Bit quiet on here, i know you are busy John and assume JAKEY and Mark must be flat out which is good news.
Sparshatts brochure.
Click on pages twice to read.
Hi Dean,
Lovely articles once again…I always loved the BMC Lairds the shape of the cabs pitty the running gear wasn’t up to the style of the cab
Yes been very busy with us thank god…lets hope it continues for all our sakes.
Hi Mark We had several Lairds and it wasn’t the running gear as such but the engines that was the trouble. I think the excuse given was that they were fitted at an angle & not vertical presumably to fit them in the position there was not adequate height under the ■■■ cab, if my memory serves me right. Chassis and steering components didn’t seem to be too bad but we never really got the mileage to adequately assess. The only saving grace was we never fitted expensive bodies (Just boxvans & demountables). It would have been heartbreaking to think we had forked out for a Marsden integral & then have been so badly let down.
However we did have one a platform that we ran from Courtaulds factory 5 loads a week from Spennymoor to Oldham ( 240 mile per day) with large heavy boxes of what they considered Waste yarn which had snapped during production. They were fork lifted on so had to be roped & sheeted and strangley we had a female driver carrying out the work. It loaded first thing each morning took a load down & returned empty. We put the lack of engine problems down to not suffering the wind resistance a large van would suffer, but whenever I see a nice picture of a new Laird van ready to try to earn its keep I feel so sorry for the hopeful owners, as I would be very suppried if they had many months of profitable running.
Hello Carl
Hope you are keeping well…yes i remember us both discussing this very subject a while back…i would agree with you totally with the difference of Lairds with the flat bed to those with the box or luton bodies…the engines were working a lot harder especially with a head wind against the box or luton vans.
I remember my father telling me about the Lairds Griff Fender ran in the late 60s early 70s introduced through the take over by BRS Pickfords…there were all 12 ton chassis with 1800 cu ft bodies and struggled on hills when loaded and had many problems with the engines like windrush mentioned in is post …i think the BRS put up with these Lairds at that time because of who they were…if it were a private company like yourself at that time Carl they could well of put others out of business with there problems and down time…i remember Griff Fender keeping spare engines for the number of Lairds they ran at that time…but like yourself by 1973 BRS Pickfords started introducing the heavier 16 ton boxers which i beleave ran a lot better than the Lairds.
This is one of the first batch of boxers after the Lairds in 1973
windrush:
I remember this Wokingham company when I lived in the area, I wonder if they are still in business? I don’t remember this vehicle of theirs though, although some more senior members might! NMP
Pete.
Hello windrush,
The only Reeves these days are Britannia Reeves from Petersfield…i’m not sure if they may have been in that area at the time you remember …they have been around a very long time very old established company
Hello John , sorry as you would of thought ,we are booked up well ,and i been out my 6t wagon most days most weeks !!! and its still coming in (thank god) trying put as much money in the accounts as possible.
JAKEY:
Hello John , sorry as you would of thought ,we are booked up well ,and i been out my 6t wagon most days most weeks !!! and its still coming in (thank god) trying put as much money in the accounts as possible.
How you lads doing ? John ,Dean ,Mark ?
Regards Steve
Hi Steve,glad you full up mate you deserve it mate after what you been through as Captain Tom Moore says there’s better times to come ,and let’s hope so you and the family and your boys stay safe
Hello John , flat out still thank god ,struggling to keep up m , i must take on my daughter in the office and i just cannot keep up with the office thes days !!
THat blue Daf came in to us about a year ago ,bought in a load from France .
JAKEY:
Hello John , flat out still thank god ,struggling to keep up m , i must take on my daughter in the office and i just cannot keep up with the office thes days !!
THat blue Daf came in to us about a year ago ,bought in a load from France .
Hi Steve,that was taken in heathfield newton abbott he was loading three piece suites from a furniture factory the truck is based in London ,you be buying a new truck soon with the money rolling in how’s the boys coping with the workload after the quiet spell
Hi Steve is he a one man band or are they a big company ,been long week this week had a big argument with the manager I may be finishing with them Christmas time if things don’t change ,we found out yesterday that Luton and Southampton has had a pay rise and no other depot has so bit of a sour taste there,
(thank god) trying put as much money in the accounts as possible.
