atkiman:
Would like to tell you about my motor Dennis but don’t know if you are talking to me following the guy debacle cheers jamie
Fair do’s Jamie, tell me about your fine motor first THEN I’ll tell you to ■■■■ off !! 
Cheers Dennis.
Now Dennis, CDJ 41H Came new to w tabern in september 1970 it spent about 5 years running raw glass to triplex windscreen plant at kings norton birmingham 3 or so loads a week then 5 years on locals and after that was a glorified shunter parked in the garage every night.
Converted to a breakdown in about 1987/88 was like this when i finally stole I mean bought it in 2007.
I took the crane off and converted it back into a unit and rallied it like that until last summer when it started to get a bit tatty.
Started poking at the cab and before I knew it all that was left was the steel bits. …Every single piece of timber was rotten.
If you’re that far in you may as well keep going so it got a new cab frame from Hampshire new windscreen rubbers new door frames new rear steel panels, fresh wheels and tyres (tubeless ) and a complete respray. The only thing that we didn’t do was the sign writing. The original speedo shows 40000 miles and the original tacho is 90000km. Nick tabern assured me that the mileage is right. 9’6 wheel base 180 6lxb 6 speed David brown kirkstall back end .You are right it will do about 56/57 flat out. Averaging about 12/14 mpg but it is only 12 ton when pulling my trailer .Cheers jamie
atkiman:
Now Dennis, CDJ 41H Came new to w tabern in september 1970 it spent about 5 years running raw glass to triplex windscreen plant at kings norton birmingham 3 or so loads a week then 5 years on locals and after that was a glorified shunter parked in the garage every night.
Converted to a breakdown in about 1987/88 was like this when i finally stole I mean bought it in 2007.
I took the crane off and converted it back into a unit and rallied it like that until last summer when it started to get a bit tatty.
Started poking at the cab and before I knew it all that was left was the steel bits. …Every single piece of timber was rotten.
If you’re that far in you may as well keep going so it got a new cab frame from Hampshire new windscreen rubbers new door frames new rear steel panels, fresh wheels and tyres (tubeless ) and a complete respray. The only thing that we didn’t do was the sign writing. The original speedo shows 40000 miles and the original tacho is 90000km. Nick tabern assured me that the mileage is right. 9’6 wheel base 180 6lxb 6 speed David brown kirkstall back end .You are right it will do about 56/57 flat out. Averaging about 12/14 mpg but it is only 12 ton when pulling my trailer .Cheers jamie
Thanks for that Jamie very interesting, now ■■■■ off ! 
Seriously though it’s great to have the history of a motor from “the horses mouth” so to speak.Which means you can print the gen up on the spiel you put up on the fron’t of the motor at the shows you attend. The Atky is a credit to you and by the quality of the rebuild you’ve done it will be around for years,probably see you “off” mate eh! Cheers Dennis.
Cheers Dennis, won’t be doing another for a while although there was a lovely k1050 dodge there today. ? ■■ ££££££
My dad told me a story about his brand new Atki he got at Longs after coming off a`59 mm8 and trailer , there were quite a few off to London docks with containers on from Longs and they stopped at the services just outside London on the M1 my dad and another of Longs drivers were lagging behind with their 180 Gardners but just before they were ready to set off my dad told the other Atki driver to hang on while the rest set off , he knew London well and he also knew a short cut … the 2 Atkis got tipped not all of the others did … hare and the tortoise come to mind in more ways than 1 ■■?
atkiman:
Cheers Dennis, won’t be doing another for a while although there was a lovely k1050 dodge there today. ? ■■ ££££££
Hiya Jamie, well you can “stick the Dodge where the monkey stuck it’s nuts” Anyhow I remember Taberns when I was up and down the road so are they still running? and what size fleet did they operate,if they depended on Pilks for their traffic it will be doubtful if they are still operating I would think.I’m always interested in the history of operators of yesteryear it’s surprising what turns up that you were unaware of at the time. Cheers Dennis.
Now Dennis, taberns ran about 14/16 motors how they ever got them all in the yard at Duncan st i don’t know. They finished about 5 years ago they had done the majority of the work out of pilks Watson st works for donkeys years but when the bubble burst they were reduced to subbing for bits here and there. haven’t spoke to Tim or nick since they finished but Martin is working for whittakers out of Newton Lee willows . was a crying shame when they finished - a proper old style haulage contractor…not a logistics suppliers cheers jamie
atkiman:
Now Dennis, taberns ran about 14/16 motors how they ever got them all in the yard at Duncan st i don’t know. They finished about 5 years ago they had done the majority of the work out of pilks Watson st works for donkeys years but when the bubble burst they were reduced to subbing for bits here and there. haven’t spoke to Tim or nick since they finished but Martin is working for whittakers out of Newton Lee willows . was a crying shame when they finished - a proper old style haulage contractor…not a logistics suppliers cheers jamie
Sounds like a decent medium sized outfit Jamie but their mistake was to have all their eggs in one basket by what you say. And they probably thought that Pilks would be there forever eh! It’s a shame when this happened but that’s the way of the world and it’s even worse to-day there is absolutely no allegiance whatsoever as the cost accountants will always go for the cheapest option regardless of any other consideration and then when the job turns to crap those guys will have been long gone to pastures new ! Glad to say when I was operating I was never subjected to that style of treatment. I can only recall one instance in my last couple of years in the industry when one little poxy Tissue mill came the “acid” and decided to ask me to re-quote which I new was “code” for "we want it doing cheaper. I returned their quotation documents with a letter telling them to stick their traffic where I told you to stick the Dodge Cheers Dennis.
Thought these might be of interest to you Jamie (atkiman) I know they are not the Mk1 or Mk2 which this thread is about “but” 
photos from Bob Hobbs site transportphotos.com/road/photos
Cheers john i remember both of them wagons working. the 311 was parked up at the bottom yard before walsh and deardens came for it.the strato had a 14litre 410 twin splitter.went really well . could have bought them both for a couple of grand!!! ah well…
When I worked for Edgar Bentley, many, many years ago, he had at least half a dozen Atki’s, ranging from an early Mk1 with a Gardner 180 up to three with 220 ■■■■■■■ power and I experienced every one of 'em! Quite frankly, at the risk of alienating Mr Bewick, I hated them with a vengeance! I always though of them as ‘gaffer’s motors’, built with no thought as to driver comfort whatsoever. I was convinced that the designer realised that a man has got to spend 10 hours a day in here - we’d better put a seat in it; we’ll make it easy for him and put it behind the steering wheel! - although in the early Mk1, LNY136D, ex Glynn John Cardiff, the seat was actually offset from the wheel!
Much better was the AEC Mandator, my regular motor, and the F88 which replaced it!
Steve
Absolutely disgraceful comments about the finest British motor ever built Ste 46,I want your full details then we can ban you from the thread 
Mr. Bewick.
Bewick:
Absolutely disgraceful comments about the finest British motor ever built Ste 46,I want your full details then we can ban you from the thread
I had the pleasure of driving a MK 1 once, it was kitted out with the usual extra’s of moss and toadstools growing at the bottom of the windscreen and the finest hemp rope to tie the doors shut.
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Absolutely disgraceful comments about the finest British motor ever built Ste 46,I want your full details then we can ban you from the threadI had the pleasure of driving a MK 1 once, it was kitted out with the usual extra’s of moss and toadstools growing at the bottom of the windscreen and the finest hemp rope to tie the doors shut.
Is that how you got on to smoking “funny baccy” Trev ? Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Absolutely disgraceful comments about the finest British motor ever built Ste 46,I want your full details then we can ban you from the threadI had the pleasure of driving a MK 1 once, it was kitted out with the usual extra’s of moss and toadstools growing at the bottom of the windscreen and the finest hemp rope to tie the doors shut.
Is that how you got on to smoking “funny baccy” Trev ?
You didn’t need to smoke, the 150 put out all the smoke you could handle
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Trev_H:
Bewick:
Absolutely disgraceful comments about the finest British motor ever built Ste 46,I want your full details then we can ban you from the threadI had the pleasure of driving a MK 1 once, it was kitted out with the usual extra’s of moss and toadstools growing at the bottom of the windscreen and the finest hemp rope to tie the doors shut.
Is that how you got on to smoking “funny baccy” Trev ?
You didn’t need to smoke, the 150 put out all the smoke you could handle
Aye your right there Trev,if some of these retrobate druggies got a few lungfulls of Gardener exhaust they might have been “saved” 
Cheers dennis.
Now then Trev,this was the smoothest little Atky you could wish to drive,we only ran it as a local shunter but occaisionally it was roped in to run a night shift and at 32 tons gvw it could record 10 mpg,and I filled it up next morning a few times knowing what mileage it had covered during the night. It was a 150LX/DB6spd/Kirkstall BDR spec’ Cheers Dennis.
To be fair Dennis, that looks ten times better than the one I drove which was an old 8 legger converted to a wrecker which had obviously had a hard life.
Hiya,
I parked a Mk1 Atki up one Friday afternoon it was a three year old job, rare
being a 1965 registered but with a 220 ■■■■■■■ engine, quite a bit of power
in a 1965 chassis, on parking it up I was given the reins of a brand new Scania
80 for my Sunday shift to Dover which was hampered by three breakdown’s a
sucked in fuel tank, the paint shop had blocked the fuel tank vent “a pinhole”
in the filler cap which I spotted and sorted with the aid of a lapel badge pin,
a burst fuel pipe rubbed away when the securing clip “dropped off” in motion
I sorted this with the help of a garage at Cannock who just happened to have
a little bit of suitable sized flexible pipe it was only on the delivery side so not
a lot of pressure and a couple of jubilee clips, I got into Dover AM dropped my
trailer and went to pick my return trailer up, as usual it was dropped low and
very front end heavy and the little Scania had a job getting under it, I did the
usual and pulled forwards to check I’d got hold of her and bang a bleedin’ half
shaft broke to later be discovered was metal fatigue faulty. I did get the load
and motor back home on the diff-lock,and praised for my initiative, and the
first thing I did was ask for my old Atki back , I didn’t get it so I looked for a
new employer which in those days was easy, it did entail driving a brand new
Atki but this time a bit less power only having a 180 Gardner in her.
thanks harry, long retired.
Now boys …took me old girl for a spin this morning on my return found 3 air leaks spent from 3-5 sorting them out and it not due out till march!!!glad itz not still working. …would be there now!@@!! Cheers jamie