I had our first M.A.N. it was a 1983 240 with a 6 speed ZF splitter box a Y registration iirc, it was a bit unusual in that the lower gears were by the driver and you worked your way towards the passenger side for the higher gears.
I had it for about 4yrs and it never put a foot wrong and on the strength of that we bought 4 new 291’s with the Eaton Twin Splitter and what a great motor they were, they pulled really well, were easy to drive and were reliable, the Drivers loved them.
When we packed up in 1990 most of the Tipper firms had M.A.N.'s they were everywhere, reading a few posts on here it seems that they fell out of bed.
What happened to M.A.N. for them to fall out of favour the way they did.
I remember seeing a few Hino’s about, now it seems all Scania…
Well, like yourself, when I was driving tippers for a living 18+ years ago MAN eightwheelers were everywhere on muckshifting and quarry work, Slinter Mining at Cromford and Leedale Plant had nothing else but MAN’s, as did a few OD’s on similar work. However now Slinter buy Scania’s when the MAN’s come up for replacement so something has obviously changed, but just what I do not know? I would be interested to find the reason though!
Actually, thinking back, there were many local firms that ran them, having a dealer at Kilburn (Kniftons) helped I suppose? Bill Wood, Bill Mountain, Tony Doxey, Alan Shimwell, Longcliffe Quarries, Don Fox, John Upton, George Wright and many more operated them in both eight and six and four wheeler form.
windrush:
Well, like yourself, when I was driving tippers for a living 18+ years ago MAN eightwheelers were everywhere on muckshifting and quarry work, Slinter Mining at Cromford and Leedale Plant had nothing else but MAN’s, as did a few OD’s on similar work. However now Slinter buy Scania’s when the MAN’s come up for replacement so something has obviously changed, but just what I do not know? I would be interested to find the reason though!
Actually, thinking back, there were many local firms that ran them, having a dealer at Kilburn (Kniftons) helped I suppose? Bill Wood, Bill Mountain, Tony Doxey, Alan Shimwell, Longcliffe Quarries, Don Fox, John Upton, George Wright and many more operated them in both eight and six and four wheeler form.
Pete.
Hi Pete
When I was a kid there was a company called Kniftons that ran tippers, red TK’s and Traders (4 wheelers), came out of Enfield or around that area.
Not a common name so maybe a connection…
My dad drove MAN trucks most of working life.He had a scammell handyman then got the first MAN truck the company ever bought 16.232 with column gear change.A big difference from the scammell.Me and my brother were always with him travelling around the uk.We loved it especially with it having a double bunk.He ended up with a couple of 16.280 after that a good truck in its day.If you go on to h brown and son barnsley forum I have put some photos of them on the site.
windrush:
Well, like yourself, when I was driving tippers for a living 18+ years ago MAN eightwheelers were everywhere on muckshifting and quarry work, Slinter Mining at Cromford and Leedale Plant had nothing else but MAN’s, as did a few OD’s on similar work. However now Slinter buy Scania’s when the MAN’s come up for replacement so something has obviously changed, but just what I do not know? I would be interested to find the reason though!
Actually, thinking back, there were many local firms that ran them, having a dealer at Kilburn (Kniftons) helped I suppose? Bill Wood, Bill Mountain, Tony Doxey, Alan Shimwell, Longcliffe Quarries, Don Fox, John Upton, George Wright and many more operated them in both eight and six and four wheeler form.
Pete.
No Scanias at slinters Pete ,I think my relative drove the last one an 06 reg then he had a Man before retirement
The MANs we run have been bad .We had some 06 and 07 plates which i think were bought on the strength of older MANs being good. Then in 2011 we had 3 8 wheelers one hook lift 2 tippers and we also aquired a 6 x 4 unit . One of the tippers is used for spares the other two eight wheelers are in use when they aren’t broken down . The 6 x 4 unit was in and out of the dealer from new , this was on a R & M contract and is still not right now. They couldn’t solve a limp mode problem it still has even though they would keep it in for a week or two at a time i know two of the 8 wheelers have had engine replacements and i think the one that’s used for spares has had the engine go twice. The service is bad they never have spares in stock . I remember a few years back in a previous job we had a big fleet of Hill Hire trailers and their drivers would come and collect trailers for test and they always came in newish MANs i asked why and they said because they dlidn’t trust them they were always breaking down and they couldn’t get the parts , apart from that they were ok … by the way Mercs
are no better
Punchy Dan:
0
No Scanias at slinters Pete ,I think my relative drove the last one an 06 reg then he had a Man before retirement
I thought that readymix truck of theirs was a Scania Dan, but I am easily confused these days! You must agree that MAN’s were everywhere at one time in this area, they must have been decent trucks? I think they were on the heavy side though.
ramone:
… newish MANs i asked why and they said because they dlidn’t trust them they were always breaking down and they couldn’t get the parts , apart from that they were ok … by the way Mercs
are no better
What has happened to Germany? Those two stood out as reliable, well-engineered vehicles in the 1970s, according to my reading of things. It seems that Renault and Iveco are more highly regarded nowadays.
ramone:
… newish MANs i asked why and they said because they dlidn’t trust them they were always breaking down and they couldn’t get the parts , apart from that they were ok … by the way Mercs
are no better
What has happened to Germany? Those two stood out as reliable, well-engineered vehicles in the 1970s, according to my reading of things. It seems that Renault and Iveco are more highly regarded nowadays.
They have been found out. After years of propaganda about how superior German engineering was they have been found out to be no better than anyone else and considerably worse than many others. I’ve bad experiences with M.A.N. engines from a few years ago.
ramone:
… newish MANs i asked why and they said because they dlidn’t trust them they were always breaking down and they couldn’t get the parts , apart from that they were ok … by the way Mercs
are no better
What has happened to Germany? Those two stood out as reliable, well-engineered vehicles in the 1970s, according to my reading of things. It seems that Renault and Iveco are more highly regarded nowadays.
They have been found out. After years of propaganda about how superior German engineering was they have been found out to be no better than anyone else and considerably worse than many others. I’ve bad experiences with M.A.N. engines from a few years ago.
Hi Graham,
It is the opposite for myself, I run MAN 440 tractor units, only have 5 left on the fleet now but they have always been serviced by a main dealer and have never put a foot wrong, the ages range from an 11 plate to a 66 plate. The 18 tonner I had, well that was aquired through a take over and to be fair to the motor it had had a hard life, don’t think it had ever had the sump plug out so you can’t blame the motor if it was neglected, Cheer’s Pete
We had a persistent fault with the 6 x 4 going into limp mode , it would go to the dealers they would keep it for a week or so then it would come out and the fault would be back.On one occasion it didn’t get back to our yard . The R&M is now long expired but the fault is still there 3 years on as i found out a couple of weeks ago when i drove it. Our mechanic said they had spent £thousands at the dealers with an ebs brake fault and the light is still on , could be the dealer but i wouldn’t buy one.Out of the frying pan into the fire Mercs arrived 10 i think but i did notice a new Daf the other day. The Mercs are that bad i’m keeping my 10 year old manual Daf
I’ve driven them on and off going right back to a 232 with column change, had 331’s that pulled really well, an F90 that was stupidly fast but lacked the sheer guts of the 331’s, drove a few 332’s (5 cylinder engine as i recall), again no trouble to speak of.
They lost the plot with the euro 5 EGR engine, but they are back and improved in all ways, both the vehicles and the dealer we use who could not be more helpful.
Still a little old fashioned and none the worse for that, to date no MAN has ever let me down, drivetrain is bomb proof, the same cannot be said for any other make, the tie in of MAN and Scania can be nothing but good.
Not cheap spares but if you have them on R&M and employ drivers who take a bit of care and pride then running costs are as good as anything else and the vehicles are proving completely reliable.
Juddian:
I’ve driven them on and off going right back to a 232 with column change, had 331’s that pulled really well, an F90 that was stupidly fast but lacked the sheer guts of the 331’s, drove a few 332’s (5 cylinder engine as i recall), again no trouble to speak of.
They lost the plot with the euro 5 EGR engine, but they are back and improved in all ways, both the vehicles and the dealer we use who could not be more helpful.
Still a little old fashioned and none the worse for that, to date no MAN has ever let me down, drivetrain is bomb proof, the same cannot be said for any other make, the tie in of MAN and Scania can be nothing but good.
Not cheap spares but if you have them on R&M and employ drivers who take a bit of care and pride then running costs are as good as anything else and the vehicles are proving completely reliable.
Those old 331s (and the 280s before that) with the stick-shift 13-sp Fuller in them were good tools. Also good were the early F90s with the Eaton Twin-splitters that followed them. Shame they went over the sluggish ZF Eco-split sychro box. Ro
ramone:
… newish MANs i asked why and they said because they dlidn’t trust them they were always breaking down and they couldn’t get the parts , apart from that they were ok … by the way Mercs
are no better
What has happened to Germany? Those two stood out as reliable, well-engineered vehicles in the 1970s, according to my reading of things. It seems that Renault and Iveco are more highly regarded nowadays.
They have been found out. After years of propaganda about how superior German engineering was they have been found out to be no better than anyone else and considerably worse than many others. I’ve bad experiences with M.A.N. engines from a few years ago.
Hi Graham,
It is the opposite for myself, I run MAN 440 tractor units, only have 5 left on the fleet now but they have always been serviced by a main dealer and have never put a foot wrong, the ages range from an 11 plate to a 66 plate. The 18 tonner I had, well that was aquired through a take over and to be fair to the motor it had had a hard life, don’t think it had ever had the sump plug out so you can’t blame the motor if it was neglected, Cheer’s Pete
Which proves proper maintenance is the way ahead , far to many operators out there never put a spanner near a motor then complain when they go wrong .
I always enjoyed seeing the 8 wheel MAN tippers owned by Rushcliffe Fuels of Ollerton , they were normally painted bottle green and always were well turned out by the drivers .
You must agree that MAN’s were everywhere at one time in this area, they must have been decent trucks? I think they were on the heavy side though.