Hello Gentlemen, Bedford, an iconic marque, weve all had something to do with them, driven them, hated them, dealt them,loved them, mended them, broken them!! What are your memories?? Imiss them!!
my father was an owner driver and mostly operated KM artics,with a couple of KH’s(basically a TK with ten stud wheels and 466 engine),and a v6 detroit powered TM,and although he had a ford transcontinental (which ha absolutely loved) and a nearly new scania LB 80 super,Bedfords were always like part of the family and gave extremely good service ,and were very well liked(our cat was even called bedford when i was a child lol)
Mended a few Saviem! 
Spent 9 months with a Bedford dealer back in 1974 and thought that they were decently made for what they were, a medium range truck. Good brakes, never had a problem at test time, and the 330 engine wasn’t bad apart from leaking a little oil from the cork gasket’s and the ‘rope’ rear crank seal. The TK cab could be easily removed in less than an hour for major engine work, the KM’s took a little longer, the transmission handbrake was a little out of date by then though! As for driving them, well at 6’ 4" I was a little too tall and had to stoop to see below the roof line which wasn’t good, and you could do yourself a mischief on the handbrake lever when getting in and out of the cab ha ha!
Someone in Surrey will now tell you how good the TM range was, never dealt with them myself though. 
Pete.
our TM
this was a detroit version(despite being coupled to a single axle trailer) and sounded lovely,my father quite liked it despite the complex two stroke engine
andrew.s:
our TM
this was a detroit version(despite being coupled to a single axle trailer) and sounded lovely,my father quite liked it despite the complex two stroke engine
Hello Andrew, where were you based?? That looks a nicely balanced outfit. Cheerio for now.
two mentions of the dd2stroke in 4 posts , he’ll be on this thread like a rat up a drainpipe now
Saviem:
andrew.s:
our TM
this was a detroit version(despite being coupled to a single axle trailer) and sounded lovely,my father quite liked it despite the complex two stroke engineHello Andrew, where were you based?? That looks a nicely balanced outfit. Cheerio for now.
hello saviem,we were/are in Hitchin,Hertfordshire,used to do mainly fresh veg from anywhere to the london markets.
a very good friend of ours has a lovely restored TK artic unit (now fitted with a 466 engine)
rigsby:
two mentions of the dd2stroke in 4 posts , he’ll be on this thread like a rat up a drainpipe now
i thought carryfast only likes the v8 version?
Hello Andrew, nice cab on the TMs, great shame that it was never fully developed. Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
Hello Andrew, nice cab on the TMs, great shame that it was never fully developed. Cheerio for now.
TM’s should have been available with ■■■■■■■ power when they first came out,a lot of uk operators were afraid of the detroit two strokes at the time-when we had ours ,the local bedford dealer wouldnt touch it(my dad used to do all his own maintenance,but the two strokes were a different ball game,and lots of special tools were required if i remember rightly)
Bonjour Saviem ca va bien , some where amongst my memorabilia is a pic of me leaning against the S type Bedford that I drove in the army, I ll dig it out and post it . Tken circa 1961 it s in black and white, petrol emgined and a lovely motor to drive.On leaving the forces after a spell driving a Thames Trader for Goodyear Tyres I got a job with Smithfield transport driving a 4 wheel Bedford TK, this Co. specialised in fruit and veg distribution and many a time I brought 10 ton of spuds from Lincolnshire to Smithfield market Manchester. Coming over Hoyland Swayne was a first gear job, I drove this TK for over a year until 1 day they threw aDodge artic at me but thats a different story , The TK never broke down whilst I was driving it ,what a good motor . Crow.
I drove several Bedfords,a few TK’s and a J type.I drove a KM with the 466 engine for about 8 months.It would keep up with any lorry on the road loaded or empty.Same as Pete I found the cab of the TK and KM cramped,not as tall as Pete,but at 6 ’ it was cramped enough. In my opinion they were a good cheap lorry for about four years and then get rid,as they weren’t as good as the Leylands and other dearer lorries of that time. Coming from Glynneath to the top of Brecon Beacons at the Storey Arms with 10 ton of slag on the back of a TK with a four speed gearbox and no two speed axle was a slow job.
Cheers Dave.
I passed my HGV on a KM bedford and was lucky enough to get a job with J B Carriers from Salford who ran mostly KM’s and a few TK’s,so it was easy for me to start.We mostly loaded tobacco from the docks and took it to the Bonds in Trafford Park, it was only short distance work so a tank of fuel could last all week.I remember one time running out of diesel on the Crescent in Salford.The foreman fitter came out and gave me a right rocket.I said look at diesel gauge,it’s half full.I thought he was going to belt me.GAUGE!,GUAGE! what effin’ use is a gauge he raged DIP IT man DIP IT!! DID NOBODY LEARN YOU NOTHIN’.A valuable lesson.I quite liked the KM’s, nice short gear stick, good all round vision and really easy to drive.
Both petrol engines,worked well in their Heyday, Regards Larry, Photo with the courtesey of Jennifer Young.
Bedford TK 14 ton gross tipper pictured at the Gore quarry brand new to C W Griffiths in 1964.
Petrol engined Bedford S type tipper driven by John Cross for S W Brisbane of Knihgton,Radnorshire in the 1950’s.
Deisel engined Bedford S type driven by John Cross,seen load ing at the Gore quarry circa 1960.
A Bedford TK of S W Brisbane with a young Malcom Cross in the cab,son of John.
Seen at S W Brisbane’s quarry lorry park Knighton,now the site of Owen’s coach depot.
I took this shot one Saturday in 1961 when I was 13 or 14,in Castle street Kendal,it was driven by a Kendal lad,Arthur Wilson who would have been about 22 at that time,he had previously driven for Fred Shaw of Lindale but left him to work for Cyril and Nelson Wearing.They were regular sub-contractors to Robsons of Carlisle but this load of two steel plates was from McKelvies and was destined for Walker Steel Bolton.It must have been a holiday week as I had a trip with this load on the Monday,we reloaded at Tate & Lyle in Liverpool back to a Wholesale grocers in Kendal and I even gave a hand to un-load on the Tuesday morning.IIRC he then had to go Carlisle to Robsons for a reload.Anyway,the motor! it had a Leyland engine,probably a 350 or maybe a 375 and an Eaton 2 speed axle,it had about a 21ft wood ali flat and from memory the steel plates overhung the back end by a few feet which did cause quite a bit of flapping fore and aft !! Happy days,cheers Bewick.