hippotastic

I have an A frame nearly exactly the same as this along with the pins to locate it. I removed it off the side of a rather nice ex mod jcb loading shovel a few years ago!! Mine will fold flat though as it has a pivot on one side at the towing ring end. If anybody wants another then let me know.

I've seen the one at nelson greens to and it was complete apart from a front wheel at the time, this was quite a while ago but worth chasing up for parts. Great piece of kit and well done for saving something so rare. I saw it on ebay and was tempted but captain sensible stepped in.....

These two beauties were parked up for many years at middlemarsh saw mills. Lots of people tried to buy them over the years with no joy. Then one day the hippo got scrapped and the matador got sold to a timber friend of mine. He got it running then sold it on to another friend. It is now on the road in tatty timber guise but still going strong and he got married in it..( well not in it but taken to the church in it). There is a pair of FWDs parked not to far away from where this picture was taken, been there over 20 years...

The two Martians at john halletts yard were broken up for scrap. I bought a set of wheels off one and pip biddlecombe bought the other set to go on his grader scraper box. Not sure about the matador, was it parked at pattermores or the old garage opposite the petrol station in crewkerne?

I did mine for the pleasure of doing it !!! Could have got one on the road for a lot less hassle but finding all the bits and making new parts is all part of the fun in my mind! They are great fun and return good mpg to (11mpg). Hope somebody goes for it. The wood work looks good and most of the cab panels are flat so easy to repair or remake. Cab frame work is just 1" 1/2" angle iron so no need for fancy ash wood work! I know of some spare hood sticks if anybody does take it on.. About time a few more brit heavies were saved!

This era of hippo was fitted with the Leyland e 175, 6 cylinder direct injection. 7300 cc. 328lb.feet torque at 1200 rpm. The most noticeable difference with this engine is the lack of external drive belts or fan belts. All the ancillaries are driven by the internal cam chain then shaft driven externally. A lovely smooth and quiet running engine. I bought my hippo in 1996 from a scrap yard in scrap condition. The hippo mentioned in this discussion is like new compared to what mine was like. I had to fabricate nearly all the cab from scratch and replace all the wood in the body and much much more!!! 8 years later and I took it to Normandy on a tour. A real sense of achievement during the trip. I agree that it is a great shame to loose these vehicles because they are not worth restoring. But as these vehicles get scrapped it makes the remaining ones more viable to save because the value of them starts to creep up. I travelled the country whilst restoring mine and removed parts from hippos that were in much better condition than mine but they were all in various yard and for spares only so they had to be broken. A lot of those have since been "weighed in". I find a great sense of satisfaction getting a really bad vehicle and rebuilding it but most people don't want to waste so much time on a project. If I were to sell my hippo for what it cost me then it would probably be in excess of £1200 but in reality I would be lucky to get £7-8000 for it. A great shame because you will struggle to find a hippo that has truly been restored as opposed to just painted, had a couple of plates welded in and a few planks changed. If it was a matador or an American vehicle then you would get in excess of £12000 ! Fingers crossed the price of old brit beauties go up and then more of them will be saved.

Judging by the lack of indicators on the front quarter panels of the cab I would suggest that this was released from service before the 70s. All hippos were updated to the large butler (or was it lucas? cant remember off the top of my head) type lights fitted to stalks welded to the side of the front panel. Mine escaped this mod due to being released in 68. But I guess if it was hidden in the depths of a storage facility somewhere it may have been passed by. Sadly people often pass the old hippos by as slow, clumsy, not much to look at etc etc also the hassle of storing the beasts. Its no good to store them outside long term. The other problem is the lack of spares, most parts you have to make or repair. Having said that they are great trucks and very nimble!!! will out handle a diamond t or jimmy in an auto test any day of the week! I hate to say it but it will probably sit there for a couple of years then get scrapped.. Hope somebody proves me wrong? :cry:

I have a pair of Elephants feet (Large metal base plates) to fit the jacking legs for these fodens if anybodys interested? I can post.

We will be there with our hippo and qlr ! A great show for everybody

I have a 43 ford jeep with a t90 box fitted. The previous owner chopped the floor about a bit to either gain access to it or to fit a pto. Has anybody got a scrap tub or at least the transmission part of the floor that I could repair and fit to my floor. The rest is pretty sound apart from a gaping hole along one side of the tunnel. Any leads would be appreciated ! Also after a t84 box complete, rear bumpers, tow pintle, hood sticks, spare wheel bracket, mirror arm, fuel can bracket etc what have you? damaged rusty parts considered!

The owner is a nice bloke who I got on very well with on my dealings with. He deals in heavy plant and all that stuff cost lots of dosh even if its knackered ( I have done also) I have bought hippo bits off him in the past and he couldn't do enough to help me. As somebody has stated "everything is for sale" but it will probably be quite dear. Worth enquiring about though because one persons idea of expensive could be different to somebody else's.

I went to this old airfield quite a few years ago and got a cab for my hippo and lots of other bits. Fantastic place and have managed to spend several days there on and off. Sadly due to the increase in scrap prices a couple of years ago a lot of the vehicles and plant have gone by comparison to my first visits. I remember seeing a complete Mighty Antar with fifth wheel coupling at least 7 Hippos, maybe 4 Martians, a complete Explorer with the petrol engine still (The owner of the yard told me this had been sold for restoration but I don't know if it went or not) Bedford ql tanker. Matador tanker, A complete Dukw that had collapsed in the spot that it had sat for years, Commers etc etc etc. If you wanted some big plant spares then this was your man. He is a great guy and we got on really well with him. He didn't know me from adam to start with and he let me use his tellyhandler for the day and was happy to leave us there to get on with it, saying "shut and lock the gate on your way out"!! "oh and if you see anybody wandering around tell them to fu@@ off"!! Brilliant. Todays modern health and safety wouldn't have room for that eh. He can be a bit pricey but if you are dealing with plant then the prices are high. He told me about when him as a 16year old and his dad and other family members used to go off to the mod sales at ruddington and buy lots of old trucks etc and they would drive them all to their present location in the 80's! First one back would wait a while then retrace their steps to collect any that had broken down!! As I say, they were teenagers at the time. Great fun. I think me and the missus took about 3films of photos whilst there.:laugh:

Great find. Wouldn't this have had the split rims fitted though? The orange one looks very agricultural to me. I have a pair of 13" split rims if anybody needs them? :undecided:

There's an Allan Williams turret like that buried in the east cliff at West Bay further down the coast. We used to play in it as kids but its pretty well covered up now. It is still sat on its wheels and track to enable it to revolve and the machine gun mounting bracket still poised. Shame to let it sit there and rust away.

The tanks are part of the wood gas mechanism. The owner has all the pipes,lids etc to go with this old gmc but is just plucking up courage to link it up and try it!! If you had looked under the bonnet you will find it has no carb fitted but is plumbed up for the wood gas straight to the manifold.

Here are a few pictures of it. From the mounting holes up it measures 5". The overall height is 11". Width where it goes through the hull is 4.5". Its held in place by 3 bolts. Although it appears to be rusty and flaky it is in good working order.

I have a no25 mk2 periscope that i am looking to dispose of. Can anybody tell me what vehicle it fits. It has the external monocular attachment no1 mk1 on an extra bracket. Am i right in thinking its ferret/saracen? i can post pics if required. many thanks in advance.

it was a long time ago now that i removed the drive shafts from the center bevel boxes but if i remember right they had a snap ring holding them in place on the inner spline. i asked chatty at the tank museum (bovington) how to remove them and he said just yank the f#####g things out...i think i had a pair of buckrake tines and prised from either side of the shaft at the same time. just when you think you are about to break something they just pop out. some may think im probably talking bo####ks again but it worked easy for me. no need for fancy pullers etc on half the jobs people struggle with.

Attention all you humber pig and 1 ton owners. Bannisters carry a stock of rubber driver shaft gaitors!!! These are fv marked and i assume nos but in as new condition and £45 each.:cool2:

Have just noticed you have already removed the clampring that secures the transfere to the bevelbox. Just be aware that the weight of the gear/transfere box is sat on the bevelbox so it would pay to support it.

Hello! Glad to see you are making progress with the old girl. The drive shaft that is putruding through the center simple pulls out. It does take a fair bit of effort to remove though. I think i prized it out with a pair of levers. If i remember right the shaft is located with a snapring. If you remove the shaft from either side of the vehicle then remove the two clamps inside the hull either side of the transfere box then the gear/transfere box will lift out. Hope this helps:cool2:

I have a R107 reception set that was fitted to the rear of ql's. The set is complete as far as i can see. We were thinking of fitting it in our qlr but ours has been altered so much in the back since it was made that we would have to fabricate everything from scratch. So seems a bit of a waste of effort.

Ashley Cooper. Based in dorset, Travels all around uk and europe and has moved 2 saracens and a leyland martian for me in the past (although they did run) Very helpful and not afraid to get stuck in. 07974099135 (mention a bit of cash!!) Nigel :cool2:

I watched that with the better half and we thought exactly the same!!!!

You want pictures of punctures?????