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BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THIS IS BEING SCRAPPED!
HI MUCKAWAY I HAVE SOME PICKS OF SMITHS FODEN 8 WHEELER YBW 687J 8 WHEEL BIG J PLUS SOME MORE WILL TRY AND GET THEM POSTED
Muckaway:
Nice looking lorries Nathan,will keep my eye out for them next time I’m over te Cotswolds.
Cheers Dave.
Well maintained ‘aint they? 
Their quarry at Broadway (top of Fish Hill where the old road ran near Broadway Tower) is set to close soon (around Xmas is being banded about) but there’s 2 Fodens on 02 plates based there. They were among the last of the old Alpha cabs made- Dads’ artic came at the same time and that has the Next Gen cab. Will look for a scanner so I can put up some pics of Bedford TMs, Bisons, Constructors and earlier Fodens!
Daf 75 6 wheeler loading recyclable inert material at Oxford City Councils’ depot at Marsh Road, Cowley
Nice one! 
The driver of the Foden is Pete James, also pictured in earlier pic of Volvo 4 wheeler at Barnard Gate. Back then most of Smiths tippers were named; Pete’s was Enslow Supreme. The “supreme” name in chrome on the bumper was probably a souvenir from when he drove coaches for Heyfordian. I can remember those lorries (just!) as small boy. The machine driver is Irvin Woods I believe.
Whilst driving this 8 wheeler for a week last year as my 6 wheeler was in for MOT, I committed an act of “Donkeyness”. Look at the rear of the truck you’ll see I forgot you can’t get 19 tonnes of sharp sand into a hopper designed for 15! Luckily I realised and didn’t spill too much. Donkeyness is defined as being “a ■■■■-up committed by a Smiths employee during work-time.”
Smiths’ only Volvo FM driven by Dickie Staker, tipping soil at Worsham recycling plant
Muckaway:
Daf 75 6 wheeler loading recyclable inert material at Oxford City Councils’ depot at Marsh Road, Cowley
I see by this pic you obviously use weigh loaders Muckaway,do you find them fairly accurate?
Muckaway:
Well maintained ‘aint they?
Hi Nathan,
Are they closing it for good,or mothballing it with an optioon to reopen if they ever need to.Its much better coming down Fish Hill since they bypassed Broadway.
Cheers Dave.
Tim C:
Muckaway:
Daf 75 6 wheeler loading recyclable inert material at Oxford City Councils’ depot at Marsh Road, Cowley
I see by this pic you obviously use weigh loaders Muckaway,do you find them fairly accurate?
Pretty much, the ones fitted to trucks 06 onwards were fitted from new and came from Woodlands. These are v. slightly out but not a lot. 02 to 05 reg’s were retro-fitted with PM weighers, these are very accurate (mine’s within 150kg everytime). We used to have hydraulic gauges that worked off the ram but you had to watch how you were loaded- too much on the back meant you were over when it said loaded, too much upfront and you had to let it go into “overload” to get the right weight on. I preferred to be rear heavy than front as I could’ve pointed out that “the gauge says it’s ok”. New weighers are great for delivering to houses where a customer asks you to “put a third of the load in front of that house and the rest in front of that one”.
Dave the Renegade:
Muckaway:
Well maintained ‘aint they?Hi Nathan,
Are they closing it for good,or mothballing it with an optioon to reopen if they ever need to.Its much better coming down Fish Hill since they bypassed Broadway.
Cheers Dave.
Closing for good as far as I know as it’s exhausted. If you look on company website www.smithsbletchington it tells you what’s happening, something like a nature/geological trail along the rock faces. I occasionally do sharp sand to Leofrics depot at Mickleton and then work from Fish Hill, like being on holiday as there’s less traffic! Though I do need my a to zs of Gloucestershire/Warks and Worcestershire when down there!
Muckaway:
Dave the Renegade:
Muckaway:
Well maintained ‘aint they?Hi Nathan,
Are they closing it for good,or mothballing it with an optioon to reopen if they ever need to.Its much better coming down Fish Hill since they bypassed Broadway.
Cheers Dave.Closing for good as far as I know as it’s exhausted. If you look on company website smithsbletchington it tells you what’s happening, something like a nature/geological trail along the rock faces. I occasionally do sharp sand to Leofrics depot at Mickleton and then work from Fish Hill, like being on holiday as there’s less traffic!
Sounds as if they are doing their bit for the enviroment.
Smiths recently had this on demo, my Dad had it for 2 days and found it couldn’t match his Foden for power, but had plenty of room!
Dad posing in the cab-something I’ve never seen him do!
“Hello Mum…Dad won’t be coming home tonight…”