not going to say who got stuck on the b3081 zig zag hill shaftesbury dorset today , and last week a moffett mounty was embedding itself into the road as it bottomed out dragging and scraping along on the back of a trailer , conventional sat navs would probably send you this way , i have not tried or used a truckers one , melbury abbas and spreadeagle hill , higher shaftesbury road , is only slight better , so it must be the donhead hollow between the b3081 and the a30 or the a350 for trucks ? , if you need to navigate around this area 
not been there for a few years but I used to go this way
pdw:
not going to say who got stuck on the b3081 zig zag hill shaftesbury dorset today , and last week a moffett mounty was embedding itself into the road as it bottomed out dragging and scraping along on the back of a trailer , conventional sat navs would probably send you this way , i have not tried or used a truckers one , melbury abbas and spreadeagle hill , higher shaftesbury road , is only slight better , so it must be the donhead hollow between the b3081 and the a30 or the a350 for trucks ? , if you need to navigate around this area
So what you’re saying is, occasionally someone makes an arse of the job and therefore everything over 7.5t should be banned ?
I wouldn’t take my 7.5t horse lorry down (or up) there, bad enough in a landrover and trailer…
Even on a motorbike it’s hard work not to fall off
Cheers
Paul
Haven’t been down there for sometime myself but I was under the impression that Spreadeagle had a weight limit already?
Used to use that road a lot on farm deliveries and collections - quite a challenge when you weren’t too sure of your gross weight… 
Select crawler at the bottom and cross everything
Still, far far better than the 350 though…poxy road!
Denis F:
not been there for a few years but I used to go this way
same as denis
but i agree a 7.5t limit would be good for zig zag, have done it a few times with 6 & 8wheelers already knowing the road , but it’s bloody hard work with the 8 !
MolePower:
Denis F:
not been there for a few years but I used to go this way
same as denis
but i agree a 7.5t limit would be good for zig zag, have done it a few times with 6 & 8wheelers already knowing the road , but it’s bloody hard work with the 8 !
Looking at that map, it’s a primary route, and the 1 you’re advising to use isn’t. So, sat nav or not, if I was navigating by map, out of the 2, I’d choose that one.
But, I’d probably be heading slightly round and getting on the A350 to be honest, I like green roads better than orange, blue better than green, and orange better than yellow. I try to avoid the whites where possible, they’re usually crap 
Unfortunately, in this case the green road is crapper than crap… A very, very slow road to navigate, even in a car! Narrow, twisty and nowhere to pass anything - it is a truly awful road to travel and always has been… ANY other route would be better and faster…
Foreign drivers use that route following their car sat navs driving a truck,they come off the ferries at Poole docks.
Interesting observations on the A350.
I used to use that road everyday, sometimes twice if I didn’t have to carry on to Henstridge from Blandford. 18 or 26t, never had a problem with the 350, colleagues always used to go Spread Eagle and used to take longer than me to get to Blandford. That said, I quite liked the Spread Eagle and used to sometimes use it anyway.
I was once overtaken by an artic on the short straight by the Stepleton estate, that was a bit ■■■■ clenching I can tell you.
Never been up the ZigZag 
if im going towards Blandford i nearly always go down through Melbury Abbas, apart the tight as a ducks ■■■ village and spreadeagle the rest of the road is pretty straight. you can get a right wriggle on if you`re that way inclined 
.where as the A350 is pretty dicey and a good place to lose your mirrors 
i wouldnt attempt spreadeagle when its wet tho, lost traction in an unladen artic once, took ages to get up there.
As for zig zag,i cut up that way from Verwood once as a short cut to save time on a friday.quite scenic on the approach.
Once i started to go down it my ■■■ started to twitch… just made it round the hairpins with a 40 footer… thought i was gonna get stuck half way down
doubt id go that way again and youve got no hope of going up i shouldnt think. Brave rigid drivers only
Zigzag defo needs a weight limit. cant imagine how many people have got stuck up there lol
only been up there in a ford sierra in the wet
I took a loaded 44 tonner through there into our factory at Okeford Fitzpaine…I reckon I lost 2 st in sweat…never take direction’s from a chicken catcher…even if he is a local!!!
i done it once in fully loaded 44t it was a experience that i will not be be repeating again learnt my lesson there, there is talk of turn the top and bottom shaftsbury road into a one way system for anything over 7.5t which will make negotiating the roads a lot easier
As others have said it’s doable if it’s not wet and you’ve got plenty of weight on the pin but not fully freighted. Wet road and empty trailer and I’d definitely try and plan around.
I would say Somerset/Dorset/Devon is one of the worst areas for main route roads that initially look quite inviting for large vehicles, wide junction, well painted lines etc. that deteriorate into narrow lanes surprisingly quickly. Parts of Yorks & Lancs quite bad for it as well.
Piston broke:
Haven’t been down there for sometime myself but I was under the impression that Spreadeagle had a weight limit already?Used to use that road a lot on farm deliveries and collections - quite a challenge when you weren’t too sure of your gross weight…
Still, far far better than the 350 though…poxy road!
im sure the signs say ‘unsuitable for HGVs’ when using the Melbury Abbas/spreadeagle road.
what roads are? thats a green light then. certainly no worse than A350 apart from Melbury Abbas itself, meet a truck in the wrong place ans its bloody hard work