rigsby:
A bit of badge engineering on the atki nathan . gardner 240 on the grill , but the headboard is close to the cab . dave
I know very little of Atkis, Seddons, SedAtkis Dave (except a demo I had on Smiths years ago was crap) but I thought 240 was a bit overpowered, at a guess I’d say 150-180 going by its’ age.
Hiya,
It’s time this was given “star billing” again, I’m slowly working my way through from
page one just in case I’ve missed anything, I’m trying to find a picture or two of a
very small firm (four motors) S Dean and Sons of Watery Lane Darwen a tidier and
well maintained fleet would be more difficult to find, I drove his only artic an Atki
Borderer which he bought because I had a class 1 HGV licence and had been only
driving a four wheel Dodge a total change for me rarely having driven four wheel
vehicles so it was a bit like being on holiday all the time, the loads all being forked
on and usually craned off and usually one droppers, I wonder what happened to
them ■■ I know they are no longer in business, happy days.
thanks harry, long retired
rigsby:
A bit of badge engineering on the atki nathan . gardner 240 on the grill , but the headboard is close to the cab . dave
Actually, the badge isn’t telling lies. That wagon really does have an 8LXB installed, and a Fuller Roadranger behind it too. The owner is apparently going to put the correct radiator shroud on it when time permits. The headboard on the body is positioned almost exactly two cylinders beyond the back of the cab… 
marky:
rigsby:
A bit of badge engineering on the atki nathan . gardner 240 on the grill , but the headboard is close to the cab . daveActually, the badge isn’t telling lies. That wagon really does have an 8LXB installed, and a Fuller Roadranger behind it too. The owner is apparently going to put the correct radiator shroud on it when time permits. The headboard on the body is positioned almost exactly two cylinders beyond the back of the cab…
Hiya,
But why a 240 when it’s only a six wheeler where a 180 would have been more than
adequate unless of course it was permanently pulling a drawbar trailer a bit like a
sledgehammer being used to crack the proverbial walnut methinks.
thanks harry, long retired.
You remember what the Americans used to say, H? There ain’t no substitute for cubic inches!
Retired Old ■■■■:
You remember what the Americans used to say, H? There ain’t no substitute for cubic inches!
Hiya,
ROF my old mate have done a bit of holiday driving around America and I must
say I didn’t come across any Atkis and certainly none engined with the Gardner
240 powerhouse, maybe the just use em’ on neet trunk summat to do with all
the pollution which is very obvious on early morning start-ups.
thanks harry, long retired.
Stop trying to throw us off the scent, Harry. There weren’t enough Gardner 8s to send over the pond- they had all been snaffled up by a ■■■■■■■■ con man who thought there would be a market in retro-fitted 240s. According to some sources, there are plenty of them left in a barn somewhere in th’ills of t’North West.
Not that I would be the first to cast any allegations, of course! 
Although I gather that there have been tentative enquiries made by a Mr Hoo Flung Dung, a Hong Kong shipping magnate whose fleet is desperate for replacement anchors.
Retired Old ■■■■:
Stop trying to throw us off the scent, Harry. There weren’t enough Gardner 8s to send over the pond- they had all been snaffled up by a ■■■■■■■■ con man who thought there would be a market in retro-fitted 240s. According to some sources, there are plenty of them left in a barn somewhere in th’ills of t’North West.
Not that I would be the first to cast any allegations, of course!Although I gather that there have been tentative enquiries made by a Mr Hoo Flung Dung, a Hong Kong shipping magnate whose fleet is desperate for replacement anchors.
I think all those 240’s are destined for the next production run of Big J’s
harry_gill:
marky:
rigsby:
A bit of badge engineering on the atki nathan . gardner 240 on the grill , but the headboard is close to the cab . daveActually, the badge isn’t telling lies. That wagon really does have an 8LXB installed, and a Fuller Roadranger behind it too. The owner is apparently going to put the correct radiator shroud on it when time permits. The headboard on the body is positioned almost exactly two cylinders beyond the back of the cab…
Hiya,
But why a 240 when it’s only a six wheeler where a 180 would have been more than
adequate unless of course it was permanently pulling a drawbar trailer a bit like a
sledgehammer being used to crack the proverbial walnut methinks.
thanks harry, long retired.
Why not??
The chap obviously has the engineering skill to install the drivetrain of his preference - and if you ask Andrew Meer what it was like when this took one of his scrappers away, you’ll know it was a great motor.
And very good choice IMO, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
And very good choice IMO, Regards Larry.
Hiya,
Yes Larry, as you say an excellent choice and I would have loved to drive it at
least with all that power and such a small carrying capacity you would rarely
need to touch the gearstick from start to finish of your working day, not many
guvnors would be so generous to their drivers in days of old the best I ever got
was a 150 and that was in my eight wheeler days the gaffers in the olden days
knew how to make you earn your wages.
thanks harry, long retired.
When Millom Ironworks closed in about 1968, W Keith & Sons, Flookburgh, were left with several Guy 8 wheelers in their fleet, and nothing to carry. The local Traffic area took pity on them and converted some of their 'Contract A ’ licences to full ‘A’ licences.
(I may be getting the detail of this wrong, but Bewick knew them as well as I did and probably has a better memory.)
Bill Keith cut down the eight wheelers to (I think) Chinese six units, and started carrying various loads, including timber for the Lowther sawmills south of Penrith and toilet rolls from Bowater Scott in Barrow.
The Guys were the big cab, before the Big J. I think they were invincibles. They had Gardner 150s in. Bill was an engineer and they were good trucks with a proper conversion. He even had the headboards lit - not a plastic backlit sign, but the original wrap around, but with a spotlight in front, facing backwards. I thought they looked the D’s B’s.
One of the drivers, can’t remember his name, was, unsurprisingly, a Millom lad. I remember having a chat with him about his motor, and I’m certain I’ve posted this somewhere on here before, but he was telling me that he’d been struggling up a hill when the bloke in front missed his gear. He was out of the cab and ready to throttle the poor bloke!
‘I’ve got 24 ton 14 on here, what I don’t need in front of me is a plonker like you…’
Anyway, I asked him how fast his Guy went. 42 mph, flat out. How often did it break down? Never.
I guess that lad would have liked a 240!
Bill also later put (I think, again, Dennis will correct me) Leyland 600 engines and gearboxes with a high speed rear axle into a couple of Ford D1000 tractor units to pull van trailers out of Bowater’s.
It was another world wasn’t it!
I can remember one of their 8 wheeler Guys loading next to me in Trafford Park It was what was called the Andy Cap because of the peak above the windscreen in those days . You could smell the paintwork as it was brand spanking new, I asked the drive where Flookburgh was He told me of course, & It came under Lancs at that time, I don’t recall his name but I used to see him in Sheffield sometimes , They were the good old days of course IMO, Regards Larry.
Here are some real trucks.
youtu.be/KuK2lPzaTXw
youtu.be/HqbixGKdcZM
youtu.be/yOt0dbXsuYU
John West:
When Millom Ironworks closed in about 1968, W Keith & Sons, Flookburgh, were left with several Guy 8 wheelers in their fleet, and nothing to carry. The local Traffic area took pity on them and converted some of their 'Contract A ’ licences to full ‘A’ licences.(I may be getting the detail of this wrong, but Bewick knew them as well as I did and probably has a better memory.)
Bill Keith cut down the eight wheelers to (I think) Chinese six units, and started carrying various loads, including timber for the Lowther sawmills south of Penrith and toilet rolls from Bowater Scott in Barrow.
The Guys were the big cab, before the Big J. I think they were invincibles. They had Gardner 150s in. Bill was an engineer and they were good trucks with a proper conversion. He even had the headboards lit - not a plastic backlit sign, but the original wrap around, but with a spotlight in front, facing backwards. I thought they looked the D’s B’s.
One of the drivers, can’t remember his name, was, unsurprisingly, a Millom lad. I remember having a chat with him about his motor, and I’m certain I’ve posted this somewhere on here before, but he was telling me that he’d been struggling up a hill when the bloke in front missed his gear. He was out of the cab and ready to throttle the poor bloke!
‘I’ve got 24 ton 14 on here, what I don’t need in front of me is a plonker like you…’
Anyway, I asked him how fast his Guy went. 42 mph, flat out. How often did it break down? Never.
I guess that lad would have liked a 240!
Bill also later put (I think, again, Dennis will correct me) Leyland 600 engines and gearboxes with a high speed rear axle into a couple of Ford D1000 tractor units to pull van trailers out of Bowater’s.
It was another world wasn’t it!
The unexpected closure of Millom Iron Works in 1968 hit Bill Keith hard but being a resourceful chap he converted a number of his 8 wheeler Invincibles into twin steer units pulling flat trailers mainly on timber haulage out of Lowther Sawmills at Hackthorpe but I think these conversions got the killer blow when they had to be tested and were down plated from 32 to 24 tons GVW because they just had Air over Hydraulic brakes.I think he then got some Big J’s to replace the old Invincibles and as John says he started to run out of Bowater Scotts Barrow mill in the early 70’s.Also as John says he stuck the Leyland 600 engine into a couple of D1000’s which had the engine stuck out the back of the cab, a bit like an 8LXB ! I used to sub Keiths loads of pulp back to Milnthorpe as I had become a Pal of Bill’s via my friendship with Jack Brady. But as Jack used to say Bill Keith was a law unto himself and always went his own way usually happy to operate at lower rates than Bradys and Bewicks were prepared to accept ! Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
John West:
When Millom Ironworks closed in about 1968, W Keith & Sons, Flookburgh, were left with several Guy 8 wheelers in their fleet, and nothing to carry. The local Traffic area took pity on them and converted some of their 'Contract A ’ licences to full ‘A’ licences.(I may be getting the detail of this wrong, but Bewick knew them as well as I did and probably has a better memory.)
Bill Keith cut down the eight wheelers to (I think) Chinese six units, and started carrying various loads, including timber for the Lowther sawmills south of Penrith and toilet rolls from Bowater Scott in Barrow.
The Guys were the big cab, before the Big J. I think they were invincibles. They had Gardner 150s in. Bill was an engineer and they were good trucks with a proper conversion. He even had the headboards lit - not a plastic backlit sign, but the original wrap around, but with a spotlight in front, facing backwards. I thought they looked the D’s B’s.
One of the drivers, can’t remember his name, was, unsurprisingly, a Millom lad. I remember having a chat with him about his motor, and I’m certain I’ve posted this somewhere on here before, but he was telling me that he’d been struggling up a hill when the bloke in front missed his gear. He was out of the cab and ready to throttle the poor bloke!
‘I’ve got 24 ton 14 on here, what I don’t need in front of me is a plonker like you…’
Anyway, I asked him how fast his Guy went. 42 mph, flat out. How often did it break down? Never.
I guess that lad would have liked a 240!
Bill also later put (I think, again, Dennis will correct me) Leyland 600 engines and gearboxes with a high speed rear axle into a couple of Ford D1000 tractor units to pull van trailers out of Bowater’s.
It was another world wasn’t it!
The unexpected closure of Millom Iron Works in 1968 hit Bill Keith hard but being a resourceful chap he converted a number of his 8 wheeler Invincibles into twin steer units pulling flat trailers mainly on timber haulage out of Lowther Sawmills at Hackthorpe but I think these conversions got the killer blow when they had to be tested and were down plated from 32 to 24 tons GVW because they just had Air over Hydraulic brakes.I think he then got some Big J’s to replace the old Invincibles and as John says he started to run out of Bowater Scotts Barrow mill in the early 70’s.Also as John says he stuck the Leyland 600 engine into a couple of D1000’s which had the engine stuck out the back of the cab, a bit like an 8LXB ! I used to sub Keiths loads of pulp back to Milnthorpe as I had become a Pal of Bill’s via my friendship with Jack Brady. But as Jack used to say Bill Keith was a law unto himself and always went his own way usually happy to operate at lower rates than Bradys and Bewicks were prepared to accept ! Cheers Bewick.
Thanks for your reply Dennis.
I had great respect for ‘Kruger’ Keith. He was an engineer. I suspect the equipment was more important than the transport!
One Easter Monday morning I set off from Barrow at about 4.30 am to hitch up my Pritchett trailer, containing only about 15 pallets of Van Den Bergh’s margarine, all at the front, for delivery to Dundee. The trailer was parked near the old little Chef on the old A590. It was still dark when I got there.
As soon as I released the brakes and pulled forward I knew that something was wrong. The bar behind the coupling on the fifth wheel had not slid home.
I felt the trailer part company with the tractor. Unfortunately, as said, the load was all at the front. I was half way across the road. The trailer slumped into the Tarmac behind me, bending the landing legs.
There’s always a policeman when you don’t need one - but never when you do!
Plod was there in 5 minutes - 3 points on the licence and a fine!
Bill came out with his wrecker (was it one of the old invincibles? I can’t remember)
He wanted me to climb under the trailer when it was dangling a couple of feet above the Tarmac. I could see a crushing death awaiting me as something slipped, so I refused. Odd how all these years later some of my most vivid dreams involve climbing under that van!
We eventually got it back on the fifth wheel and I carried on to Dundee.
John.
Dear oh dear John you’ve had more than your fair share of “lumber” in the early years 
I know that Bill’s “nick name” was Kruger but I would never call him that,(not just sure where the name came from) was it something to do with the W11 prison camp at Flookburgh and was Bill the Commandant maybe Well at least he would have stood no bollox off the inmates eh! Then the camp was used to house Polish ex servicemen who remained in the UK and didn’t one of them become Bill’s Star fitter, apparently he could turn his hand to anything which accounted for the immaculate conversions of the old Guy Invincibles. Cheers Dennis.
