paul if ya looking for a half decent but cheap erf or foden try www.walkermovements.co.uk 
Ive found the perfect motor for you…
Carl:
paul if ya looking for a half decent but cheap erf or foden try www.walkermovements.co.uk
Yes Walkers are a good bet for a decent used Foden/ERF but even better are Foden contracts (they have an advert every week in CM) themselves at Sandbach where I got mine. They sell to the dealers themselves and the guy to talk to is Graham Patterson who will deal alright over the phone 
,his number is 07747792725.
many thanx for the all the info lads 
One last thing, I don’t think it affects the ■■■■■■■ and the DAFs but I’ve heard horror stories of the Scanias in particular (and others) fuel consumption falling dramatically when the engines are specced for an RPC. remember you’re only saving 500 quis on tax and with diesel at 80ppl approx…
Do I need to say anymore, both the 85 DAFs and the Foden Alphas with a ■■■■■■■ in Have a good reputation for weight and economy, but be wary of the Fodens with the Cat engine in.
Good luck, I went the same route about 16 years ago, with the opinion that my income would double and my costs wouldn’t. Not strictly true, and you’re one of many with an artic unit, and often a lot more popular with a rigid. But I went from one to five then back to two, and that’s only because I decided I wanted a life other than lying under various wagons every weekend
So it can’t be all bad
Sorry about the randomness of this post, especially as I haven’t even had a drink yet.
I thought Foden were packing in next year or something like that 
simon
SimonRS2K:
I thought Foden were packing in next year or something like thatsimon
Just because Paccar are “doing the dirty” on new Fodens from next year does not mean a guy can’t go out and pick up a bargain used one 
Big Truck:
Just because Paccar are “doing the dirty” on new Fodens from next year does not mean a guy can’t go out and pick up a bargain used one
time to get an even better deal 
spoke to the top man yesterday and he’s sugested that i put my own trailer on instead of pulling one of theirs, at better rates of coarse. put me in a bit of a possition, as i don’t no anything about running trailers, maintainence costs, cost to buy etc which is going to make it difficult to guage how good or bad the rates are on offer, could be getting my leg in if i’m not carefull. wondering about hiring to test the water but what cost a flatbed tri axle per week?
hoping someone can put me straight on maintaince schedules/costs etc?
Big Truck:
SimonRS2K:
I thought Foden were packing in next year or something like thatsimon
Just because Paccar are “doing the dirty” on new Fodens from next year does not mean a guy can’t go out and pick up a bargain used one
I was only asking 
PAUL B if you can afford it get a covered trailer made to your specs with a coil bay and the required lashing points,take a look around and check out all the makers ,as then you wil be better able to judge which is the one for you, NOW you are thinking ,why has he said a covered trailer,you will save time with the slideing roof it will be a 1000 times quicket than putting a
tarpaulin on a flatbed and you could also then use it for other work if you
have time on your hands,Paul it will also be better in the resale market if
needs be,
IF DO not wish to buy new then look for a good bargin from the trailer rental companys, try to get some advice from one of the subbies who you know and is in the same work ashe will be able to give you on hands advice
all the best with thenew work,
paul try this firm for ya trailer www.eurotrailers.net they do new and used and they do refurbishing on the used the new trailers are montracon theyve got no coil carriers but plenty of flats.
thanks for that mate,
i’ve been weighing up the pros n cons of the job, pull my own trailer v’s traction only and at the rates offered, the traction only actually seems the best bet, it’s a lower rate per ton but the rates per drop are the same, only got the maintainence of the unit to worry about plus their own trailers are loaded ready for the morning by their shunters, if i pull my own, i’ll have to load it myself which is 6.00am start or pay a fee per trailer for their shunters to load it which knocks a good lump off the rate! looking at hire costs and second hand trailer prices it’s just not worth doing, all theat taken into account added to the fact that traction only means i can be on the road at 5.00 with the first load be it local or distance i reckon thats got to be the best bet, only draw back is i can’t take on anything of my own with their trailer.
Paul b ,what does your accountant say as you can offset any costs on your
tax bill, all so what about reloads for the factory for who you work for,
like damaged goods or goods that have been ordered for the factory,
what about getting a causal driver for the time required to load if this is a
less expensive option,
brit pete:
PAUL B if you can afford it get a covered trailer made to your specs with a coil bay and the required lashing points,take a look around and check out all the makers ,as then you wil be better able to judge which is the one for you, NOW you are thinking ,why has he said a covered trailer,you will save time with the slideing roof it will be a 1000 times quicket than putting a
tarpaulin on a flatbed and you could also then use it for other work if you
have time on your hands,Paul it will also be better in the resale market if
needs be,
IF DO not wish to buy new then look for a good bargin from the trailer rental companys, try to get some advice from one of the subbies who you know and is in the same work ashe will be able to give you on hands advice
all the best with thenew work,
thanks for the good wishes,
corus won’t load tauts for home market work, for some reason, so they’re out, plus i can sheet a load in ten minutes stood on my head (not literally) so it’s a flat, a couple of the lads off here have put me on to some good hire firms that don’t want daft money, so thanks to them for that
done a deal on a unit today, an erf ec11 on a T plate, very clean, good tyres and and a years test and most important, no finance! so hopefully that’ll see me through the next year or two.
plan is to pull the firms trailers on traction only and see how it pans out,
once again, many thanks to all who have offered advice, it’s much appreciated
You shouldn’t go far wrong with an ec11. If you have a 6 wheeler with the lift axle, the one I used to have was not a weight sensing one, so you could lift it to screw round, even at 44t.
Oh, and of course, ERF’s are simple as duplo, so there aint much to go wrong !!
Good luck Paul.
One question - have you part exchanged your rigid or kept hold of it so you have a backout plan if it doesn’t work out?
Paul
the rigids going, half the reason i’m changing now is because it’s out of test at the end of the month and wanted a bucket load of money spending on it if i was to run it for another year to the point it wasn’t really viable, so i’d have been buying another wagon either way. thing is the artic work is for the same firm so if it dosn’t pan out as i hope it will, it’ll be no problem to go back to rigid, thats why i’ve gone for a cheap unit and i’ll pull their trailers initially to see how it goes. i’ve spoke to the other lads who run artics on the job and they reckon it’s the right move as theres been plenty of work this year, where as theres been odd quiet weeks with the rigid.
Paul, good luck with the switch matey, hope it works out for you pal, but an ERF my god mate treat yourself to a decent truck
richiessex:
Paul, good luck with the switch matey, hope it works out for you pal, but an ERF
He’s buying to suit the job, not for the poseability Richie, a few more ODs like that and maybe Rob wouldn’t have started his ill-starred thread .
All the best Paul, you’ve got it well sussed IMO.
Salut, David.