Now then lads why have you got the “downer” on four-in-line trailers,I believe they were an excellent piece of equipment for their time i.e. the most cost effective combination at 24 ton GVW available.Fair enough you had to treat them with respect otherwise you could end up “in the ■■■■” but that was down to bad driving ,nothing else ! If I had been operating at that time with 24 ton being the max GVW I would have no doubt used the 4-in-line as opposed to a tandem bogie.Maybe “Carryfast” would support my opinion 
Bewick.
Berwick, The only real problem I found with 4 in line’s was you seem to be dragging the trailer behind you, not it rolling with you, if you get my meaning, other than that as you say treat them with respect, no problem
Bewick:
Now then lads why have you got the “downer” on four-in-line trailers,I believe they were an excellent piece of equipment for their time i.e. the most cost effective combination at 24 ton GVW available.Fair enough you had to treat them with respect otherwise you could end up “in the [zb]” but that was down to bad driving ,nothing else ! If I had been operating at that time with 24 ton being the max GVW I would have no doubt used the 4-in-line as opposed to a tandem bogie.Maybe “Carryfast” would support my opinion
Brady’s had some Dennis, but I think they were probably Ok with steel and mouldings etc. come on, would you honestly have loved them with 8’ high loads?
Did you ever try one?
You had a couple of turnovers in 30 years, not 3 or 4!
John
John West:
Bewick:
Now then lads why have you got the “downer” on four-in-line trailers,I believe they were an excellent piece of equipment for their time i.e. the most cost effective combination at 24 ton GVW available.Fair enough you had to treat them with respect otherwise you could end up “in the [zb]” but that was down to bad driving ,nothing else ! If I had been operating at that time with 24 ton being the max GVW I would have no doubt used the 4-in-line as opposed to a tandem bogie.Maybe “Carryfast” would support my opinionBrady’s had some Dennis, but I think they were probably Ok with steel and mouldings etc. come on, would you honestly have loved them with 8’ high loads?
Did you ever try one?
You had a couple of turnovers in 30 years, not 3 or 4!
John
I will give you that John and as always things “move on” and improve but in the 50’s and 60’s the four-in-lines were popular as 24 ton gvw outfits as the,then,operators required maximum payloads at 24 tons especially those forward thinking operators (Jack and the Big’un !!)who embraced articulation in a big way,the days of the rigid were well and truly numbered with the on set of articulation,a bit like the “curtainsider” revolution in the 80’s it can be likened to I believe.Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
John West:
Bewick:
Now then lads why have you got the “downer” on four-in-line trailers,I believe they were an excellent piece of equipment for their time i.e. the most cost effective combination at 24 ton GVW available.Fair enough you had to treat them with respect otherwise you could end up “in the [zb]” but that was down to bad driving ,nothing else ! If I had been operating at that time with 24 ton being the max GVW I would have no doubt used the 4-in-line as opposed to a tandem bogie.Maybe “Carryfast” would support my opinionBrady’s had some Dennis, but I think they were probably Ok with steel and mouldings etc. come on, would you honestly have loved them with 8’ high loads?
Did you ever try one?
You had a couple of turnovers in 30 years, not 3 or 4!
John
I will give you that John and as always things “move on” and improve but in the 50’s and 60’s the four-in-lines were popular as 24 ton gvw outfits as the,then,operators required maximum payloads at 24 tons especially those forward thinking operators (Jack and the Big’un !!)who embraced articulation in a big way,the days of the rigid were well and truly numbered with the on set of articulation,a bit like the “curtainsider” revolution in the 80’s it can be likened to I believe.Cheers Dennis.
Right, amazing to think that people you thought of as ‘stick in the mud’ at the time, were actually forward thinking!
Incidentally, I was the first to bring a Tautliner into Bowater Scott - not that I’m calling you, a dyed in the wool sheeter, old fashioned you understand…’
John
Just looking at the pictures, and I can imagine that these 4 in line trailers were horrid to pull, and they look like they would lean a lot in the bends.
Clunk:
Just looking at the pictures, and I can imagine that these 4 in line trailers were horrid to pull, and they look like they would lean a lot in the bends.
Hiya,
I personally didn’t like them and as Dennis says they would be OK if handled gently,
that’s all well and good but most hauliers wanted their goods there yesterday which
meant having to go a bit which I preferred to do and found that with a true tandem
it was better and safer than those four in line’s I was lucky I never had a puncture
when pulling one that would have been a nightmare, so my summing up if you’ve all
the time in the world I suppose they would be alright, if you’ve got set the old girl
away you was better off with a proper trailer.
thanks harry, long retired.
The first articulate lorry i drove was a “scammell coupling leyland comet” app 1967,with a" four in line trailer" cattle open top box ,i am sure the brakes were vacum. 1
like the old railway trucks,no roof, a 5 bar gate at the middle .to block off the first 10 beasts, the floor had 6x2 timber running across side to side, about 2 foot apart,the sides had a light steel frame, full wooden sides,about 3 foot up then open gaps every foot to about 7 foot in height.usual cattle box back door type ,with 2 wing nuts to secure, it must have had a type of chassi but my did it roll. everything kept well back ,especial down the M1 the spray from behind was horrendous so i got told. I have no idea whose make it was, but it was in NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
Washing out was a game you had to shovel the [slurry over each wooden bar on the floor ] then you would wash out ,i do never remember using any straw on the floor.
it was a abattoir express
Most bodybuilders used 3"X2" transverse timbers for grip on the floor, leaving a gap of about 3" at each end of the piece so that you could wash the stuff around the ends.
We used sawdust on the floor, except when carrying pigs or sheep- plenty of straw for pigs so that they automatically cleaned themselves as they move around and just a bit for sheep, mainly because it was easier to clean sheep muck out when it had a bit of straw with it.
Retired Old ■■■■:
Most bodybuilders used 3"X2" transverse timbers for grip on the floor, leaving a gap of about 3" at each end of the piece so that you could wash the stuff around the ends.
We used sawdust on the floor, except when carrying pigs of sheep- plenty of straw for pigs so that they automatically cleaned themselves as they move around and just a bit for sheep, mainly because it was easier to clean sheep muck out when it had a bit of straw with it.
Is that like being on the buses?..sorry fellers couldn’t help that
O wow, 4 inline Low Loaders a!! My first encounter was at Richards & Wallington, Birmingham. A 4 inline, with racket jacks, a 6’ steel bar to hoist and lower the jacks. Ronnie Damms on the Mack !! had hudraulic Jacks, but I suffered these. I found then easy to use after my arms became like “Popye’s”. The jib 22rb/38rb, out the back.
Then onto St Marys Plant Hire, Holloway, London. at first an ERF with a 4 inline low loader and Hydraulic Jacks. The jib’s over the cab !!! great for lamposts. Here then I moved onto a brand new Foden, 6x4 with manuakl double reduction axles, a 12 speed gearbox, a new trailer with hydraulics to get used to, carring Atlas/Andes/D9/D8’s gas pipe days a. I liked the 4 in line.
I, too, had experience of 4-in-lines on low loaders. They were a completely different animal to the ones intended for general haulage. Probably something to do with (a) the centre of gravity being three feet lower and (b) low loaders tending to be driven more “gently” than flat beds. I didn’t get too much experience at knocking the wheels out as most of our loads tended to be 360 excavators, tracked loading shovels, dozers and JCBs, all of which could be persuaded “over the side”.
Dobson (Edin) had a lot of 4 in line trailers in the 60s
They were mostly used for Leith Docks Traffic. to run Sparky Grass, bales of Wood Pulp to paper mills in the Lothian’s and Fife
and other local dock traffic like Fertiliser to SAI Leith
I can never remember any problems with them.
deckboypeggy:
The first articulate lorry i drove was a “scammell coupling leyland comet” app 1967,with a" four in line trailer" cattle open top box ,i am sure the brakes were vacum. 1
like the old railway trucks,no roof, a 5 bar gate at the middle .to block off the first 10 beasts, the floor had 6x2 timber running across side to side, about 2 foot apart,the sides had a light steel frame, full wooden sides,about 3 foot up then open gaps every foot to about 7 foot in height.usual cattle box back door type ,with 2 wing nuts to secure, it must have had a type of chassi but my did it roll. everything kept well back ,especial down the M1 the spray from behind was horrendous so i got told. I have no idea whose make it was, but it was in NORTHAMPTONSHIRE.
Washing out was a game you had to shovel the [slurry over each wooden bar on the floor ] then you would wash out ,i do never remember using any straw on the floor.
it was a abattoir express
Can you remember the make of this trailer with the Scammell coupling ■■, Regards Larry.
Just been reading all of the posts about these trailors.When I was on the spanners at Richard Reads he kept a spare set of running gear so that we could swop over on a weekend.Then someone rebuilt the gear ready for the next trailer.Ps; I still hate them. 
I remember changing an inner wheel bearing on one and poor old Lawrence Taylor who was foreman at the time going into the stores well past midnight as the lorry has got to out in the morning.You cant do enough for a good boss.
Hi Larry,
The make of the trailer escapes me i must admit it never would have come in to my psyche to take any notice at all , however the picture of the HEYGATES TRAILER could well be the same, budbrooke village, heygates then depot was as we say just over the back of the fields.also the main company was BUTTS of NORTHAMPTON i worked for S.T.CHALLIS,BADBY. i would imagine the MANUFACTURE would not have been far away ,as it looked home-made…Back then beer and ■■■■,and of course women only mattered…
deckboypeggy:
Hi Larry,
The make of the trailer escapes me i must admit it never would have come in to my psyche to take any notice at all , however the picture of the HEYGATES TRAILER could well be the same, budbrooke village, heygates then depot was as we say just over the back of the fields.also the main company was BUTTS of NORTHAMPTON i worked for S.T.CHALLIS,BADBY. i would imagine the MANUFACTURE would not have been far away ,as it looked home-made…Back then beer and ■■■■,and of course women only mattered…
The reason I asked was that I have never seen a 4 in line with the Scammell coupling, It may have been home made as you say, Regards Larry.
Turners of Soham had some 4-in-line trailers with Scammell coupling and I do believe that they were made by Scammell.
leylandlover:
Just been reading all of the posts about these trailors.When I was on the spanners at Richard Reads he kept a spare set of running gear so that we could swop over on a weekend.Then someone rebuilt the gear ready for the next trailer.Ps; I still hate them.
It’s many a year since I stopped looking for that mythical “good boss”. 
gingerfold:
Turners of Soham had some 4-in-line trailers with Scammell coupling and I do believe that they were made by Scammell.
Well the brakes must have been decent having 4 drums, the Scammell single axle ones were not the best, I wonder how they worked as the single axle ones were just a wire cable, I recall Tower Hill transport having some converted to tandems with S Type petrol engined Bedfords pulling the I bet that was fun Eh, Regards Larry.