moomooland:
0
Yes Primrose did these also a 6x2.You could get an eight wheeler if you wanted.
they also converted them as 6x4’s with Albion axles.J.H.Allen had a couple of these as Steve will tell you.
On this topic I think there is a photo of a chinese 6 on a B.M.C.outside Longton Garages.
Tony
The ‘chinese six’ BMC FHK tipper I sometimes worked on owned by a Reading coal merchant had a Primrose second steer, a regular task was keeping the brakes on that axle up to scratch. There was a seperate master cylinder fitted above the axle with a seperate fluid reservoir and the operating rod soon got out of adjustment. Of course plating and testing would soon kill it off anyway but it was quite a beast (5.7 underfloor engine, power steering, five speed box and two speed axle) and assisted in the Aberfan Disaster clearance as the owner used to fetch his coal from that area. It had several drivers who couldn’t tame the thing but a Welshman nicknamed ‘Taffy’ really loved it, sadly he drowned while fishing from a boat (I believe he wore waders that filled with water and dragged him under) and the lorry was either sold or possibly scrapped. I wonder if the Traders used a similar set-up?
Pete.
Hi windrush, I had a BMC (Morris) FHK 140 built in 1963 as a four wheel flat on general haulage, 5 speed box and 2 speed axle and yes it was a good motor worked well for me until a driver took it out one day and blew it up. !! It had a good cab for kipping in no charge at the Morris Hotel.
Cheers Leyland 600.
Leyland600:
Hi windrush, I had a BMC (Morris) FHK 140 built in 1963 as a four wheel flat on general haulage, 5 speed box and 2 speed axle and yes it was a good motor worked well for me until a driver took it out one day and blew it up. !! It had a good cab for kipping in no charge at the Morris Hotel.
Cheers Leyland 600.
I trust it was no one frae’ Ireby Gerald 
Anyhow you should have run a Trader now they really could take some stick, and one or two of them did eh! 
Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Ray Smyth:
ramone:
AV760:
Credit to original photographer, apologies if posted before.
Is that all you could get on !Nicely sheeted , I wonder what he
s carrying it doesnt look too heavyHi Ramone, Because the Ford Thames Trader was a “Dundee” Lorry, it could have been carrying Jute, perhaps. Regards, Ray.
Well that looks like bales of hessian or jute on the top, must have been his first drop off on his way down frae’ Dundee
Definitely jute been there done it. Les
Hi Dennis, encouraged by two boy racers frae Ireby I took their advice and bought one off Norman D a well kept motor as you know but was was very disappointing being unreliable. This was to replace the Dodge I had which was a disaster, almost a case of out of the frying pan ito the fire. I was able to trade the BMC and Trader in for a Gardner engined Foden 8 wheeler and threw away my spanners, a slow plodder but reliable plus I was not helping finance the County Garage every other week like my speedy advisors.
Cheers, Leyland 600
Leyland600:
Hi Dennis, encouraged by two boy racers frae Ireby I took their advice and bought one off Norman D a well kept motor as you know but was was very disappointing being unreliable. This was to replace the Dodge I had which was a disaster, almost a case of out of the frying pan ito the fire. I was able to trade the BMC and Trader in for a Gardner engined Foden 8 wheeler and threw away my spanners, a slow plodder but reliable plus I was not helping finance the County Garage every other week like my speedy advisors.
Cheers, Leyland 600
I believe you are referring to what is termed “a learning curve” Gerald ! I could never come to terms as how a hard pressed haulier could afford to use a commercial workshop ! I couldn’t, and didn’t, I just looked after my first motors with kid gloves then I bought my first workshop and got into gear. Apart from bits of warranty work and accident repairs ( at Grahams) we always returned the very odd breakdown we experienced to the workshop in Milnthorpe. Besides our Fleet Engineer ( who’d worked for me since he was 12 or 13) wouldn’t hear of our motors being touched by anyone but him or some of the other fitters I employed, under strict supervision ! preventative maintenance was our mantra over the years. Cheers Dennis.
Going off topic a little Dennis but some operators that I knew hadn’t the first idea about doing any repairs so they were carried out by either Tilcons quarry garage or a local haulier who did have the facilities. Even changing a wheel was beyond a couple of them, or they just didn’t like getting their hands dirty! Most did do their own maintenance though, some even had a garage but more worked outside. Apart from monthly checks which were done by garages they did everything else. The last firm I worked for only ran two trucks but rented a garage at a local mill which had room for four six wheelers and a long pit, plus an inside fuel tank. ‘We’ did all our own repairs, I looked after the truck I drove and if there was no Saturday work (or I finished early) I would go down to the garage and wash the truck off and do brake adjusting and greasing around, oil/filter changes and relines plus MOT prep etc. Sometimes they would put some extra in my wage packet for doing it, either way it helped them out as there were only two partners and one drove full time like myself, the other stayed in the garage but was quite elderly! It makes me smile when I read posts on the so called ‘Professional Drivers’ section where they want paying for walking to the office etc, does nobody do anything now without expecting payment for it? 
It was all part of helping a small haulier out in my book and I enjoyed doing it? At one time they also did maintenance for other operators but had stopped that by the time I worked there as age had caught up with them! 
Pete.
windrush:
Going off topic a little Dennis but some operators that I knew hadn’t the first idea about doing any repairs so they were carried out by either Tilcons quarry garage or a local haulier who did have the facilities. Even changing a wheel was beyond a couple of them, or they just didn’t like getting their hands dirty! Most did do their own maintenance though, some even had a garage but more worked outside. Apart from monthly checks which were done by garages they did everything else. The last firm I worked for only ran two trucks but rented a garage at a local mill which had room for four six wheelers and a long pit, plus an inside fuel tank. ‘We’ did all our own repairs, I looked after the truck I drove and if there was no Saturday work (or I finished early) I would go down to the garage and wash the truck off and do brake adjusting and greasing around, oil/filter changes and relines plus MOT prep etc. Sometimes they would put some extra in my wage packet for doing it, either way it helped them out as there were only two partners and one drove full time like myself, the other stayed in the garage but was quite elderly! It makes me smile when I read posts on the so called ‘Professional Drivers’ section where they want paying for walking to the office etc, does nobody do anything now without expecting payment for it?Pete.
Spot on there Pete, the good old days when you just got on with the job and did what was necessary eh! Cheers Dennis.
Just before my retirement in 2013, during a " healthy exchange of views " with my manager, I was told that, they { the company, a major aggregates supplier } didnt want drivers to do what they had always done, being resourceful & getting the job done evidently is frowned upon. Been in transport all my life, time served fitter, not even allowed to do minor things, even though I was more skilled & experienced than the youngsters at the Main Dealers we used for our maintenance. Fleet Engineer wanting to send a call-out fitter on an over a 150 mile round trip to a desolate spot in the Borders, to change a PTO switch, that was interchangeable with any other dash board switch. I had thought of extending my retirement date, can you guess why I changed my mind, even got a memo on how to close a tailboard, shattered my self confidence knowing Id been doing it wrong all my life, Yeah Right Just my rant for the day. regards pushrod47
moomooland:
0Rear of Piccadilly Hotel Manchester 1964.
Love!y old photo…also, had a Zodiac MK3 like that one, in green…all seems so long ago now… 
Fergie47:
moomooland:
0Rear of Piccadilly Hotel Manchester 1964.Love!y old photo…also, had a Zodiac MK3 like that one, in green…all seems so long ago now…
I had a 1965 Mk3 Zodiac “Executive”. Gold paint, black leather, auto trans. Lovely car. I wish I had it now…
Gangs were still laying tack coat with those barrel trollies 30 + years later, some of those lads were probably still on the ‘black’ job when I started 20 years after that pic was taken as well, some of those pavers were still in use and you could easily bury them under a twenty tonne load…
Pete.
windrush:
Gangs were still laying tack coat with those barrel trollies 30 + years later, some of those lads were probably still on the ‘black’ job when I started 20 years after that pic was taken as well, some of those pavers were still in use and you could easily bury them under a twenty tonne load…Pete.
Cheers Dennis.
moomooland:
0 Another one for the Tarmac boys.
Half decent truck but spoiled by cr*p livery! I just wish that I had the photo of some of Ballidon quarries Traders lined up, it is probably still on an office wall.
Pete.
