Leyland Martian Gallery

[big chris]

yep i did posting lots at the moment hope im not boring anyone i havent started with the matador pics yet

chris

[gritineye]

yep i did posting lots at the moment hope im not boring anyone i havent started with the matador pics yet

chris

 

Nope, we're not bored here at all.

[AndyFowler]

Bored by M.V's is not allowed here Chris ! Keep em coming please ! :-D

[6 X 6]

 

 

[6 X 6]

 

 

[radiomike7]

6x6, do you have any captions for the Martians in the previous post? The Recovery and crew cab gun tractor are obvious but I had always thought that the gun tractor for 8" howitzer was similar to the cargo but with a lower tilt and a crew access ladder plus door on the nearside. Look at USY 925 on the first page of this thread and you will clearly see the ladder and split in the canvas, yet it has a full height tilt. Compare with my old one OSU 809 which had the full height tilt but only two small dropsides at either side for access to the spare wheel which I am sure was a 10 ton GS cargo.

 

Am i right in thinking that the lwb cargo with spare mounted between the cab and body was a concept that did not make production?

[6 X 6]

Mike you're really observant ! I'm so dozy I didn't even notice.

 

FV 1121 Truck 10 ton, 6 X 6, dropside cargo, 27' 6" overall length 14' 5" W/B

 

 

FV1110 Truck 10 ton, 6 X 6, dropside cargo, this is the LWB model, 30' overall length with a 18' W/B and appears to have been in service. Was it ?

Edited September 12, 2008 by 6 X 6

[6 X 6]

I frequently met a young bloke named Tony Smith, and his girlfriend, at shows around Wiltshire and Somerset about 12 years ago. He owned an immaculate Leyland 6 X 6 cargo he'd bought from Roger Pratt. He also had a MK1 Militant and a few Land Rovers. I think he dealt in Land Rovers. Sometime later, I heard he had committed suicide. It was very sad, he was in only in his late twenties. The only contact 'phone number I had for him was his mother's so I couldn't very well ring up to ask what had happened. This Leyland Cargo was standing in the open for many years in the yard of Wiltshire Land Rovers near Chippenham and may well be still there if anyone is interested.

 

There's also a complete but badly weathered Martian gun tractor that has been standing in the far corner of a car breakers just off the A38 near Dursley for many years. I was told it belongs to an enthusiast. It maybe still there/for sale.

 

I wish someone would do something about the white Leyland recovery lorry that has been standing in a field, for as long as I can remember, beside the M5 northbound where the A361 crosses the motorway. If I had a quid for everytime someone has said to me "er there's a bloody great old Scammell in a field right beside the M5 near Taunton" I'd never have to work again. I'm going to headbutt the next person who says it.

Edited September 12, 2008 by 6 X 6

[AndyFowler]

If only I had a bigger shed ! :cry:

[6 X 6]

If only I had a bigger shed ! :cry:

 

What we need to do is form a forum syndicate, enter this lottery, win the £300 million, buy the Isle of Wight, put a roof over the entire island and then fill it with old army lorries. Are you up for it ?

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2778768/International-super-lottery-will-see-prizes-of-300-million.html

[AndyFowler]

What a nice dream ! On a different note is there any museum that has a large collection of British post war lorries that you know of ! I often think that without private collectors almost all of the historic postwar vehicles would have dissappeared by now ! I hope they are still around so I can show them to my baby son when he is old enough ! Should I be this nostalgic and sad at forty two ? :-D:cry:

[6 X 6]

is there any museum that has a large collection of British post war lorries that you know of ! :

 

Good point. Not that I'm aware of, although, the Beverly collection that snapper did such a good job of recording is, I believe, still with us even if now somewhat dispersed so the potential still exists for the collection to be reformed and shown again.

[radiomike7]

See:http://www.jedsite.info/transport-mike/mike/martian_series/martian-series.html for a list of all the projected variants, few of which entered service. The picture shows one identical to mine, note the full height tilt and if you look carefully, the small dropside at the front of the body to access the spare wheel.

 

When mine and another were sold off by BCA Shepshed, the auctioneer began the sale with the following: "Gentlemen, here we have an example of the biggest piece of sh*te the armed forces were ever issued with"

 

In all honesty he was not far wrong, here was a vehicle that could gross 24 tons plus whatever it was towing, yet was powered by what was essentially two bored out Champ engines. The drive to the air compressor was nothing short of comical while the power steering was downright dangerous, the pump capacity being far too low for the ram and with pressure being stored in a pair of hydraulic accumulators which had to be charged with nitrogen. The transfer box was prone to a destructive vibration which was elegantly resolved by placing a 'do not exceed 32mph' notice in the cab, while the entire fleet was withdrawn for a year or so to enable the engineers to re-design the troublesome twin plate clutch. It was this problem that resulted in the 1950s purchase of a further batch of AEC Matadors to fill the gap.

 

Good points? The chassis was quite robust and fitted with a Scammell type vertical spindle winch on the non recovery variants, the walking beam rear bogie was a better stronger design than the Watford product and the front axle was a centrally pivoted portal design to increase the ground clearance under the rather large diff casing. First low was something like 190:1 giving huge pulling power providing you had the grip.

[6 X 6]

Thank you Mike, a very interesting post.

[antarmike]

190.4:1 seing as I am feeling arguementative....(or at least being accused of being so!)

Edited September 13, 2008 by antarmike

[tacr2man]

IIRC the bottom reduction in 1st low awd was 254:1 in handbook of my modded artillery tractor mind you that was approx 20yrs back .

Had to build a crane on back as they had not released rec versions when I bought mine from VASS . when I had it tested with front chained down lift was 24 tons at 3ft from rear of truck . Front started to lift at 12 tons , fitted two front bumpers one full of railway line. Installed ex Brit rail snow plough V type in winter. Had to be very careful at junctions as it made the nose a bit long:banana: As the pto was used for the integral winch built in morris minor engine and gearbox to power hydraulics and run 3kva genset for floodlighting and boiling the kettle

Did some good recoverys with it , never found wanting for power.

[AndyFowler]

Any chance of a few pictures of your recovery beast mate ? :-D

[tacr2man]

I will try and find some, and scan them , should have some of an gen Ex mod RL recovery I used as well. and had 2 K9 austins , liked the army vehicles as built strong .

[tacr2man]

Heres one of the martian just after painting , the hiab was to lift the spare wheel on and off it masks the jib which was telescoping 9 feet , and had three 8 inch lifting rams might have some crash/recovery pics as well if anyone wants to see them

[6 X 6]

Heres one of the martian just after painting , the hiab was to lift the spare wheel on and off it masks the jib which was telescoping 9 feet , and had three 8 inch lifting rams might have some crash/recovery pics as well if anyone wants to see them

 

Thank you very much for posting this fabulous 'photo which is now my screen saver. When you operated this lorry did it still have it's original engine ? Also, do you know if this lorry is still around ?

 

As for, "if anyone wants to see" crash/recovery 'photos, YES PLEASE we all want to see them....break out them pics !

[AndyFowler]

Thank you very much for posting this fabulous 'photo which is now my screen saver. When you operated this lorry did it still have it's original engine ? Also, do you know if this lorry is still around ?

 

As for, "if anyone wants to see" crash/recovery 'photos, YES PLEASE we all want to see them....break out them pics !

 

Seconded ! We never get tired of pictures on here ! :-D

[tacr2man]

Heres a couple of pics at an accident that was on A43 where it crosses the main london Birmingham rail line The foriegn artic pushed the 7.5 tonner backwards, and thru the wall of the bridge. It happened at about 05.55 and I heard the call over cb (before it was made legal) . I went straight down there just over mile away. The wall had fallen onto the line, and an express was due, I had one of the first bagphones, called Police Control room,to get them to stop the train. The driver of the 7.5 tonner had jumped across the cab just before the crash, but was trapped by feet. The impact took the front axle completely off the smaller truck. I used the martian to pull the artic (wheels locked) away after securing the 7.5 with the RL which then lifted the 7.5 had to have police escort as the rear axle was so out of line that nearside was against kerb and I was driving with white line going thru center of my wrecker.

[tacr2man]

couple more, you can see one of cables to stop it going over .

[6 X 6]

What a mess. From what you say this incident could from been much worst if you had not been able able to alert the railways that masonry from the bridge had fallen onto the track.

 

It's impressive that the Leyland was able the drag an artic with locked brakes and that the Bedford was man enough to recover the rigid. If you were able to deal with this situation with this pair I should think they'd cope with almost anything. Thank you very much for posting these photographs.

[tacr2man]

This one does not include the martian, but the RL . Early morning ,car travelling over long bridge .Truck came down steep hill onto bridge, that was wide enough to both pass OK. The american servicewoman driving the car panicked , and braked , skidded into front of truck ,jamming steering. The truck went straight onto bridge and pushed car thru wall.The carending up underneath . One of my taxis arrived about 30 secs later , called in over radio, I got radio op to call all emergency services nad jumped into RL and went flat out 7 miles to scene, the RL managed to lift front of truck, to get at car, but driver was trapped and had drowned. The police commandeered the crane on way from main rd about 2 miles away. I was surprised how well the RL coped, unfortunately to no avail .