Froggy55:
I wonder how they could drag such loads with so few horsepowers!
Very, very low gearing perhaps? I remember having a discussion years ago in Oz on this very subject when we had Macks pulling 3 trailers with, I think, 250hp engines and it was said even a Morris Minor engine in an Octopus would work if the gearing was low enough. A bit extreme perhaps, but a point made?
When I first saw that picture though I had 2 thoughts. As I couldn’t at first see the other prime movers I thought it was a road train, and then I thought, would I park up for a photo on such a ricketty looking bridge? I don’t think so.
Froggy55:
I wonder how they could drag such loads with so few horsepowers!
Very, very low gearing perhaps? I remember having a discussion years ago in Oz on this very subject when we had Macks pulling 3 trailers with, I think, 250hp engines and it was said even a Morris Minor engine in an Octopus would work if the gearing was low enough. A bit extreme perhaps, but a point made?
When I first saw that picture though I had 2 thoughts. As I couldn’t at first see the other prime movers I thought it was a road train, and then I thought, would I park up for a photo on such a ricketty looking bridge? I don’t think so.
Interesting points Spardo.
I am guessing these wagons were past the chain driven era.
jsutherland:
I’ve always admired logging drivers, especially with some of the roads they have to drive on through the forests. The lads in this photo - well, what can man say. The super slick tyres wouldn’t have been much good when it rained and the tracks became slippery.
Here’s an interesting clip: youtu.be/PRykJtmA1Ps
There are others from the same quarry, showing vehicles being pushed along by other plant, one showing a tractor bogged down, going nowhere with smoke pouring out of the stack. The trucks are obviously underspecified for the work, which is killing them rapidly.
Who can name a more suitable prime mover, from history? There are hundreds on this thread. Of currently available vehicles, I can only think of Kenworth.
Well id guess its wrong spec unit and driver fault… we had the old 164 580 as a heavyhaul unit and it worked just fine. But someone will probebly say im wrong. But more hp arnt always the solution.
Well you sent me off down memory lane there Patrick, not only reading about Euclid and it’s origins but also following the Caterpillar link within it.
Before I even became a driver I worked on the Stapleford and Sandiacre by-pass on the A 52 west of Nottingham. They had both Euclid and Caterpillar articulated bottom scrapers on that job, both with twin engines, fore and aft, and both with single axles under cabs. Steering was by means of hydraulic rams which moved the whole cab section relative to the trailer.
They appeared to be able to go anywhere but there was a fatal flaw demonstrated one day. While all were parked at the tea wagon for a break, one driver parked his Cat at the bottom of the slope he was about to operate on. To be ready as soon as break was over he had the cab at right angles to the trailer facing towards the slope, when he started up and put it into gear the cab leaped forward up the slope which flipped the whole contraption upside down in an instant. Fortunately the driver climbed out unhurt but looking a bit sheepish.
While I was there, in a slack moment, my boss walked me to the top of a slope looking down into the valley. ‘That will one day be a mortorway’, he said. He was right, years later I was driving for George Wimpey on that very section and the point we were looking at was what is now M1 Junction 25, the A 52 S&S by-pass.
Edit correction: I think that only the Euclids had twin engines, I now seem to remember that the Cats had just the one, up front.
Strange coincidence Spardo , our neighbor ran the canteen on that job . 93and fit as a fiddle is Joan .
rigsby:
Strange coincidence Spardo , our neighbor ran the canteen on that job . 93and fit as a fiddle is Joan .
Small world eh?
Would have been about '63 I reckon, it was on that job that I passed my test and celebrated by taking my old Mk 1 Vanguard down onto the muddy roadway and sliding it all over the place. Then jacked in and got a job on the Co-op pop wagon.
So that would have made Joan around 37 at the time, just my cup of tea as a 21 year old, bet we all fancied her like mad. As my wife knows I always fancied a 40 year old, and I finally made it with her. Only trouble was I was also 40 at the time.
[zb]
anorak:
Here’s an interesting clip: youtu.be/PRykJtmA1Ps
There are others from the same quarry, showing vehicles being pushed along by other plant, one showing a tractor bogged down, going nowhere with smoke pouring out of the stack. The trucks are obviously underspecified for the work, which is killing them rapidly.
Who can name a more suitable prime mover, from history? There are hundreds on this thread. Of currently available vehicles, I can only think of Kenworth.
The A trains are loaded twice as heavy as that stuck one, but they’re not changing gear, which is what is causing the guy to stop, the lower weight allowing a bit more rpm giving the driver the impression that it would take a higher gear, which it clearly cannot. My diagnosis of the problem is that the truck has a loose nut behind the wheel.
Here’s my week. The combine came from the docks at Tacoma and went to Lethbridge AB, the skid steer came from a Hutterite colony in Saskatchewan and I took it to a dealer in Killarney MB and ran home empty.
Here’s another one of those Indonesian double bottoms, exploring the limits: youtu.be/v-Dg-uUBHss
It’s begging for more weight over the bogie, with more rubber to spread it over the road. What vehicle from the past would do the job better? A Scammell Contractor maybe? IIRC, there was a 3m-wide Foden demo’d in the 1980s. There are numerous Berliets and Willemes on this thread which would have no trouble with those little trailers .
A hard packed loose surface is going to give any lorry traction problems pulling that kind of weight, tyres are going to be the key here, either more of them, a tri drive, or chains to dig in and bite the surface. Chains would quickly chew up the surface and with rain it would soon become a quagmire. So the best way to eliminate traction problems is a tri drive bogie with the kingpin further back to impose a bit more load on them.
As my wife knows I always fancied a 40 year old, and I finally made it with her. Only trouble was I was also 40 at the time. 
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