An internal truck at Ballidon quarry that fed the block plant. There are pics of it when working in the Peak District thread. Driven by the late Roy Beresford, it probably still has the logo ‘BEZ’ written on the front panel. It had the cleanest cab interior you would ever have seen but possibly not now! I believe it is missing its engine and gearbox, although I think they are still close by? The owner wont sell it.
in northamptonshire there is a small fleet of hard working 6 wheel and artic effluent tankers , foden alpha’s from r reg to about 52 plate , pale green but i can never make out the name on them ,handily the council have put either weight limits or removed bridges on every road to where they tip , apart from the one outside my house , so i get the pleasure of listening to ■■■■■■■ and cats every day of the week .
windrush:
We had a few of those dumpers. I rebuilt the ■■■■■■■ 220 engines in a couple of them (lapping in 24 valves was ‘fun’ ) and changed many a rear spring, usually on overtime, as they kept them running all day and they were bloody heavy springs!! Had a couple of Atkinson’s as well but this is a Foden thread.
Pete.
As a youngster I used to see Foden dumpers used in a sand and gravel quarry in Hainult, Essex. I used to cut across an adjacent track on my way to school. They struck me as tough as tough old thing being loaded without much care by a Ruston drag line.
But what was really interesting was when one was out of use and was replaced by a couple of TK tippers. Whereas the Fodens would take 2 or 3 buckets with ease the poor 120" wheelbase TKs (normally used on-road for sand or gravel deliveries) took one. And most of that spilled everywhere as the TK crashed down onto its bumpstops! It then slowly pulled itself out of the quarry to go to the processing plant. It was sad to see the TKs hammered this way but I imagine work had to go on…
A very evocative picture, as Lawrence says, a very neat load of sacks and the nice clean lorry in wartime rig. Hooded lights and mudguards picked out in white.
Also notice the smart driver with his collar and tie, not a sign of the sweaty business of handballing all the those bags. and the belt tight around is belly, no hernia for him . I can just imagine him taking each one off the conveyor on his shoulder, in exactly the right position (too far back and it bends him backwards, too far forward and a danger of him being pitched on his face ) and running the length of the bed to drop it precisely in its correct position. Then racing back to catch the next one before it drops to the deck.
Is he going far, I wonder, is the joy of roping and sheeting still to come Or perhaps just a well placed cross and a final tightener across the heel of the last bags?
Oh yes, I have been there and done that. What memories.
If my info is correct all those bags of sugar would have lead seals on the top where the string fastened them up. However, my long gone old Pal Dud Allen who drove for R O Hodgsons of Milnthorpe throughout WW2 carrying T & L sugar mainly to Barrow-in-Furness. Well he told me that neither him or half of the populace of Milnthorpe ever experienced a sugar shortage ! So on his way Barrow more or less every day he would stop to have his snap and while he was sat on the nearside verge he would jab a pencil into a sack and sit quietly having his brew while the sugar trickled into his lunch box ( bit like and egg timer) and when it was full he would rub the hole in the hessian sack closed with his thumb ! Job done and lead seals still in tacked ! Cheers Bewick
coomsey:
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A Minky. Look at the size of the wing mirror !!
That’s huge Coomsey , My first Foden had the original 5x3 ball mounted ones . Gaffer was too tight to change them unless.
you managed to ip one off completely , then you had the “no profit in the job if you do damage like that “moan .
coomsey:
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A Minky. Look at the size of the wing mirror !!
That’s huge Coomsey , My first Foden had the original 5x3 ball mounted ones . Gaffer was too tight to change them unless.
you managed to ip one off completely , then you had the “no profit in the job if you do damage like that “moan .
Yes I had em on my MMouse , more for show I reckon. Went on to an ERF with the big long mirrors n could actually see what was going on, which was just as well cos that’s when I started overtaking other motors
Overtaking !!! When I was an apprentice in the quarry garage an old driver on a 40s DG 8 wheeler did one load a day to Castleford glassworks from Buxton and got 14hours for it . Brakes were servo assisted rod brakes , no newfangled hydraulics .
rigsby:
Overtaking !!! When I was an apprentice in the quarry garage an old driver on a 40s DG 8 wheeler did one load a day to Castleford glassworks from Buxton and got 14hours for it . Brakes were servo assisted rod brakes , no newfangled hydraulics .
Overtaking? I had to! I’d gone from 49mph to warp speed 59 mph !! Put the fear of God into me
rigsby:
Overtaking !!! When I was an apprentice in the quarry garage an old driver on a 40s DG 8 wheeler did one load a day to Castleford glassworks from Buxton and got 14hours for it . Brakes were servo assisted rod brakes , no newfangled hydraulics .
Overtaking? I had to! I’d gone from 49mph to warp speed 59 mph !! Put the fear of God into me
That reminds me of early 80s , I had a haulmaster unit , 68mph flat out . Fuller 9speed broke the main shaft so they got a second hand overdrive Fuller 9 speed . Bloody hell it was frightening , engine fitter , a brainy lad worked out that it was capable of low 90s mph . I only know that I came back empty from Llanwern steel works to Buxton late one evening in 2hrs 40mins . It still did 68 in top and then into overdrive , had some fun with Midland Red buses on the M6 .
rigsby:
Overtaking !!! When I was an apprentice in the quarry garage an old driver on a 40s DG 8 wheeler did one load a day to Castleford glassworks from Buxton and got 14hours for it . Brakes were servo assisted rod brakes , no newfangled hydraulics .
Overtaking? I had to! I’d gone from 49mph to warp speed 59 mph !! Put the fear of God into me
That reminds me of early 80s , I had a haulmaster unit , 68mph flat out . Fuller 9speed broke the main shaft so they got a second hand overdrive Fuller 9 speed . Bloody hell it was frightening , engine fitter , a brainy lad worked out that it was capable of low 90s mph . I only know that I came back empty from Llanwern steel works to Buxton late one evening in 2hrs 40mins . It still did 68 in top and then into overdrive , had some fun with Midland Red buses on the M6 .
) and changed many a rear spring, usually on overtime, as they kept them running all day and they were bloody heavy springs!! Had a couple of Atkinson’s as well but this is a Foden thread. 
. I can just imagine him taking each one off the conveyor on his shoulder, in exactly the right position (too far back and it bends him backwards, too far forward and a danger of him being pitched on his face 
) and running the length of the bed to drop it precisely in its correct position. Then racing back to catch the next one before it drops to the deck.
Or perhaps just a well placed cross and a final tightener across the heel of the last bags?
Cheers Bewick
