What are they like?, i might have a new job its £100 a day reasonable for this area and apparently a 16 speed box so not a twin splitter :):):) thank God.
Dont know how old it is yet but i am guessing probably pre M.A.N.
whats the good points if any of these wagons and of course whats the bad points which im sure there are a massive list.
Low loader work is all i know at the minute after a very long conversation with the guy its mainly small plant he moves goty an interview on Saturday over a pint so he cant be that bad eh?..
“olympic” is only the type of cab, being double bunk and high head room, if it’s pre 2000 i think, it’ll be an ec, theres no better engine than the ■■■■■■■ m11 although if you’d had a twin split for a week you’d wish this wagon had one instead of the syncro! i like ERF’s they’re comfortable enough and the engines will pull you up the side of a mountain, very rarely go wrong and will run for ever.
theres no better engine than the ■■■■■■■ m11 although if you’d had a twin split for a week you’d wish this wagon had one instead of the syncro! i like ERF’s they’re comfortable enough and the engines will pull you up the side of a mountain, very rarely go wrong and will run for ever.
paul b:
“olympic” is only the type of cab, being double bunk and high head room.
Yes but there’s more to it than that. There is a higher level of trim, both the drivers and passenger seats are on air, the passenger seat moves forward and swivels 180 degrees to face the rear of the cab, and a small table pulls out from under the bunk, Talking of bunks, they’re very comfortable and if you fold the top one away you get a cavernous space, there is a wardrobe for your clothes, and you get all the toys (ERF style of course) Electric windows/ roof hatch, electric adjustment for your heated mirrors, cruise control, and depending on what engine package a real Jake brake.
paul b:
"theres no better engine than the ■■■■■■■ m11.
I’d take issue with that comment, the ■■■■■■■ is undoubtedly a great engine, but the EC series were also spec’ed with other engines, the CAT C12 being my personal choice and will definately…
paul b:
" pull you up the side of a mountain.
it’s also true that…
paul b:
" they very rarely go wrong and will run for ever.
BAD BITS
The biggest fault I find from a drivers perpective is outside storage. There is a small locker on the passenger side which will hold a few bits and pieces, but is inadaquate for a trampers needs, and the under bunk storage is awkward to accsess without getting your bedding mucky (I sleep upstairs and store my straps etc under the bottom bunk) the cab is fibreglass and it can be very difficult to SWR a CB (although the cab will never rust) and there’s not much bling (if your into that sort of thing) available off the shelf anymore. 4 top spots help the lighting out too.
All that said, I am very happy with the EC12 Olympic (CAT C12) that I run and would not hesitate to have another in the fleet.
A truck that is totally underated, cost effective, cheap to run and repair and are comfty too. The Olympic is the one to go for but the others are real value for money.
I found the only problem with the EC series,was the niggly things like,bits of trim falling off/wearing away quick,switches that didn’t work,dashboard bulbs forever going,and the steering wheel the size of one of the trucks wheels!!!
Other than that,not a bad motor,but one has to remember that when ERF built this,it was to try an take on the big boys,but it was still built to a premium,like all ERF’s.
paul b:
"All that said, I am very happy with the EC12 Olympic (CAT C12) that I run and would not hesitate to have another in the fleet.
I had one of those for my first wagon, although not an Olympic. Even with a fair amount of weight on I would very often leave plenty of other supposedly ‘better’ wagons in the dust on Birdlip hill. Made a wicked noise with the window down going through those tunnels along the A55 near Conwy as well!
After passing my test, the very first Artic I drove was an EC14 Olympic, until I got to know about the twinsplit and how to use it, I thought is was the dogs doodahs.
I have driven many other Olympics since then, from DFDS Immingham, loved the things.
My firm can’t get drivers to part with their W plate Olympics for brand new Renault Premiums. Not the stiffest of tests I know, but a great testimony for the ERF given respective company sizes, resources etc.
paul b:
“olympic” is only the type of cab, being double bunk and high head room.
Yes but there’s more to it than that. There is a higher level of trim, both the drivers and passenger seats are on air, the passenger seat moves forward and swivels 180 degrees to face the rear of the cab, and a small table pulls out from under the bunk, Talking of bunks, they’re very comfortable and if you fold the top one away you get a cavernous space, there is a wardrobe for your clothes, and you get all the toys (ERF style of course) Electric windows/ roof hatch, electric adjustment for your heated mirrors, cruise control, and depending on what engine package a real Jake brake.
paul b:
"theres no better engine than the ■■■■■■■ m11.
I’d take issue with that comment, the ■■■■■■■ is undoubtedly a great engine, but the EC series were also spec’ed with other engines, the CAT C12 being my personal choice and will definately…
paul b:
" pull you up the side of a mountain.
it’s also true that…
paul b:
" they very rarely go wrong and will run for ever.
i thought some of the above came with the lx trim available in the flat roof cab as well?
heard nothing but bad things about the cat engine, “heard” being the operative word, until you’ve run something yourself you don’t know.
i run at an average of about 42t and the 380 ■■■■■■■ does the job well but i would consider getting it remapped, theres a firm that advertisses impressive gains in power and fuel ecconemy for not a lot of money, can’t think of the name off hand but don’t think it’s a lot of money.
what mpg were you getting out of the ■■■■■■■ engines on your other wagons? heard many claim 9+ but i’m not getting anything like that on the work i’m doing which is mainly motorway, makes me think it might want looking at.
CAT’s are the DOG’s danglies matey. The thing is, a good many people know nothing when they open there mouths. The only problem with CAT’s are they are expensive when they go wrong, but mine has never gone wrong in over 500,000km, and from looking at the service history from before I bought it, it never really has. As for MPG, well thats a very variable thing indeed, as I’m sure your fully aware. I get around 7.8 to the gallon pulling around 24-25 ton, the ■■■■■■■ are doing around the same, at slightly more tonnage. You often hear stories of folk getting enormous MPG figures from all sorts of kit, best of luck to them I say, 'cause I’ve never got anything over 8ish from any of my trucks. As for the LX trim levels I don’t know, you could be quite correct, but the Olyimpic cab is the top of the range, and I’d rather that than either the 420 FH Globetrotter or the Merc Megaspace out there in the yard. It would seem that the Eaton twin split boxes were not fitted to the later Olyimpics as I have never seen one in a late nineties model, in the flat top yes, but not in the Olyimpic. I’ve seen them in 1995’s but not in 1998’s, strange really as they are a very good box.
Is everything going according to plan with your artic venture, got anything in the way of back loads to the South West■■?
Speak soon, Simon.
i used to drive a twin sleeper high roof ec11 and it was a great motor and id av one if i were a new start up o/d ■■■■■■■ are bomb proof and the one i drove had a 16 speed synchro.
Tramper:
Is everything going according to plan with your artic venture, got anything in the way of back loads to the South West■■?
Speak soon, Simon.
yes and no, it’s going ok but not as busy as i hoped it would be.
been offered a regular run on tranfers from rotherham to wednesbury with a guaranteed backload which makes it a very good rate for the mileage involved but it’s an afternoon drop, it can involve ridiculous amounts of waiting time (6.5 hours yesterday) although you get paid at a good rate after the first two, it’s a late start, late Finnish which dosen’t suit me at all. purely on a financial footing it’s the thing to do because it’ll guarantee x amount of income week in week out but theres no chance of pushing the job at all to make a bit more out of it.
the brightbar deliveries i was doing with the rigid have really dropped off to the point i don’t think there would’ve been any work for me so maybe i changed at the right time?
as for your backloads? is south wales any good?
:):):)
