Lawrence Dunbar:
Well ROF I would like to see comfirmation that ■■■■■■■ engines were as good as the good old Gardners on MPG, Dont get me wrong I know ■■■■■■■ engines were good pullers, And cheap to overhaul, But IMO How many times did a Gardner have to be overhauled, I ran wagons with the Gardners in & did very high milage too, But I never had to take any of them to bits , The only ■■■■■■■ I ran was a 220 & it was rubbish on fuel rI know lots of hauliers liked them & swore by them, But one buys & runs what suits their purpose,Regards Larry.
Which leaves the question why would there have only been 40 8LXB BigJ’s ordered.
I posted earlier on this thread regarding loose engine supplies when ERF released the
“EC” series Gardner engines weren’t listed as an option
But ERF quoted that if a large order was placed then they would look into it
Possibly SoM approached GUY Motors to source 8LXB powered GUYs and Gardners may have responded with a similar reply and said order a large amount then we can see what we can do
Also bearing in mind a order for 40 lorries is a big order regardless of what make
Yes the. Photographer has written on the back 240 Gardner fitted but I can’t get the back to scan
Dan,if you are making reference to the Guy in full view,the big Percy wouldn’t fit as the front grille does not benefit by the extension required to allow for the extra 2 pots.
Yes the. Photographer has written on the back 240 Gardner fitted but I can’t get the back to scan
Dan,if you are making reference to the Guy in full view,the big Percy wouldn’t fit as the front grille does not benefit by the extension required to allow for the extra 2 pots.
David
Well observed David ! I wasn’t going to waste my time posting the same observation !
Lawrence Dunbar:
Well ROF I would like to see comfirmation that ■■■■■■■ engines were as good as the good old Gardners on MPG, Dont get me wrong I know ■■■■■■■ engines were good pullers, And cheap to overhaul, But IMO How many times did a Gardner have to be overhauled, I ran wagons with the Gardners in & did very high milage too, But I never had to take any of them to bits , The only ■■■■■■■ I ran was a 220 & it was rubbish on fuel rI know lots of hauliers liked them & swore by them, But one buys & runs what suits their purpose,Regards Larry.
Which leaves the question why would there have only been 40 8LXB BigJ’s ordered.
I posted earlier on this thread regarding loose engine supplies when ERF released the
“EC” series Gardner engines weren’t listed as an option
But ERF quoted that if a large order was placed then they would look into it
Possibly SoM approached GUY Motors to source 8LXB powered GUYs and Gardners may have responded with a similar reply and said order a large amount then we can see what we can do
Also bearing in mind a order for 40 lorries is a big order regardless of what make
So we’ll supply engines for 40 orders for the same customer but no way will we supply engines for hundreds of individual orders.Sounds like a good business plan.
Bearing in mind a world in which few if any customers supposedly wanted ‘290’ turbocharged motors and in which Gardner was King.
[zb]
anorak:
This was on another thread. I zoomed in, to show the two extra pots sticking out the back of the cab:
Be interesting to view the picture anorak!
David
Sorry- forgot to put it on. Hope I didn’t cause too much consternation.
0
Nice try,without a front number plate might be a publicity shot?
David
There was a 44 ton/5 axle proposal around 1970, therefore lots of 6x4 tractors in the shows. The 8LXB was launched in 1970, so that Big J would have had one, guaranteed. Why put something as ordinary as a 270 ■■■■■■■ in a show special, when the first great engine of the new decade is sitting on a pallet next to the chassis?
Sorry to disappoint those that were getting excited but the six wheel tractor was ■■■■■■■ powered, the pic above comes from an early 70’s brochure which is quite small in the brochure hence the poor quality when soneone has scanned and enlarged it, the full photo shows the unit coupled to a tandem axle trailer with a Seawheel container, the artists depiction below is taken from it. It was fitted with the 14lt 252bhp ■■■■■■■ six inline. I’ve said very little on this thread to date but I do believe there were 8LXB GUY tractors, the front view of the M Reg Maddiston shown in earlier pages from a GUY article by Peter Davies gives the only real clue, I doubt a driver back then would stick a Gardner 240 badge on the grille of his motor if it had something of lower bhp or different engine make. I also believe the few on here that say they have driven the tractors for the said company, why would they make it up. The main problem is though, a picture as asked for by Dennis as proof has not materialised and I doubt now after all this time one will. Maybe those at Smith’s at the time didn’t realise they had something that was rare or would be contested in the future, to most drivers, fitters, and bosses it was just another engine. It should have been GUY that made a show of this at the time but by this period they had been under the thumb of Leyland for a while and even the sales brochures produced since Leyland held sway were poor in comparison with their own, they hardly wanted GUY products to outshine their own which in reality GUY vehicles were still very popular and sales good. Its probably time this particular thread was put to bed and all agree to disagree on the elusive two sticky out pots! Franky.
Frankydobo:
Sorry to disappoint those that were getting excited but the six wheel tractor was ■■■■■■■ powered, the pic above comes from an early 70’s brochure which is quite small in the brochure hence the poor quality when soneone has scanned and enlarged it, the full photo shows the unit coupled to a tandem axle trailer with a Seawheel container, the artists depiction below is taken from it. It was fitted with the 14lt 252bhp ■■■■■■■ six inline. I’ve said very little on this thread to date but I do believe there were 8LXB GUY tractors, the front view of the M Reg Maddiston shown in earlier pages from a GUY article by Peter Davies gives the only real clue, I doubt a driver back then would stick a Gardner 240 badge on the grille of his motor if it had something of lower bhp or different engine make. I also believe the few on here that say they have driven the tractors for the said company, why would they make it up. The main problem is though, a picture as asked for by Dennis as proof has not materialised and I doubt now after all this time one will. Maybe those at Smith’s at the time didn’t realise they had something that was rare or would be contested in the future, to most drivers, fitters, and bosses it was just another engine. It should have been GUY that made a show of this at the time but by this period they had been under the thumb of Leyland for a while and even the sales brochures produced since Leyland held sway were poor in comparison with their own, they hardly wanted GUY products to outshine their own which in reality GUY vehicles were still very popular and sales good. Its probably time this particular thread was put to bed and all agree to disagree on the elusive two sticky out pots! Franky.
0
Well said Franky, I agree with you, Regards Larry.
A few years ago one of the family members who ran Moss and Lovatt Transport from Rushden Spencer near Leek came and gave a talk and slide show at our club. One Big J clearly had a GARDNER 240 badge on the grille and when the show ended I asked Nigel Moss about it! He said that he had never noticed that but assured me that it would be the driver who added it and they never ran any.
Alas we don’t know which engine this was fitted with, NMP
windrush:
A few years ago one of the family members who ran Moss and Lovatt Transport from Rushden Spencer near Leek came and gave a talk and slide show at our club. One Big J clearly had a GARDNER 240 badge on the grille and when the show ended I asked Nigel Moss about it! He said that he had never noticed that but assured me that it would be the driver who added it and they never ran any.
Alas we don’t know which engine this was fitted with, NMP
0
Pete.
It’s going to be a tall order to fit an 8 LXB and gearbox in the space between the radiator and first drive axle allowing clearance for the fan and the propshaft.
The 8 LXB engine was announced in late 1970 but if my old brain cell serves me it was late '71 before the engine made it’s appearance in the chassis of Gardners three main customers i.e. Foden/ERF & Atkinson. The 8LXB was in such short supply and all the top Hauliers in the UK started clamouring for it so again IIRC there were no 8LXB chassis exhibited at earls Court or Kelvin Hall with , I believe, the exception of Foden who were the only manufacturer to exhibit an 8LXB Unit . But I will stand corrected on my recollection ! There was absolutely no chance of Guy Motors being allocated an 8LXB at that time as the three “favoured” Chassis builders would have caused uproar and ,of course, Leyland were opposed to Gardners supplying engines to both Guy and Scammell as they wanted to promote the fitting of their own engines in the chassis of other members of the Leyland Group. I also recall the first 8LXB to be sold in Scotland by James Bowen was an ERF “A” Series ( K reg IIRC) to Kinneil Transport. I will add that probably over about a 10 year period at Bewick Transport we ran about 15 or so 8LXB/LXC Chassis and they were all reliable and economic motors and gave us excellent service with the only weak spot being that poxy Seddon Group axle in 5 of them ! Cheers Bewick.
windrush:
A few years ago one of the family members who ran Moss and Lovatt Transport from Rushden Spencer near Leek came and gave a talk and slide show at our club. One Big J clearly had a GARDNER 240 badge on the grille and when the show ended I asked Nigel Moss about it! He said that he had never noticed that but assured me that it would be the driver who added it and they never ran any.
Alas we don’t know which engine this was fitted with, NMP
0
Pete.
I reckon this SOM Big J had the ■■■■■■■ 250 engine under the bonnet ! Cheers Bewick
Bewick:
The 8 LXB engine was announced in late 1970 but if my old brain cell serves me it was late '71 before the engine made it’s appearance in the chassis of Gardners three main customers i.e. Foden/ERF & Atkinson. The 8LXB was in such short supply and all the top Hauliers in the UK started clamouring for it so again IIRC there were no 8LXB chassis exhibited at earls Court or Kelvin Hall with , I believe, the exception of Foden who were the only manufacturer to exhibit an 8LXB Unit . But I will stand corrected on my recollection ! There was absolutely no chance of Guy Motors being allocated an 8LXB at that time
To be fair to the believers there might have been a difference between '71 to '74 Bewick.
Guy itself only stated the option being available as of '73 not '71 according to the posted info.
But even that doesn’t then explain why so few orders for it going by the numbers accounted for.
I believe, the exception of Foden who were the only manufacturer to exhibit an 8LXB Unit . But I will stand corrected on my recollection !
That’s right Dennis it was the 71 Kelvin Show and the unit was a Kaye Goodfellow six wheel 75 Ton tractor, 12 speed box and double drive rear bogie. The all steel S.41 cab had the front panel extended to house the high capacity radiator. Interestingly in the 72 Earls Court Show Foden exhibited three vehicles with ■■■■■■■■ Rolls Royce and Gardner engines, only it was the 6LXB and in an eight wheeler. Even well after the introduction of the 8LXB it seems Foden fitted more 6LXB’s into their models and ■■■■■■■ BHP ratings were also up to and over 320 by mid 70’s, with Rolls engined models also being exhibited right up until the 1980 takeover by Paccar, the 8LXB didn’t seem to be promoted by Foden again since the 71 Kelvin Show. Franky.
