N.O.S.

But TTM's point is that not all of the rest of us do! Some seem reluctant to accept this reality, in which case there is little point debating it further...... And yes, the odd few ('cos as TTM says that's all it takes) may be the ones who spoil it for the rest of us.

Let's work on the assumption that the AEC Matador was just 'delivering' the scraper bowl :-D The beach scenes at 09.20 onwards are amazing - so little space in which to operate. I wonder if they were waiting for the tide to retreat a bit before unloading?

NGY XXX plates are from same civilian series as the Constructors supplied to Ministry Of Supply for haulage of new tanks from Vickers factory etc. This suggests a semi-civilian role for these Explorers, rather than direct into an Army unit - any ideas what their intended use was, and to whom they were supplied? Mr. Nosey

Almost as good as being there - thanks! Thoughtful choice of image for the end.

Well done! Nice to see another civilian era restoration. All part of the marque's history The Chaseside lettering and 'strong arm' logo looks just great. I guess you copied this from an original?

I thought R3 had sorted the noise from his GMC engine?

One that didn't survive. Nice image of LCT319 - now just a wreck to dive on.

I think you've got it - it's done so that the thick leave acts only as a strong locator fore and aft for the axles, and to make sure it does not contribute to supporting the load, therefore the spring is relatively soft for improved flexibility. If that big leave was one piece the spring would be too strong? Or something like that - remember single or 2 / 3 leaf springs were not considered 'the done thing' back then :-D

How amazing. Are the axles restrained by tie rods or something? Because these springs would be no good for lateral restraint of axles. In fact I wonder if they are like this to allow a bit of side play so that main leaf does not take the lateral loading ??

This was in the second book: RUSTON MOBILE FIELD GUN During the war, excavator manufacturers Ruston-Bucyrus became volume producers of Crusader and Centaur tanks, Crusader gun tractors and mine clearing flails and bridge layers based on old Churchill tanks. In 1940 the company experimented with the idea of developing a crawler-mounted field gun using conventional excavator running and propel gear. It took as the basis an old 10RB crawler crane used in the works yard, and altered the gearing in an attempt to provide something better than the crane's top speed of 2 1/2 mph. The excavator base used heavy dog clutches to either drive, freewheel or brake each track independently via two levers. After modification of gear ratios it was found a top speed of 15 mph could be achieved (a bit more like it), but that the machine was totally uncontrollable - I shall now quote from the author - "This led to situations dangerous for the participants and hilarious to the onlookers as the machine sped out of control around the test ground. After this, enthusiasm for the project waned and the 'souped up' grab crane resumed its former function, to the dismay of those drivers who thereafter had to negotiate the concrete loading ramp with this now errant machine". Extract and illustration taken from "Lincolns Excavators The Ruston-Bucyrus Years 1930-1945", by Peter Robinson with the kind permission of Roundoak Publishing. This and the first volume, "Lincoln's Excavators - The Ruston Years" are an excellent history of one of our most successful engineering companies. Highly recommended for earthmoving nutters.

Bit more on Nellie:

Mike - didn't you mean the Star on a reasonably priced tank? :whistle: (as in the big white one....)

Andy, if you do go the CSK Socket Screw route, try these folk - not far from you and you'll have a job top beat the prices (if you don't mind having Chinese fasteners on Daisy.......just nip that nut up a bit more :cheesy:). Galvanised £26 inc vat per 100, BZP £12 inc vat per 100 http://www.parkertools.co.uk/Form/FIX/CSS/ACS/Countersunk+Socket+Screws

Well - if you win the lottery you could get them from a Caterpillar main dealer. 3/8 UNC x 2" part no. 4F4048. But unfortunately the head face has a very slightly domed profile. I'd be tempted to go with Gritineye's CSK Allen key cap screws and fill the hex recess in - I might even be tempted to dab a blob of weld on each head and grind off flush. Second thoughts there are just too many to contemplate that :-D. Also if wood shrinks it may be difficult to tighten the nut further.

Care to explain why you think it's rubbish? You may have some very valid points, but without any further explanation your post is - wait for it - Pointless :-D :n00b:

One of the additives actually lifts the cetane rating of the fuel making it burn better - noticeably better starting is claimed too. Greater fuel consumption - by the time someone has done a proper analysis of the cost of producing the crops and making the bio fuel and losing performance I somehow doubt it will stack up in terms of energy balance. But the point I guess is that soon there won't be any straight mineral oil so we'll eventually have to live with this stuff somehow. The storage issue is one that should be of greatest concern to us MV heavy oilers

Are you saying you don't rate the additive? Was it derv or full biodiesel you were running on at the time? I know a lot of operators had trouble with 100% bio despite additives, but these ones are intended for low % mixes like all current diesel is.

A new discussion thread for anyone concerned about possible problems arising from the use of current diesel fuel in vehicles which do not get used on a daily basis. What is the cause of these problems? Introduction of ultra-low sulphur diesel, coinciding with blending of typically 5-7% bio fuel into white diesel (road derv) and into red diesel or 35sec Gas oil (for off-road use). Note however that levels in red diesel supplies could exceed 10%. Note: Unless you can find a source of Marine Red Diesel (high sulphur, no bio)you will be buying diesel blended with bio fuel whether you like it or not. It is expected that supplies of marine diesel will become further restricted - it is already illegal to use high sulphur diesel in all off-road equipment (this covers pretty much anything with a diesel engine including inland waterway vessels). This gives rise to two issues - fuel injection equipment lubrication caused by low sulphur content, and bio-contaminant growth caused by a combination of long term storage and condensation within the fuel and injection system of the parked-up vehicle (basically growth of plant cells gumming up fuel systems). The former is not of so much concern to those without the latest Tier 4 or 5 engines (most diesel powered MVs, be they as-built or retro-fitted, have much older power plants :-D ), but the latter could give rise to serious problems such as gummed-up tanks, fuel lines, filters pumps, etc. The recommended practice of completely draining down fuel systems between use is really not practical. It looks like there are some cost-effective solutions to the issue of storage - http://fastexocet.co.uk/products/search.html?products=13,3,4,6,7,5 In particular look at http://fastexocet.co.uk/assets/products/exocetfuelstoreplus-info.pdf and http://fastexocet.co.uk/products/search/exocetantibug.html These products are effective for up to 2 years per treatment. they are available from a number of national / regional fuel distributors, as well as certain plant / machinery dealers e.g. http://www.rix.co.uk/products/additives/ and http://www.benburgess.co.uk/home.aspx For background and an overview on diesel supply issues have a look here http://www.benburgess.co.uk/links/diesel.aspx

This one reminds me of those old TRUCK magazine 'Well Boss,...' photos. [ATTACH=CONFIG]63145[/ATTACH] Recovery man's dream - one set-up, two jobs!

And I wouldn't want to be the dozer driver once that roller driver got his feet back on earth :-X

That leads to this military one: which leads to this military one:

I don't have the EU directive reference to hand, but what it says is that you can no longer use the higher sulphur content gas oil for non-road mobile machinery (this basically covers everything with a diesel engine, including inland waterway vessels). As you suggest, without rigorous enforcement that in itself would not be a problem - were it not for the fact that all the low sulphur red diesel now has bio blended in, leaving only the marine grade (high sulphur) red diesel free of bio. I'm not sure about white diesel - does this too all have 7% bio? If they'd just stick all the available bio crap in the high sulphur marine diesel we'd all be a lot better off thank you and any environmental benefit of using bio would remain the same (and the marine systems are generally large enough scale to cope with the bio). Sadly, half-baked plans and legislation make for disaster, or at the very least drastically increased operating costs for us all. Who dreams all this rubbish up? Nobody who has to deal with the consequences that's for sure! If it has to be done then why can't we do it in a timely and considered way - that means thinking about the consequences and engineering potential problems out BEFORE enforcing this kind of control.

Jack - about the showers. I've had a look on www.bbc.co.uk/weather, they're always advertising showers on their forecasts, but for the life of me I can't see any BUY NOW button to click on :???

It's about the right shape for a sheep dip too, with a pair of ramps :whistle:

Oh, no no no, just read a book on Rustons of Lincoln about their excavator products and saw it :cool2: