Richard Farrant

Hi John, All Weasels under Contract Supply Mech 6362 come in five batches of census numbers; X5853143 to 5853242 P5881878 to 5882381 P6160643 to 6160990 P6180709 to 6181208 P6225756 to 6226757 "P" is prefix for amphibs, why the first one is listed as "X" in the copy book of census numbers, I don't know, but it was a mistake somewhere in time as that letter denotes a Trailer. regards, Richard

Hold on a minute..........according to your age on your post header, you are 65, date of photo is 1987/88, that makes you around 43 at time of photo.........so.....you must be on the front row !

Radek, For what model, K2 or K3 ? There are lots of contracts and groups of census numbers. Let me know.

middle row, third from left?

If it is made by HIAB (often a generic name for any loader crane), then there is an appointed dealer at Worthing. If you want to contact Hiab, they have a website, www.hiab.co.uk Better to get the correct nut than having one made, which also may work out more expensive

It is a 3 ton K3, just checked the Census number.

The wheel with 6 spokes is the front idler, and the one with 13 spokes is the drive sprocket, so it might have been to make it stronger. Otherwise it looks like the track gear is much the same as the previous photo.

thanks Adrian, I can see the difference now

Not as nice to drive as a Dingo though

Just found my post with photo of the scow end bodied Militant, while at MEXE. It is on the thread, AEC Militant MK1 Gallery, post #409

Sorry Mike, I meant Militants, corrected now. I think the body was fitted as trial of its performance prior to the Aveling Barford coming into service, I have a photo of it at MEXE, which I think has been posted up before on another thread, so it might have detail differences.

How often was a Stalwart seen driving on the road loaded? Most of their life they would run around unladen, especially now in private ownership. A lot of the transmission problems we encountered working on in-service ones, was tracta joints. The difference between the Saracen and Saladin to the Stalwart is that the former are running around at pretty much max weight, only crew and ammo to add on to basic vehicle weight. The suspension on a Stalwart is so set that when the max load is onboard, the horizontal view of the drive shafts is just slightly sloping down hill as on the armoured family. Unladen the drive shafts work at quite an acute angle, which with wind up does not help. I remember one in service with a RE training unit, which was suffering problems and we set the torsion bars so that the drive lines were in a loaded position. I also did this to a private owners Stalwart many years ago when he was experiencing similar problems.

A Nuffield built Neptune, British version of the American LVT. Powered by a 12 cylinder Meadows engine. Built in late war period.

Err...no ! That was a one of conversion for trials using the same body as the Aveling Barford Dumptruck, it came from MVEE or MEXE, the photo shows it when owned by Pete Gaine, many years ago. He also owned the Militant gun tractor to the right, and the Bedford OY. Both Militants were sold off and went to work, I think in forestry or similar duty.

Tony, I think you mean ROF Nottingham

The B80 and 81 was also availble in civilian spec. and used in vehicles such as fire appliances. you would be surprised at the applications that 6 and 8 cyl version were used in..........even Bedford TK trucks.

Hmmm........this never happens to the White Helmets when they do cross overs

Thanks Alan, I see what you mean. Bet you have had some good times with the old wagon over those years.

Alan, The Navy have only had the Sentinel since 1960. Back around 1984 I was at a rally at REME Borden and the Sultan steam wagon arrived late in the evening, they suggested we should all jump in and head for the nearest pub. The sight of the all black and grimy crew entering the bar and response from the landlord was classic.

This sounds like a project done on old Saracens to upgrade them by a company called GKL. I saw one at a BAEE trade fair around that time, they would have had auto box on it I am sure, also braking system was updated. Only aimed at overseas sales I think. Later the company appeared to be based in Singapore....from memory. Think they also displayed Saladin and Ferret simularly converted.

Oily, I would imagine that early boxes would have dissappeared by now. The only point I can recollect about early ones, is that they had no neutral strut and when "N" was selected, it partly engaged both 1st and 3rd.

Not looked yet.

Oily, This card refers only to the engine and is filled in after a rebuild, in this case, a Base Repair. On the Mods section the numbers are reference to sections of EMER publications covering RR B range engines and associated components. The date will be when the repair was complete. So to concludeyour Saracen has had a replacement engine fitted after date on card.

Here is a photo of the frame in use from the Bedford S type (4x2) manual, although looking at it, the sump is a "deep well" type used on the 4x4, so must be an RL. Note where the lifting point of jack is, well back, to compensate for the gearbox weight. You will need to get this right otherwise it could cause problems. regards, Richard

I guessing you are taking the cab off to remove the engine (?), we never did this in workshops, there was a frame that fitted on a 10 ton trolley jack. The bumper, and rad was removed first, the frame fitted under the sump flange on sides of block. This enabled engine and gearbox to come out in one go.