psychoman

Would it not be easier to go for a HGV test, then you don't need to have anything downrated, you can then use it as is.

 

My friend has an arctic with low loader, he has it on p.l.g. Use, as it's for his own personal use, not business.

 

Just an idea!

 

Cheers

Shaun

Aye - but that would be me and the wife, plus whatever aggro is involved in tachos, insurance, etc - de-rating is definitely easier all around, if I can find a suitable vehicle that is... :undecided:

I'm in a similar position and just found this thread. So the big question: what did you do in the end, Robin???

Thanks.

Think the RB44 looks like its too small on reflection and feedback. Love the idea of the Green Goddess, but for my purposes its probably a little long in the tooth, maybe (waits for cries to the contrary!!!).

Think I may look a little closer at the DAF route, as there are a few for sale and seems to tick most boxes if I can sort out the de-rating side of things.

John W - if I drop you a PM would you mind giving more details on your truck?

Thanks all - appreciate the help and advice.

I've travelled all over Europe and even over to Iceland in a variety of vehicles. Apart from having the vehicles in top notch, and checking out the specific requirements of each country as mentioned above, main thing I have found is to ensure you have your insurance and all relevant paperwork up to date and current for the duration of your trip, and ensure you have plenty of wriggle room (you don't want to discover you have a problem, need to leave the vehicle somewhere and find your insurance won't cover you beyond x days in Europe).

Its worth bringing a list of possible spares suppliers both in the UK and Europe, remember it may be easier to call someone in the UK and have something overnighted to you than trying to communicate to someone locally what you need (especially if you don't speak the local lingo).

More than one credit card is also a good plan, just in case.

And remember - regardless of what spares you bring, sods law says you won't have the item you need when it breaks, and you won't need anything you have brought with you.

Most of all - remember why your going - this is supposed to be fun and an adventure, not an ordeal - so give yourself plenty of time and be prepared to take a break and have a brew up or a glass of the local plonk if it all gets too much.

Cheers Norman, helpful.

I take your point re the DAFs, though I have seen at least a couple through overland sites that had been re-rated to 7500kg, so guess I need to look at that again. Similarly some of the ZIL131s I've seen for sale have been advertised as being capable as being driven on a car license, so clearly something doesn't quite add up there.

Re the MJs, I believe I've seen some with a 3 seater configuration in the cab, or am I mistaken?

Tricky...

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

Hi all

Quick question (and apologies if its been covered before, but I couldn't find this specifically)...

I'm currently running a 712M Pinzgauer (6x6, rag top) - its a great vehicle, and worked well as a weekend camper/military show vehicle/occasional offroader, but its a bit small for us now we have a little'un. So I'm thinking of buying another MV with a view to keeping the exterior as it was in the services, but with a camper conversion internally. Basic criteria:

1. Must be capable of taking 3, preferably 4 in the cab with proper seat belts.

2. Must be under 7.5 ton GWV as stock, or capable of being down-rated to 7.5 ton legitimately, so both my wife and I can drive it on our current licenses.

3. Sleep 2 adults and one or two kids in the back - probably in a box back?

4. Have some off road ability, but still a pukka ex-Military truck.

To date we've looked into Bedford MJ, DAF 45/150, RB44, ZIL131... all have pros and cons - biggest issue seeming to be satisfying conditions 1 and 2 (3 and 4 seem more straightforward!!!).

So guys - looking for thoughts and comments. FYI I'm planning a visit to Withams at the end of September to look at specific vehicles back-to-back, so any thoughts before then would be really appreciated.

All the best

Dave S

I never fail to be amazed by the ammount of bad driving that I see on a daily basis on our roads and as long as that situation prevails we have little chance of avoiding these terrible accidents. Larger / older vehicles should be fitted with amber flashing light, that most certainly makes them highly visible to other motorists. When driving along an unlit area of dual carriageway I find that (depending on prevailing weather conditions) I can drive at maybe 55/60 mph and be able to react to any situation within my headlights, and my eyesight was perfect, however I find people overtaking me at anything up to 90 mph, I know that they cannot stop and they certainly cannot see any more than I can, that in my opinion is russian roulette with theirs and other peoples lives. My wife and myself decided on a particularly nice and sunny Sunday to go for a drive into Wales. The roads were very winding, as we approached a right hand bend a car travelling towards us came around the bend at such a speed that he lost control and careered onto our side of the carriageway for some considerable distance before regaining control, had we been a little nearer to that bend, we might have become just another statistic......... speed is the real problem here, not the lack of it. Too many people think that the road is a race track.

Big Ray - can't argue with you - but there's not much you can do about other people's behaviour - there is something you can do about bettering your chances of being spotted though, which is the key point here, especially when potentially high speed differentials are involved.

Always surprised how underused the War & Peace classified section is. Be interesting if/when MVT gets their act together and embraces the interweb...

Given the money some people are asking for "original" Jeeps (even ones from the 50s or later - look at Milweb at the moment) this doesn't seem completely unrealistic - at the end of the day is a essentially a brand new vehicle and pretty much the same price as a brand new Defender 90... and I guess these will hold their value a darn sight better than a modern Landy too.

Would I buy one? Probably not, but maybe a few years from now when they're a couple of years old and lost a few quid in depreciation I'd be tempted...

Just had the opposite problem here on the IOM - they kept the rolling 25 year rule... until this year when they froze the date at 1986, I think.

In some ways I understand it - lets be honest a rusted out 1985 Fiesta or Metro is not a classic... but still frustrating when you have vehicles close to the magic 25 years...

Luckily the Pinz is 1981, so qualifies for classic tax here

I really like this thread, the explanation a few pages back about your funding for the project explained a number of questions that have built up over time as I have read it.

 

For me the lightweight Land Rover or airportable or whatever you call it, was the epitomy of the British Armed Forces in the late seventies / early eighties on exercise. They were always loaded with more kit than was reasonably possible for a Pickfords pantechnicon to carry and that was before you counted the clobber in the trailer behind.

 

The sight of the cam net rolled up on top of the canvas with real branches cut from hedgerows to support it was it for me, the days when you could dig a hole and backfill it after the paperwork was done right and before everything went terribly PC with portaloos!

 

Keep up the great work and the photos and writing.

 

Robin

Seconded. Quick question, and if I missed it in 17 pages, my apologies - but what is the running total standing at so far...?

Had a soft spot for these since I built a model of one as a kid. Lovely big of kit and definitely on my wish list longer term. Lucky man

Psychoman, I suspect that he didn't realise the problem was there, as he bought the battery in Jun before deciding to sell. However the vehicle had barely moved in the previous 2 years, and hadn't been started for 3 months before I went to see it for the first time. That said of course, you may be right, and he sold the vehicle on knowing there was a problem...

To be fair, he may not have known what the problem was, what I meant was, to a lot of people swapping out a battery is the starting point when they have an issue, and if it runs subsequently they kinda stop looking (until the problem re-emerges!). Hopefully with the advice from the guys here you'll get sorted easily and quickly.

Reminds me... god knows what we all did a few years ago before these forums existed. Recently changed a fuel gauge in the Pinz - the new gauge had completely different behind dash wiring, and was not obvious - without the resource available through the net I'd have struggled... so big thumbs up to the HMVF and related sites that help us all keep rolling

Obviously upsetting, but with a following tailwind it looks like a couple of hundred quid and a lot of elbow grease to get this vehicle mobile again. Doesn't feel like quite the basket case it may have looked... :undecided:

Comments as above re the battery being near as damn it flat and then having enough kick to turn it over - I've had the same thing on a few older vehicles, the only conclusion I can come to is that the battery "recovers" slightly when left and that's enough to kick the engine over if you're lucky. Not very scientific, but its common enough...

New battery was probably enough to run the vehicle without any significant load on the system until now, sounds like the charging system was an issue prior to sale and the previous owner just whacked in a new battery rather than sort the problem :undecided:

Nice write up and great photos - thanks for the link.

Final price of £1500+ seems a bit steep IMHO for a bitsa that the guys admits he doesn't even know runs or not, no electricals, fuel system, brakes, etc, etc - probably be the thick end of £3k when its finished to any reasonable standard...

Suppose you could use the tub and scrap the rest... :undecided:

Love the vid clip - 1.40 onwards through the town centre is great

Nice Blog write up. Reminds me of bringing my Pinz home for the first time and negotiating the tiny lanes around the lake district in the dark, driving a LHD forward control. A steep learning curve, but great fun.

Wait 'til you drive it down to W&P next year!?! :-D

Im a Top Gear addict so i love the show and all the crazy stuff they do. I thought the last episode was brilliant to with the injured soldiers in the Bowlers. I really hope they make it to the Dakar Rally.

Amen to that one - I do find that the show has gone down hill in the last couple of series' with too many daft stunts, but its items like the lads in the Bowler that make it worthwhile watching. Hope they make it - good luck to them.

Pinzgauer 712M, so far that's all :blush: but I have plans....

Welcome fella, how do you find your pinz?

Cheers, guys.

The Pinz is an interesting beast - strong off road, large loadbed for such a relatively small vehicle (even my 6x6 is only s little larger than a Disco or Rangy) and excellent build quality - mine's 30 years old and apart from some minor surface rust its in great condition, but then again it only came out of service a few years ago. Lots of nice history with it too - vehicle logs, original tools, snow chains, gun racks, etc. Good freak-factor too being a 6x6 and pretty unusual - you don't see many in the UK.

Downsides are that its expensive on parts (fortunately they don't break often!), noisy for long distance running, thirsty - mid teens mpg, and pretty slow - cruising speed is 55mph give or take - it'll go faster, but its not fun at much approaching the legal limit in the UK.

I bought mine after looking at things like 101 Landies and the like, but really liked the build quality of the Pinz and TBH a lot of the 101s about now seem very tired indeed.

Hi all

Finally got around to registering here after surfing for a while.

I've been into 4x4s and motorsport for years, but recently moved into military vehicles when I bought an ex-Swiss military Pinzgauer 712M (aka Gangrene), and I've been getting more and more interested in green machines. Just returned from my third visit to Beltring.

Love to get into tracked vehicles eventually, but that may have to wait a wee while.

Anyway, all the best

Dave S (aka Psychoman)