couple of Foreigners
rigsby:
No power steering in the 60s on British lorries . Coming up our Main Street ther was a 90degree left onto the main road uphill , with a 8wheeler we had to stand Up to get the leverage to turn the wheel and that was on cross ply tyres . It certainly built up the arm and chest muscles .I was built like a racing snake back then but my muscles were like iron . It also helped us to anticipate the road ahead , we had to be ready for tight corners etc .
At Tilcon we had some 1972 Foden tankers without power assistance and the drivers of those said they had to stand up to negotiate corners. After they were converted with power rams the steering was very light as they still had the large steering wheels of course. Not an eight wheeler but BMC fitted power steering as standard on the 701 seven tonners back in the fifties, yet when the later FFK models came out it was only listed as an option that very few buyers took up. Even the BMC/Leyland Terrier range in the seventies didn’t have it as the take off for the steering pump was needed for the braking systems hydraulic pump.
Franky is right in that power steering caused extra tyre wear, especially on the nearside second axle tyre as that was the one that wore the most on eight leggers anyway. It was a regular task setting the steering track, and then checking the two front axles alignment with a length of cable and adjusting if neccessary, one bad construction site could easily knock it out of alignment again as could fitting a replacement spring.
My late father hated power steering, he had a new Renault Savannah estate car and ordered that with manual steering, it was like steering a tank compared to my Morris Oxford, also fitted with manual steering of course! I still remember his comment when the BMC Mastiff came out with power steering as standard: “Why would any lorry driver worth his salt even need it, it’s just something else to give trouble” 
Pete.
Froggy55:
It looks power steering was inequally considered according to truck makers and countries. All models of Renault’s heavy range (15 tonnes GW upwards) was fitted with it as soon as the late 1930s, when Mack B61 6-wheel tippers and many British heavy trucks had to do without it as late as 1970. Do British drivers have stronger muscles in theit arms and chest than the French?
Maybe driven by the continentals often using drawbar trailers ?.I really couldn’t get my head around what it would have been like reversing a drawbar outfit without power steering.
Carryfast:
Froggy55:
Maybe driven by the continentals often using drawbar trailers ?.I really couldn’t get my head around what it would have been like reversing a drawbar outfit without power steering.
As a nipper in the garage, I’d move the wagons out of the workshops and park them up and collect the next one for service or repair. Having just had a radiator re-cored on an Octopus 8 wheeler and trailer, I took it up the yard to reverse it into a spare slot…think I was 16 or 17, with no power steering, fully loaded with drums of chemicals and a really hot day, that was one hell of a struggle…I always tried to avoid freighted 8 wheelers from then on, especially with a trailer…In retrospect, nearly all those drivers were big lads, they needed to be…
Colin.Swain:
Colin.Swain:
another local eight wheeler in the Wooler area.
That wagon was a frequent visitor to Johnny Thornton’s at White House Farm Chester le Street, loading or unloading store cattle.
Haven’t seen Youngs on the road for years. presume they are no longer operating.
Trying to think of the lads I knew from Redpath’s, Bobby Dixon & Joppa spring to mind, can you remember them Colin ■■
Tyneside
windrush:
rigsby:
My late father hated power steering, he had a new Renault Savannah estate car and ordered that with manual steering, it was like steering a tank compared to my Morris Oxford, also fitted with manual steering of course!
Pete.
Steering a Renault 21 and a loaded 24-ton 8-wheeler must be two different things! I had a Peugeot 504 and then a 505 with manual steering, and that I considered as normal at that time. Now, the smallest car such as Citroen C1 or VW Polo has power steering!
I presume that, if ever you hitted the edge of the pavement in a bend with a loaded manual-steered S21 or Mammoth Major, any finger kept on the inner side of the steering wheel would have been immediately broken! 8-wheelers are the only kind of trucks I never drove.
Froggy55:
windrush:
rigsby:
My late father hated power steering, he had a new Renault Savannah estate car and ordered that with manual steering, it was like steering a tank compared to my Morris Oxford, also fitted with manual steering of course!
Pete.Steering a Renault 21 and a loaded 24-ton 8-wheeler must be two different things! I had a Peugeot 504 and then a 505 with manual steering, and that I considered as normal at that time. Now, the smallest car such as Citroen C1 or VW Polo has power steering!
I presume that, if ever you hitted the edge of the pavement in a bend with a loaded manual-steered S21 or Mammoth Major, any finger kept on the inner side of the steering wheel would have been immediately broken! 8-wheelers are the only kind of trucks I never drove.
He had been a lorry driver on a 1950’s Foden eight wheeler, two elderly Seddons and then Bristol K type busses but he hated driving the later busses with power assistance. He also hated seat belts, and just wrapped the belt around him rather than plug it in! 
That Renault really was heavy though, I had a Vauxhall VX/490 with wide tyres, and a VW camper, and both were far lighter than that sodding Renault! 
I only ever drove six and eight wheelers and the heaviest steering I had was when being towed from Dunstable back to Ashbourne in a loaded Foden S80 tanker with a dead engine, getting through Ashbourne town centre really strained my chest muscles as obviously I had no power assistance and only a small steering wheel. Continental trucks like Mercedes etc had large steering wheels to allow them to still be driven if the power assistance failed, we Brits didn’t get that choice! 
Pete.
Froggy55:
windrush:
rigsby:
My late father hated power steering, he had a new Renault Savannah estate car and ordered that with manual steering, it was like steering a tank compared to my Morris Oxford, also fitted with manual steering of course!
Pete.Steering a Renault 21 and a loaded 24-ton 8-wheeler must be two different things! I had a Peugeot 504 and then a 505 with manual steering, and that I considered as normal at that time. Now, the smallest car such as Citroen C1 or VW Polo has power steering!
I presume that, if ever you hitted the edge of the pavement in a bend with a loaded manual-steered S21 or Mammoth Major, any finger kept on the inner side of the steering wheel would have been immediately broken! 8-wheelers are the only kind of trucks I never drove.
I think modern power-steered vehicles have more castor, which gives them more stability on the motorway. Maybe the old lorries had less kingpin offset too, which would reduce the shock of single-wheel bump events? Who knows- not me at any rate.
I once read an article about banger racing, which said to keep your thumbs outside the wheel, when expecting an impact. I have used this skill on numerous occasions. 
Some great input again lads, much appreciated, cheers 
Fergie47:
Carryfast:
Froggy55:
Maybe driven by the continentals often using drawbar trailers ?.I really couldn’t get my head around what it would have been like reversing a drawbar outfit without power steering.As a nipper in the garage, I’d move the wagons out of the workshops and park them up and collect the next one for service or repair. Having just had a radiator re-cored on an Octopus 8 wheeler and trailer, I took it up the yard to reverse it into a spare slot…think I was 16 or 17, with no power steering, fully loaded with drums of chemicals and a really hot day, that was one hell of a struggle…I always tried to avoid freighted 8 wheelers from then on, especially with a trailer…In retrospect, nearly all those drivers were big lads, they needed to be…
Was that when you got a whacking behind the ears Senior?
tyneside:
Colin.Swain:
Colin.Swain:
another local eight wheeler in the Wooler area.That wagon was a frequent visitor to Johnny Thornton’s at White House Farm Chester le Street, loading or unloading store cattle.
Haven’t seen Youngs on the road for years. presume they are no longer operating.
Trying to think of the lads I knew from Redpath’s, Bobby Dixon & Joppa spring to mind, can you remember them Colin ■■
Tyneside
Yes Young’s of Yetholm are long gone; Redpath took them over must be 25 years ago now ; not long before Redpath was part of the Ferguson Group ; Bobby Dixon and Joppa Passed away years ago as have quite a few others who I knew in 1970 when I started from school, 50 years ago in July.
Colin.Swain:
tyneside:
Colin.Swain:
Colin.Swain:
another local eight wheeler in the Wooler area.That wagon was a frequent visitor to Johnny Thornton’s at White House Farm Chester le Street, loading or unloading store cattle.
Haven’t seen Youngs on the road for years. presume they are no longer operating.
Trying to think of the lads I knew from Redpath’s, Bobby Dixon & Joppa spring to mind, can you remember them Colin ■■
Tyneside
Yes Young’s of Yetholm are long gone; Redpath took them over must be 25 years ago now ; not long before Redpath was part of the Ferguson Group ; Bobby Dixon and Joppa Passed away years ago as have quite a few others who I knew in 1970 when I started from school, 50 years ago in July.
There must have been close to 100 trucks in a 25 mile radius of Wooler in the early seventies: Redpath Bros of Wooler: Young’s of Yetholm: F&F Moffatt Cornhill: Johnson of Ancroft; Gold of Greenlaw; Tweed Valley transport Kelso, prob over 100 with them six companies.
Hi Colin, Great info there, Redpaths took Rankins of the Wynd Amble over in the late 50s, Also Thos Muckle of Rothbury, Who also ran a building firm Who continued after the takeover for a few years, Its great to see a lot of history appearing on this thread about old hauliers, Thank you for posting this great old stuff, Regards Larry.
Not a genuine photo; I think it is taken from the model corgi brought out a few years back with the flat load removed.
Colin.Swain:
Not a genuine photo; I think it is taken from the model corgi brought out a few years back with the flat load removed.
Always said to be the worst new truck Redpath ever bought due to noise in cab and small AEC motor, I was told that by the driver who got it new in 66 and only drove it for less than four years when it was replaced by an ERF in 69 : (PTY 989G). They also ran a Guy Invincible unit which was driven by Brian Berkeley of Felton who also had a few trucks if I remember correctly.
Colin.Swain:
Colin.Swain:
Not a genuine photo; I think it is taken from the model corgi brought out a few years back with the flat load removed.Always said to be the worst new truck Redpath ever bought due to noise in cab and small AEC motor, I was told that by the driver who got it new in 66 and only drove it for less than four years when it was replaced by an ERF in 69 : (PTY 989G). They also ran a Guy Invincible unit which was driven by Brian Berkeley of Felton who also had a few trucks if I remember correctly.
PTY 989G would have been the last eight wheeler Redpath bought for livestock work before moving to Volvo units pulling double deckers in 71; i was still in workshop then and it was a full time job changing tyres on the first two or three trailers they had.
Another two of Muckle of Rothbury eight wheelers from early 60s