bigr250:
I started driving in 1977 and in 1980 started driving an N reg ex National Carriers Borderer, it had a 220 ■■■■■■■ and a David Brown 6 spd box.
A hopeless and ill-matched combination!
We had a few 400 series 8 wheelers at Tilcon, a P Reg with a 180 Gardner which came with a hopeless David Brown 6 speed box which was soon changed for a range change DB 8 speed which was a decent gearbox. We had them because Foden couldn’t supply enough truck’s, we then had a few V and W reg ones with 201 Gardners and Fuller 8/9 speed boxes and Eaton rear axles which shed teeth at certain times! Biggest drawback was the lack of steering lock, you really struggled to get around some junction’s which the Foden’s had no problem with, but the brakes were spot on with very little fade. I had a V reg one for 2+ years and it was really comfy, they were disposed of after 6 years though as they were too heavy, you could only just get 19.30 on them and the TM said that none of them had made much profit due to all loads being costed out at 20 tons. They also bought three X reg ones with bulk bodies and R/R 265’s in them, they had drop down bunk’s as they were used for backloading coal from Kent up to Newcastle on Tyne and red granite from Harden down to Weaste but they were even heavier and could only manage about a 19 ton payload so they didn’t last long!
Nice to drive though, especially for a tall chap like me, as the cab was roomy.
Pete.
hiya,
Can i come out of hiding and resume normal service yet, i promise i won’t write anything, unless someone starts a page about Hippy’s, peace brothers.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
Can i come out of hiding and resume normal service yet, i promise i won’t write anything, unless someone starts a page about Hippy’s, peace brothers.
thanks harry long retired.
Right on dude ! 
its took a while for the fog to clear…
glenman:
its took a while for the fog to clear…
Thats what you get with 8 pot gardners !
I fully agree with all the comments about the Seddon Axle!!! I failed to understand why they were rated at 13 tons which implied they were specced to operate at a higher GVW than the then UK 32 ton GVW.If that poxy Seddon axle or,indeed,the equally poxy DB 6spd box were matched behind anything more powerful than a 180 Gardner neither component was up to the job.They were both OK behind the 180,we never had any problem!But the DB box behind the C220 was a nightmare IIRC we had 4 tractors with this spec and one had both diseases, axle and gear box!!! A real nightmare this one,we ran its ■■■■■■■■ off on double shift and got rid,not before we had rebuilt both gear box and hub reductions a couple of times!!! We also got two new day cab 400s with the Seddon axle!! We ran them on double shift and the hubs needed a rebuild about every 70,000 miles! My favourite drve line spec was in UK built tractors was ■■■■■■■ 205/220,Fuller box 609,610,9509,Eaton single or two speed single reduction axle.I could never see the need for Hub reduction axles on straightforward tarmac road work!All our B and C series ERFs were speccd with the 8 pot Gardner,Fuller 9509,Eaton single speed axle-----trouble free motoring!!!The last two Sed/Atk 401s we had had the 8pot/9509/Rockwell single reduction,again a trouble free spec!!! Cheers Dennis.
Trev_H:
glenman:
its took a while for the fog to clear…Thats what you get with 8 pot gardners !
Nowt wrong with an 8 pot gardner in its day trev.Cant count the thousands of miles i did with them in both atkis and erfs.Very few probs just keep the levels right and they went for ever.Not the fastest motor though.
regards dave.
I passed my driving test on an old Bow fronted 8 wheeler Atky which had started life as a flat fronted 6 wheeler and was at least 7 years older than I was, this was on Suttons which was a well known user of Atkinsons after Alf Sutton studied the various makes while a manager on the BRS, prior to this he appeared to have no particular favorite brand. I shunted and trunked many Atkinson Mk 1s all equipped with 150’s and either ZF or DB boxes, my preference being the 6 speed DB, on Suttons or BRS. I retired from Lorry Driving 1969 and yes I had seen the new Scania Vabis’s that Sammy Williams started running and then the new Scania 110’s and they looked good with a lot of good reports about them and I even drove a Hungarian Volvo 89 which of course was in a different world to UK motors although this particular Volvo came with loads of empty and full spirit bottles the driver being permanently drunk, but during most of the 60’s and before, it was British trucks that we drove and the Atkinson was probably the best Guvs motor of them all which also was’nt too bad to drive. My own favorite motor was the AEC MkV with the big engine and 6 speed box which i had on the BRS which would pull like a train and did well into the high 60’s with decent steering and brakes but if it was my company it would have been the Atky in my fleet. The ERF’s always had design faults IMO i.e weak chassis ( Bristol 8 wheeler chassis was based on the ERF and as good as the Bristol was that chassis did used to creak and groan as did the ERF and then they started fitting nylon bushes on the steering of the LV models which led to a few crashes and I lost a friend in one of them, the Foden which has always had its devotees, was unloved by yours truly with the Gardner powered ones being slow and heavy to drive and with the Foden box being in never the same slot twice being a PIA, the two stroke was more interesting if you found a nice long empty stretch of road because they could fly and sounded wonderful but if that sound suddenly stopped i.e. the engine stalled, well with engine powered brakes it meant no engine, no brakes. So what was so good about Atkinsons? nothing really but they just got on with the job in a good steady way which in those days was a lot more than some of the beasts you could be asked to drive and when I read on this forum some of the comments of drivers comparing Scania’s, Volvo’s etc they did’t exist in the UK when the MK1 Atky came out in 1958 and made its reputation and the reality is that during the 70’s, 80’s etc the British Lorry Manufacturers committed suicide because of dreadful management who certainly did not recognize drivers as part of the Lorry. The same stupid British management ideas are seen throughout a shrinking British Industry so that now we have to rely on Bankers and when they get to greedy the public have to dig deep and bail them out so they can then carry on enjoying their bonuses. I have read of Atky doors flying open and windows falling out, leaks etc well this is not my experience and a badly maintained wagon could be of any make, but an old bow fronted 8 wheeler with an AEC 11.3 would have been rare but Peter McCallums had them and what a great motor it could be and a Mk1 fitted with the 220 ■■■■■■■ was a good tool as long as it did’nt have the exhaust up the back of the cab on the O/S…Tony.
Q: What was so good about Atkinsons
A: Absolutely nothing (I decided out of respect for my peers not to say "F… all)
Happy New Year to you all my friends!! 
Mackers
Trev_H:
glenman:
its took a while for the fog to clear…Thats what you get with 8 pot gardners !
Like the six potters didn’t smoke whilst warming up?? 
Ross.
PS, Welcome back Harry.
hiya,
My old lady says i live in a permanent fog, I think she might be correct.
thanks harry long retired.
harry_gill:
hiya,
My old lady says i live in a permanent fog, I think she might be correct.
thanks harry long retired.
I don’t think there is much fog in your head Harry,you have one of the quickest wit’s on Trucknet.
Cheers Dave.
Dave the Renegade:
harry_gill:
hiya,
My old lady says i live in a permanent fog, I think she might be correct.
thanks harry long retired.I don’t think there is much fog in your head Harry,you have one of the quickest wit’s on Trucknet.
Cheers Dave.
hiya,
Now now Dave even I know the mists of time are taking longer and longer to clear these days.Better start thinking Atki or i’ll be getting warned off for straying off-topic, so i’d better interfere with another thread for a while till the fog clears a bit.
thanks harry long retired.
240 Gardner:
bigr250:
I started driving in 1977 and in 1980 started driving an N reg ex National Carriers Borderer, it had a 220 ■■■■■■■ and a David Brown 6 spd box.A hopeless and ill-matched combination!
I did also drive one with a ■■■■■■■ & 10 spd Fuller which was much better but still pants.
Ross.
Q: What was so good about Atkinsons
Nowt good about them things 
I only drove one once (atki with ■■■■■■■ 220) what a pile of s… but i,m just a boy, started driving in 1974 on a man 220 then on the volvos and scannys, the thing i hated about most about these british trucks, was the survival rate when involved in a accident.
This was the downfall which let the safer cab on the German and Swedish trucks capture the market ,also syncro boxs.
someones going to come back and argue against that klunk 
klunk/■■■■■■■■
Q: What was so good about AtkinsonsNowt good about them things
I only drove one once (atki with ■■■■■■■ 220) what a pile of s… but i,m just a boy, started driving in 1974 on a man 220 then on the volvos and scannys, the thing i hated about most about these british trucks, was the survival rate when involved in a accident.
This was the downfall which let the safer cab on the German and Swedish trucks capture the market ,also syncro boxs.
Thoo’s wrang theer marra!!! You would have stood a better chance of walking away from a pile up in an Atki than anything else at the time!!! It was a well proven statistic.Cheers Bewick.
klunk/■■■■■■■■
This was the downfall which let the safer cab on the German and Swedish trucks capture the market ,also syncro boxs.
Syncro boxes? thats the weakest point in any German or Swedish truck, the ZF box was crap,Scania has never made a good gearbox,the modern Volvo i shift is ok but I’d swap it in an instant for the finest truck gearbox built, the Fuller roadranger !
Trev_H:
klunk/■■■■■■■■
This was the downfall which let the safer cab on the German and Swedish trucks capture the market ,also syncro boxs.Syncro boxes? thats the weakest point in any German or Swedish truck, the ZF box was crap,Scania has never made a good gearbox,the modern Volvo i shift is ok but I’d swap it in an instant for the finest truck gearbox built, the Fuller roadranger !
We are defo on the same wave length Trev!!!Dennis.