old Foden

[f_troop]

rigsby:
if you were to select low first on a foden 12 speed box , the most likely result would be the prop shaft snapping with the torque . i never heard of one that went in automatically . i never found a hill that needed any other than low 2nd . as an aside , i believe sam long sons fodens had 1st gear blanked in the main box due to the amount of damage done by drivers using low 1st .

Thanks Rigsby and BRS FH66 for that information,
That has put my mind to rest,When your young you would take notice of older drivers and beleive what they told you.

Regards

F Troop.

[brs_fh66]

When I was driving for Gascoyne Trading out of Perth WA in the 60s, the legal limit was 36 tons and we used to load old Fodens with Gardner 150s to around 40 tons. We had to have to use first gear and low range to get over the old Bindoon Hill pulling that weight. To change down from second low to first direct was always a worry. Remember I said in an earlier post that first gear was a crash gear in the Foden four speed main box. Because of the low speed you were traveling at when it came time to change down, and because of the closeness between the two ratios, we used to treat the down-change like an up-change, that is, back off the revs, drop the clutch, slip the air shift up from low to direct and at the same time, slide the main box from second into first and then let the clutch out gently as by the time you had done this, the truck was almost at a standstill. I have never heard of someone screwing up a driveline in a Gardner powered Foden in Australia, not even with some of the later ones that came over here with ■■■■■■■ 220s and 250s that used the same ger box.

[tiptop495]

fryske:
A couple of later Foden shift patterns which might be of interest

Hey, a strange pattern that I don’t realy understand,how do you have to change with it, is that a Fuller.
Has someone a clearer view of the ratios,is there only one gear to use with overdrive■■?
Looking here, wasn’t Foden a rare beast with gearboxes.But maybe if you were used to it that you never wanted something else like as you are used to a Fuller.
The English trucks were always a bit strange for us except the ((Belgian) AEC’s,Leyland’s,bedford’s and other.
But it must have been nice to choose your own choise,that marque,that box and so on.
Only Auto Miesse gave that choise here pitty all gone.
Or am I a bit old fasioned!!! and maybe to stupid to accept and handle new electronic controled lorries■■?

Cheers Eric,

[rigsby]

that foden 9 speed was confusing wasn’t it ? my regular mount was under repair and i was given a 9 speed for the day . 5am start , still groggy , jumped in and away , i must have gone a few miles when i realised i was driving it like a 12 speed and all the gears were there . never figured that one out . cheers dave

[bradfordlad9999]

VALKYRIE:

matt watson:
Many years ago i worked for a petrol company called Globe Petroleum in stirlingshire scotland. We ran 3 AEC mammoth majors and 1 mandator. One day the manager said this vehicle has to go for mot, the workshop was in gunness scunthorpe and it was arranged that i would meet a fitter at penrith. I arrived at penrith to see a foden 8 wheel rigid sitting in the lay by,now i was only just past my test 6 months before i had never driven anything other than aecs, The fitter said its fully loaded and showed me how to use the gearbox, i remember it had twin headlights, split windscreen. the gears were 1 2 3 4 . and move the 3 way lever on the right hand side of the steering wheel. What a motor i dont know what engine was in it but at tickover you would think it was cutting out then burst into life. what model would this be. i had it for a month and thought it a good motor, the reg was WFU953J 38 years later i am still on fuel tankers in grangemouth.(driving an MAN)

VALKYRIE replies:-

From your description and the WFU 953J registration,plus the DVLA information,below,the Foden is almost certainly the following model:-

Foden S39 Sabrina 8XB6/26-28 [Gardner 6LXB],or 8L6/26-28 [Leyland O.680],or 8E6/26-28 [Foden Mk6B],or 8E7/26-28 [Foden Mk7] 8x2 or 8x4 Lorry.

The vehicle details for WFU 953J are:

Date of Liability 01 04 1997
Date of First Registration 03 05 1971
Year of Manufacture Not Available
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 0cc
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type HEAVY OIL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Unlicensed
Vehicle Colour BLUE
Vehicle Type Approval Not Available

Vehicle Excise Duty rate for vehicle

6 Months Rate £90.75
12 Months Rate £165.00

This Foden could have ended up on the fairgrounds considering that it was still in service until 1997 …just like another example of the same model from the same year …and it’s still going strong :-

The vehicle details for EGT 959J are:

Date of Liability 01 04 2014
Date of First Registration 19 02 1971
Year of Manufacture 1971
Cylinder Capacity (cc) 0cc
CO2 Emissions Not Available
Fuel Type HEAVY OIL
Export Marker N
Vehicle Status Licence Not Due
Vehicle Colour RED
Vehicle Type Approval Not Available

Vehicle Excise Duty rate for vehicle

6 Months Rate £90.75
12 Months Rate £165.00

Foden S39 Sabrina 8XB6/26-28,Luton Girderframe-bodied,8x4 Fairground Lorry,EGT 959J,David Pelham,Waltzer Ride:-

VALKYRIE

bit weird with the idiots off big brother on here

Agreed, so it’s all been removed. dd.

[saviem]

Valkyrie, if you knew anything about lorries, or the people who run them, you would desist from your irritating and rather silly habit of inventing inappropriate names for lorries manufactured by Foden, and Atkinson…that Foden is a S39, …as most who are of a certain age will tell you, … to many of us they are still modern!

Sabrina was the nickname for ONLY a certain model of ERF.

Today I had guests (post operation) for lunch, two families of close friends are Showmen… The subject of nicknames for lorries came up. They all reacted with laughter at your insinuation that the S39 was knowwn in Showland, as a Sabrina. No sir, she was, and is, an S39.

Grow up dear boy!

Nothing personal, but as a man, (now of mature years), who spent his youth in the driving seat of various Foden lorries…and much later his money in buying, operating, and selling them…well this stupidity in posts “gets my Goat”, (Sarnen, Anglo Nubian, or Toggenberg, I wonder)

Cheerio for now.

[lawrence_dunbar]

Well the S 39 where I live was allways refered to as the Cottage Loaf Cab which IMO Was spot on, As was the S21 being called Mickey Mouse, But I suppose everyone has their own versions of Cabs, But as far as the Sabrina Phrase this has to be the ERF IMO For what its worth, Regards Larry.

[valkyrie]

Saviem:
Valkyrie, if you knew anything about lorries, or the people who run them, you would desist from your irritating and rather silly habit of inventing inappropriate names for lorries manufactured by Foden, and Atkinson…that Foden is a S39, …as most who are of a certain age will tell you, … to many of us they are still modern!

Sabrina was the nickname for ONLY a certain model of ERF.

Today I had guests (post operation) for lunch, two families of close friends are Showmen… The subject of nicknames for lorries came up. They all reacted with laughter at your insinuation that the S39 was knowwn in Showland, as a Sabrina. No sir, she was, and is, an S39.

Grow up dear boy!

Nothing personal, but as a man, (now of mature years), who spent his youth in the driving seat of various Foden lorries…and much later his money in buying, operating, and selling them…well this stupidity in posts “gets my Goat”, (Sarnen, Anglo Nubian, or Toggenberg, I wonder)

Cheerio for now.

VALKYRIE replies:-

In other words,Saviem,you and your friends are totally wrong,and I and my friends,showmen friends and other people are totally right
about the Foden S24,S34,S36 and S39 Sabrina cabs being nicknamed “Sabrina”,and that is the reality of the situation.

I’ve been to probably far more fun fairs than you,met probably far more showmen and made friends with them than you,and one of my showman friends,Jamie Raywood,was the first showman that I heard referring to the Foden Sabrina models as SABRINA! And that was above twenty years since! And I’ve heard quite a few other showmen,enthusiasts and road haulage people refer to Foden Sabrinas since then!
As it’s been pointed several times before on this forum and on other websites,cab names like Sabrina,Panoramic,Cottage Loaf,Mickey Mouse,Sputnik,Spaceship,Mouth Organ,Waterfall,etc,are regional-local and the Internet is breaking down information barriers and educating people with “new” knowledge about countless subjects,including the Foden Sabrina cabs!

I now quote Flickr member,E R F,and link the Flickr page :-
"
reply

The nickname ‘Sabrina’ was applied to these Foden cabs (for unknown reasons) very regionally by showmen when the vehicles were acquired second hand. Many very well known families I have spoken to since these comments first began to appear had never heard the name, but some in the North East of England had.

The name did not originate with first ownership road haulage operators. To haulage men, a ‘Sabrina’ was and always will be the ERF KV ‘Semi Forward (SF)’ Control cab - applied because of the perceived visual similarity with the 1950’s ■■■■■ TV star Norma Sykes.

This particular vehicle was supplied new by the Peterborough Engineering Co Ltd., Eye Road, Peterborough".
flickr.com/photos/carrickman/5030349697/

So my friends and I,showmen friends,enthusiasts,and other people have been right all along But we have known that for years…
and the Foden Sabrina name probably DID originate in the road haulage industry

My friends and I,etc, are REPORTERS -NOT inventors,Saviem.

And,as in the great Crosby Stills and Nash Hippy song,CARRY ON…meaning a Foden Sabrina is a Foden Sabrina

We CARRY ON :-
FODEN S24 SABRINA 8XB6/26-28 FLAT-BODIED 8x4 LORRY,SUP 71E. Now in service with Carter’s Royal Berkshire Steam Fairs Fun Fairs:-

VALKYRIE

[tastrucker]

Leonard green from Rotherham had a lot of those sabrina cabbed ERFS that did steel work . thank you Trevor

[tiptop495]

tiptop495:

fryske:
A couple of later Foden shift patterns which might be of interest

Hey, a strange pattern that I don’t realy understand,how do you have to change with it, is that a Fuller.
Has someone a clearer view of the ratios,is there only one gear to use with overdrive■■?
Looking here, wasn’t Foden a rare beast with gearboxes.But maybe if you were used to it that you never wanted something else like as you are used to a Fuller.
The English trucks were always a bit strange for us except the ((Belgian) AEC’s,Leyland’s,bedford’s and other.
But it must have been nice to choose your own choise,that marque,that box and so on.
Only Auto Miesse gave that choise here pitty all gone.
Or am I a bit old fasioned!!! and maybe to stupid to accept and handle new electronic controled lorries■■?

Cheers Eric,

how did you shift them 1,2,3 in low than 2,3 and4 direct or ■■ and only the fourth in overdrive??

cheers eric,

[saviem]

Evening all, Eric, funny old box that Foden one!

Fodens modernised it to be,“easy to use 9 speed”, but as rigsby says…if you were used to the 12 speed, and drove the 9 as a 12…then you could still find 12 gears…and quickly, if you needed them. But you never looked at that gear lever!!

Quick as a Fuller, and fantastic with a low hp engine, and as BRSFH66 says the original “underdrive” box so magnified the torque of a low hp engine, as to be a fantastic driving experience. And no one working for my family, (me included), ever broke a half shaft getting into low first…and believe me we needed all the help we could get on some of the roads into Wales that we used, with the weights that we carried, (without any concern), it was a matter of professional pride that you could get the job done!!

I will always love Fodens, their designs, their ideas, their pride…a Foden driver was a “proper” driver, really the King of the Road…but sadly the road changed…and Fodens did not!

Cheerio for now,

[brs_fh66]

Saviem:
Evening all, Eric, funny old box that Foden one!

Fodens modernised it to be,“easy to use 9 speed”, but as rigsby says…if you were used to the 12 speed, and drove the 9 as a 12…then you could still find 12 gears…and quickly, if you needed them. But you never looked at that gear lever!!

Quick as a Fuller, and fantastic with a low hp engine, and as BRSFH66 says the original “underdrive” box so magnified the torque of a low hp engine, as to be a fantastic driving experience. And no one working for my family, (me included), ever broke a half shaft getting into low first…and believe me we needed all the help we could get on some of the roads into Wales that we used, with the weights that we carried, (without any concern), it was a matter of professional pride that you could get the job done!!

I will always love Fodens, their designs, their ideas, their pride…a Foden driver was a “proper” driver, really the King of the Road…but sadly the road changed…and Fodens did not!

Cheerio for now,

Here’s a Foden from over 40 years ago parked outside the Overlander Roadhouse by the Shark Bay turn-off 487 miles north of Perth. How these old Foden’s held together on the dirt roads north of Carnarvon, I’ll never know. This was when I was driving the Dampier chiller, a weekly run with perishables from Perth, a 2000 mile round trip that included nearly 400 miles of dirt roads. I never knew of a Foden breaking a rear spring on those roads, but when we got Mercedes 2624s, you could break a leaf every trip or two, but at least they were smooth riders.

[erfguy]

I think this VALKYRIE is on the wrong forum here, He would fit in better on that Facebook it’s famed for them talking a lot o rubbish and all that half page o hippy like garbage at the top o each of his postings would free up more space for us lorrie enthusiasts to post some real life story’s. Eddie.

[lawrence_dunbar]

Well all I can say about the Foden 12 speed boxes is that they had a gear for every hill& if bottom gear had to be used on heavey incline it would only be a Foden that would cope with it IMO, I don’t know of any other general haulage motor with a low bottom gear lower than the old Foden, Regards Larry. PS This one of ours performed very well & never missed a beat wherever I took it, Regards Larry.

[dave_the_renegade]

[fodens80]

tiptop495:

tiptop495:

fryske:
A couple of later Foden shift patterns which might be of interest

Hey, a strange pattern that I don’t realy understand,how do you have to change with it, is that a Fuller.
Has someone a clearer view of the ratios,is there only one gear to use with overdrive■■?
Looking here, wasn’t Foden a rare beast with gearboxes.But maybe if you were used to it that you never wanted something else like as you are used to a Fuller.
The English trucks were always a bit strange for us except the ((Belgian) AEC’s,Leyland’s,bedford’s and other.
But it must have been nice to choose your own choise,that marque,that box and so on.
Only Auto Miesse gave that choise here pitty all gone.
Or am I a bit old fasioned!!! and maybe to stupid to accept and handle new electronic controled lorries■■?

Cheers Eric,

how did you shift them 1,2,3 in low than 2,3 and4 direct or ■■ and only the fourth in overdrive??

cheers eric,

9 speed has no crawler, 4 low box, 4 direct then overdrive in top. Normally rigid chassis I think
All 12 gears are in there as you can split all direct ratios.
8 speed has crawler. Then through to low 4th, then into 2nd direct. Through to direct 4th then overdrive top. Normally tractor units I think.
You cannot use all 12 because they are there, but there is no logical sequence. I drive mine low 2,3, direct crawler then splits all the way to overdrive top. That gives me 8 good useable ratios. Only need to go down into low box when stopped at a junction or for really steep hills and then it is a change straight back from direct crawler to low 2nd. Only ever needed crawler for shunting about, normal starting gear is low 2nd.
The clutch is always needed to actuate the air valve for the 12 speed or range change unit.

■■■■■■■ 220 or equivalent was just about the limit torque wise, ■■■■■■■ 250 or equivalent were best with the Fuller…

[valkyrie]

erfguy:
I think this VALKYRIE is on the wrong forum here, He would fit in better on that Facebook it’s famed for them talking a lot o rubbish and all that half page o hippy like garbage at the top o each of his postings would free up more space for us lorrie enthusiasts to post some real life story’s. Eddie.

VALKYRIE replies:-

1.ERFGuy.You misguidedly think that ERF,and only ERF,had a copyright on the Sabrina name It DID NOT.

2.I,and other people on this forum and elsewhere on the Internet,have correctly stated that the Sabrina name was,and is,used by road haulage people,showmen and enthusiasts for the Foden S24,S34,S36 and S39 Sabrina cabs

3.But,with respect,you are so closed-minded and bigoted that you do not want to accept the objective facts.But that is your problem and
not mine.

I,and all of the above mentioned people in point 2 are not talking rubbish - but you ARE talking garbage You tell him HAZEL : :-

As I said in my previous post:My friends and I,showmen friends,enthusiasts,etc,will correctly and rightly CARRY ON with the Foden SABRINA name :-
FODEN S24 SABRINA 8XB6/26-28 BOXVAN-BODIED 8x4 LORRY,SUP 71E.Carter’s Royal Berkshire Steam Fairs Fun Fairs:-

VALKYRIE

[saviem]

VALKYRIE:

erfguy:
I think this VALKYRIE is on the wrong forum here, He would fit in better on that Facebook it’s famed for them talking a lot o rubbish and all that half page o hippy like garbage at the top o each of his postings would free up more space for us lorrie enthusiasts to post some real life story’s. Eddie.

VALKYRIE replies:-

1.ERFGuy.You misguidedly think that ERF,and only ERF,had a copyright on the Sabrina name It DID NOT.

2.I,and other people on this forum and elsewhere on the Internet,have correctly stated that the Sabrina name was,and is,used by road haulage people,showmen and enthusiasts for the Foden S24,S34,S36 and S39 Sabrina cabs

3.But,with respect,you are so closed-minded and bigoted that you do not want to accept the objective facts.But that is your problem and
not mine.

As I said in my previous post:My friends and I,showmen friends,enthusiasts,etc,will correctly and rightly CARRY ON with the Foden SABRINA name :-
FODEN S24 SABRINA 8XB6,26-28 BOXVAN-BODIED 8x4 LORRY,SUP 71E.Carter’s Royal Berkshire Steam Fairs Fun Fairs:-

VALKYRIE

I see that these forums now have two “”, one with (in his favour),… a credible experience of Fire Appliances, down Leatherhead way…

and now a “juvenile” rider straight from the playground…
adds to lifes funnier moments

Adieu mes Braves.

[dave_the_renegade]

This is an old Foden. Seen Saturday.

[valkyrie]

Mod’s edit:

Once the random crap was removed, there was nothing left.