pete smith:
(snip)
I would love to have rebuilt those 09 Scanias and run them for another 7 years, a good example of this is Punchy Dan, that motor of his is a credit to him and does everything a new motor would, BUT if Dan had half a dozen of those Foden Alpha’s who would he get to drive them? He would in the same predicament as Mark is?
That is it rant over, or Mark will have to press those button because it will be all zb’s! Cheer’s Pete
ME!!! In all my driving and fitting career, almost forty years, I never drove or worked on any foreign trucks (and was proud of that fact!) so would have jumped at the chance of carrying on in the same mode. Realistically though, had I been able to continue driving, that would probably have altered. I was offered one job when I was working out my notice from my last employer, the company (Nottingham based but working from local quarries etc) didn’t run any trucks themselves but “Because you have a good work rate when hauling for us” they were prepared to buy a six wheeler Volvo tipper for me to drive for them. I thought that was good of them really! Alas, apart from Stephen Dale, almost everyone local with a fleet of trucks is running non British tackle although there are still a few OD’s around here driving Foden etc and they can repair them themselves with no special equipment. Once an OD has to pay a dealership for previously ‘simple’ repairs the slim profit margin decreases rapidly.
Pete.
Well Pete, We never ran anything but british although we did have a Leyland Daf twin steer unit, You mention owner drivers having to use dealerships for servicing etc, Where I live at Ponteland I see a lot of owner driven 8 wheeler tippers blinged up to the eyeballs, Snowmelting light board Alloy wheels, The are allways shining like ■■■■ on a barn door, They must polish them every night, I dont know what kind of rates they get , But when I was an owner driver running old Fodens I made a very good living, Plus I serviced the wagons myself along with two young sons who were keen to learn as they both in later years became part of our small family run set up, No bling on our motors, A waste of good hard earned money IMO, Regards Larry.
pete smith:
Morning Mark, Ramone and Anorak,
No one is hi-jacking a thread it is all about discussion and opinions, I agree with Mark 100% as I too are finding it hard to comprehend all this “unnecessary crap” and these motors, I’m in the same boat, not my own money like Marks but will get the bullet if I buy wrong 'uns!,
I have gone from Scania’s to Daf’s for the 8 wheel hook loaders which pull drawbar trailers, the Dafs with all this planet saving equipment and side guards and under run bars etc are a ton heavier than the 09 Scania’s and 800 kgs heavier than the 59 plate Dafs and the 59 plate Dafs had hub reduction back ends!
I would love to have rebuilt those 09 Scanias and run them for another 7 years, a good example of this is Punchy Dan, that motor of his is a credit to him and does everything a new motor would, BUT if Dan had half a dozen of those Foden Alpha’s who would he get to drive them? He would in the same predicament as Mark is?
That is it rant over, or Mark will have to press those button because it will be all zb’s! Cheer’s Pete
Pete the slave on the pick up is learning well ,being as he’s never driven for anyone eles and I pay more than most I can’t see the brain washing program ending soon ,infact I may recruit another Virgin slave and up grade the current one to a older motor . P. S thanks for the comments when do you want to start
Hi Dan,
You should have rang me yesterday, the day I had I’d have been straight round mate!
DEANB:
I reckon that Volvo is one of Hayton Coulthard’s own motors chap.
They have a few old ones that they have restored which is nice to see.
0
Morning Dean,
Thanks for the pic,
I think the FL10 may have been a subbie, David pointed out the DT on the roof, the only subbie I remember was Kenny Williamson, Pete
newmercman:
Harvey, some of the lease deals I’ve seen make total sense, it may be something I consider in the future, if the choice is to continually buy new trucks over 5yrs and replace them on a 3yr cycle then I’ll never reach the point where the vehicle is worth more than I owe on it, so a lease with a similar payment is a better deal, any breakdowns are just going to cost the price of a phone call.
A lorry is after all, just a tool to do a job, same as a drill or a shovel, but then again, they’re not just tools are they? If they were none of us would be on this site looking at pictures of lorries and having endless discussions about them.
Good morning “newmercman”,
Sorry cant find your name, yes, you are right to some degree we all love the trucks but I would say most of us oldies love the oldies.
Margins were good, work was plenty and all involved made a fare living, to day is different and we must adapt or go down. I use the term we, lightly.
When looking at “contracting” in its many guises remember small companies sometimes need the assets of trucks, as banks or finance companies will work on NET WORTH when lending to a company and contract vehicles do not represent assets “buisness worth” Your accountant is the only person who can give you the right advise for your company, Only him.
I still get out on a Sunday in a FH12 or MAN but to be fare if it was an F88 it would probably take the rest of the week to get the smile of my face, Cheers mate, Harvey
PS, I am only giving my opinion, not giving advise,
Known locally as Crabbies Crawlers , lumbering up out of Chesterfield loaded with coal and a mile of traffic stuck behind . They were still running the Gardners long after everyone else had moved on .
pete smith:
Morning Mark, Ramone and Anorak,
No one is hi-jacking a thread it is all about discussion and opinions, I agree with Mark 100% as I too are finding it hard to comprehend all this “unnecessary crap” and these motors, I’m in the same boat, not my own money like Marks but will get the bullet if I buy wrong 'uns!,
I have gone from Scania’s to Daf’s for the 8 wheel hook loaders which pull drawbar trailers, the Dafs with all this planet saving equipment and side guards and under run bars etc are a ton heavier than the 09 Scania’s and 800 kgs heavier than the 59 plate Dafs and the 59 plate Dafs had hub reduction back ends!
I would love to have rebuilt those 09 Scanias and run them for another 7 years, a good example of this is Punchy Dan, that motor of his is a credit to him and does everything a new motor would, BUT if Dan had half a dozen of those Foden Alpha’s who would he get to drive them? He would in the same predicament as Mark is?
That is it rant over, or Mark will have to press those button because it will be all zb’s! Cheer’s Pete
Pete the slave on the pick up is learning well ,being as he’s never driven for anyone eles and I pay more than most I can’t see the brain washing program ending soon ,infact I may recruit another Virgin slave and up grade the current one to a older motor . P. S thanks for the comments when do you want to start
Hi Dan,
You should have rang me yesterday, the day I had I’d have been straight round mate!
Just to add I’d be happy to run a version one fh low roof or an EC14 .
Known locally as Crabbies Crawlers , lumbering up out of Chesterfield loaded with coal and a mile of traffic stuck behind . They were still running the Gardners long after everyone else had moved on .
Morning Dave,
Crabbies on par with Sellars and Kent they struggled with them 180’s! Pete
Not sure if its ok to put these on here I will remove them if its a problem. The first one is a row of Volvos with a F88 at the far end.
The second and third are of a scrapyard full of Rolls Royce and Bentleys , if those cars could talk they could tell some tales about the rich and famous
In all my driving and fitting career, almost forty years, I never drove or worked on any foreign trucks (and was proud of that fact!) so would have jumped at the chance of carrying on in the same mode. Realistically though, had I been able to continue driving, that would probably have altered. I was offered one job when I was working out my notice from my last employer, the company (Nottingham based but working from local quarries etc) didn’t run any trucks themselves but “Because you have a good work rate when hauling for us” they were prepared to buy a six wheeler Volvo tipper for me to drive for them. I thought that was good of them really! Alas, apart from Stephen Dale, almost everyone local with a fleet of trucks is running non British tackle although there are still a few OD’s around here driving Foden etc and they can repair them themselves with no special equipment. Once an OD has to pay a dealership for previously ‘simple’ repairs the slim profit margin decreases rapidly.
, But when I was an owner driver running old Fodens I made a very good living, Plus I serviced the wagons myself along with two young sons who were keen to learn as they both in later years became part of our small family run set up, No bling on our motors, A waste of good hard earned money IMO, Regards Larry.
. P. S thanks for the comments when do you want to start 
