rigsby:
Once you got the hang of the 12 speed though they were sweet as a nut , you always had a gear to suit the road , bearing in mind that 180 bhp pulling 30 tons wasn’t much. Dave
Got it in one Dave, running up Swinscoe in the snow one day, empty on my way to the quarry for sand with an artic powder tanker, I spun to a halt and thought that that was that.
However, had a little play through the gears and found one that did the trick. Re-started, uphill, empty artic, in the snow. What a gearbox.
Mind you. once loaded, she couldn’t make it up the slope out of the quarry. Had to spend the night in the pub in front of a blazing log fire then to sleep in the underfloor heated changing rooms. Bummer. Not.
Coomsey wrote; Does anybody know the vital statistics on this un?
I had a quick look through my Foden book and although there are pictures of various Foden Dumptrucks it doesn’t show an artic version. It does use the steel half cab so I would think the pic is somewhere around the early 70’s, similar six wheel dumpers for export shown have ■■■■■■■ engines of 310 bhp transmitting through an Allison auto box and Kirkstall rear axles. Pity the photo didn’t have a model designation to go off, Foden at this time though were involved with contracts for Dubai with many orders for their dumptrucks from 1968 and into the 70’s some with ■■■■■■■■ Rolls, Leyland and Gardner engines. By the middle of the 70’s many Middle Eastern and African countries were using Foden dumptrucks of various chassis specs, its a pity the one in the photo isn’t included in the book maybe it was a one off. Hopefully someone might have more info on this vehicle. Franky.
Dumper was a ‘one off’ for (I believe?) Shotton steelworks. I’m sure that I heard it was demonstrated around various quarries as well but can’t confirm the fact. It was all wheel drive including the trailer, all Foden worm and wheel diffs.
A rear end pic, from Flikr and not mine, and it was Shotton in 1972.
…could it have been anything to do with the anti-manufacturing government of the time, flogging off anything worthwhile to asset-stripping foreigners and closing down the rest?
Whatever it was I certainly don’t believe that the managements of Foden, ERF, Leyland, Guy(Jaguar, BMC Land Rover and whatever foreigner owns it now) and Sed/Ack were so incompetant compared to the majors in other countries (Volvo, Scania, Daf, Man, Merc, Renault, Fiat) that they all, without exception (save for Dennis) either went to the wall or were sold abroad.
I suppose the rot started when Harold Wilson got involved in things he didn’t understand and forced Leyland to take over BMC. It was always said that EU rules prevented national favouritism. Something that doesn’t seem to have worried all the above.
However, the writing was on the wall as I was driving my Mack in OZ and seeing all the Fodens and Leylands still being driven in firms that used them exclusively. Not for much longer.
Taken in 1953
by
This firm liked them