marktaff:
smallcoal:
Hi mark and jakey,one out of the mag ,I like the defects written on the back of a mag
Hi John,
Lol…typical Bedford defects mate…I’m glad your enjoying …when your done with them mags I will swap them with some more mate…also got a few old 70s Commercial Motor mags also you can have a lend of mate.
Cheers Mark
Hi mark that be great I am enjoying reading how popular the removal biz was years ago uk and Europe 
marktaff:
Carl Williams:
marktaff:
JAKEY:
Mark and John ,that Bedford Marsden looks a bit high to loadno air suspension in those days so the ramps would of ever been very long or even steeper !!! .
Hi Jakey…yes good old Bedford TK 1260 …500 engine 5 speed box…no turbo…no air suspension. …but they were flying machines before the speed limiters…they would cruise at 70mph…but would be very lucky to get 100 thousand miles out of an engine they were like paper the engines back then…but a cheap truck to run…Ellis Morgan ran a fleet of these bay loader ones mainly on contract work…how you doing Jakey…you busy mate ?
Hi,
Our experience was completely opposite to what you say of the 12.6 ton GVW Bedford with either Marsden or Vanplan integral bodies. We had aprox 60 of these with 500 cu in engine and 95% of them exceeded 300,000 miles on first engine. Many afterwards managed a further 300,000 miles plus when they were fitted with replacement Bedford short motors. We never had a 500 do less than 250,000 miles. Sadly for the manufactures that fitted Perkins 6.354 engines, we never had a vehicle achieve 250,000 miles. However we had 6 TM tractor units with 500 engines and they did not achieve as high mileage.
Hi Carl…many of the 500s I drove and new of only managed 300 thousand miles with the short motor included… and the other common fault with the short motor would be drop a conrod throght the side of the engine…I new of a few 500s to do this after being fitted by the main Bedford dealer…but i don’t know weather this might be to do with the speed some we’re capable of doing ?
Like you say it could only be the speed. We had ours governed to 55 mpg on level which with wind behind downhill might make 60 but they were serviced in our workshops every 4 weeks and if a seal on a pump was found to be broken to increase speed we would give the driver immediate dismissal.
The Bedford in the photos is a case I can illustrate as it did the same work 50 weeks per year for 5 years with the same driver. Cess Ramsey would be about 55 years old when he was give this vehicle new direct from ‘The Motor Show’ Marsden’s exhibit.
Thorn EMI had a factory in Spennymoor where they manufactured Cookers & Fridges. They also had the Kenmore Factory at Havant in Hampshire, which housed the sales office for Domestic appliances. Cess’s job for about 12 years had been two loads to & from Havant a week. He took their internal mail, new prototype models for inspection, cookers & fridges for Havant staff sales shop and they filled him up with Domestic appliances for retailers in Southampton/Portsmouth area. On return he brought back to Spennymoor Kenwood products & TVs for Spennymoor staff sales, internal mail and Printing such as instruction manuals , cookery books etc which were in new appliances. This happened every week apart from the week between Christmas & New Year. Cess took two weeks off Summer holidays when other drivers were allocated his vehicle and work. So Bedford was doing 1,400 miles per week for 50 weeks a year and when we finished in Jan 1986 it had done so for just over 5 years 350,000 miles. It had of course been serviced every 4 weeks in our workshops (5,600 mile intervals aprox) but had had no major repairs and no days off the road apart from its 10 day Christmas break.
Before this Bedford Cess had been using a Seddon Pennine with Vanplan body same size RUP601M for 5 years and in fairness it had achieved about the same. However we found Perkins engines were more reliable in Seddon Passenger chassis for some reason than in Dodge or particularly Leyland Boxers. But it must be noted we could buy 3 Bedfords for the price of two Seddon Pennines.
Hi all some more out of the mags kindly lent by mark
Great mag clippings .
JAKEY:
Great mag clippings .
Hi jakey,these old removal mags are something else good reading stuff in there lots of info and stuff cheers John
Stuff like this mason asking other firms if they know the whereabouts of a non paying customer hope he got his money back
Yes John they look very interesting . Hope Mark behaves himself when he passes through Oxfordshire next week ?
Carl for sure…a strict service plan top speed 55mph and hopefully the same steady driver for the lifetime of the vehicle I can see how you were achieving the life out of these engines…at what miles did you do an oil change Carl ?.
Most of the 500s I drove were also inspected every 4 weeks…they only had an oil change every 10 to 12 thousand miles though if my memory is right…also with one’s I drove and new of did a lot of multi drop work to homes and like I said we’re capable of speeds of 70+ mph on the motorway…the other locally base company Griff Fender also ran 6 Bedford KMs 500s 16 ton R and S plate Pickfords spec vans on the same multi drop work…they also had there own maintenance facilities and we’re inspected and serviced the same way …but sadly also suffered the same problems with the 500s to…but these also were capable of 70+ mph on motorways…the drivers were queuing up for one of these Bedfords back then…Griff Fender ran mostly Leyland Boxers which were slow top speed on some of 45 to 50 mph…the drivers with the Bedfords would boast of how quick they could go from Swansea to London in four and a half hours 
Clearly the 500s were not built for that type of speed although they were capable of it…no doubt Carl if companies like Pickfords had governed there fuel pumps like you did back then…they would have also saved themselfs a fortune…Carl i always admired your vehicles back in the day your colours and lettering did those integrals justice…your vehicles were always a regular site at the back of the Co op in Oxford street in Swansea.
Attached a pic of one of the KM 500s Griff Fender ran on the same work.
Regards Mark
marktaff:
Carl for sure…a strict service plan top speed 55mph and hopefully the same steady driver for the lifetime of the vehicle I can see how you were achieving the life out of these engines…at what miles did you do an oil change Carl ?.Most of the 500s I drove were also inspected every 4 weeks…they only had an oil change every 10 to 12 thousand miles though if my memory is right…also with one’s I drove and new of did a lot of multi drop work to homes and like I said we’re capable of speeds of 70+ mph on the motorway…the other locally base company Griff Fender also ran 6 Bedford KMs 500s 16 ton R and S plate Pickfords spec vans on the same multi drop work…they also had there own maintenance facilities and we’re inspected and serviced the same way …but sadly also suffered the same problems with the 500s to…but these also were capable of 70+ mph on motorways…the drivers were queuing up for one of these Bedfords back then…Griff Fender ran mostly Leyland Boxers which were slow top speed on some of 45 to 50 mph…the drivers with the Bedfords would boast of how quick they could go from Swansea to London in four and a half hours
Clearly the 500s were not built for that type of speed although they were capable of it…no doubt Carl if companies like Pickfords had governed there fuel pumps like you did back then…they would have also saved themselfs a fortune…Carl i always admired your vehicles back in the day your colours and lettering did those integrals justice…your vehicles were always a regular site at the back of the Co op in Oxford street in Swansea.Attached a pic of one of the KM 500s Griff Fender ran on the same work.
Regards Mark
Our oil & filter changes were every 4 weeks regardless of mileage which on average would be about 5.000-6,000 miles. Like you say the drivers loved the Bedford integrals and so longest serving employees got them, kept & cared for them. Like you say we had Lairds & Boxes, as well as Commer & Dodge & although Maintenance was the same the Lairds with Leyland (BMC) engines were dreadful & Perkins in Boxers not much better. 100,000 miles was good for Perkins & 50,000 for the Leyland crap.
Carl Williams:
marktaff:
Carl for sure…a strict service plan top speed 55mph and hopefully the same steady driver for the lifetime of the vehicle I can see how you were achieving the life out of these engines…at what miles did you do an oil change Carl ?.Most of the 500s I drove were also inspected every 4 weeks…they only had an oil change every 10 to 12 thousand miles though if my memory is right…also with one’s I drove and new of did a lot of multi drop work to homes and like I said we’re capable of speeds of 70+ mph on the motorway…the other locally base company Griff Fender also ran 6 Bedford KMs 500s 16 ton R and S plate Pickfords spec vans on the same multi drop work…they also had there own maintenance facilities and we’re inspected and serviced the same way …but sadly also suffered the same problems with the 500s to…but these also were capable of 70+ mph on motorways…the drivers were queuing up for one of these Bedfords back then…Griff Fender ran mostly Leyland Boxers which were slow top speed on some of 45 to 50 mph…the drivers with the Bedfords would boast of how quick they could go from Swansea to London in four and a half hours
Clearly the 500s were not built for that type of speed although they were capable of it…no doubt Carl if companies like Pickfords had governed there fuel pumps like you did back then…they would have also saved themselfs a fortune…Carl i always admired your vehicles back in the day your colours and lettering did those integrals justice…your vehicles were always a regular site at the back of the Co op in Oxford street in Swansea.Attached a pic of one of the KM 500s Griff Fender ran on the same work.
Regards Mark
Our oil & filter changes were every 4 weeks regardless of mileage which on average would be about 5.000-6,000 miles. Like you say the drivers loved the Bedford integrals and so longest serving employees got them, kept & cared for them. Like you say we had Lairds & Boxers, as well as Commer & Dodge & although Maintenance was the same the Lairds with Leyland (BMC) engines were dreadful & Perkins in Boxers not much better. 100,000 miles was good for Perkins & 50,000 for the Leyland crap.
Carl Williams:
marktaff:
Carl for sure…a strict service plan top speed 55mph and hopefully the same steady driver for the lifetime of the vehicle I can see how you were achieving the life out of these engines…at what miles did you do an oil change Carl ?.Most of the 500s I drove were also inspected every 4 weeks…they only had an oil change every 10 to 12 thousand miles though if my memory is right…also with one’s I drove and new of did a lot of multi drop work to homes and like I said we’re capable of speeds of 70+ mph on the motorway…the other locally base company Griff Fender also ran 6 Bedford KMs 500s 16 ton R and S plate Pickfords spec vans on the same multi drop work…they also had there own maintenance facilities and we’re inspected and serviced the same way …but sadly also suffered the same problems with the 500s to…but these also were capable of 70+ mph on motorways…the drivers were queuing up for one of these Bedfords back then…Griff Fender ran mostly Leyland Boxers which were slow top speed on some of 45 to 50 mph…the drivers with the Bedfords would boast of how quick they could go from Swansea to London in four and a half hours
Clearly the 500s were not built for that type of speed although they were capable of it…no doubt Carl if companies like Pickfords had governed there fuel pumps like you did back then…they would have also saved themselfs a fortune…Carl i always admired your vehicles back in the day your colours and lettering did those integrals justice…your vehicles were always a regular site at the back of the Co op in Oxford street in Swansea.Attached a pic of one of the KM 500s Griff Fender ran on the same work.
Regards Mark
Our oil & filter changes were every 4 weeks regardless of mileage which on average would be about 5.000-6,000 miles. Like you say the drivers loved the Bedford integrals and so longest serving employees got them, kept & cared for them. Like you say we had Lairds & Boxes, as well as Commer & Dodge & although Maintenance was the same the Lairds with Leyland (BMC) engines were dreadful & Perkins in Boxers not much better. 100,000 miles was good for Perkins & 50,000 for the Leyland crap.
My father also drove a BMC Laird for Griff Fender from new…they had a batch of them J reg plates with the BMC engines EGU 182 J to 189 with Norwich coachworks 1800cuft bodies…I always remember my father saying the engines were to small for the size body…they were a lot of trouble…Fenders would keep 2 spare engines that’s how unreliable they were.
The Bedford integral in the photo here Carl…I can see it’s a W plate …was this an early TL ?
Hi mark and jakey, I can honestly say Jones never had any breakdowns with the trucks,we had a fitter viv h was brilliant at repairs and he would service them regularly he used to carry everything in his Vauxhall viva van ,going to the drivers houses to service them on a Sunday morning ,here’s marks fathers defects written on the back of a mag
Hi all. I enjoy reading this thread. Just looking at Ellis Morgan’s Bedford there and I believe they were mostly used on fibre glass work out of Pontypool.
I was looking at the address and phone numbers! Ellis Morgan of Pengam, with a Bargoed telephone number and then a Blackwood address. In the early days they were on Fairview hill down a lane behind a row of houses. Almost impossible to find if you didn’t know they were there.
John, the viva van was a Bedford HA officially, but as you say we called them viva vans. I don’t think you could fit a lorry spare wheel into the back of it, great little service van though.
Paul
John , that’s great to find them Defect notes , I would keep that forever Mark , we kept a lot of silly things of my dads on the side , his watches and glasses are still on the side where he left them last .
marktaff:
Carl Williams:
marktaff:
Carl for sure…a strict service plan top speed 55mph and hopefully the same steady driver for the lifetime of the vehicle I can see how you were achieving the life out of these engines…at what miles did you do an oil change Carl ?.Most of the 500s I drove were also inspected every 4 weeks…they only had an oil change every 10 to 12 thousand miles though if my memory is right…also with one’s I drove and new of did a lot of multi drop work to homes and like I said we’re capable of speeds of 70+ mph on the motorway…the other locally base company Griff Fender also ran 6 Bedford KMs 500s 16 ton R and S plate Pickfords spec vans on the same multi drop work…they also had there own maintenance facilities and we’re inspected and serviced the same way …but sadly also suffered the same problems with the 500s to…but these also were capable of 70+ mph on motorways…the drivers were queuing up for one of these Bedfords back then…Griff Fender ran mostly Leyland Boxers which were slow top speed on some of 45 to 50 mph…the drivers with the Bedfords would boast of how quick they could go from Swansea to London in four and a half hours
Clearly the 500s were not built for that type of speed although they were capable of it…no doubt Carl if companies like Pickfords had governed there fuel pumps like you did back then…they would have also saved themselfs a fortune…Carl i always admired your vehicles back in the day your colours and lettering did those integrals justice…your vehicles were always a regular site at the back of the Co op in Oxford street in Swansea.Attached a pic of one of the KM 500s Griff Fender ran on the same work.
Regards Mark
Our oil & filter changes were every 4 weeks regardless of mileage which on average would be about 5.000-6,000 miles. Like you say the drivers loved the Bedford integrals and so longest serving employees got them, kept & cared for them. Like you say we had Lairds & Boxes, as well as Commer & Dodge & although Maintenance was the same the Lairds with Leyland (BMC) engines were dreadful & Perkins in Boxers not much better. 100,000 miles was good for Perkins & 50,000 for the Leyland crap.
My father also drove a BMC Laird for Griff Fender from new…they had a batch of them J reg plates with the BMC engines EGU 182 J to 189 with Norwich coachworks 1800cuft bodies…I always remember my father saying the engines were to small for the size body…they were a lot of trouble…Fenders would keep 2 spare engines that’s how unreliable they were.
The Bedford integral in the photo here Carl…I can see it’s a W plate …was this an early TL ?
Hi Mark it was a TK, we never fancied TLs with tilt cabs & the last 9 new vehicles we bought were Mercedes 16 ton GVW & 1 12.5 ton GVW (All 16 tonners turbo charged & smaller one not) sadly by the 1980s Bedfords were lacking street cred & due to customers pressure we went onto Mercedes & so this one was one of our last Bedfords. Because of the popularity of TKs they still produced them in parallel with the TL for a long time.
Usually we bought TK chassis cabs & Marsden or vanplan stripped down to chassis scuttle & sellling screen doors etc, as we could get immediate delivery on Chassis cabs where as chaasis scuttles had to be ordered. However this was a ‘Special vehicle’ produced specially for exhibit at the Motor show and was built as a chassis scuttle. When we got it we could see nothing special in the Bedford bit, perhaps it had more qualty checks, but Marsdens had done a bit better finnish including coloured floor. As I said Cess Ramsey the driver was coming off RUP601M a Seddon Pennine with Vanplan. In L to N reg we had bought a few Seddon Pennines some bodied by Marsden & some Vanplan. The drivers were coming off 330 cu in Bedford TK Pantechnicons which they considered sleeper cabs (Sleeping over the engine at back of cab and in order to please we had these Seddons built with hatches from cab into the Lutons and moveable partitions to separate the luton from the rest of the body. These could be used if required for for instance a very large removal where the space was needed, but as they were longer than the older Bedfords customers didn’t mind loosing the luton, for haulage work. When Cess heard about the new van he was getting he asked could it have a hatch into the luton & made with detachable partition, and as this batch of Bedfords were stretched o the same length as the Seddons we agreed.
As I explained Cess was friendly with all the managers at Havant he managed to get them to fit him a microwave & fridge which was in development for Caravan use & agreed to test them for them. So in 1980s Cess had probably better than the best sleeper cabs today. The TKs were very popular with drivers and when we got the first batch of 6 Mercesdes drivers were allocated that had been driving 330 cu in & 466cu in Bedford Marsdens and they hated the Mercedes, calling them Tin Cabs because they were so cold in the winter.
What happened to Griff Fender. We did some work together a few times I seem to remember, and they were a respected company. I understand Pickfords took them over. Did they close them down? Such a shame because like many of the bus companies Pickfords were given so much town centre properties when they were denationalised they could carry on in their disorganised way using this ill gained profit.
Pairs with thanks to Richard Says.
Oily
At a show and working.
Oily
smallcoal:
Hi mark and jakey, I can honestly say Jones never had any breakdowns with the trucks,we had a fitter viv h was brilliant at repairs and he would service them regularly he used to carry everything in his Vauxhall viva van ,going to the drivers houses to service them on a Sunday morning ,here’s marks fathers defects written on the back of a mag
John i’d forgotten about that mate bit shocked as soon as I saw it…that was typical of my old man he would never get the driver to write it down …he would ask them any problems and he would note it…times have changed.
I remember Jones fitter and the Viva van…I saw him a couple of times up at Associated upholstery on Bennett street operating on there D series Ford’s.
JAKEY:
John , that’s great to find them Defect notes , I would keep that forever Mark , we kept a lot of silly things of my dads on the side , his watches and glasses are still on the side where he left them last .
Hi Steve…when I saw the pic John had posted of the defect list it did take me by suprise to see the old mans writhing…I have also got a lot of my father’s things to…keeps me smiling when I see them mate.
You busy this week Steve ?
