antar

Say helo to Johnathan for me:-Dcheers cw.

Will do, was actually with him at our club meeting last night, The Manchester MVT.

John.

I wish the tread on my tyres looked like that!

@16 Ton (empty), 55mph is fast enough, I dread to think what mpg I would get with my foot hard down. :shake:

They didn't muck about with the fuel tank either and just bolted a 90 gallon barrel under the bed!

At over £400 to fill up, I am starting my own "Foden Fund", Please give generously!

 

Talking of the fuel tank, just in front of it is a steel rack, anyone got any ideas?

I don't think it is for Jerry cans as there are plenty of holders elsewhere, my guess would be extra batteries or wooden blocks, for under the crane legs.

 

I don't know about the thermostat Mike, I will check as time allows.

Simon I think you should be reading that as thermo START not stat ?

I think the rack is for extra batteries when the crew cabin is fitted on the forward loadbed.

That fuel tank is a baby compared to the twin 100 gal tanks on my Ward La France (£900 a fill up !!!)

Andy must have put some miles on the tyes as they were pretty good when I sold it.

John.

Simon, have you looked to see if your 305 has a Thermostart, I don't remember seeing one on mine but will have another look later?

 

As you have found out, the Fodens are not slow:shake:

I once caught one up on the M6 travelling north around the M5 junction, it had civilian plate and was towing a weeks 10 ton tilt bed trailer he never dropped below 70mph all the way to J25 (WARRINGTON), where I turned off. I was in an astra van that had a reasonably acurate spedo. When I say he never dropped below at some points I was clocking him at 75-77 presumably when he was flat out. Not so sure but I think the tyres are only rated to 50mph !!!

John.

This is a common problem in Service. I have replaced dozens of them!

The usual problem is, it clicks & will not turn the engine over. :cry:

There is a 'Kidney plate' at the Rear lhs in the interior compartment.

If you remove this you can get an arm through & give the starter a 'Smack' with a hammer. :shocked:

I know it sounds crude, but it will usually get you out of trouble.

This method will not work for ever.

When a starter begins to play up, it is indicative of begining to fail.

The heat generated in the engine compartment in a MKII is incredible.!

I am suprised that starters last as long as they do! :confused:

The only real solution to repair it is, a pack lift.

When the engine is out, rotate it 180 degrees & drop it in front of the vehicle. When you re-fit your starter. Connect all the hoses Etc back to the vehicle. You cannot connect the exhaust or trans propshaft obviously!

make sure trans lever IS in Neutral!! :stop:

You can then start the engine pack up & run it. DO NOT RUN FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES!! If you do you risk engine seizure. :nono: It will be loud, but wear ear defenders. :shake: It is then possible to check all hoses Etc for leaks. Better to go over it whilst the pack is out. Rather than have a prob when it's back in! I have done this hundereds of times. It's the only real way to effect a reliable repair. Good luck & I add, I dont envy you!

:coffee:

 

Mike (Ferretfixer)

If you want a replacement pack PM me, I have a low hours take out (164 hrs) for £1000.

John.

this is steve as well

Is it an optical ilusion or has the chassis been shortened ?

Hi John hope you and the good lady are both well..Hope to catch up with you somewhere this year ..take care

Nice to hear from you Graham, hope you and family are also well, I will not be at Astle Park this year decided to give it a miss and go to Saddleworth this time. But I am sure that our paths will cross somewhere.

John.

This is I believe a 'Bridge Launching Trailer' made by Cranes of Dereham. Has anybody got anymore info/pictures on them?

Yes I have the operator handbook for one. That one would be in Rush Green Motors I think ?

The Red Scammell super constructor in the photo is in William Rainfords sand works in Southport it is the same vehicle Dave Crouch now has .Was purchased by myself and recovered from there a few years ago and i sold to Antar..

That must be Mr Booth then.....

John.

I would have thought it unlikely the cold start was stuck in. More than likely to be an injector problem. I drive a truck with a Perkins Eagle (Rolls Royce) TX 340. I have had injectors stick on that one. My problem was caused by rust in the head casting putting uneven pressure on the injector body. Once they had been removed and cleaned up, they seemed to work ok when they were put back in.

 

If you take the injectors out, and they can be sods to get out, have them tested to see if they are working properly. If they aren't spraying and only squirting in jets of diesel, you will get a lot of smoke and misfiring on startup and black smoke on acceleration when warm. No doubt a set of new injectors will cure the problem, but don't spend money unnecessarily.

 

Failing that, your comment about the breather mod may indicate cylinder bore wear or ring problems leading to lack of compression. Does it breathe heavily when it is running?

Simon, I am sure the injectors will come out because I took them out about 6 years ago ! I gave them to a contact at a Perkins dealer who said they tested them and they were OK but I never believed that they had been tested as they were still packed exactly as I had given them to him. I think he put them in his car forgot about them and then just gave them back to me on his next visit.

With regard to the breather issue on the transfer box that bottle was not there when I had the truck.

John.

Hi John long time no speak, your old Militant is still running well.

 

I've got an Atlas AK3000 Hiab to go the the 8 legger and the beaver tail body is the one off my FL10. Its got a Ramsey RPH8000 Hydraulic winch on at present, but it could really do with one around 6 - 8 ton like the one off the Crusaider.

 

I also need a shaft driven Hydraulic pump as the PTO on the Foden is via a prop shaft that used to drive the fuel transfer pump (was a Foden Tanker)

 

I think I have your number at home but could you PM it as well just in case I cant find it.

PM'd numbers just give me a call when you want to come up. I have 2 complete Crusader Plummett winches for sale as well as various other hydraulic and mechanical ones. I asked about the crane as I have a TICO continous slew with winch built in to it for sale.

I have one shaft driven pump but not sure what its volume is.

Glad to hear the Militant is still going strong.

John.

Yes that would perhaps acount for the fact that the engine oil never needed topping up but when changed always smelt of diesel !

The winch is 8 tonnes single line pull bull wheel capstan with 275 feet of 16mm rope, similar but not the same as a Crusader 35t type. You really do need to see it though.

Do you have a crane and winch for the beavertail as I have probably got suitable ones for that too ?

Did you have any problems with the fuel injection pump, when did you own it?

Most certainly did Simon, if the truck was not run every 24 hrs the fuel seemed to drop back from the injector pump to the tank. Every time I started it I would have to crack the bleed screw, wedge a jam jar under the bleed outlet and prime the pump. I had a piece of wire through the priming lever to make this process easier. I think it needs a check valve installing in the fuel line from the tank to the lift pump. I see you are advertising for a replacement fuel pump, don't think this will help.

I also understand that you may be looking for a nice hydraulic winch to go under it, I do have a very nice unit which would easily fit. PM me if you are interested. I also have new cab panels for it and the grab handle which should be right across the front panel, you can have that. I have brand new springs for the diff lock chambers plus pins and bushes for the springs.

John.

Even though the chassis seems to be longer than the one in the pictures posted by 'Antar', I was wondering if this might have been an ex-Military Constructor as well?

It is the same vehicle, I cut all the gear off the back !

John.

Thanks for that post ABN, they seem to have missed one out, so here is a picture of my M578 at work.

She looks quite tidy after demob at Walkers. I had a good look at the old girl at Kibworth - not very much at all is salvagable from the effects of the salt water. :cry:

 

I certainly wouldn't fancy the job of getting her back into good fettle :sweat:

Yes I agree, it stood outside my back door for 3 years, I really did want to restore it but just too many other projects on the go to take on such a major one. In the end I thought that if anyone could find a good home for her it would be David so she had to go.

John.

Slightly off topic but do you have a clearer shot of the Pioneer tank transporter or its registration? Looking at the front wheels it might be a 20ton model, (8 stud rather than 10stud) never seen another before in preservation, wonder if its still around?.

The pioneer is still on the show circuit in the Cheshire area, it is sighnwritten as John Thompsons Boiler Works, Wolverhampton. You may find better pictures on commercial vehicle forums.

Hopefully these photos will up-load!

Hmm, thats interesting, here is a picture when I owned it !!

Here she is at Kibworth recently, this gives another view of the cab offset. Thanks for the info Antar.

Just found these photos, thought that they may be of interest, the photos were taken by Mark Walker of Walker machinery in Witney in Oxfordshire. They bought this rare Constructor from Blackbush auction and then sold it to the sand contractor at Southport.

Which I understand to have been last used for recovering artic dumpers on beach sand rebuilding work near Blackpool (hence the condition). Is that anywhere correct?

That is correct only it was Southport, yes the cab is ofset.

Tony, there is a good picture of one in Tugs of War reg. RGX 378, it is listed as FV12105 and has the same bumper, swept back front arches and rear lockers as the FV12102 30t tractor like my old one.

It is RGX 378

Whilst visiting a well known MV yard on the west coast of Scotland a few years ago I photographed this vehicle can anybody shed any light on it. It did apear to be 432 based but had steerable propulsion units sticking out of the back. It also had a chain drive mechanism across the top of the hull presumably somthing to do with changing direction in the water. I asume that it is still there as the owner of the yard has changed the focus of their buisness towards vehicular support on wind farm erection sites.

crooks wanted a blank cheque for what was left of the ww2 stuff years ago ,went to see but were all not good.........

Crook by name crook by nature is what we always used to say about them !

The "push me pull you Crusader". A few years ago I bought the front end of a Crusader 35t tractor from a breakers yard, the rear bogie had been exported to Africa but everything in front of the bogie remained. The easiest way to bring it home was to suspend tow the remains backwards with the Holmes 5th wheel wrecker fitted to my Crusader. All I did in the breakers yard was burn two big holes in the remains of the chassis rails, put 2 big shackles through the holes and pick it up from there, I tied up the steering wheel with rope in the straight ahead position. I did get some funny looks from people whilst driving it back or was that forwards? The picture shows it arriving back at its resting place. I eventually got round to cutting it up, the cab went to Paul Rhodes and I kept the doors, engine, winch assembly and gearbox.

Here is an even rarer Constructor which I owned for about 3 years. Its now at Kibworth !!!

When Stalwarts get stuck its always handy to have a Martian Wrecker on hand !