ERF-NGC-European:
Oh, and the odd TM too, it seems; courtesy of Primrose. Robert0
Never seen one Robert. A little bit odd why some manufacturers never travelled the 8whlr path. They’ve always been a part of the industry, which sort of begs the question, Why
Piston broke:
Retired Old ■■■■:
Pity Harold’s ERF wasn’t in colour- it looked fabulous. The second ERF in his fleet, I believe, the other being an AD reg in similar livery.Would that have been in the deep red/maroon colour RoF?
Lovely colours…
The one pictured in this thread was, In think in Imperial Crimson and P.O. Red but if memory serves, the first one had more of the light red.
There’s a photo of it somewhere on this site, either in Forest of Dean or Gloucestershire threads.
Although, as I admitted often, my memory lets me down on the details!
Leylandlover will know- he’s a lot younger and less worn than I! 
ERF-NGC-European:
They were certainly not common but we did have Bedford TK rigid-eights here in UK. Robert210
Very interesting! I suppose that such a conversion also needed chassis reinforcing, and probably too a more powerful engine? What’s the point of converting a small truck like a Bedford TK into an eight wheeler? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to buy a standard 8-wheeler from the beginning?
Froggy55:
ERF-NGC-European:
They were certainly not common but we did have Bedford TK rigid-eights here in UK. Robert210
Very interesting! I suppose that such a conversion also needed chassis reinforcing, and probably too a more powerful engine? What’s the point of converting a small truck like a Bedford TK into an eight wheeler? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to buy a standard 8-wheeler from the beginning?
They were usually converted for the extra body length more than carrying extra weight, the standard engine etc was kept in most cases. Probably still cheaper than buying a new eight wheeler chassis?
Pete.
bubbleman:
Hiya again,heres a few more oldies…another Harrisons for Grumpy…Cheers Bubbs,
The Leyland/Albion ■■? behind the Harrisons AEC looks like one of Jack Ashworths with the double bumper he fitted , i could be wrong though
windrush:
Froggy55:
ERF-NGC-European:
They were certainly not common but we did have Bedford TK rigid-eights here in UK. Robert210
Very interesting! I suppose that such a conversion also needed chassis reinforcing, and probably too a more powerful engine? What’s the point of converting a small truck like a Bedford TK into an eight wheeler? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to buy a standard 8-wheeler from the beginning?
They were usually converted for the extra body length more than carrying extra weight, the standard engine etc was kept in most cases. Probably still cheaper than buying a new eight wheeler chassis?
Pete.
But probably to get a bit more weight on the front axle but also a bigger payload as I think short wheelbase motors including the D-Series even at 16t had a bit of dificulty at rear but the wheelbase was changed by law for 16t G.V.W. and of course it would let you get a bit more weight on it anyway.Can’t remember the cost of the conversion.You would certainly legal with a 10 t payload even more.Correct me if I’m wrong but I think 16 ts weren’t about then and certainly not a Trader.The first 16t I looked at closely was on a Commer at Longs of Burton and the flat body had a very short rear overhang.
Tony
rastone:
windrush:
Froggy55:
ERF-NGC-European:
They were certainly not common but we did have Bedford TK rigid-eights here in UK. Robert210
Very interesting! I suppose that such a conversion also needed chassis reinforcing, and probably too a more powerful engine? What’s the point of converting a small truck like a Bedford TK into an eight wheeler? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to buy a standard 8-wheeler from the beginning?
They were usually converted for the extra body length more than carrying extra weight, the standard engine etc was kept in most cases. Probably still cheaper than buying a new eight wheeler chassis?
Pete.
But probably to get a bit more weight on the front axle but also a bigger payload as I think short wheelbase motors including the D-Series even at 16t had a bit of dificulty at rear but the wheelbase was changed by law for 16t G.V.W. and of course it would let you get a bit more weight on it anyway.Can’t remember the cost of the conversion.You would certainly legal with a 10 t payload even more.Correct me if I’m wrong but I think 16 ts weren’t about then and certainly not a Trader.The first 16t I looked at closely was on a Commer at Longs of Burton and the flat body had a very short rear overhang.
Tony
Regarding the eight wheeler TKs
To get vans to the length of this pantechnicon based on the KF 11.15 ton GVW chassis scuttle with the 330 cu in Bedford Engine we had to extend the chassis wheelbase, but no extra axles or additional GVW. We operated lots of these and with the Marsden cab which offered much more space and headroom than the standard TK cab not only were they much more comfortable for the driver but they considered them Sleeper cabs. As such they were very popular as they were fast on level & pulled quite well on gradients. Fully loaded at speed on motorways going downhill the brakes were fully stretched & I personally would be reluctant to drive one with greater weight. The 330 cu in engine on average got us 300,000 miles from new & then with new factory shortmotors in most occasions we got another similar mileage.
However in tractor unit form where they were pulling more weight our experience was not the same & found the TK much less reliable & strangely found the Ford D800 much more robust & producing better results, which is strange as in rigid form they fell far behind the Bedford.
Why anyone in their right mind would want to make a TK into an 8 wheeler is beyond my comprehension. The engine will be completely unsuitable as I would expect is the gearing. I can only imagine they will be very flat to drive, as after all they never were designed for this usage. Why they did not chose a factory designed 8 wheeler seems insane. They may have saved a little in capital expenditure but that will have been greatly lost by unreliability and operational costs
Carl Williams:
Regarding the eight wheeler TKs
To get vans to the length of this pantechnicon based on the KF 11.15 ton GVW chassis scuttle with the 330 cu in Bedford Engine we had to extend the chassis wheelbase, but no extra axles or additional GVW. We operated lots of these and with the Marsden cab which offered much more space and headroom than the standard TK cab not only were they much more comfortable for the driver but they considered them Sleeper cabs. As such they were very popular as they were fast on level & pulled quite well on gradients. Fully loaded at speed on motorways going downhill the brakes were fully stretched & I personally would be reluctant to drive one with greater weight. The 330 cu in engine on average got us 300,000 miles from new & then with new factory shortmotors in most occasions we got another similar mileage.However in tractor unit form where they were pulling more weight our experience was not the same & found the TK much less reliable & strangely found the Ford D800 much more robust & producing better results, which is strange as in rigid form they fell far behind the Bedford.
Why anyone in their right mind would want to make a TK into an 8 wheeler is beyond my comprehension. The engine will be completely unsuitable as I would expect is the gearing. I can only imagine they will be very flat to drive, as after all they never were designed for this usage. Why they did not chose a factory designed 8 wheeler seems insane. They may have saved a little in capital expenditure but that will have been greatly lost by unreliability and operational costs
That all makes sense Carl, but I’m still left wondering why the likes of Bedford, Ford n co didn’t produce their own 8whlrs? Cheers Paul
P
coomsey:
Carl Williams:
Regarding the eight wheeler TKs
To get vans to the length of this pantechnicon based on the KF 11.15 ton GVW chassis scuttle with the 330 cu in Bedford Engine we had to extend the chassis wheelbase, but no extra axles or additional GVW. We operated lots of these and with the Marsden cab which offered much more space and headroom than the standard TK cab not only were they much more comfortable for the driver but they considered them Sleeper cabs. As such they were very popular as they were fast on level & pulled quite well on gradients. Fully loaded at speed on motorways going downhill the brakes were fully stretched & I personally would be reluctant to drive one with greater weight. The 330 cu in engine on average got us 300,000 miles from new & then with new factory shortmotors in most occasions we got another similar mileage.However in tractor unit form where they were pulling more weight our experience was not the same & found the TK much less reliable & strangely found the Ford D800 much more robust & producing better results, which is strange as in rigid form they fell far behind the Bedford.
Why anyone in their right mind would want to make a TK into an 8 wheeler is beyond my comprehension. The engine will be completely unsuitable as I would expect is the gearing. I can only imagine they will be very flat to drive, as after all they never were designed for this usage. Why they did not chose a factory designed 8 wheeler seems insane. They may have saved a little in capital expenditure but that will have been greatly lost by unreliability and operational costs
That all makes sense Carl, but I’m still left wondering why the likes of Bedford, Ford n co didn’t produce their own 8whlrs? Cheers Paul
Paul one of the most obvious problems was the total vehicle would have had to be redesigned as amongst other things the chassis strength would be unsuitable as it would be too light weight. They had not at that time a suitable engine so probably considered the cost of designing a completely different vehicle was not worth while, particularly as the TK cab was not universally liked by drivers.
I wonder if any of these 8 wheel converted TKs were ever used at full gross weight for any hard use and if so how the chassis performed as they certainly would not be as strong as any premium brands
bubbleman:
Hi again,more old girls lads,Cheers Bubbs,
Nice photos Bubbs,thanks.Edwards of Lydbrook bought a lot of Walls AEC MK5s,some converted into 3 axled units.
bubbleman:
Hi again,more old girls lads,Cheers Bubbs,
Thanks Bubbs for the “AMEY” Scammel artic picture , the original Amey spec and without the common ARC logo. -toshboy
Regarding the Chinese 6 D-Series wouldn’t it be good to see a motor like this in i’ts working clothes at one of the shows ?
Tony
rastone:
Regarding the Chinese 6 D-Series wouldn’t it be good to see a motor like this in i’ts working clothes at one of the shows ?Tony
Last one I saw was in the late eighties, a firm in Biddulph ran it and it replaced a Saurer engined Morris Commercial FVO which was also a ‘chinese six’.
Pete.
bubbleman:
Hello again,more old motors from years ago,Cheers Bubbs,
Nice pics Bubbs! I’d forgotten about those tilts that came on container skellies. Caisse-mobiles we called them - I think that’s just the French for a demountable to be honest but that’s what they were called on the CMR notes. I used to pick them up from Ramsgate docks sometimes (see picture below). They were hard work for short-arses like me because they stood much higher than a normal tilt and just undoing the dropsides or planking the canopy over the top was a bit of a bind! Robert
Another Joseph Fish one.
