Lawrence Dunbar:
0I often wonder where these fine AECs Ended up, ■■? Regards Larry.
What a fine line up Larry,were they all single drive motors and were they air braked? Bad to say where they would have ended their days,probably got “gas axed” as they would have become obsolete when the new C & U regs came in along with Testing and plating and I don’t think the fairground lads ran many AEC’s,wrong engine!.Still,during their time up and down the “A” roads they would have been the “creme de la creme” !! Cheers Dennis.
Dennis,one MK5 Mammoth Major I had was uprated to 26 tons,would have been 1970.The wheelbase was one of the critical factors and mine was suitable. Second steer braking was put on,it already had a deadman,I think the tyres were uprated as well,can’t remember. I do know the extra 2 tons didn’t make any difference to the performance as it had the AV691 engine being a 1965 model,it made a difference to the steering though and the power steering that was taken off it (it was ex Cawoods Oil) when Evans bought it was put back on.
These were also Smiles for Miles owned, They were double drive of course, The last time I saw one of them was at Fisons at Goole, North Lincs Transport were running it, That was 1970, I aked the driver what he thought of it & he said it was a great old motor. Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
They were all single drive Dennis & had full air brakes, They had 11.3 Engines which did have a few problems with head gaskets & piston rings breaking up, But apart from that they coped very well running to Llanwern & Britton Ferry loaded with fire bricks in fact sometimes 20 ton loads , & Of course loaded both ways, Making a few bob Eh, The good old days when money was money not like today, Regards Larry.
Those were the days Larry,the Brady Octopus and trailer I was on ran down to S.Wales more-or-less every Sunday loaded with 22ton of Signode strapping from Barrow Steel to The Abbey,but every now and then we’d get another 5ton stuck on for one of the small Steel works if there was nowt else to make up a load for a Comet and 4 in line or similar.At that time in the later 60’s there was a lot of old 8 wheelers,mainly AEC’s, trundling about on locals down there between the different Works they would have been 20 years old plus but still earning good money for little mileage eh!Cheers Dennis.
If you look closley at the windsreen you will see a RHA Sign saying yes to free enterprize & NO To Nationalisation, Well I was a cockey little git in those days & I used to load back off the BRS, I recall going into their depot at Bootle for a back load & of course they allways had a look a your motor to see if it had a carriers licence & was taxed, The traffic clerk said to me youve got a bloody nerve coming in here for a load displaying that in your windscreen, So I replied so what if you dont want to give me the load thats OK by me, Afterall its a free country, I dont believe in Nationalisation otherwise the RHA Thing wouldnt be in the bloody windscreen would it, He just shook his head & walked back to the traffic office & handed me a collection note for a load of Sizal out of the dreaded Gladstone Dock for Hood Haggies at Willington Quay, Well you no the old saying HE WHO DARES WINS, Regards Larry
Lawrence Dunbar:
0I often wonder where these fine AECs Ended up, ■■? Regards Larry.
What a fine line up Larry,were they all single drive motors and were they air braked? Bad to say where they would have ended their days,probably got “gas axed” as they would have become obsolete when the new C & U regs came in along with Testing and plating and I don’t think the fairground lads ran many AEC’s,wrong engine!.Still,during their time up and down the “A” roads they would have been the “creme de la creme” !! Cheers Dennis.
Dennis,one MK5 Mammoth Major I had was uprated to 26 tons,would have been 1970.The wheelbase was one of the critical factors and mine was suitable. Second steer braking was put on,it already had a deadman,I think the tyres were uprated as well,can’t remember. I do know the extra 2 tons didn’t make any difference to the performance as it had the AV691 engine being a 1965 model,it made a difference to the steering though and the power steering that was taken off it (it was ex Cawoods Oil) when Evans bought it was put back on.
I never understood why some of the contractors at the big Oil cos ran old “gear”,the rates surely weren’t that bad or the Contractors were just greedy barstewards and didn’t like investing in decent kit ?The Oil Cos own “gear” was always state of the art,Hipwood and Grundy were a firm that ran a load of old crap,mainly Leyland Octopus’s,I ended up falling out with both Shell and BP for sending our Derv on contractors bangers,you never knew what ■■■■■ had been their tanks prior to loading our derv,Black oil etc.Cheers Dennis.
Lawrence Dunbar:
0I often wonder where these fine AECs Ended up, ■■? Regards Larry.
What a fine line up Larry,were they all single drive motors and were they air braked? Bad to say where they would have ended their days,probably got “gas axed” as they would have become obsolete when the new C & U regs came in along with Testing and plating and I don’t think the fairground lads ran many AEC’s,wrong engine!.Still,during their time up and down the “A” roads they would have been the “creme de la creme” !! Cheers Dennis.
Dennis,one MK5 Mammoth Major I had was uprated to 26 tons,would have been 1970.The wheelbase was one of the critical factors and mine was suitable. Second steer braking was put on,it already had a deadman,I think the tyres were uprated as well,can’t remember. I do know the extra 2 tons didn’t make any difference to the performance as it had the AV691 engine being a 1965 model,it made a difference to the steering though and the power steering that was taken off it (it was ex Cawoods Oil) when Evans bought it was put back on.
I never understood why some of the contractors at the big Oil cos ran old “gear”,the rates surely weren’t that bad or the Contractors were just greedy barstewards and didn’t like investing in decent kit ?The Oil Cos own “gear” was always state of the art,Hipwood and Grundy were a firm that ran a load of old crap,mainly Leyland Octopus’s,I ended up falling out with both Shell and BP for sending our Derv on contractors bangers,you never knew what [zb] had been their tanks prior to loading our derv,Black oil etc.Cheers Dennis.
That AEC would have been 5 years old when Evans bought it Dennis and even then they were still running MK3s.The first new motor they bought was a TL 12 Marathon in 1976. I remember them buying a Marathon with the 250 ■■■■■■■ soon after and the foreman at Barking shook his head,devastated. He was an AEC man through and through.
Dave the Renegade:
Here’s another eight legger for you drivers to evaluate.
hiya,
Dave there’s a nice story about this old ■■■■■■■ the Ridings website
shows where she was sourced and no expense spared rebuild in the
Longridge workshops, Having worked for Ridings many moons ago
there would have been no expense spared in the rebuild, this oldie
was never in the Ridings fleet. and is Mr Riding’s own motor.
thanks harry, long retired.
Dave the Renegade:
Here’s another eight legger for you drivers to evaluate.
hiya,
Dave there’s a nice story about this old ■■■■■■■ the Ridings website
shows where she was sourced and the no expense rebuild in the
Longridge workshops, Having worked for Ridings many moons ago
there would have been no expense spared in the rebuild, this oldie
was never in the Ridings fleet. and is Mr Riding’s own motor.
thanks harry, long retired.
What is it Harry.I haven’t worked it out ?
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
Here’s another eight legger for you drivers to evaluate.
A classic British-built Scammell 8 wheeler, and just right for Harry.
Lurking in the background, and only part on view , ia a green Ford ( AA Type ? ) which belonged to the late John L. Ion
of Milnthorpe. I am sure that Dennis will recognise this motor, and fill in with more details.
Dave the Renegade:
Here’s another eight legger for you drivers to evaluate.
A classic British-built Scammell 8 wheeler, and just right for Harry.
Lurking in the background, and only part on view , ia a green Ford ( AA Type ? ) which belonged to the late John L. Ion
of Milnthorpe. I am sure that Dennis will recognise this motor, and fill in with more details.
Cheers, cattle wagon man.
I have a photo of the Ford Roy,we have discussed it on here before.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
Here’s another eight legger for you drivers to evaluate.
hiya,
Dave there’s a nice story about this old ■■■■■■■ the Ridings website
shows where she was sourced and the no expense rebuild in the
Longridge workshops, Having worked for Ridings many moons ago
there would have been no expense spared in the rebuild, this oldie
was never in the Ridings fleet. and is Mr Riding’s own motor.
thanks harry, long retired.
What is it Harry.I haven’t worked it out ?
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Sorry Dave I got locked out and couldn’t remember my login details
I see our good friend CWM has answered your question, but I’ll just
add it’s full title is Scammell Rigid Eight, this particular one was first
put on the road by Albright and Wilson in 1939 and moved on to the
company Round Oak Motor Services in 1952 finally ending it’s working
life at Mountford Bros. Bucknall, Stoke On Trent in 1956. this info is
readily available on Tom Riding’s website, “an excellent looksee”.
thanks harry, long retired.
Dave the Renegade:
Our old mate Harry Gill reckons he hasn’t got a fan club as an entertainer.
Quote from Harry.
hiya,
And Harry has an appreciative fan club of one Thanks Dave.
thanks harry, long retired.
Sign up now to become a member of the Harry Gill Fan Club
Dave the Renegade:
Here’s another eight legger for you drivers to evaluate.
A classic British-built Scammell 8 wheeler, and just right for Harry.
Lurking in the background, and only part on view , ia a green Ford ( AA Type ? ) which belonged to the late John L. Ion
of Milnthorpe. I am sure that Dennis will recognise this motor, and fill in with more details.
Cheers, cattle wagon man.
It sure is a beautiful re-build of Tom’s,I can vaguely recall a firm from Millom called Edward Fye who ran this type of Scammell,I can’t recall wether they were tippers or flats but they ran out of the Iron Works hauling pig iron,I think they finished long before the works closed in 1968.Regarding John Ion’s Ford,I believe that this project occupied him after he retired as an owner driver,IIRC I bought the last B series ERF off him but not his Curtainsider trailer as it was to low for our traffic,I can’t recall who finally bought the trailer but it was parked up in our depot for a good while and “every man and his dog” came to crawl over it !! Cheers Dennis.
My order of preferance was Mighty Antire, Scammell, Diamond “T”, Thorneycroft, in the army, but as a fitter the Diamond “T” and trailers was alway being jackknifed by their drivers and replacement of the air pipes etc was needed. On the Scammell I loved the gate system but a few hated it. Oh the Carrier had a reverse gearbox range.
Norman Ingram:
My order of preferance was Mighty Antire, Scammell, Diamond “T”, Thorneycroft, in the army, but as a fitter the Diamond “T” and trailers was alway being jackknifed by their drivers and replacement of the air pipes etc was needed. On the Scammell I loved the gate system but a few hated it. Oh the Carrier had a reverse gearbox range.
Hi Norm,
C M Philpotts who I drove for had an old Scammell wrecker with a gate change on the gearbox.I thought it was OK when I took it out a few times.Something with a bit of character to drive.
Cheers Dave.
grumpy old man:
Now then, it’s a flat, (WX, Leeds reg.) i wonder why it’s got the exhaust across the front as in Petroleum Regs. ?
I wonder what it’s history is? Anybody?
■■■■ fine machine though.
Here you are Brian…
786 BWX - 1962 AEC Mammoth Major
Originally a tanker - purchased new Charrington Hargreaves Ltd - Boston Spa.
It was involved in an accident early in its life, and passed to M J Parry & Sonds - Shrewsbury - in a damaged condition.
M J Parry set about carrying out repairs to the cab and front axle, and it joined their fleet as livestock lorry, with drawbar trailer - hauling livestock around Britain until the closed their haulage operations in the late 70s.
1994 - Purchased in a derelict condition and then restored over a 4 and a half year period by Malcolme Hare of Sanray Freight - Morpeth. It had it’s first outing at the 2000 AEC Rally.
2005 - Purchased for T J Parry.
Some of the modifications over the years include the fitting of a heater, a draw bar hitch and low ratio rear axles.
Wish it were mine,my favourite wagon of all time.
Chris
Bloody hell, it was one of ours and I didn’t recognise it. I worked for C-H for 25 years at the Liversedge terminal. Boston Spa (Bowcliffe Hall was the head office)
We got three of those at the same time (I was only a lad so I didn’t get one. I can’t recall it getting damaged while we had it.
Many thanks Chris for the info.
