Hiya …i just wanted to see a 8lxb big j…i thought they was a good tool…i had j and k reg fodens
that did’nt have any interior just bare fibre glass and short front springs at least the big J was all
very nicely finished inside and quite easy to get in and out of . go back 40 years and i’d drive one
again.
John
5thwheel:
I never had any problem coupling to any trailer within the SoM fleet during my service with the 240 powered Big J,as Dennis has stated,the pin distance would have been standard on all UK manufactures chassis’.Rgds,
David
We had problems coupling to trailers with a deep pin with the 290 ■■■■■■■ models as the turbo was behind the engine on the catwalk. One had the turbo broken and was off the road for a month or so, as these motors had the American ■■■■■■■ the parts were’nt available here till a few years later.
Trev_H:
5thwheel:
I never had any problem coupling to any trailer within the SoM fleet during my service with the 240 powered Big J,as Dennis has stated,the pin distance would have been standard on all UK manufactures chassis’.Rgds,
David
We had problems coupling to trailers with a deep pin with the 290 ■■■■■■■ models as the turbo was behind the engine on the catwalk. One had the turbo broken and was off the road for a month or so, as these motors had the American ■■■■■■■ the parts were’nt available here till a few years later.
The last batch of Scanias I bought before I departed WRM,I had fitted up with a boom which came out from under the 5th wheel.I thought this was a major improvement as the distance between the cab and the new trailer lengths had become “too close” IMO for previously accepted coupling.I’ve no idea what is the “norm” (not Sandman!) now as I’m not involved any longer!! Cheers Dennis.
3piece-wheel:
In reply to 3300John . The Tideswell`s Volvo 88 reg no. SEH 71R fitted with the Gardner 240 ran for 3-4 years until the cab rot set in and was scrapped, the engine is still at the Kingsley yard. Volvo UK objected to the conversion. but Mr Tideswell insisted he could do what he wanted with is vehicles. SEH 71R carried a badge on the grill HTS (H Tideswell Special).
I worked for Tideswells from the AEC 8wheeler days up to a few years ago and i never saw any sub contractors employed there.
Will see if anyone as a photo of the said Volvo or any other Tideswell pics. cheers 3piece-wheel
Hi
Having spoke to Eric, he can not remember any sub contractors at all. But he certainly did do want he wanted with the volvo, and it caused quite a stir, both with Volvo and ERF as i remember… (and he was quitley chuffed he did it against all advice)
still got JJ AEC and EW AEC.
I,ve got to say,some of you old duffers take some convincing about these old guys.
All i can say,apart from what i,ve already told you is that the guy with the 240 gardner was a flying machine and maddiston was full of them.
At 21 years old I had one on trunk for long enough and still know every bit of the m6 etc where i had to drop a gear with the 240,even after all these years.
Can still remember doing maddiston to tebay in 2hours 20 mins,and that was when the motorway started at carlisle.
As far as different chassis lengths for the guy with the 240,i don,t think so.they were all the same length i believe, the back cylinder of the 240 stuck out but not enough to reach the trailer.
Jeez you old guys think up some corkers.
loader8:
I,ve got to say,some of you old duffers take some convincing about these old guys.
All i can say,apart from what i,ve already told you is that the guy with the 240 gardner was a flying machine and maddiston was full of them.
At 21 years old I had one on trunk for long enough and still know every bit of the m6 etc where i had to drop a gear with the 240,even after all these years.
Can still remember doing maddiston to tebay in 2hours 20 mins,and that was when the motorway started at carlisle.
As far as different chassis lengths for the guy with the 240,i don,t think so.they were all the same length i believe, the back cylinder of the 240 stuck out but not enough to reach the trailer.
Jeez you old guys think up some corkers.
Looks like we’ve got another “solvent abuser” on the thread again lads!!! (Easy Start user that is!!) Where’s the photo’s then? It’s all well and good imagening your Big J had an 8LXB in it but the ■■■■■■■ 220 would perform every bit as well as a 240 and I quite believe that Maddiston would be crawling with that spec of Big J (■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ the “Easy Start” wey hey!!! Cheers Bewick.
Yes YOU are right ,i must be mistaken.
I apologise for taking up your valuable time.
I,m off back to wherever i think i,ve been.
I,ve got to stop sniffing the easy start.
Oh ,and just as an afterthought,When was the last time you seen anyone using easystart.
One more thing,from someone who worked at maddiston for many years,there were very few ■■■■■■■ engined guys at maddiston depot.
loader8:
Yes YOU are right ,i must be mistaken.
I apologise for taking up your valuable time.
I,m off back to wherever i think i,ve been.
I,ve got to stop sniffing the easy start.
Oh ,and just as an afterthought,When was the last time you seen anyone using easystart.
One more thing,from someone who worked at maddiston for many years,there were very few ■■■■■■■ engined guys at maddiston depot.
Oh dear oh dear we appear to have a short circuit in the “humour department”,pass the screwdriver!!! We actually had a ■■■■■■■ supplied Easystart fitment kit on the rear of the cabs of our 205 and 220 ■■■■■■■ for truoble free starting in winter.The plunger button was in the cab and you just gave it one press and “bingo” the ■■■■■■■ fired up!! We also had a couple of FLT’s at one time,a Conveyencer and a Lancer Boss,and niether of them was very keen on starting without a “sniff” winter or summer!! I believe that “laughing gas” that they put into baloons is similar gear to “easystart” Ooh! shouldn’t have given that info–wey hey!!! Cheers Bewick.
Bewick:
loader8:
I,ve got to say,some of you old duffers take some convincing about these old guys.
All i can say,apart from what i,ve already told you is that the guy with the 240 gardner was a flying machine and maddiston was full of them.
At 21 years old I had one on trunk for long enough and still know every bit of the m6 etc where i had to drop a gear with the 240,even after all these years.
Can still remember doing maddiston to tebay in 2hours 20 mins,and that was when the motorway started at carlisle.
As far as different chassis lengths for the guy with the 240,i don,t think so.they were all the same length i believe, the back cylinder of the 240 stuck out but not enough to reach the trailer.
Jeez you old guys think up some corkers.Looks like we’ve got another “solvent abuser” on the thread again lads!!! (Easy Start user that is!!) Where’s the photo’s then? It’s all well and good imagening your Big J had an 8LXB in it but the ■■■■■■■ 220 would perform every bit as well as a 240 and I quite believe that Maddiston would be crawling with that spec of Big J (■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ the “Easy Start” wey hey!!! Cheers Bewick.
That’s stating the bleedin’ obvious if he thinks that anything with only around 250 horses can pull a fully freighted artic like a ‘flying machine’ 
.But are you sure that you have’nt been at the stuff too Bewick considering that you’re now finally coming to your senses in that a 220 ■■■■■■■ would be just as fast (slow).
Carryfast:
Bewick:
loader8:
I,ve got to say,some of you old duffers take some convincing about these old guysAll i can say,apart from what i,ve already told you is that the guy with the 240 gardner was a flying machine and maddiston was full of them.
At 21 years old I had one on trunk for long enough and still know every bit of the m6 etc where i had to drop a gear with the 240,even after all these years.
Can still remember doing maddiston to tebay in 2hours 20 mins,and that was when the motorway started at carlisle.
As far as different chassis lengths for the guy with the 240,i don,t think so.they were all the same length i believe, the back cylinder of the 240 stuck out but not enough to reach the trailer.
Jeez you old guys think up some corkers.
Looks like we’ve got another “solvent abuser” on the thread again lads!!! (Easy Start user that is!!) Where’s the photo’s then? It’s all well and good imagening your Big J had an 8LXB in it but the ■■■■■■■ 220 would perform every bit as well as a 240 and I quite believe that Maddiston would be crawling with that spec of Big J (■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ the “Easy Start” wey hey!!! Cheers Bewick.[/quot
That’s stating the bleedin’ obvious if he thinks that anything with only around 250 horses can pull a fully freighted artic like a ‘flying machine’ .But are you sure that you have’nt been at the stuff too Bewick considering that you’re now finally coming to your senses in that a 220 ■■■■■■■ would be just as fast (slow). [/quot
I hate to admit this as a ■■■■■■■ fanatic and long time 220 driver, the ■■■■■■■ might be faster on the flat but on the hills the 240gardner would have it for breakfast. Ps the Big J was the most uncomfortable motor I have ever driven. That offset wheel
was designed for someone with a very large hump on there back. I dont know any Big J fans so I cant upset anyone!!!
Apologies to anyone with a hump no offence meant.regards kevmac47
Kevmac…i don’t have a hump but i quite liked the big J.as i’ve said before at least they had
good wipers and finished of nice inside…I’am only a 5ft 9 squirt so the may have been better
for my height…infact i would wind the seat to the top as i was only 18 with no HGV and driving
this 180 big J which was magic i had to hide behind the sunvisor
.since the guy i had a s39 foden air wipers Never worked in cold weather…just bare fibre glass
finish in the cab and no padding on the bonnet… sorry to say the guy was a better cab than
the foden…and it was a lot quicker… to rust away.
now back to this 8cylinder guy was they down rated like the Seddon to 200 bhp …oops■■?
John
Carryfast:
Bewick:
loader8:
I,ve got to say,some of you old duffers take some convincing about these old guys.
All i can say,apart from what i,ve already told you is that the guy with the 240 gardner was a flying machine and maddiston was full of them.
At 21 years old I had one on trunk for long enough and still know every bit of the m6 etc where i had to drop a gear with the 240,even after all these years.
Can still remember doing maddiston to tebay in 2hours 20 mins,and that was when the motorway started at carlisle.
As far as different chassis lengths for the guy with the 240,i don,t think so.they were all the same length i believe, the back cylinder of the 240 stuck out but not enough to reach the trailer.
Jeez you old guys think up some corkers.Looks like we’ve got another “solvent abuser” on the thread again lads!!! (Easy Start user that is!!) Where’s the photo’s then? It’s all well and good imagening your Big J had an 8LXB in it but the ■■■■■■■ 220 would perform every bit as well as a 240 and I quite believe that Maddiston would be crawling with that spec of Big J (■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■ the “Easy Start” wey hey!!! Cheers Bewick.
That’s stating the bleedin’ obvious if he thinks that anything with only around 250 horses can pull a fully freighted artic like a ‘flying machine’
This is a sensible thread “carryfast” so how come they let you on to it?
3300John:
Kevmac…i don’t have a hump but i quite liked the big J.as i’ve said before at least they had
good wipers and finished of nice inside…I’am only a 5ft 9 squirt so the may have been better
for my height…infact i would wind the seat to the top as i was only 18 with no HGV and driving
this 180 big J which was magic i had to hide behind the sunvisor
.since the guy i had a s39 foden air wipers Never worked in cold weather…just bare fibre glass
finish in the cab and no padding on the bonnet… sorry to say the guy was a better cab than
the foden…and it was a lot quicker… to rust away.
now back to this 8cylinder guy was they down rated like the Seddon to 200 bhp …oops■■?
John
Hiya John, you’ve made a fair comparison between Fodens and Big J’s,I only ran 6 Big J’s in the fleet but I sure as hell wouldn’t have swapped them for 6 Fodens!! The Big J was an ultra reliable,bomb proof motor,and OK it wasn’t in the same league as a Scania or Volvo(it wasn’t in the same price bracket either!) but in a fairly large fleet with a spread of traffic the Big J could give a good account of itself as a cost effective piece of kit.I never regretted for one moment running the Big J’s and not wanting to sound like a masochist I used to quite like driving them,which I did quite a bit in the mid 70’s.Cheers Dennis.
Dennis which side of the gear lever was your left leg supposed to be when in top gear as I always found it was rattling against your leg when in top gear.
cheers Johnnie
P S I only drove one for a few days nothing to do with the wagon it was a clash of personalities with the gaffer ( some would say a big clash ) 
sammyopisite:
Dennis which side of the gear lever was your left leg supposed to be when in top gear as I always found it was rattling against your leg when in top gear.
cheers Johnnie
P S I only drove one for a few days nothing to do with the wagon it was a clash of personalities with the gaffer ( some would say a big clash )
Hiya Johnnie,O/D 6th in the Big J did come across quite a bit didn’t it! IIRC once you got sailing along and didn’t need to drop a cog you could put your knee to the left hand side of the stick,if you wanted but you didn’t have to forget if you needed to change out of O/D quick else you were in trouble!!! I’m not to sure about the length or shape of a stick in a Fuller box Big J as all mine had the 6 speed O/D boxes.We had a few Seddon 32/4s and they had David Brown 6 speed boxes except 1 which had the ■■■■■■■ 220 and Fuller 610,all the Seddons were good gear changes.Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
sammyopisite:
Dennis which side of the gear lever was your left leg supposed to be when in top gear as I always found it was rattling against your leg when in top gear.
cheers Johnnie
P S I only drove one for a few days nothing to do with the wagon it was a clash of personalities with the gaffer ( some would say a big clash )Hiya Johnnie,O/D 6th in the Big J did come across quite a bit didn’t it! IIRC once you got sailing along and didn’t need to drop a cog you could put your knee to the left hand side of the stick,if you wanted but you didn’t have to forget if you needed to change out of O/D quick else you were in trouble!!! I’m not to sure about the length or shape of a stick in a Fuller box Big J as all mine had the 6 speed O/D boxes.We had a few Seddon 32/4s and they had David Brown 6 speed boxes except 1 which had the ■■■■■■■ 220 and Fuller 610,all the Seddons were good gear changes.Cheers Dennis.
Dennis it was the 6 speed with a 180 smoker in it and I don’t mean my full strength that is what I did when on a M way or dual carriage-way as it seemed the only way to be comfortable.
cheers Johnnie
We also used to fix a wooden wedge on the throttle pedals of our 180LXB tractors which made holding the pedal down a lot more comfortable from the “flat” position of the tread.
Bewick:
We also used to fix a wooden wedge on the throttle pedals of our 180LXB tractors which made holding the pedal down a lot more comfortable from the “flat” position of the tread.
hiya,
Dennis i expect you did the same for your drivers of the 240 engined Big Js otherwise there may have been unrest in the camp I personally preferred the length of brush handle tailored to suit the sticky out bit and the throttle.
thanks harry long retired.
Trev_H:
5thwheel:
I never had any problem coupling to any trailer within the SoM fleet during my service with the 240 powered Big J,as Dennis has stated,the pin distance would have been standard on all UK manufactures chassis’.Rgds,
David
We had problems coupling to trailers with a deep pin with the 290 ■■■■■■■ models as the turbo was behind the engine on the catwalk. One had the turbo broken and was off the road for a month or so, as these motors had the American ■■■■■■■ the parts were’nt available here till a few years later.
Not a lot of room!
harry_gill:
Bewick:
We also used to fix a wooden wedge on the throttle pedals of our 180LXB tractors which made holding the pedal down a lot more comfortable from the “flat” position of the tread.hiya,
Dennis i expect you did the same for your drivers of the 240 engined Big Js otherwise there may have been unrest in the camp I personally preferred the length of brush handle tailored to suit the sticky out bit and the throttle.
thanks harry long retired.
I’ve heard about that “mod” “H” but but always sounded a bit lethal to me, we wern’t so cruel with our lads as we fitted the “wedge”!!! we fitted “hand throttles” on our Big J 240’s,when the 240s were flying about in clouds the drivers could sit back and read their newspapers and drink their coffee!!! May illicit a response that one “H” from the Big J gallery!! What do you think? Cheers Dennis.