Saviem's fan club (Part 1)

[saviem]

Evening Gentlemen, well what do you do, the fields, (paddy fields), are too wet to get on to do what we should do, (even the sandy ones)! So we cut hedges, replace gates, load the wheat tippers inside the grain store, shove the spuds out of the door, look at the ■■■■, deepen the ditches, watch the water gushing past, wonder why we have just had the mother and father of thunder storms in January!!! And do what mankind has always done in the past…hope for the best!!!

My heart goes out to those who are really affected by this change of climate…for that is what it is, we are not too bad, most of our ground is sandy, but we have a lot on Kuper Marl…and you do not wish, ever , to be on that in the wet, believe me… But it aint like the Somerset Levels…beautiful bit of England, and should have been drained well by now, (hey, today received my reprimand from the Enviroment Agency, regarding deepening Pickens Brook)…put it in the pending file, (next to the shredder), what utter guff…At least the inhabitents of the “executive houses”, aint got water in their kitchens…yet!!

Maggie D, never ever thought that you were a Midlander! (Your lorries looked too posh)!!

My friend Barry Gibson…what could one ever say. No, I would have been in his fan club!! Part of the long line of “Foden” Gibsons, a real professional, (in the true meaning of the word). Probably the best, most “savvy” After Sales person ever in the UK Renault Trucks set up. I think that he must have joined them in the 70s, probably when my successor in Italy, Jean Paul Nivolet, joined them. Following the transfer, (and sadly later death in a car accident , of Pim Van Van Den Berg, promoted to being the head of Renault Agriculture)…and Pim would have been a class , (if not Tornado like), act to follow!!

Barry was a lorry man through and through. He knew what was needed to keep Hire and Reward men going, and did everything to do so. He and I shared a similar “bolshovic” sense of humer , and perhaps were never “corporate men”!!! And of course having had many years driving Fodens for a living, he and I had many common loves, and knowledge.(A holiday visit, and great day out to that most Foden, of companys Fairwood Engineering of Swansea is still vivid in my mind)!!!

Often Barry would ring me, wherever in the world I was, and outline a problem, and could I help? The beauty of working within an organisation was knowing who did what…who “hated” who, and just simply , how could you bypass the system!!! And the “strokes” that we pulled off…great fun, great enjoyment at “beating” the system, and the end user benefited, and most important…he never knew what we had done!!! Gentlemen, believe me its all about the people…not the product!!!

Fun…how about “wangling” the warranty on faulty Magnum engines…long after I had left RVI…!!!

Barry Gibson was really one of the best…I miss him, (and Margaret), now both sadly gone…and I wonder if those silk suited corporate men of today, even realise just how he, (and others like him), kept the flag flying for Renault in the UK…even if the "sun soaked CGT labour force in Lyon, really did not have a clue!!!

Richard, Im not far from Albrighton, some of my land is close by White Ladies Priory, but the most is around the Blackladies…

I expect you will remember just how those Sealand and District 8 wheeled Leylands used to power through Albrighton centre, (long before the A41 ByPass), with scrap right up to the top of those bulging timber sideboards hell bent on getting to Shotton!!!

Thank you for the memories…Barry Gibson, I raise my glass to you…a true “unsung” hero, and my friend, (and I wish he was here now)!!

Sante, mes amis, Im sad, and happy…

Cheerio for now…for tomorrow the COUNCIL COMMETH…White Hard Hats, and yellow coats…no doubt!!!

[dave_the_renegade]

Hi John,
Sad to hear of a decent lorry man gone RIP. A good mate of mine asked a V###o dealer for a quote for a new lorry last August,never received a quote or anything else. He now has a new Daf sat in his shed all paid for, no finance,all ready to roll in the spring. As he says there’s nothing wrong with the country, its the people who are the problem, half of them don’t want your business.
Bought a bag of Estima today £6 off a Herefordshire farmer, good value.
Cheers Dave.

[bma_finland]

hello saviem ,no more to say mate ,cheers benkku

[saviem]

Hej Benkku , you have it in one, that is the best drawing you have ever done…it captures, (in my opinion), what has captivated us all!!! And, (I hope you do not mind), I , (with other more useful help), downloaded the original, and it hangs on my (new), office wall…you got it in one, and I value it tremendously!!! Good luck, and keep drawing!!

Dave, good buy, 25kg, or 50■■ 25 was ok…50 Im out of businesss for ever…Enjoy them my friend

Cheerio for now.

[dave_the_renegade]

Saviem:
Hej Benkku , you have it in one, that is the best drawing you have ever done…it captures, (in my opinion), what has captivated us all!!! And, (I hope you do not mind), I , (with other more useful help), downloaded the original, and it hangs on my (new), office wall…you got it in one, and I value it tremendously!!! Good luck, and keep drawing!!

Dave, good buy, 25kg, or 50■■ 25 was ok…50 Im out of businesss for ever…Enjoy them my friend

Cheerio for now.

25kg John, bought them off these people many times before. Six varieties to choose from, always stuck with estima, as they are a good all round spud, as you know.
Cheers Dave.

[buzzer]

Hi Saviem here is a picture of my trusty 590 Massey Ferguson 1980 vintage, I purchased it 5 years ago for 4K and its worth more now than when I bought it and it does every thing it says on the tin as well. When I got it home it had 15 consecutive tax discs from the previous owner and I am the third registered keeper, cheers Buzzer.

[truckfing]

Not mine but I never thought I’d be able to use these pictures anywhere.

[wheel_nut]

Retired Old ■■■■:

Bewick:
I’ve been appointed Treasurer,subs must be sent in cash,in a brown envelope please,and if we must we will reluctantly take subs from our “overseas” members in Euros! Bewick. !

I’m blowed if I’m trusting Bewick with my subs- he’ll only fritter it away on stupid training schemes.

or a very rare single malt!

[wheel_nut]

Denis and Mr Unwin discussing the fan club

I have to say how much I agree with Kevmac and thank him for this thread. It has made me smile right through it. I have a lot of respect for Saviem too, not quite as much as Ralph has for Ted though.

[bma_finland]

well yes saviem ,think i know what you say, im a scania man not for superm tecnicks but foor FEELING a
VALTRA in your work?

[bewick]

Wheel Nut:
Denis and Mr Unwin discussing the fan club

I have to say how much I agree with Kevmac and thank him for this thread. It has made me smile right through it. I have a lot of respect for Saviem too, not quite as much as Ralph has for Ted though.

Mr. Unwin has succeeded me as Treasurer of the Fan Club,reckons he has far more experience handling OPM than I ever had Cheers Dennis.

[buzzer]

bma.finland:
0
well yes saviem ,think i know what you say, im a scania man not for superm tecnicks but foor FEELING a
VALTRA in your work?

Now that is a good drawing, cheers Buzzer.

[dave_the_renegade]

truckfing:
Not mine but I never thought I’d be able to use these pictures anywhere.

Here’s a Fendt to compare.

[retired_old_fart]

Translate the word, “compare”!
Personally, I’d rather have the old Fordson Major, Perkins P6, FULL air con.

[saviem]

Evening all, wow, bma, that really is a super drawing…bang on…and yes I still like my Valtra!..but she is hardly broken in yet!!!

Buzzer, I just cannot believe the prices some of these old tractors make…and they do not have to be tidy. Cherish yours, she will make you money, and be fun to operate.

Now Dave, you are out to cause trouble…Mr Fendts latest “Dieselross”. I have only ever owned one Fendt, a little 714, but what a worker, even with that "sliding " gearbox!

Most of us hereabouts are split between Massey, and John Deere. Personally I prefer the Deere`s, but both products are good…really rests on dealer support. We have a couple of 7920s, well looked after so the hours really do not show, then there is “Big Bertha”, on her tracks a gem on cultivation, and the Deere computers, well even I can understand them!!..but a tricky so and so, on a wet road with a power press front and back!!!..and with a trailer…remember how skittish those early BMC, and Commer 8ft wheelbase tractor units were…she is just like that , no probably worse!!!

My first “big” tractor was a Mercedes MB Trac1500. Bit old, but affordable, and just like a 1628 tractor unit, solid to drive, sounded gutless, but could do amazing amounts of work in the field, and lugging trailers…“.is it loaded”? She was great…another I should never have sold.

Cut my teeth on David Brown Cropmasters up on the Shropshire hills at Church Stretton, …the relentless battle against Bracken and Gorse, (and the plant always wins), but those Cropmasters were a very stable design on a steep hillside, and I always thought them a handsome machine to look at, and admire. And quiet, so you could sneak through Rattlinghope at the dead of night on a “mission”!!!

Happy days, feeling the sun beating down…or the relentless rain dripping through the sacking, jacket, and shirt…maybe things have improved!

Cheerio for now.

[buzzer]

Hi Sir Saviem, such as your status is rapidly becoming, I also remember the old DB cropmaster and from memory it had a bench seat so you could take your girl with you while chain harrowing. Very thoughtful of DB, cheers Buzzer.

PS. article in Commical Motor on Davies this week.

[sammyopisite]

Does one have to be of a certain standing to join this fan club or are ill educated retired as beens allowed to join, I use your knowledgeable posts to attempt to improve my reading skills as I am going to be a literate “as been” by the time a turn 70 ( that will be counted in months not years in a few weeks ) so if you consider these impairments acceptable you can count me in.

cheers Johnnie

P S It is not my fault as I am told that I was not wired up correctly at birth by my carer

[rigsby]

i have it on good authority that if you were locked in a room alone you would fall out with yourself by teatime ! any road , I’ve not seen much of you on here of late , have you been somewhere nice ? cheers , dave

[sammyopisite]

Hi Dave the matron as increased my medicine dosage and she lost the key to my room and if it was not for the padding I could have fallen and injured myself I have just been a bit busy and not had the time and I am at a loss to know how I found time to work hope you are both well

cheers Johnnie

[rigsby]

life of rielly here johnnie , son’s wife has inherited a very large sum of money and indulges us shamelessly . i really want to object but i force myself to smile and say thank you . in the interest of family unity you understand . don’t tell harry gill though , he thinks i’m as poor as a church mouse and he might be after a sub if he finds out . cheers , dave