Bewick:
We can’t let this thread sink off page 1,this is a great shot of three of the Big J’s we ran at Bewick Transport probably a 75/76 shot in our old depot down in Milnthorpe,the Guys were never going to be driver favourites and certainly by that time never going to be “flag ships” of the fleet but they were never-the-less reliable economical workhorses,great motors !! I believe the Guy order book was full at the time Leyland closed the Big J line down,what a load of “wallies” they truly were at BL. Cheers Bewick.
DON’T LET THE ■■■■■■■■ SHEETER TAKE YOU IN!!!
Those three Guys are the latest batch to be dropped in at Milnthorpe to have their Gardner 8s installed before being resprayed and flogged on to those nice, unsuspecting Smith blokes up at Maddiston. I’m still trying to work out how he got away with it for all those years- I think maybe he told SoM that there was a shortage of real ■■■■■■■ engines at Wolverhampton and they would have to put up with the same noisy, underpowered motors that he himself used in those bl**dy awful heaps of rubbish from Walton le Dale.
At our vintage club this week we had an excellent talk and film show by a North Staffordshire haulier about the history of his families business, it perked me up no end when a pic of a Big J with a Gardner 240 badge on the grille appeared! Ah ha, the ‘mythical beast’ at last I thought, but alas it only had a 6LXB fitted so very close but no cigar alas!
Bewick:
We can’t let this thread sink off page 1,this is a great shot of three of the Big J’s we ran at Bewick Transport probably a 75/76 shot in our old depot down in Milnthorpe,the Guys were never going to be driver favourites and certainly by that time never going to be “flag ships” of the fleet but they were never-the-less reliable economical workhorses,great motors !! I believe the Guy order book was full at the time Leyland closed the Big J line down,what a load of “wallies” they truly were at BL. Cheers Bewick.
DON’T LET THE ■■■■■■■■ SHEETER TAKE YOU IN!!!
Those three Guys are the latest batch to be dropped in at Milnthorpe to have their Gardner 8s installed before being resprayed and flogged on to those nice, unsuspecting Smith blokes up at Maddiston. I’m still trying to work out how he got away with it for all those years- I think maybe he told SoM that there was a shortage of real ■■■■■■■ engines at Wolverhampton and they would have to put up with the same noisy, underpowered motors that he himself used in those bl**dy awful heaps of rubbish from Walton le Dale.
Mmm, that must be one of the rare ones Smiths had with a noisy, smoky, heavy,thirsty ■■■■■■■■■ engine before they saw sense and went for the quiet, clean, light and economical Gardner 240 engine’s? OR it could just be a bluff to make other operator’s think that ■■■■■■■ had upped their game and produced an engine NEARLY as good as the Patricroft product? We may never know for certain.
SOM were big operators of lightweight Highway trailers which were built in Andover (I think) or was it Taskers built in Andover ? Trouble was if one of those super singles went down or blew it was the equivalent of a “double”,maybe OK for mixers or tippers for flotation but I couldn’t see the advantage on a road going motor except for a small gain in weight.Cheers Dennis.
SOM were big operators of lightweight Highway trailers which were built in Andover (I think) or was it Taskers built in Andover ? Trouble was if one of those super singles went down or blew it was the equivalent of a “double”,maybe OK for mixers or tippers for flotation but I couldn’t see the advantage on a road going motor except for a small gain in weight.Cheers Dennis.
I was never convinced with super singles either - with two wheels you didn’t usually ruin the one that had gone flat - it was a puncture repair, not a new tyre and possibly a rim!
Trailer manufacturers-
Taskers were at Andover (now superceded by Andover Trailers)
Highway Trailers (GB) ltd were at Dereham, Norfolk, I believe taken over by Crane Fruehauf?
When the “Old Firm” eventually went into artics in the 1960s most of the trailers were single axle Highways, with a couple of York single axles, all pulled by Bedford TKs with the 330 engine. It wasn’t until the early 70s, if memory serves me, that ERF tractor units were purchased and some York tandems came into the fleet.
Cheers Bewick.
OR it could just be a bluff to make other operator’s think that ■■■■■■■ had upped their game and produced an engine NEARLY as good as the Patricroft product? We may never know for certain. 
