michel:
M.A.N from Cayon fleet with extra-short cab.
Evening all,
What a day, racing the rain…all the combining done, 50% of the hedges done, (this new rule that we cannot cut or trim untill August…right in the busiest period, is crazy, it adds loads of pressure)…as do so many of the “Tree Hugger” enviromental rules…surely some of these folk have never ever observed just how the natural world works…at least , (if)? , we leave the clasp of Brussels, we can free ourselves from the ■■■■■■■ of “subsidised farming”…and farm to produce the best yield, and protect the enviromment that we love, (not the one that the tree huggers espouse). Lets get back to real farming with 4 crops, (and a possible catch crop of two), and no subsidies whatsoever…but the “Great British Housewife” will have to learn how to cook, and provide for her family…and not simply shove some value added s…t that has travelled mega miles across Europe, to be popped into the microwave…and served up as food…which it patentlt a`int!!!..and those smart City Boys, who have seen that “working” the EU Subsidy scheme can, (and does), give big rewards will bugger off into the distance and their next "easy money " scam!..Leave Farming, and our enviromment to the farmers…not a load of amateurs, with an axe to grind!
pv83, (Patrick), Im sure that I speak for everyone here, you do not post too much…what you do so is of great interest, and thank you for taking the time so to do.Particularly your modern day to day stuff. Those Eastern Bloc images are real thought provokers. Now those Polish ZTE-Randon, (they are still running), pictures…The TG Willemes were ordered new build from Perez et Raimond, with Detroit power, (the standard option, Perez et Raimond being the French concessionaire for Detroit-Allison). But somewhere down the line the Detroit came out of the 8x8s 250/500 tonners, and a ■■■■■■■ 335 was put in. Hence the numbers on the grille. On your one picture is the first Faun that they purchased, then came their an 8x8, which became their main "pusher" unit. I think that the TG Willemes were running right up to the 90s, and maybe beyond. An incredibly versatile heavy hauler, and very stable either in front, or pushing behing…very well braked indeed.
My apologies tat I am so far behind the pace, but it really is our busiest time of the year, (and I am supposed to be taking it easy and resting)…so I have to sort of fly about underneath the Radar so to speak…
But Fergies images of the Bernards, (and there are some real rare ones there, including perhaps the only V8 “Greyhound” with the Alsthom power unit as a 26tonne 6x2…then there are Patricks Pacifics, (including Jean Aliberts highly modified ■■■■■■■ 300hp powered, Alibert cabbed version), what a company they were from Albi, down by Toulouse…and as Froggy explained that ugly Willeme with its straight 8 cylinder Deutz designed engine was a “real armstrong” machine…particularly those operated by Jean Arcaise, the founder of Transports ONATRA…as tippers they regularly ran at 60 tonnes gross…and no power steering…and they never broke…(but what about the drivers)!
We never really touched on the ultra short cab Dutch drawbars that pv posted pictures of…all a result of the mighty Phillips Company from Eindhoven deciding that to suit their needs, operators would need to carry two 8.2 metre bodies on their drawbar combinations…inside 18 metres… 1.38 metres for the man doing the work to live in!.
Created some wonderful, (driver excluded) ideas…and many operators bought them…which started to create great consternation within vehicle manufacturers, because the standard driving/sleeping enviroment was so reduced as to be dangerous. The first , and very influential man to speak out was Axel Pettersson, the leader of the design team for Scania`s 3 Serie, who called for an immediate decision on maximum “load space” withi the EU overall length envelope…that caused confusion with the legislators…then France legislated on maximum trailer length within overall length of the combination…but the Dutch, (with perhaps the only legislative body that favoured road haulage over rail in Europe), carried on pushing at the envelope…some of pvs pictures show the results!..then of course came the articulated combinations that needed to compete…remember the first Van Hool 100 cubic metre trailers?..13.62 metres long, 2.46 metres wide, by 3 metres high…OK…you needed a tractor with a 95cm high fifth wheel to stay inside 4metres overall…but it was done, and the first 100 went into service…then in 1987, at Turin, Iveco, introduced a 190.32 with a 1.7 metre BBC measurement, and a “clean” rear cab back…and Rolfo, a V8 190.38 with a 100 cubic metre trailer, the 6x4 tractor on 19.5 tyres and wheels, and the overall height under 4 metres, with a 3.25 metre internal height…the battle for cube was well and truly on…
Which brings me to michels picture of one of George Francois Cayons , "Géants Cayon", Unterflur MAN 26.362 40 pallet 38 tonne drawbar combinations......yes, 40 pallets.......and Gentlemen, those lorries, (and there were over 60 of them), were the tip of this creative transport geniuss incredible Chalon-sur-Soane based fleet.
But of course there were his mobile cranes, his articulated Gas tanker fleet, (with the ultra light Berliet designed, but Renault badged bonneted TLR280E 4x2 tractors running as 4 axle combinations @35 tonnes for Butagaz, PrimaGaz, and Antar Gaz, over 20 of them…as was the crane and lifting side with capacity up to 70 tonnes…Then there was the Removal Fleet, with a lot of creative thinking to produce articulated combinations that , (traction by Mercedes Benz 608s), that ensured a large volume inside the French 7 tonne class B driving licence…And there was the Heavy Haulage side, with the ex Transports Roblin, 420hp Mercedes Benz Willeme 8x4, 200 tonner, and later Scania 6x4 143 E, and the big 500hp MANs, and Iveco`s, (but I am getting ahead of myself because that was when George had retired, and his son Jean Paul had taken the reins…and their Italian, and Romanian operations…
But back to the “Geants”…why MANs?..particularly as Cayon was a strong Saviem user, through our Chaumont (52), based dealer Chaumont Poids Lourds, run by a real creative mechanical genius Marcel Desnouveaux. Marcel ran his Dealership along the same lines as I remember how my employer, Volvo Dealer, Hartshorne Motor Services was run back in the early 70s…the customer was king…and you served his needs without exception.
This, in terms of the French lorry business was quite exceptional, only a few outfits , (for various franchises) adopting this method of working. Marcel had also recognised the opportunity to recondition/rebuild/re-market engines, their component ancilliaries, and gearboxes to serve Saviem operators…and this meant MAN . His seperate business , Societe Novelle d`Organs Mechaniques, (SNOM), by 1977 was turning out over 2000 remanufactured engines, 1200 gearboxes, and achieved a turnover of plus 30million ff from a 170 strong workforce in 1977.
When George Cayon was seeking a suitable maximum volume drawbar unit he first naturally looked at the Dutch Phillips super cubes, and purchased a DAF 2505 with the close coupled Frejat system to a 2 axle 15in wheeled drawbar trailer. Similar in concept to those run by British owned SAVAM, at 125cubic metres , but only 26tonnes gtw. This was not enough for Cayon, whose clients, Kodak, and Saint Gobain needed weight as well as cube.
One of the delights of Saviem back in the pre Berliet merger days was dealing with the manufacturing side of MAN. Positive, creative, solid, pro-active, all words that applied to them. Any problem with their mechanical equipment was resolved, and without excuse. Marcel Desnouveaux had a strong relationship with MAN through his engineering business S.N.O.M. and the Unterflur MAN was the ideal vehicle for Cayon…(initially).
To achieve the cube, Cayon employed the Frejat coupling which reduced the trailer gap to 20cm, when the trailer turned it caught the rear of the unit body, and hydraulicaly moved back…closing up again on the return to straight running. The Frejat coupling being very similar in operation to the Dutch Dektra beloved of Phillips concept operators, and licence built in Britain by Ray Smith. Two Phillips 8.25 metre modules could then be accommodated, as the Dutch vehicles. (Phillips having a works at Chalon).
Cayons work was not confined to Phillips, nor was his mind satisfied at the vagaries of the Frejat coupling........talks with SEG-SAMRO saw the air - hydrauic coupling of René Jansen come into use. Many of you will have seen, or experienced them on the drawbars of Norbert Dentressangles fleet. Pneumatic to push, hydraulic to return…and a maximum 200mm trailer to unit gap in the straight ahead position. The prime reason for using MAN Unterflur 4x2, and 6x2 units being that with the flat floor of the short day cab, and cab top sleeper, the drivers living space was not compromised by a massive engine hump.
But Cayon`s fleet still remained strongly biased towards Renault…even to the degree of experimenting, (and the driving force for these experiments being Chaumont Poids Lourds , Marcel Desnouveaux, as well as Jean- Paul Cayon), resulting in a G290 unit with basically the engine moved forward, and a side chassis mounted radiator, as the underfloor Renault FR1 coach, and ultra close coupled 100 cubic metre curtainsided SAMRO trailer, fitted witha moveable bogie, actuated as the trailer touched the cab sides on a sharp turn!..yes it did work, and initially was used to carry 34 pallets…then as the design was refined…35 pallets…“.Le Titanisque”…Really, to see these outfits on the road was quite awe inspiring…and then Cayon went on to adapt the same techniques to his tipper fleet as well!..then disaster, brought about by legislators…1992 fixed lengths for bodies…and more importantly, a length for the driver to live within!..overnight, over 100 of Cayons fleet unusable…
Both Georges, and his son Jean - Paul were fascinating men to deal with, as all self made transport men throughout the world, thinkers, and innovators. Using every opportunity to exploit the boundaries of the legislation that bounds the industry. But when that is coupled with a vehicle supplier, such as Marcel Desnouveaux and his charming and astute wife at Chaumont Poids Lourds, to turn those ideas into reality, then the results are truly spectacular.
Im late for my supper again…and Ive forgotten to put diesel into the tractor for tommorow…just shows the power of photographs…please keep them coming…Handsome lorries those Cayon “Geants”…
Cheerio for now.
. Robert
