bubbleman:
Hi then,heres my three pennath
Cheers Bubbs,
Hiya Marcus,more like 3 qids worth in your case mate!! It always amused me the way BSC only stencilled their number plates onto their motors,bloody cheapskates!! All the best, Dennis.
Bewick:
It always amused me the way BSC only stencilled their number plates onto their motors,bloody cheapskates!! All the best, Dennis.
RR220s as well Dennis - cheapest isnāt always best value, eh?
bubbleman:
Hi then,heres my three pennath
Cheers Bubbs,
A great selection Marc, thank you! I wonder what became of the Dickson motor?
mickd1958:
hi Bewick
i never had the good fortune to drive a mk2 Atki on the road only in the yard when we had one in for repair.
the firm i worked for as a mechanic had 4 sed atki 400 in the fleet these had RR265 engines and fuller gearboxes and the hub reduction rear axles. it was these hubs that gave us the only source of bother from these motors. we were forever recovering them because of these failing and eventually kept two overhauled hubs and halfshafts in stock.
how did you find the 240 gardner and fuller box combination as we had an erf tractor unit with this set up and the driver was always complaining it would not pull. we also had four erf eight wheelers with gardner 180 and the DB six speed box they were diabolical
cheers
mick
Hiya Mick,we had similar problems on the 240 Sed/Atks we ran on double shift,the Group axle gave us continuos trouble,it just wasnāt up to the job in motors bigger than 180ās,we even had some lumber with this axle in a 220ā ā ā ā ā ā ā Atki.But we always found the fuller gearbox trouble free,far better than the DB 6spd,which again gave us problems behind the 220 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā Bewick.
A few Iāve posted elswhere
Me old wrecker that ran into the early ninetys until the cab framework twanged apart
Probably been posted on another thread,but never mind theyāer on the right thread now!! Three of Walton-le-Dales finest shot one Sunday morning in the Mill at Beetham.
Hereās another ālittle Gemā IMO, a 16ton gvw 4 wheeler that we ran in the early/mid 70ās stood in fronāt of the workshops in Milnthorpe loaded with 10 ton of reels ex Beetham Mill.Thereās another ālittle gemā parked alongside it in the shape of a Bedford CA service van we ran.It had a little Perkins 4 cyl diesel engine in it which I believe was something of a rarity,it was a cracking little tool,ran on the āsmellā of derv!! It was āHā reg from memory.
Bewick:
ramone:
I remember my dad getting a brand new K reg Atki with the 180 Gardner and DB 6 speed box he wasn`t impressed .Thats after driving a 1959 Mammoth Major and drag with a 9.6 engine and 5 speed box top speed 38mph.That was for Henry Longs,but he moved to Harold Woods and eventually got a new ERF with a 220 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā which he was very impressed with.OK āramoneā weāer not putting up with any negative remarks about Atkiās on their own thread!!! Just look at those shots John has put on! Should bring a tear to anyoneās eye all those beautiful Borderers.Now come on! we know your a sensible lad and fair enough an Atki with a spec you have described may not have been the sharpest motor on the fleet but it sure as hell would have been one of the most reliable no doubt! and it was āhead and shouldersā better than a Seddon,Guy and ERF with the same spec! Well in IMHO anyhow! Now come on āramoneā shape up we do expect better from you eh! Cheers Dennis.
They are like snow Dennis pretty on postcards 
Well,like I said before,I never drove an Atki so canāt comment really,but Iāve had plenty of lifts in them and I always thought the Atki wi tā180 Gardner at 32 t was rubbish but stick a 220 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā with the Fuller box in one and āfeel the differenceā,a different motor altogether. I must say that the Mk2 Borderer looked the part,proper lorry,nearly as good as an AECā¦ 
anonā¦overā¦
I get the impression someone has been looking through a certain slideshowā¦
Chris Webb:
Well,like I said before,I never drove an Atki so canāt comment really,but Iāve had plenty of lifts in them and I always thought the Atki wi tā180 Gardner at 32 t was rubbish but stick a 220 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā with the Fuller box in one and āfeel the differenceā,a different motor altogether. I must say that the Mk2 Borderer looked the part,proper lorry,nearly as good as an AECā¦anonā¦overā¦
And yet, Chris, on more than one occasion, Iāve found that a ā ā ā ā ā ā ā 220-engined motor (albeit with the 6-speed David Brown) couldnāt live with the 180 Gardner off the motorway.
The Fuller is much, much better behind the 220 than the David Brown, but it goes nicely behind the Gardner too!
marky:
I get the impression someone has been looking through a certain slideshowā¦
all either factory photos (with your kind assistance, of course) or oneās own paltry efforts with the box brownie!
Evening Gentlemen, Atkinson lorries, they may not have been perfect, but they got closer than most to perfection!! Mark1s, steering wheel on the scant, that wonderful ratchet hand brake so nice to apply, so easy to knock off. The Mark11, still a 9ft 6in wb (boing boing ride) but that new cab with real ventilators!! Then the 10ft8in Borderer, has there ever been a neater air brake set up? The Chapman suspension seat, the small steering wheel, (āpower steering sir, you can get a trailer in anywhere,ā or the old large flat wheel, āyou do not need power steering sir, she steers as light as a feather, anyway power steering, it wears out the tyresā!) Kirkstal axle, and the Eaton 18802 2speed option, making a 180 Gardner a true 70mph lorry. Then came a drop in quality, the āGROUP AXLEā has there ever been a less oil tight contraption? and then the original forged crash bar became a pressing, oh yes, Seddon quality rules. Has any lorry ever had a more iconic instrument cluster?? more akin to a fighter aircraft than a road vehicle. 205 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā and Fuller 10speed, in its day a fearsome combination. 8LXB, but that awfull screaming Brown range change box, noisier than even Leylands later axle. 220, and later250 ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā superb engines, and coupled to a 9speed fuller real performers, unlike the Brown 6speed that self destructed behind ā ā ā ā ā ā ā power, (but only fitted as there was nothing else available) And I have not even mentioned the rigids, (but anyone who operated 8x4s alongside Fodens would know that they were not quite as good in that market area)!! but I still miss my 20ft8in Defender (TAY384N) 180Gardner, 6sp Brown, Eaton double drive bogie. What could have been if Oldham had never got their hands on Atkinson?? well perhaps we may have seen the Aussie plastic tilt cab, and maybe even an option of the Detroit green leaker, we will never know, but surely the tractors are the most iconic lorry of the60s and70s bar none. Cheerio for now.
The Atkinson MK2 with the group axle with any engine 180 upward was a problem the axle
was just not up to the job it had to do
The shallow nut on the end of the axle tube, poor case hardening on the planet gears three pins,
oil seals weeping oil out onto the brake shoes,
Then you had the diff pinion oil seals weeping and the shims breaking up just a few of the things that gave
the most problems.
In my opinion this axle COST Atkinson or seddon/atkinson the loyalty of a lot of operators as the down time and cost of the repairs ever time was terrible.
The modifications that came along just didnāt work it was just a bad designed axle, and if it was put together with
a D/B 8-speed total loss oil system gearbox you had a very unreliable motor.
How many drivers do you know who at the start of the week would take two gallon of gearbox oil away with them?.
The workshop had two hubs that had been refurbished to so in the end if 
when in for service an axle had a problem
they just got changed then the worn ones got sorted for the next axle.
To all you ā ā ā ā ā ā ā fans you should have been made to change the fan belts on a one
or a front cab mount or a footbrake valveon any engine version, just a few of the nice jobs but still a very nice clean chasis layout till they
went to the 400 series.
8LXBV8BRIAN:
The Atkinson MK2 with the group axle with any engine 180 upward was a problem the axle
was just not up to the job it had to do
The shallow nut on the end of the axle tube, poor case hardening on the planet gears three pins,
oil seals weeping oil out onto the brake shoes,
Then you had the diff pinion oil seals weeping and the shims breaking up just a few of the things that gave
the most problems.
In my opinion this axle COST Atkinson or seddon/atkinson the loyalty of a lot of operators as the down time and cost of the repairs ever time was terrible.
Sadly, the thing was imposed on Atkinson by its new parent, with a view to increasing volumes and reducing the unit cost. From contemporary accounts, it was the devilās own job to make sure that you didnāt end up with one, even if youād ordered something different!
240 Gardner:
8LXBV8BRIAN:
The Atkinson MK2 with the group axle with any engine 180 upward was a problem the axle
was just not up to the job it had to do
The shallow nut on the end of the axle tube, poor case hardening on the planet gears three pins,
oil seals weeping oil out onto the brake shoes,
Then you had the diff pinion oil seals weeping and the shims breaking up just a few of the things that gave
the most problems.
In my opinion this axle COST Atkinson or seddon/atkinson the loyalty of a lot of operators as the down time and cost of the repairs ever time was terrible.Sadly, the thing was imposed on Atkinson by its new parent, with a view to increasing volumes and reducing the unit cost. From contemporary accounts, it was the devilās own job to make sure that you didnāt end up with one, even if youād ordered something different!
240 Gardner you call it (the thing) this just about sums it up as you could in no way call it a truck axle.
8LXBV8BRIAN:
KFT 511P the last Atkinson MK2to go into service before the 400 series
.seddon/Atkinson came.
two good oldāuns together, the one and only āCrackerā Bates with his Atki, sadly no longer with us. We old uns attended the funeral on monday of another great driver. RIP āParkyā Ps sorry you couldnāt make it Brian. theres not many of us left now. I turned out to be the only one not retired (just a spring chicken eh!!) Regards kevmac47.
