LoggyDriver

I was a DROPS OP with 1 and 7 Squadrons RLC. If anyone went to the Bletchley Park show back in 2001, can you remember the DROPS there with the Wolf 90 on the back, well that was mine. I was representing 7 Squadron RLC at the show!! The load capacity of a MMLC Drops is 15t and all up weight is 32 tonnes. With the King Trailer it's GTW is 55 tonnes. I've had all sorts on the back in my time including containers, JCB410M, Land Rovers etc. If the weight of the 432 is 14 tonnes then you will be slightly overweight. I can't remember exactly what a flat rack weighs but it's over a ton (I'm pretty sure it's 1.6 tonnes). I think I've still got my training and information manual from the Army somewhere. The LHS will trip out if you are tying to lift too much weight if I remember rightly. When I carried the JCB410M you certainly noticed the centre of gravity. There are specific instructions on load restraint for different types of equipment. These must be followed for the safe lift of the equipment. A JCB410M on a flat rack at full tilt is pretty intimidating. They are a good bit of kit, when they work. I remember we had quite a few problems with the LHS, mainly the valve banks. You can operate the system via the valve banks as a back up.

Your the only one wearing a Beret?

Yeah, I've got an MJ. When I get the generator I might look at getting an artical together on it. I can't remember an artical on the MJ though. My Mrs bought me the December issue on Sat and I had a quick flick through it. I have to say I don't know what they have done with the paper. It's not very good quality, very rough to the touch and it seems ripply. I compaired it to some earlier editions and it does seem to have changed. For a £4 price tag I would expect better, after all most of us keep these magazines for years. No mention of the price rise in the editorial either. As mentioned however, what else is there. Granted it must be hard month after month to produce a commercial magazine with different items in each issue.

Welcome Robin...:-D How is life in Canada? Bet the snow has just started? I was supposed to emigrate there last year, but then the recession kicked off and the plans have been put on the back burner. Where abouts in Canada are you based? Any pictures of your vehicles? Andy

I live 5 miles from RAF Benson. We get Merlin and Puma over on a daily basis. Sometimes you get Chinook's, Sea Kings and the odd Apache now and again. The Merlins fly from Benson to Dalton Barracks (Ex RAF Abingdon) quite often with underslung loads. I think they must be training for Afghanistan.

Does anyone know of a really good steel/iron corrosion inhibitor that can be bought over the counter that kills rust dead?

Clive, when I respayed my Land Rover it had patches of aluminium oxide on the rear door where the metal brackets were rivited on for the pioneer tools. I sanded the door down to get all the oxide off and then wiped the surface with thinners. I then sprayed the door with red oxide primer before spraying the vehicle with Beckers polyeurothane enamel NATO green and black paint. This was done back in 2005 and the areas I did have not caused any further problems.

I am a trained Battle Field Ambulance driver, and drove them when I was with 1 Squadron RLC when I was in the Army. These Ambulances (Wolf) have the words Ambulance written on both sides in Blue. They used to have fold away red crosses, but these have been removed.

I've had my Defender since it's release in 1998. I bought it at auction. It's done over 200,000kms. Since I got it I have rebuilt the axles (using genuine parts) and brakes, bought a new fuel tank, tie rod, cambelt, battery, heater matrix and that's about it. The axles I rebuilt because I wanted to do it and I had the money to burn (I'm a fan of preventative maintenance), the fuel tank sprung a leak and so did the heater matrix. Apart from that it's been 100% reliable. The are tough as old boots, but you have to keep on top of the servicing (I do mine every 3,000 miles).

I've not had any trouble up to now buying it from Smiths, but for some reason this month I've been unable to get it. Anything interesting in it, like present day kit for Afghanistan, or a four page write up on the Bedford MJ??? Nope, I didn't think so...

At least you have the current issue of CMV. I've looked all over and can't find it.

Any Garrison town will have a tailors that will do the job for you. It's what I used to do for mine.

I've emailed a company that makes tarps to any speck to see how much one would cost. They do rip stop 100% waterproof canvas covers. I will add a link later if they are reasonable.

Yeah, it's next to the engine shutdown.

You need 4 of the clamps on the left which go on each corner and 8 of the clamps on the right, four down each side.

I was at 10 Signal Regt today and a Withams truck was there collecting two comms/office box bodies and a forklift.

I have been getting into Pillboxes myself recently. There are some absolute cracking pillboxes just outside Hungerford. A lot more just outside Devizes. I'm going to start to take some pictures of them. Wish I was able to help you mate. Keep up the good work, it's great to see someone take an interest in these forgotten structures.

That's typical of W&P AND the magazines. They tend to sit on the bank at W&P and photograph or film the arena, every year. As most people are staying for a week or longer many can't take their vehicles into the arena as they have too much gear un packed etc. I can't drive mine as there is just too much stuff to pack away to move it (hence the idea of a Brockhouse).

I leave my Defender out in the winter without any special measures. Just make sure you have a 50/50 anti freeze mix (to get it mixed properly you need to measure the specific gravity and get the reading recommended by the manufacturer). It will help having a waterproof tarpaulin over it to stop the worst of the rain and snow and this will also help keep the paint fresh. This will be my Bedfords first winter out in the open. I've got a tapaulin over the body and cab, but these aren't 100% water proof just shower proof. IT keeps the bird sh*t off the paint anyway and helps keep things dry. I try and give my vehicles a run out once a month, but the Bedford because of being under wraps will be parked up for the winter without being moved. I will endevour to run the engines up every 3-4 weeks. This keeps the metal inside the engine coated in oil and circulates the oil and water. It also helps burn off moisture and keeps the batteries charged up.

Hello mate, This is copy and pasted from the AESP. With temperature below +10 degrees C to -32 degrees C 13. See that main gearbox gear shift lever is in neutral and the parking brake control is applied. 14. Turn key-start switch to 'ON' position. 15. Check that manual stop control is in 'run' position. 16. Depress cold start device control knob and hold down. 17. After 15 seconds fully depress clutch and accelerator pedals and turn keystart switch to engage starter. 18. When engine fires evenly release key-start switch and release clutch pedal. 19. When engine is running evenly, release cold start control knob and gradually release accelerator pedal to maintain 1000 rev/min for 3 mins. 20. Return to idle. CAUTION If engine does not start after 10 seconds cranking, turn key-start to OFF position, operate stop control and repeat procedure as from para 13. ARMY EQUIPMENT 2320-H-100-201 SUPPORT PUBLICATION Chap 3.1 Jun 83 Page 5 Note The cold start device holds 3 minutes of fuel. If the device is operated for more than 3 minutes, refill by hand priming for 200 strokes and repeat starting procedure as from para 13.

Good luck mate. We haven't met, but love the Ward. I had my Defender up for sale last year and got a buyer that was willing to pay what I wanted, but a week before It was due to go I just couldn't part with it. She has been part of my life for 11 years and it felt like I was loosing part of me, so I called it off and kept her. I know how hard it is to part with these vehicles. Good luck for the future. Andy

My Toyota Surf has two big 12v batteries (it's called a mountain pack). A few months ago it would hardly start and out the volt meter came. The bad battery was holding 12 odd volts and the other 13 something. This was enough for it to cause problems, only a volt or two in it. Although it's called 12 and 24 volt, they actually charge and hold more than this. In a 12v system it's around 13-14 volts. In a 24v system it's around 26-28 volts. My work truck puts out 28 volts. I just went out and bought two brand new batteries. Don't bother changing just one as this will make the previously good battery suck the life out of the brand new one, change them as a pair. My Defender is a 12/24 volt system. 12 for the vehicle and 24 for the radios. I've disconected the 90 amp generator as I don't need it, but you can re connect it and use the terminals at the shunt box to provide 24 volt power. Just make sure your jump leads are up to the job.

To think that is Woolwich. How different the place looks now!! Wish the clock could be turned back.

Looking at the V112G it doesn't mention anything about pre 1960 vehicles that are under 3,500 being MOT exempt. If there is an exemption I would have thought it would have to be mentioned on this document, as it's the document you need to "declare" it's exemption.

An absolute waste of good vehicles.:cry: