Assuming that they’re good of fuel, are they any good at transporting loads up to 20 tonne?
Anyone out there driving one into quarries regularly, if so, are they able to take some stick…?
Thanks,
Robert
Bit of a funny question that ,there’s quarries and quarries as there’s some round here where lorries drive in off the road all on the level and load not far from the weighbridge or under hoppers on concrete and some which are up steep hills and down in to the quarry hole where diff and cross lock can be needed to get out again where a MAN is king .
the fm9 340 will be a bit low on power @20t, even the fm12 @340 is a bit steady! round here in Derbyshire most of the newer 8 wheelers are now 400+
not that I am saying it wont do the job as it will, payload my be your main priority and you may not be in a hilly area, having said that Volvo wont be the lightest 8 wheeler anyway
If eight wheeler’s with 150/180 Gardners could cart 20 tonne + out of quarries for years then a 340 BHP Volvo should manage it just fine! 
Pete.
windrush:
If eight wheeler’s with 150/180 Gardners could cart 20 tonne + out of quarries for years then a 340 BHP Volvo should manage it just fine!Pete.
Well said sir.
Yes they managed ok for years going all over the country and back in the same day, I can remember Derek Barlow’s 8 wheelers going up Markfield on the m1,you could count the wheel nuts going round!
I still drive 8 wheelers delivering tarmac on a regular basis and I don’t know of any fm9 8 wheelers locally, the only two 9’s I know of are fitted in six wheelers which run at 26t, one is rated @300hp and the other is 340 hp, both of the trucks do a fair amount of work and go quite well, I can only conclude that operators in this area feel that the 9 litre engine wont be on top of the job at 32t gross, the 9 litre chassis will tear in lighter, also you may do ok on fuel with a 9 if your not operating flat out in a hilly area or your quarry is near a motorway.
just re read one of your posts, if you going in flax bourton with the truck the roads other than back toward the m5 are quite hilly, I until 3/4 years ago often loaded blocks out of there
moose
Moose:
Yes they managed ok for years going all over the country and back in the same day, I can remember Derek Barlow’s 8 wheelers going up Markfield on the m1,you could count the wheel nuts going round!
I still drive 8 wheelers delivering tarmac on a regular basis and I don’t know of any fm9 8 wheelers locally, the only two 9’s I know of are fitted in six wheelers which run at 26t, one is rated @300hp and the other is 340 hp, both of the trucks do a fair amount of work and go quite well, I can only conclude that operators in this area feel that the 9 litre engine wont be on top of the job at 32t gross, the 9 litre chassis will tear in lighter, also you may do ok on fuel with a 9 if your not operating flat out in a hilly area or your quarry is near a motorway.just re read one of your posts, if you going in flax bourton with the truck the roads other than back toward the m5 are quite hilly, I until 3/4 years ago often loaded blocks out of there
moose
Thanks chap, as you say there’s plenty more 6 than 8 wheelers out there and I’d a feeling that the 9 litre might not be fair game for the long run - seems that a good start-up tipper is the ERF EC11 (makes a lovely sound also) - just a tad difficult to find a solid example at the moment…
You may have more luck locating a foden alpha, with the bomb proof rubber suspension and an m11 you won’t go far wrong, even the c10 and c12 cat engines did well in the alpha
Moose:
You may have more luck locating a foden alpha, with the bomb proof rubber suspension and an m11 you won’t go far wrong, even the c10 and c12 cat engines did well in the alpha
Do you think the Cat engine is on-par with a ■■■■■■■■ I know that the ■■■■■■■ is very reliable and good on fuel. I’ve also heard good things (especially) about the last models of Foden before they became DAF and have been reliably informed that they have a strong pulling weight (20.5 tonnes)…
The last version 2 alpha have a lot of daf in them, the firm I do a lot of work for ran a foden 3000 and 4 version 1 alphas all 8 wheeler tippers with the cat engine, one was a c12 the rest were c10’s, none gave much bother at all, the c12 450 went like a rocket on a good day and engine wise I don’t remember many faults other than injector sleeves failing which lets diesel into the sump
the 3000 had a bad oil leak from the front timing cover which was quite a big job at the time, they all had engine brakes as well, I think these engines must have been far less trouble than the earlier cat versions that you used to see blowing clouds of black smoke and drinking fuel, the same firm also ran a number of ■■■■■■■ L10’s in 250,275,325 HP ratings fitted to fords, erf and seddon Atkinson as well as M11 380’s in ERF tractor units, at the time I think the cat’s did slightly better on fuel than the l10’s, but they had a bit more power as the c10’s were 380’s, all the ■■■■■■■ m11’s I have seen seem to be bomb proof if looked after and serviced well
all the trucks had a good payload which you will find hard to beat these days, in my opinion the Foden FF20 rubber suspension was a better and more robust set up than the Hendrikson rubber type that was fitted to the erf’s and ford cargo’s as the diff casings tend to crack around the weld on the back seem, also the box section that the suspension rubbers bolt to corrode from the inside, it can be repaired but it’s not a 5 minute job, the A frame bushes are also a better idea on a Foden
if you decide to look for a Volvo the version 1’s are quite sought after now and are making good money, they may seem long in the tooth to some but the electrics and cab fittings are far better than the version 2’s, though finding a good one may be hard now!