Bewick:
Any feed back of how it fared “in service” Chris/ Dennis.
Absolutely no idea Dennis!
Hi evreyone! This Atky is a regular in our garage. Not because it needs working on, but because we enjoy shunting trailers with it!
And a very nice wagon it is too:
Three shots showing the “character” of a Gardner powered Atkinson…
Aah who can forget the smoke when you cracked em up in a morning,happy days.
regards dave.
Can’t let this thread slip into oblivion! A shot of one of the Bewick Atkis outside the offices at Milnthorpe depot,RJM 828M was a farily “new” secondhand unit when we bought it,■■■■■■■ 220/Fuller610/Group axle,no power steering!! It first ran from our Gravesend depot and then was based at Dunstable.Nice tractor,gave trouble free service
e!
I know ,I know,there’s something in the corner spoiling the shot but the magnificent brace of Atkis make up for the “blemish”!! probably taken on a weekend in the old depot in Milnthorpe,The McGuffie tractor was CRM 253K which came into the fleet at 3 years old ex Barnett and Graham Penrith,■■■■■■■ 205/Fuller 610/Kirkstall BDR and ZF power steering.The Bewick tractor is OJM 480L,I think!
Evening all, nice photographs Dennis, you know when that RTO610 Fuller box hit the market vehicles moved up a generation. You could use all of the available power, however small the torque band, getting baulked on a hill was no longer a disaster, the close ratios and lightning quick change meaning that you could regain momentum very quickly, yet you could skip gears and block change whenever the mood took you, it made for a very stress free and relaxing drive. People ask what is it about Atkinsons? well your photograph of the two Borderers clearly shows what it is. The ERF was undeniably a good machine in its day, but if you were given the choice which one would you choose to drive? Without doubt any “red blooded man” would choose the Borderer, it had real image and presence, streets ahead of its rivals, a cab and instrument display that told you that you were in charge of something special, and that you in turn were “top of the tree”, it was the “730 Scania” of its time. And that is why its image has lasted to today! However well restored or liveried show vehicles are presented, it is invariably the Atkinson that catches the publics eye over all the others! Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
Evening all, nice photographs Dennis, you know when that RTO610 Fuller box hit the market vehicles moved up a generation. You could use all of the available power, however small the torque band, getting baulked on a hill was no longer a disaster, the close ratios and lightning quick change meaning that you could regain momentum very quickly, yet you could skip gears and block change whenever the mood took you, it made for a very stress free and relaxing drive. People ask what is it about Atkinsons? well your photograph of the two Borderers clearly shows what it is. The ERF was undeniably a good machine in its day, but if you were given the choice which one would you choose to drive? Without doubt any “red blooded man” would choose the Borderer, it had real image and presence, streets ahead of its rivals, a cab and instrument display that told you that you were in charge of something special, and that you in turn were “top of the tree”, it was the “730 Scania” of its time. And that is why its image has lasted to today! However well restored or liveried show vehicles are presented, it is invariably the Atkinson that catches the publics eye over all the others! Cheerio for now.
My word Saviem, the chilled Bollinger must have gone down a treat this evening, you really are waxing lyrical… 
Morning all, Graham, not one drop had passed my lips! My love of Bollinger, well I can firmly lay the blame for that at the door of Andre Giraud, (he of the family Transports Giraud, remember their maroon Scania bonneted 110 wine, (and chemical)!tanks. Selling trucks in France did have its compensations!! You know as I made that post you came to mind. One of my "conquest " sales , way back, was the AEC fleet of E Fletcher Garages, in the Lye. Outside their premises was a short sharp hill, impossible to change up whilst ascending.Now I really wanted to get them into 205■■■■■■■■ RTO610 Borderers, Because we could not get Atkinson product I demonstrated a Seddon, 220 Rolls, 610Fuller. the fact that ascending with a full load we could keep changing up, and gaining speed, amazed them, and led to quite a number of vehicles joining their fleet,(the Seddons “cheap” price may have helped here)!! I am convinced that had the Mandator been available with the Fuller, then I would have stood no chance! And only a very simplistic person would choose the Seddons motor panels cab over the comfort of an Ergomatic! But the Seddon did have a Kysor radiator shutter! That gearbox, and its later siblings were winners. Cheerio for now.
Saviem:
Morning all, Graham, not one drop had passed my lips! My love of Bollinger, well I can firmly lay the blame for that at the door of Andre Giraud, (he of the family Transports Giraud, remember their maroon Scania bonneted 110 wine, (and chemical)!tanks. Selling trucks in France did have its compensations!! You know as I made that post you came to mind. One of my "conquest " sales , way back, was the AEC fleet of E Fletcher Garages, in the Lye. Outside their premises was a short sharp hill, impossible to change up whilst ascending.Now I really wanted to get them into 205■■■■■■■■ RTO610 Borderers, Because we could not get Atkinson product I demonstrated a Seddon, 220 Rolls, 610Fuller. the fact that ascending with a full load we could keep changing up, and gaining speed, amazed them, and led to quite a number of vehicles joining their fleet,(the Seddons “cheap” price may have helped here)!! I am convinced that had the Mandator been available with the Fuller, then I would have stood no chance! And only a very simplistic person would choose the Seddons motor panels cab over the comfort of an Ergomatic! But the Seddon did have a Kysor radiator shutter! That gearbox, and its later siblings were winners. Cheerio for now.
Well, I maintain that it makes all the difference behind a 6LXB as well!
240 Gardner:
Saviem:
Morning all, Graham, not one drop had passed my lips! My love of Bollinger, well I can firmly lay the blame for that at the door of Andre Giraud, (he of the family Transports Giraud, remember their maroon Scania bonneted 110 wine, (and chemical)!tanks. Selling trucks in France did have its compensations!! You know as I made that post you came to mind. One of my "conquest " sales , way back, was the AEC fleet of E Fletcher Garages, in the Lye. Outside their premises was a short sharp hill, impossible to change up whilst ascending.Now I really wanted to get them into 205■■■■■■■■ RTO610 Borderers, Because we could not get Atkinson product I demonstrated a Seddon, 220 Rolls, 610Fuller. the fact that ascending with a full load we could keep changing up, and gaining speed, amazed them, and led to quite a number of vehicles joining their fleet,(the Seddons “cheap” price may have helped here)!! I am convinced that had the Mandator been available with the Fuller, then I would have stood no chance! And only a very simplistic person would choose the Seddons motor panels cab over the comfort of an Ergomatic! But the Seddon did have a Kysor radiator shutter! That gearbox, and its later siblings were winners. Cheerio for now.Well, I maintain that it makes all the difference behind a 6LXB as well!
You’re right there 240 ! we had 16 big j’s with the 6lxb and the thornycroft box of crap. I missed this batch and got a later one with power steering !!! 6lxb and 610 fuller, it would leave all the others standing empty or loaded, best box ever in my opinion.
During the years I was involved in the transport industry the two areas I was probably most interested in was Tyres and gearing.“Saviem” is quite right in his observation about the arrival of the Fuller Roadranger gearbox in 70/71 behind the ■■■■■■■ engined Borderer’s.I can recall at the time that the “dyed in the wool” Gardner operators derided both the engine and the box and dismissed it as just another gimmick—how wrong they were! My first driver and me just loved the first new Atki we got in '71,it was a pleasure to drive it really was!! When I bought our 3rd Borderer in '72 I took gearing to another level by making the Eaton axle into a 2 speed unit which gave the tractor 20 forward gears which enabled it to walk past the 8LXB’s and F88’s on the Motorway grades,which didn’t go down very well in some quarters at the time.You just let the revs drop back about 250 then you dropped a quarter gear and just kept going!! The other motor we ran that benefitted from the Fuller box was an ERF “A” series I bought off HLH Norwich in late '75.As it turned out it wasn’t the tractor that I’d bought and payed for at the time,I had “bought” the 180LXB 6spd/2speed unit that was advertised in CM and when the delivery driver turned up at 7am one morning it was with a 180/Fuller609/Kirkstall D85.When spoke to HLH later they told me Mr Sutton had bought the other one!!! Anyway as tractors were in short supply at the time I decided to keep this unit as I reasoned the Fuller box would be an improvement on the DB 6spd!! So after having ERF change the diff for a higher ratio to give it an easier cruising speed I can say that this little “Gem” gave us faultless service during its time on the fleet,ending up in the depot as a “pet” used by our trailer/tyre fitter for many a year!! Eaton axles and Fuller boxes (same firm!) were the finest driveline you could spec for a tractor unit IMO,others may take a different veiw I have no doubt!! Cheers Dennis.
I have never understood the entrenched reluctance of most British manufacturers of the 1960’s and '70s to fit multi-ratio gearboxes / transmissions into heaver tractor units. As Bewick and others have commented they transformed a lorry’s performance. And picking up on Gardner 240’s recent post, AEC did have a 12-speed splitter option AND a 10-speed range change option for the tilt-cabbed Mandator available, but as it cost extra maybe that is why operators stuck to the 6-speed unit with its widely spaced ratios. A Fuller option was offered in some of the last Mandators to be built (at least one of these survives in preservation).
gingerfold:
I have never understood the entrenched reluctance of most British manufacturers of the 1960’s and '70s to fit multi-ratio gearboxes / transmissions into heaver tractor units. As Bewick and others have commented they transformed a lorry’s performance. And picking up on Gardner 240’s recent post, AEC did have a 12-speed splitter option AND a 10-speed range change option for the tilt-cabbed Mandator available, but as it cost extra maybe that is why operators stuck to the 6-speed unit with its widely spaced ratios. A Fuller option was offered in some of the last Mandators to be built (at least one of these survives in preservation).
This one survives – not sure how much preservation it’s likely to get…
Evening all, you know this gearbox thing always puzzled me. Gingerfold is right the option was always there with the Mandator. Was it that as the Thorneycroft box was in house, and production cost was low, that that was the preffered “production” option? Trev H, you are bang on, the Big J with the AEC box was awfull, pull away on a hill, and before the revs had died, you had no road speed for the next gear, with the 9speed Fuller it was the opposite. Chris, well I have never driven a 6LXB with a Fuller behind it, but plenty of Foden 12speeds (mechanical and air splits) and with them you could surprise many a “big power” driver, pity was the worm drive axle was never really up to the 70s speeds!! So I do not doubt your reasoning at all. Dennis, I often wondered if a 610/2 speed option would work, well you proved that it did! I only remember the 18802 Eaton axle David Brown 6speed Borderers that I supplied to Russell Cadwallader, boy would they tramp on, and the two speed gave you the half gears on the banks!! The great thing with the Fuller box was it gave the driver the advantage of the multirange transmission normally operated with twin sticks, in a single stick. Eaton pushed the product hard, and had on the road demonstrators, they showed that the product worked, and once any driver, operator experienced the difference, then Fuller became the preffered option.And guess whose tractor was out pushing the box? (oh yes they had an ERF as well)! Now I know I am off thread, and apologise in advance. Back in the late 90s I imported a really super K100 Kenworth Aerodyne 110inch sleeper direct from a very nice US operator in Montana , (even in Southampton the smell of good quality silage clung to its wheels)!! ■■■■■■■ 475 14litre, 15speed double overdrive Fuller, with a six speed Spicer behind it! The previous owner was kind enough to fax me a sheet showing possible gear combinations and changes. It ran to two A4 sheets, and the majority of gear change combinations had" NO " in big letters next to them. That was the secret of the Eaton box, it was simple, and should always be kept simple, you could not really improve upon it. Well its been a long day, drilling then carting,all the time in that John Deere, with its amazing gear changes, in my head I have been back in a Borderer, with that RTO610, oh happy days of my youth!! (Wonder if I am becoming senile)■■?Cheerio, the Bollinger, and Salmon are calling me, Bon Nuit mes braves.
Brilliant thread this,i love the old Atki’s.Never liked the ‘A’ series ERF’s for some reason,although one day trundling back from Dewsbury to North Kilworth in my Daf 2500 at a steady 75mph,2 ‘A’ series artics with 40ft flats came cruising by me 
lord knows what engine/boxes they had!
I noticed an eight wheeler Atki parked up near where i work today looks like it`s being restored painted red with the 180 Gardner and a small tank on the back of the cab with power steering fluid written on it … luxury
Interesting shot this one,I know there’s a bit of dross on the shot but apart from the ERF the Seddon 32/4 was a good motor and a lump cheaper than the Atki’s!!! It was a decent spec as well,■■■■■■■ 220/Fuller 610 and high geared Group axle and power steering,it was a flying machine!.The shot was taken at Lincoln Farm at around mid-day on a Sunday probably early '75 changing over with 3 Gravesend Atki’s.assorted loads each way!You can see which marque was most prominent on the Bewick fleet!! 