AEC Mercury

[Trucks n tractors]

Evening all, I'm trying to trace the history of an aec mercury which was driven by my father in the 70 s. It belonged to jack poulton and sons based in Hertfordshire and was a 4 wheeler cattle float Rev no bpx96 l. My father left in 79 and all I can remember is she was sold on in 81 or 82. If anyone could help I would be really grateful. There's some great threads on here, particularly on the marathon, I loved them as a child and always wanted to do Iran for hrs.

[TimPell]

Franky,
you might remember a few names that spring to mind from Tillotsons, Old Geordie Welsh the welder, old Albert cant recall his second name, seem to remember him specialising in fitting windscreens ( Hit it harder, GENTLY!) and the paint sprayer, was it Charlie? I swear he had the paint from every truck he ever painted ingrained in his hair and skin, Geordie Gill aka Geordie blob and Terry propshaft to name a few.
Happy days
Tim

[Frankydobo]

Ah yes Tim, old George was a lovely bloke, he told me his Nephew was Alex Glasgow who did the title song of When The Boat Comes In, a popular Tyneside series at the time, learnt some stuff from him too. The two older Apprentices Bob Elliott and Granville Lee, what a pair they used to wind up Arthur (Art'y Laffer) the Manager, something terrible good laugh though. Dougie a nice quiet lad, a Blonde lad called Davy who went off to be a Traffic cop, Jack was a very good Fitter and nice bloke. The Foreman's name escapes me at the moment, (ah just come back think it was Ian) but he was ok, I remember doing recovery work with him in the old Militant Wrecker, freezing in the winter though. We seemed to have a 50/50 mix of time served fitters and those lads that had done the 6 Month course a lot of Industries were doing at the time given the rather unflattering name of 'Diluties' but there were some nice lads amongst them. I enjoyed my time there and learnt some useful technical stuff, for a young lad it was a good place of work. Franky.

[kevmac47]

Ah yes Tim, old George was a lovely bloke, he told me his Nephew was Alex Glasgow who did the title song of When The Boat Comes In, a popular Tyneside series at the time, learnt some stuff from him too. The two older Apprentices Bob Elliott and Granville Lee, what a pair they used to wind up Arthur (Art'y Laffer) the Manager, something terrible good laugh though. Dougie a nice quiet lad, a Blonde lad called Davy who went off to be a Traffic cop, Jack was a very good Fitter and nice bloke. The Foreman's name escapes me at the moment, (ah just come back think it was Ian) but he was ok, I remember doing recovery work with him in the old Militant Wrecker, freezing in the winter though. We seemed to have a 50/50 mix of time served fitters and those lads that had done the 6 Month course a lot of Industries were doing at the time given the rather unflattering name of 'Diluties' but there were some nice lads amongst them. I enjoyed my time there and learnt some useful technical stuff, for a young lad it was a good place of work. Franky.

Franky, was Ralph Scott at Tillotsons when you were there? He was at Waughs when I went there in 1972, he lived on Benton Rd, just a few yards from Tillotsons.
He was an artist with a big hammer and a bit of heat! Regards Kev.

[kevmac47]

Ah yes Tim, old George was a lovely bloke, he told me his Nephew was Alex Glasgow who did the title song of When The Boat Comes In, a popular Tyneside series at the time, learnt some stuff from him too. The two older Apprentices Bob Elliott and Granville Lee, what a pair they used to wind up Arthur (Art'y Laffer) the Manager, something terrible good laugh though. Dougie a nice quiet lad, a Blonde lad called Davy who went off to be a Traffic cop, Jack was a very good Fitter and nice bloke. The Foreman's name escapes me at the moment, (ah just come back think it was Ian) but he was ok, I remember doing recovery work with him in the old Militant Wrecker, freezing in the winter though. We seemed to have a 50/50 mix of time served fitters and those lads that had done the 6 Month course a lot of Industries were doing at the time given the rather unflattering name of 'Diluties' but there were some nice lads amongst them. I enjoyed my time there and learnt some useful technical stuff, for a young lad it was a good place of work. Franky.

Franky, was Ralph Scott at Tillotsons when you were there? He was at Waughs when I went there in 1972, he lived on Benton Rd, just a few yards from Tillotsons.
He was an artist with a big hammer and a bit of heat! Regards Kev.

Franky, I've just been looking through the rest of the thread, you answered my question about Ralph Scott on page 1. Sorry!! regards. Kev.

[DEANB]

I've always had a high regard for the AEC Mercury both from a driver's and operator's viewpoint. The fixed cab GM4 series was in production from 1954 until 1965 and approximately 13,000 were produced. The Ergomatic tilt cab series TGM4 was in production from 1965 until 1977 and some 16,000 were built. In those years the 4-wheel rigid played an important role in general haulage as well as own account fleets, being used on long distance as well as local work. Arguably the Mercury was one of AEC's finest lorries and set the benchmark for the premium class four-wheeler market. Export versions were badged as AEC Monarch.

Graham,here a Mercury brochure.

Click on pages twice to read.

[DEANB]

[windrush]

Interesting that they used a synchromesh gearbox back then, I thought the later Ergomatic cabbed Marshall's had a constant mesh one? Back in the sixties we used to service a Mustang owned by Gillette Industries, I assume they were similar mechanically to those in the brochures? I seem to remember it having the aircleaner in the cab though, and the little red 'flags' that popped up to let you know that you had now no brakes!

Pete.

[gingerfold]

Interesting that they used a synchromesh gearbox back then, I thought the later Ergomatic cabbed Marshall's had a constant mesh one? Back in the sixties we used to service a Mustang owned by Gillette Industries, I assume they were similar mechanically to those in the brochures? I seem to remember it having the aircleaner in the cab though, and the little red 'flags' that popped up to let you know that you had now no brakes!

Pete.

Evening Pete

The 5-speed synchromesh 'box was replaced in 1962 /3 by the D196 5-speed direct drive constant mesh 'box, or more commonly the D197 6-speed overdrive constant mesh 'box. The synchro 'box was easy and delightful to use, it was as positive as a constant mesh box, you just had to be careful when changing gears, the gear lever positions for 2 and 4, and 3 and 5 were very close together. First gear was never needed except for a hill start loaded.

[ramone]

Gilders are selling their immaculate Mercury but at £25000 it's a big chunk , they also have a Mammoth Major at the same price

[TROOPER2]

Q67PTS - Newtyle Commercials - Mercury Major :

[ramone]

Tillotsons in Bradford on Preston St , a few Mercurys there and what looks like A One Transport owner receiving a new one

[Lawrence Dunbar]

NMP, But if IRRC,This was new to Russells of Bathgate, A few North East hauliers bought them,Regards Larry.

[Lawrence Dunbar]

NMP, But a good one of Tony Waughs 1962 AEC.Mercury, Regards Larry.

[Lawrence Dunbar]

NMP, But a good one of Tony Waughs 1962 AEC.Mercury, Regards Larry.

[Lawrence Dunbar]

[Frankydobo]

My Father's good mate Bill Ashworth drove this, its parked outside his home on the Longbenton Estate, our house was further up the street and Dad parked his motor in a handy little layby opposite the house, it was quite usual to see many lorries parked on housing estates then but frowned upon today. Franky.

[TROOPER2]

PEU55F - Len Barlow & Sons:

SKU598J - R A Smith:

[ramone]

PEU55F - Len Barlow & Sons:

ZZb PEU55F.jpg

SKU598J - R A Smith:

ZZb SKU598J.JPG

Does anyone know who owned SKU 598J when it was new ?

[ben walker]

Drove for Wimpey Lancaster Rd Southall Central Plant late 60s.One Morning a Driver Bob Trump got into his Cab an AEC Mercury Ergo Cab was filling in Log Book reving lightly when the Gearbox blue to bits and blew holes in the Cab Floor and Mudwings ,AEC said if i can remember right that the breather had got blocked and caused it.anybody ever came across anything like. Ben.

[gingerfold]

Drove for Wimpey Lancaster Rd Southall Central Plant late 60s.One Morning a Driver Bob Trump got into his Cab an AEC Mercury Ergo Cab was filling in Log Book reving lightly when the Gearbox blue to bits and blew holes in the Cab Floor and Mudwings ,AEC said if i can remember right that the breather had got blocked and caused it.anybody ever came across anything like. Ben.

We had a Ergo cab Mercury tractor unit that blew the gearbox apart...driver error was to blame. He had 18 tons of paper on the trailer (it was legal it was a 26-tons gvw model). The load was out of Robert Fletcher's papermill at Stoneclough, Lancs, and it was a steep climb out of that village. It was also a 12-speed splitter 'box, and the driver missed a gear on the hill, snatched the gear lever, fouled the splitter switch, probably engaged two and a half gears at once and the result was spectacular.

[Retired Old Fart]

Interesting that they used a synchromesh gearbox back then, I thought the later Ergomatic cabbed Marshall's had a constant mesh one? Back in the sixties we used to service a Mustang owned by Gillette Industries, I assume they were similar mechanically to those in the brochures? I seem to remember it having the aircleaner in the cab though, and the little red 'flags' that popped up to let you know that you had now no brakes!

Pete.

When I was knee-high to a grasshopper one of our local coach companies had a fleet of AEC coaches. They were so impressive compared to the old Leylands, Guys, etc that other firms were using. A few (many!) years later, when I got my hands on my first Mercury I was thrilled to find that it was as smooth and quiet as I remembered from the coaches. After a bit of "fiddling" I was just about able to stay with most of the firm's Mandators. Some years later, I got hold of an Ergo Mercury with the same decent engine and six-speed 'box. Brilliant, so much nicer to work with than the Bedfords, BMC and Albions that I had been used to.

[TROOPER2]

2599WE - H Bannister Ltd:

680GTM - London Brick:

JFL677 - R C Creswell & Sons: