Whats the lowest power to weight truck youve driven/know of?
The first one i can think of is Roff’s old 2300 Dafs plated to 38ton. Another is an F7 i knew of years ago with an air lift tag axle fitted also plated up to 38tons, with all its 224hp.
I’m sure there must be plenty of others with an even lower power/weight ratio in the past…
Andy
brs warrington,had a load of ex contract fl7s,one got plated at 38ton…sure they were about 240bhp? 
whooshwhoosh:
brs warrington,had a load of ex contract fl7s,one got plated at 38ton…sure they were about 240bhp?
The one i had was plated at 38ton and your right they were 240s, i wont forget the load of ali logs from Banbury to Sapa in Tibshelf in a hurry, one thing that trip was not done in a hurry :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Id still go back to that motor & job as at least i was happy in my work. 
Slow going i suppose but capable of moving along albeit at a slow pace as long as you have the splitter box but totally up against it with just the range change eight speeder 
Could never have done anything for the little 6.7 engines longevity at this weight…
On the subject of F7’s, does anyone remember the F7 with ‘Lucky seven’ on the screen visor belonging to Leggetts transport of Woolpit? Always had a tri axle in tow.
AndrewG:
Slow going i suppose but capable of moving along albeit at a slow pace as long as you have the splitter box but totally up against it with just the range change eight speeder
No splitter just the 4 over 4 
They were on the GEC Plessey Telecommunications contract in Liverpool, never pulling any weight in 30ft single axle box vans,
once theyd finished with them we got there hand me downs to run on the British Alcan contract :unamused: one of them was pulling ingots at 38ton every dayout of Henry Bath on Knowsley ind est :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: And before someone else on here takes the pi55 out of me i am guilty of loading from there but not the best job ive ever made 
when the loader said it was a full load i said well you better start from the headboard then, which he did with a smile on his face,
when hed finished loading the load was just short of the trailers first axle i actually stopped just after i came off the ind est to see if the tyres were still on the front wheels :blush: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: when i got it into St Helens and was told to drop the trailer i said i didnt think that would be such a good idea 
our gaffers face was a total picture when he came out of the office to see what i was on about, i was young and stupid now just old and stupid never done anything like that again it was a good learning curve if nothing else
Still the best job i`ve ever had but sadly it is nomore, a few yrs later it went to TDG and has now gone all together in St Helens and Warrington
The standard F7, certainly of 1979 onwards, was plated at 36.6 tonnes with a 224bhp engine. W. H. Bowker re-plated all of their remaining F7s to that weight when the weights went up in 1983. Their payload capability wasn’t that much less than a 38 tonne F12.
The London shunter had been lightened to increase its payload, and I once took it back south on a changeover after being serviced at Blackburn. I picked up a trailer at Heinz at Kitt Green, with 25 tons (not tonnes!) plus two layers of pallets and it took me 3 hours 30 minutes to drag it down to George’s at Crick to change over. Came back in an F12 in 2 hours 30 mins… to Blackburn!
The 38 tonne F7 had a slightly longer wheelbase and the 16-speed gearbox as standard, with 243bhp (ISO) to go at. Somehow, they seemed to be harder work than the older 8-speeders.
Lowest power to weight truck ?
Lowst and slowest 1970 Volvo f88 100t 6 x 4 200ish BHP 48mph with the revcounter in the red LOL.
2nd place Volvo FL7 wendyhouse with 25t paper out of Reed + Smiths first of the auto boxes 70 mph down hill 7mph uphill.
I would guess the lowest power to weight ratio has got to go to heavy haulage in the early days. Don’t quote me as exact, but, there are stories of early Scammells with around 100 bhp pulling 150 tonne odd.
I had a DAF 2500 running at 38 tonne plus with a powder tank running out of Norsk Hydro in Sherburn. It lacked a bit in power but it would catch pigeons on the overrun 
It was certainly knowhere near the minimum power to weight ratio. That went to the F Troop with the lookalike MAN. (RO)MAN
DAFMAD:
I would guess the lowest power to weight ratio has got to go to heavy haulage in the early days. Don’t quote me as exact, but, there are stories of early Scammells with around 100 bhp pulling 150 tonne odd.
Elliots of York pulled some mightly weights with 150 Gardner powered Fodens in the 60’s!
guess it’s all in the gearing - must have been v v slow
yep, its true, Gardners were used exstensivley in the 30s 40s 50s and 60s for heavy haulage, but back then, large/heavy loads were expected to crawl along at a slow pace, and they got round the lack of power by having plenty of low gearing, with auxilry box-s and things like Hand Operated Reduction Hubs on the axles, this gave the Gardners, leyland power-plus, and foden 2-strokes the abiliy to climb up the side of house!!
Some great stories here guys, keep it coming.
Personally ive been at both ends of the scale (no doubt we all have at some point) but find, probably strangely to some these low power trucks at massive weights more interesting than the huge power climb anything trucks, my old MAN V10 being one of them, in fact it could be quite boring to drive at times needing very little driver input…
100hp and 150tons now that WOULD be interesting to drive … 
In some ways its a shame that trucks tend to drive themselves these days, we are now in the world of fully or semi automated gear-box, touch sensetive power steering ect ect, its taken away alot of the real skills,such as double de-clutching on crash and constant mesh gears, getting the timing right on down changes on steep inclines (making sure you dont miss that vital gear to keep momentum going!),it was all part of a different world, wen drivers had proper sized arms and actualy spoke to one and other at a cafe!!! 6OO+ BHP, AUTOBOX AT 44TON, WHERE WILL IT END■■?