240 Gardner:
And, since Atkis had taken the radical step of lining up the pedals, seat and steering wheel on the Viewline (unlike other Atkis), it was a lot further to lean!!
you know what 240, its been at least 22 years since i drove one, and i still remember that all the stuff was out of line they made a very big impression on me in many ways considering how little i actually drove them. the 400 series sedd ack i spent way more time in, and which i reckon was twice the motor for the driver, and tho a fan of sedd acks, it is allways been the borderers i like the best, mostly because of their character!
240 Gardner:
And, since Atkis had taken the radical step of lining up the pedals, seat and steering wheel on the Viewline (unlike other Atkis), it was a lot further to lean!!
you know what 240, its been at least 22 years since i drove one, and i still remember that all the stuff was out of line they made a very big impression on me in many ways considering how little i actually drove them. the 400 series sedd ack i spent way more time in, and which i reckon was twice the motor for the driver, and tho a fan of sedd acks, it is allways been the borderers i like the best, mostly because of their character!
Strangely, though, I could never get quite as comfy in a 400 as a Mk.2, and definitely less so in the 401. I certainly didn’t like the seats in the 401 compared to the 400. My Mk.2 has a standard Chapman seat mechanism in it, but the actual seat was made up and trimmed by a coach trimmer, and I can happily spend all day in it. Half a ton of soundproofing helps too!
240 Gardner:
And, since Atkis had taken the radical step of lining up the pedals, seat and steering wheel on the Viewline (unlike other Atkis), it was a lot further to lean!!
you know what 240, its been at least 22 years since i drove one, and i still remember that all the stuff was out of line
In fact, the Mk.1 was worse: the steering wheel (Bluemels, 4-spoke sprung wheel) was offset to the left, the clutch pedal was forward away from you, the accelerator and brake further back towards you, the mirror was on the door so you had to lean back to look in it, and you were crouching down to able to see through the windscreen, with that little wiper making an erratic arc in the middle.
I had to lean back to get leverage on the wheel, forward to reach 1st and 3rd gears, sideways and back to look in the mirror whilst lifting my right leg up and back to get on the accelerator!
Oh, and you were deafened, what with the engine AND the air cleaner in the cab with you!
And yet I loved it!
I’ve never had the privilege of driving a bow-front Atki (the predecessor to the Mk.1), but I’m sure it’s not much different!
240 Gardner:
[
I’ve never had the privilege of driving a bow-front Atki (the predecessor to the
Mk.1), but I’m sure it’s not much different!
A chap I knew had a 4-wheeler bow-front. He worked for Watts (Watts of Notts)
of Porchester Rd. Nottingham and was permanently on Stanton Ironworks
(which included concrete pipes) work. Stanton’s delivery notes clearly
stated ‘hard road site only’ but as most of the jobs involved travelling across
several fields it was a useful little perk for those brave enough to do it. Most of
us baulked at going in if slightly wet and double that if it was 2 fields away, but
George and his little Atki was totally undaunted. Many’s the time he tootled
past a line of artics and 8 & 6 leggers waiting on the road to tip, into the
countryside to disappear over the horizon. Re-appearing, muddied but
unbowed about half an hour later with a bulging wallet .
That motor could go anywhere, I never saw it stuck, I put it down to a fortunate
set of gear ratios and a good driver
No, he didn’t have a diff lock, what, on a British truck, that was already old in
1965 .
240 Gardner:
[In fact, the Mk.1 was worse: the steering wheel (Bluemels, 4-spoke sprung wheel) was offset to the left, the clutch pedal was forward away from you, the accelerator and brake further back towards you, the mirror was on the door so you had to lean back to look in it, and you were crouching down to able to see through the windscreen, with that little wiper making an erratic arc in the middle.
I had to lean back to get leverage on the wheel, forward to reach 1st and 3rd gears, sideways and back to look in the mirror whilst lifting my right leg up and back to get on the accelerator!
Oh, and you were deafened, what with the engine AND the air cleaner in the cab with you!
And yet I loved it!
I’ve never had the privilege of driving a bow-front Atki (the predecessor to the Mk.1), but I’m sure it’s not much different!
what is this madness that makes us like these wheeled torture chambers? fair play though 240, nice description!
Killsville, you got to fix these photos mate! Im an atki fan and they aint working! I think its because its a yahoo “users” place ? If you like, email me the pics abn i’ll get em up for you!
Great pics KV! I dunno why, but that reg no on the K reg looks familiar to me? Maybe I drove it one time, or just seen it about? Anyway, they look great!
One thing I have noticed about all these Bordereds is that they all seem to be of the Later type… Am I right in saying that the earlier models had a water Cap on the top of the Radiator, in the middle??
AndyM:
One thing I have noticed about all these Bordereds is that they all seem to be of the Later type… Am I right in saying that the earlier models had a water Cap on the top of the Radiator, in the middle??
Ok, here goes with a brief explanation.
The earlier models with the exposed radiator were Mark 1’s and were never named as Borderers. The Borderer was the name give to certain Mk 2 two axle tractor units. Early Mk 2’s were Silver Knights.
Atkinsons with the Mk 2 cab were named as follows:
Two axle rigid = Raider
Three Axle Rigid = Searcher
Four Axle Rigid = Defender
Two Axle Tractor = Borderer
Double Drive Tractor = Venturer
Hope this helps!
Keep an eye on this forum. Pictures of many more beautiful Atkinson’s to follow. (Keeping my promise to Mal that the users of this site will be educated about ‘proper wagons’)
I never liked the look of the Mk1’s meself, the cab always looked too low. KV, what was the name of the atki with that massive windscreen? summat like the veiwmaster?
One I missed out of the model list was the 6x2 Twin steer (Atkinson called it the rear steer) which was known as the leader.
The Mk1 cab was quite a bit lower and this reminds me of the auction at Killingbeck Transport in Blackburn about five years ago. Apart from the vehicles (mainly ERF’s) there was a vast amount of spares for old wagons up for auction.
I had just sucessfully bid on two sets of windscreens for my Borderer and got them at a ■■■■ good price. (Handy things are spare windscreens as Atkis have a habit of losing them due to flexing in the cab frame!!!)
At the end of the auction I collected the windscreens and got talking to another chap who had bought some windsreens for a Mk1.
“What wagon have you got then?” I asked. “A Borderer” was his reply
When I explained that the windscreens he had bought were about 3 inches shorter in height than they should be for his wagon, his face went red.
Here concludeth todays lesson in Atkinson appreciation!
Here is a picture of my mate’s Mk1 Atkinson travelling to the paintshop.
Note the absence of glass and lighting. (The journey was only about 300 yards but they still bumped into the Police! - who just laughed and said "Good Morning!)
they made a very big impression on me in many ways considering how little i actually drove them. the 400 series sedd ack i spent way more time in, and which i reckon was twice the motor for the driver, and tho a fan of sedd acks, it is allways been the borderers i like the best, mostly because of their character!
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