steviespain:
Early 80s, Blackpool, small INCREDIBLY HEAVY safe, 3 foot x 3 foot. Stairs. 3rd floor, no lift.
We took it up two floors, it decided to come down the quick way after my mate tripped and lost the trolley handles.
We declined to try again because of the size 10 holes in the stairs where the safe had dropped through.
Not to get too narky about it, but a large part of the blame there has to be worn by the incompetent [deleted] half-wit of an estimator who took the job on without bothering to ask where the load was going, what access was like at the drop and how the customer proposed to pay the extra spons to get a s0dding safe up to the 3rd floor.
Probably just as well you left it in the basement, cos that’s where it would’ve ended up anyway after you’d left it in the hallway of the 3rd floor flat…
Justin Case readers here haven’t stumbled across them, there are two “Flickr Groups” you’ll find diverting, amusing and relevant (not to mention worth spending hours and hours trawling through):
Nice pics. Mebbe it´s just me but I think there is something really pleasing to the eye with these Luton topped, or high cabbed, removals wagons. They look, I dunno, muscular, hard as nails, ready for a tough job.
Of course, I may just be an idiot
oiltreader:
One or two starting with one from the Ronnie Cameron Collection it has an ex Britannia look about it, the rest courtesy of Richard Says.
Oily
Hi Oilly,
Some great pics you have posted there.
The old Scania is an old Burke Bros …it does look like an old Britannia van… had the pleasure of unloading that Shore Porters artic 2 years back at Llandeilo West Wales…fully loaded…take my had off to the driver Ken…he managed to get it through a set of tight gates and up a tight long drive to a Major house…it took some skill and patients. …save a lot of hard work as you can imagine.
smallcoal:
One thing I noticed with pick fords trucks all look shabby on the paintwork
Hi John,
The reason those Pickfords vans look so shabby and rough there days …it’s not the Pickfords that was …it’s privately owned these days …a lot of franchised owner operator’s run them trucks these days…I worked for the old Pickfords …Allied Pickfords that company would never run vehicles that old or in that poor state !
Mark, hopefully when they have exchanged I will be allowed to disclose the address , few trips on the MAN thought if it can get in ,might look to see if some one wants to take a return load down there for us .
oiltreader:
Thanks to all for kind remarks re postings any of you had experience of this kinda thing seen here in Germany
Oily
Hi Oily,
We used same type hoist last year…we moved high value books from the old Swansea Library to the Guild Hall in Swansea…we put them in a strong room at the top of the Guild Hall using the same type hoist…saved one hell of donkey work fantastic bit of kit…also used the same hoist to empty 4th floor flat in Kensington in London…managed to get 85% of household furniture on it to…except big heavy dresser had to be carried down a fire escape…glad to see the dresser in the van at the end
oiltreader:
Thanks to all for kind remarks re postings any of you had experience of this kinda thing seen here in Germany
Oily
Hi Oily,
We used same type hoist last year…we moved high value books from the old Swansea Library to the Guild Hall in Swansea…we put them in a strong room at the top of the Guild Hall using the same type hoist…saved one hell of donkey work fantastic bit of kit…also used the same hoist to empty 4th floor flat in Kensington in London…managed to get 85% of household furniture on it to…except big heavy dresser had to be carried down a fire escape…glad to see the dresser in the van at the end
Regards Mark
Hi Oily & Mark,
In about 1984 we moved the department of National Saving at Durham from a third floor huge office block. The building was on the banks of the river Wear in the City centre and because of the weight of the records it was collapsing. It was a massive job which had to be undertaken between Christmas Eve and New Years day, and we had to employ sub contactors to dismantle miles of rack upon rack of shelving and records and reassemble in new building about a mile away. About 30 to 40 van loads from memory and there was a penalty clause if we did not compete on time, which we did.
From memory it was the Passport Office that was situated below and so we were not able to use their lifts,as that would have disrupted their work, so one of the conditions was we had to build an enclosed outdoor lift. We hired a industrial fork lift truck and used one of our storage container, whitch we put doors at either side and felted top to protect from weather.
We had to recruit about 30 female workers to file into Retacrates and refile into the newly reassembled shelving, and it had to be in precise order so that their staff could return after the Christmas-New Year breake and able to work as though nothing had been moved. So not the same as your photo, but probably a similar job
oiltreader:
Thanks to all for kind remarks re postings any of you had experience of this kinda thing seen here in Germany
Oily
Hi Oily,
We used same type hoist last year…we moved high value books from the old Swansea Library to the Guild Hall in Swansea…we put them in a strong room at the top of the Guild Hall using the same type hoist…saved one hell of donkey work fantastic bit of kit…also used the same hoist to empty 4th floor flat in Kensington in London…managed to get 85% of household furniture on it to…except big heavy dresser had to be carried down a fire escape…glad to see the dresser in the van at the end
steviespain:
Early 80s, Blackpool, small INCREDIBLY HEAVY safe, 3 foot x 3 foot. Stairs. 3rd floor, no lift.
We took it up two floors, it decided to come down the quick way after my mate tripped and lost the trolley handles.
We declined to try again because of the size 10 holes in the stairs where the safe had dropped through.
Not to get too narky about it, but a large part of the blame there has to be worn by the incompetent [deleted] half-wit of an estimator who took the job on without bothering to ask where the load was going, what access was like at the drop and how the customer proposed to pay the extra spons to get a s0dding safe up to the 3rd floor.
Probably just as well you left it in the basement, cos that’s where it would’ve ended up anyway after you’d left it in the hallway of the 3rd floor flat…
Sorry mate, didn´t see this until now.
Yes, I totally agree. But what did I know. I was a fresh out of the Army, naive, thick as pigshit, class 2 driver. No experience of the removals game at all.
I only got the gi because my Mum´s best friend had been at school with one of the bosses.
And the firm was more general haulage with a sideline in removals.
I wouldn´t say I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was definitely an experience I´m glad I had.
