miles including European cover (for trips to France etc) with Adrian Flux 😀

Cost?

£430.38

So next time I pop down to see it I might take it out on the road for a quick go 😀

What would that be, about 250 gallons of veg once you've done the swap? Doesn't bear thinking about with the B80, you'd need to tow a bowser. 🤣

[cort1977]

2 hours ago, warch said:

usually resulted in a very specialised vehicle that wasn't really any more use than a civilian derived 4x4 or truck 95% of the time, and cost a fortune to run and maintain. 

This.  Every single time.  Just licence J70 land cruisers and the best civilian trucks you can find and be done with it.

Military procurement is a scandal.  Latest one making me laugh is drones.  RAF reapers about $16MM each, Turkish Bayraktar drones, just proven very effective over Nagorno Karabakh, $2MM each using Garmin sat navs and off the shelf parts.

Just buy something fit for purpose instead of wasting billions FFS.

[Talbot]

On diesel, at current pump prices that would be about £1500 of fuel to do said 2000 miles.

The ability to drive it straight into a river and out the other side?  Priceless.

[Heidel_Kakao]

1 hour ago, somewhatfoolish said:

What would that be, about 250 gallons of veg once you've done the swap? Doesn't bear thinking about with the B80, you'd need to tow a bowser. 🤣

Nah the English channel is only 21 miles wide so should only take a few gallons of veg. The Atlantic Ocean on the other hand is approximately 2500 miles wide so that will take a lot of veg.

Edit, I realised you meant the 2000 limited miles would take 250 gallons of veg, yeah that sounds about right lol.

And sorry to be pedantic but mine has a B81 engine as it's a late one.

[RoadworkUK]

5 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

We are cool 😎You are more than welcome to drive the Stolly barefoot 😄

Driving a Stolly barefoot must be like commanding a tank when topless.

Many congrats to all concerned, anyway. Just incredible.

[ETCHY]

A Stalwart ! They're so cool they're sub fucking zero, well bought !

They also look like something off Space 1999 or some sort of Gerry Anderson show.

Fabulous !!!!

If you drive it on the road try to get one side on a grass verge every so often as it unwinds the axles I think (I'm sure i've heard that ??)

[Heidel_Kakao]

On 18/05/2021 at 15:40, cort1977 said:

Autoshite paintball and stolly licking day out?

Yeah we will get one arranged, I shall check the minimum number of people of required to fully book the site and have it to ourselves for the day

[Heidel_Kakao]

3 hours ago, ETCHY said:

If you drive it on the road try to get one side on a grass verge every so often as it unwinds the axles I think (I'm sure i've heard that ??)

Yeah this has been mentioned by various people in the thread, obviously I know about this limitation of the vehicle. I don't plan on doing a huge amount of urban driving in it to be honest.

[Heidel_Kakao]

44 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Yeah we will get one arranged, I shall check the minimum number of people of required to fully book the site and have it to ourselves for the day

We would need a minimum of 20 people to have exclusive use of the site for a day. That should hopefully be doable! Probably around August/September time.

[Crackers]

9 minutes ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

We would need a minimum of 20 people to have exclusive use of the site for a day. That should hopefully be doable! Probably around August/September time.

Sign me up. 

Mind you, I'm shit at paintball. 

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

I don't plan on doing a huge amount of urban driving in it to be honest.

but she is ULEZ exempt tho! LOL

its the perfect* vehicle for ferrying (literally if you go through the thames LOL) London based Shitters to the FoD and back  

 

I wonder if a solution to the windup problem would be, and probably not a bad idea anyway given the crane on the back

would be to install some of those stabilising legs you see on Cherry picker vans and the such like

that way you can just extend them, lift the Stolly up and let her unwind then drop her back down ready for more urban exploring?  

 

[Heidel_Kakao]

19 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

but she is ULEZ exempt tho! LOL

its the perfect* vehicle for ferrying (literally if you go through the thames LOL) London based Shitters to the FoD and back  

I wonder if a solution to the windup problem would be, and probably not a bad idea anyway given the crane on the back

would be to install some of those stabilising legs you see on Cherry picker vans and the such like

that way you can just extend them, lift the Stolly up and let her unwind then drop her back down ready for more urban exploring?  

I was planning on driving into Birmingham City Centre once our LEZ kicks in just because I can haha.

Stabilising legs is an interesting idea..... ones from a big mobile crane would be suitable as they will potentially have to lift 16 tons off the ground if the Stolly were fully loaded.

[wuvvum]

Or just hook the existing crane round a convenient lamp post and lift the Stolly off the ground that way.

[Heidel_Kakao]

57 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Sign me up. 

Mind you, I'm shit at paintball. 

Don't worry everyone will probably be equally shit lol, you can always hide in the Stolly if you start getting bored of being shot all the time!

[Heidel_Kakao]

1 minute ago, wuvvum said:

Or just hook the existing crane round a convenient lamp post and lift the Stolly off the ground that way.

Haha 😄 The crane is "only" rated for 3000KG though and I don't know how strong a lamppost is lol

[somewhatfoolish]

5 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Haha 😄 The crane is "only" rated for 3000KG though and I don't know how strong a lamppost is lol

Do they not have a huge winch like Militants?

[Heidel_Kakao]

41 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Do they not have a huge winch like Militants?

Yes they do have a winch, not played with it yet though.

[dozeydustman]

6 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Haha 😄 The crane is "only" rated for 3000KG though and I don't know how strong a lamppost is lol

I have an hiab operators license for your crane if it needs testing....

[Anglevan]

This is epic, I remember your Finland trip and was in ore (and jealous). When I took an old Talbot round Norway and Sweden that was my achievement... However this is another level.. One thing that struck me was the model, it reminded me I still have my matchbox model of that somewhere.. Memories came flooding back.. Nearest I have to this is a part share in a Daimler Ferret but never managed to drive it or get it running... 

. Yet.. Will keep a watch on this thread.. 

[busmansholiday]

As somebody who once owned four AEC Reliance coaches at the same time, this is a far, far more impressive purchase. 

I note in the cab pictures it's got a "Chinese" gear shift layout. One firm I worked for had a couple of coaches with that layout, but without any indication. That was always fun for new drivers.

 

[martc]

Warning, warning!

I had a Stalwart years ago; the bloody thing  sank like a brick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fortunately the bath wasn't too deep.

[cort1977]

14 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

We would need a minimum of 20 people to have exclusive use of the site for a day. That should hopefully be doable! Probably around August/September time.

That would be a fantastic day out, a chance to poke around a Stolly and a bit of paintball walting, love it.