We had an ex Halls & Co 6whl Guy Warrior, with a Leyland engine and Gearbox, I’m pretty sure the Reg No was 952 BOY and the fleet number was 2828, I distinctly remember the fleet number because our house number was 28.
It had a short wheelbase compared to other 6wheelers that we had at that time, it was a bit bouncy empty due to the wheelbase and the alloy body fitted, one of my Dad’s Brothers who drove it for a time said that it had a tendency to want to go straight on when loaded especially doing slow tight turns that needed a little bit of boot.
I liked it, as a kid I thought it was a good looking motor and quite impressive, Dad sold it on to an owner driver who had it for a couple of years.
From what I heard as a kid and I’ve no idea if this is true, Halls blanked off top gear because they considered them to be fast, the one we had still had 6th gear so I don’t know if it was missed out because it was being sold or it’s a complete load of nonsense and just one of those stories that you hear.
All my Dad’s side of the family are no longer with us, just wondering if anybody on here could confirm or deny this little tale.
Guy Big J 8lxb:
We had an ex Halls & Co 6whl Guy Warrior, with a Leyland engine and Gearbox, I’m pretty sure the Reg No was 952 BOY and the fleet number was 2828, I distinctly remember the fleet number because our house number was 28.
It had a short wheelbase compared to other 6wheelers that we had at that time, it was a bit bouncy empty due to the wheelbase and the alloy body fitted, one of my Dad’s Brothers who drove it for a time said that it had a tendency to want to go straight on when loaded especially doing slow tight turns that needed a little bit of boot.
I liked it, as a kid I thought it was a good looking motor and quite impressive, Dad sold it on to an owner driver who had it for a couple of years.
From what I heard as a kid and I’ve no idea if this is true, Halls blanked off top gear because they considered them to be fast, the one we had still had 6th gear so I don’t know if it was missed out because it was being sold or it’s a complete load of nonsense and just one of those stories that you hear.
All my Dad’s side of the family are no longer with us, just wondering if anybody on here could confirm or deny this little tale.
RJ
Or perhaps Halls simply unblanked the top gear for a realistic re-sale.
One of my earliest memories of lorries as a small child was seeing Hall & CO’s red tippers belching out black as they staggered up hills. Sticking in mind isbeing stuck behind a Halls tipper all the way up the hill on the A449 to Wynds Point near Malvern and Remenham Hill near Henley where I remember one of their Guy Warriors coming up incredibly slowly as we were going down.
As for blocking off the fastest gear, it would be relatively simple and the only relaible way, to block of the lever position in the relay box for the lever underneath the gearstick. That said for a Leyland 600 powered Guy it would probably have only revved to 1800 flat out, so this I guess was an overdrive 'box since otherwise the lorry would have been really slow.
cav551:
One of my earliest memories of lorries as a small child was seeing Hall & CO’s red tippers belching out black as they staggered up hills. Sticking in mind isbeing stuck behind a Halls tipper all the way up the hill on the A449 to Wynds Point near Malvern and Remenham Hill near Henley where I remember one of their Guy Warriors coming up incredibly slowly as we were going down.
As for blocking off the fastest gear, it would be relatively simple and the only relaible way, to block of the lever position in the relay box for the lever underneath the gearstick. That said for a Leyland 600 powered Guy it would probably have only revved to 1800 flat out, so this I guess was an overdrive 'box since otherwise the lorry would have been really slow.
We had 2 Super Comet (LAD) 4 wheelers also at that time, they both had the 400 and 6speed overdrive box, I’m pretty sure the Guy had the same engine and box, thanks for the reply
Thanks so much for the pics, they took me right back, the 12yr old boy in me was grinning from ear to ear.
I’m pretty sure about the fleet number of ours but, doing the maths, I make fleet number 3757/ 929 vehicles later than ours, I know Halls were a fairly big outfit back in the day but, getting on for almost a thousand vehicles later puts a bit of doubt in my head, of course there is a chance that the numbers didn’t run consecutively, thank you once more for the pics, your a gent
Greetings,All.
I worked for Hall’s in the early sixties and drove one of the Warriors.Fleet No. 3609,Reg. 936 AVB. The engine was a 400 Leyland
and it had a 5 speed gearbox. They did not like turning corners when loaded and were quite bouncy at times.The only 0.600 engines we had were fitted into the Leyland Octopus,mostly moving Fly Ash from Battersea Power Station to Wraysbury,one of the Hall sandpits.
All the best to you all,stay safe,900x20.
900X20:
Greetings,All.
I worked for Hall’s in the early sixties and drove one of the Warriors.Fleet No. 3609,Reg. 936 AVB. The engine was a 400 Leyland
and it had a 5 speed gearbox. They did not like turning corners when loaded and were quite bouncy at times.The only 0.600 engines we had were fitted into the Leyland Octopus,mostly moving Fly Ash from Battersea Power Station to Wraysbury,one of the Hall sandpits.
All the best to you all,stay safe,900x20.
Thanks for the reply 900x20, would you happen to know if the gearbox had the overdrive blanked off, I’m just wondering whether the fleet numbers had any reflection on the depot they were from, maybe this would account for the substantial gap or of course, I’m completely wrong
900X20:
Greetings,All.
I worked for Hall’s in the early sixties and drove one of the Warriors.Fleet No. 3609,Reg. 936 AVB. The engine was a 400 Leyland
and it had a 5 speed gearbox. They did not like turning corners when loaded and were quite bouncy at times.The only 0.600 engines we had were fitted into the Leyland Octopus,mostly moving Fly Ash from Battersea Power Station to Wraysbury,one of the Hall sandpits.
All the best to you all,stay safe,900x20.
Thanks for the reply 900x20, would you happen to know if the gearbox had the overdrive blanked off, I’m just wondering whether the fleet numbers had any reflection on the depot they were from, maybe this would account for the substantial gap or of course, I could be completely wrong
The gearbox behind the Leyland O.400 engine was an Albion made 'box, which was basically a 5-speed 'box with a 6th, overdrive gear bolted on the back of the casing. It was a simple job to remove it and have a 5-speed 'box, or vice-versa, convert a 5-speed 'box into a 6-speed. There was a strong recommendation to drivers to never engage overdrive at less than 35 mph with a loaded lorry, and that would definitely apply to a loaded 6-wheeler.
gingerfold:
The gearbox behind the Leyland O.400 engine was an Albion made 'box, which was basically a 5-speed 'box with a 6th, overdrive gear bolted on the back of the casing. It was a simple job to remove it and have a 5-speed 'box, or vice-versa, convert a 5-speed 'box into a 6-speed. There was a strong recommendation to drivers to never engage overdrive at less than 35 mph with a loaded lorry, and that would definitely apply to a loaded 6-wheeler.
That was my Dad’s philosophy about the overdrive, If he thought you were dogging the lorry, you were gone, thanks for the reply
