mushspeed

This diamond T  diesil.....has been barn stored for many years  the owner was an agricultural antiques collector  and having recently passed away , his family put all of his collection for auction 

We understand the auctioneers put a couple of new batteries on it and it started easily   

It looks a bit shabby but it is all there ...and not full of rust holes   ....a good project !!

 

 

 

It was sold for 8, 000 pounds sterling  plus  15% buyers fee...to another historic vehicle collector 

I wanted to buy it ....but Aileen put the block on, saying we already have too many other projects going on .

She was absolutely right ....I don't know when we could have got on with it ....

 

 

I am not sure the make of that crane perhaps someone  can identify it......  or is it a self made one ?

 

John.

An awkward job ... nicely co. ordinated... those rocks look sharp and could have easily punctured the tank.

 

good job..

 

John. 

This piece of equipment is called a Trax  and is marketed in the UK and Europe they are very good for getting stuff that is stuck in park etc, gets into places where it is not possible to use dolly wheels  or in multi storey or underground carparks where height is a restriction

they are becoming quite popular as a damage free option, with big city towing companies  having to move high end cars and 4x4's  no worries about using skates or slippery jims, 

 

they are available in all sorts of derivatives , either diesel or electric, tracked or wheeled.  and different weight capabilities. 

 

I haven't heard of any bad feedback about them.....yet !

 

John.

A  continuance of the above post ....not tow trucks  but these were stunning  !!!

 

 

A  tipper truck on regular tarmac planing work,  in and out of job sites all the time,  not a mark on it.

 

 

 

The chassis is Volvo the 4th axle is self steering   the engine is  a mighty 760 horse power   a mega space sleeper cab  with custom paintwork ,

Operated by Charlie Doyle.

 

 

A 3 axle tractor  with custom paintwork and airbrushing   from Charlie Doyle 

 

 

A T cabbed Scania  tractor   fabulous paint  job and air brushing   again by Charlie Doyle 

Last weekend saw a Trucking show  in the South west of the UK  with over 800 trucks  on display  from  trucking companies  from throughout the west country  the quality standard was very high... making the judging for the various categories very difficult to choose the outright winners ...

The weekend was  initially raining but cleared up with bright sunlight and attracted large crowds of visitors... 

The Tow Truck and Recovery section  had 58 different  vehicles  entered  to include light and heavy duty's,  rotators,  low loaders, service Van's and support vehicles 

Each day,  a series of recovery demonstrations were  enacted in the main arena in front of large crowds, to include....   the rollover of buses  and truck's and cars and the subsequent recoveries....  I was honoured to assist with the commentary on the second day ...with the Recovery  display organiser...  and the head of the Professional Recovery Drivers Club  (PRDC) Stan Gallears ,    Stan and I gave an important message across  to the audience about the importance of   "SlowDown Move Over " and the dangers tow men face at the roadside 

 

 

A very compact lift and tow truck specifically designed to work in confined spaces, multi storey and underground  car parks  where height is very restricted  supplied by Boniface  Engineering  it has a French made  Jige lohr  underlift... Jige  is part of the Miller Corporation in Europe.

 

This neat unit is owned and operated by  Hinton Recovery  based in Bath  and Bristol ....

Check out the overhang beyond the rear axle ...that is short !  Making manoeuvring with vehicles on tow a lot easier. 

 

 

A smart little lightweight transporter  from  J & W  Recovery    a  recent newcomer to the towing industry  and very well presented and a hard working  business.

 

 

The truck is an Iveco   3.5 tonner  and has just undergone a complete restoration 

It can carry a load of about a tonne ...

 

 

Probably the heaviest and most powerful  Rotator in the western region  standing on 5 axles  and weighing nearly 40 tons...   88,000 lbs 

Has a self steering rear axle,  twin steer front axles  and 2 drive axles . 

Based on a Scania  megaspace chassis  with a  640 hp V8   and hydraulic gearbox retarder this truck has all the bells and whistles !!

 

 

Equipped with the NRC  sliding Rotator   owned by  prominent operators   Ashley Wood Recovery  and driven by my old friend  Dave Hankey , owner of Bride Valley Recovery.

 

 

A Scania  4 axle rotator  operated by prominent South Wales  operators,   John and Jamie Walls 

The equipment is NRC  and  sporting 4 winches on the crane plus a drag winch  and driven by  " nappy "

 

 

Another truck from Walls Recovery 

 

 

 

 

The business end of the two Walls Trucks ...

 

 

A smart 3 axle Mercedes  unit from Bride Valley Recovery.

 

.

A novel display by Rivermead  Recovery , using the knuckleboom crane of their accident unit  dangling a motorcycle over 30 feet in the air.

 

 

A 6x6  Foden off road winching truck and Recovery crane, equipped with  a  powerful drag winch  and a front mounted  winch 

Operated by  the highly respected Slades Garage of Chard ...

 

 

A medium duty rollback  based on a MAN chassis fitted with a 6 seater crew cab with a payload of over 4 tons,  owned and operated by  Unity Garage,  the owner is  the legendary John Rogers, one of the most highly respected companys  in the UK.  

Check out the reg no     3 TOW .....

 

 

An NRC slider on a 3 axle daf  chassis   very well presented by  R S  Recovery 

 

 

A well presented  3 axle  Volvo  fitted with Boniface Recoverer equipment, operated by prominent  southern operator ...  Ray Avery ....

 

Ray  has a large fleet of heavy and off road equipment,   his manager is  Colin Ryan  who is an expert in difficult recoveries ...I have  had the  pleasure in working  on several  big  jobs with Colin and is a clever operator. 

Note the additional side stabiliser legs. 

 

 

The old timer of the show,   an original  Diamond  T....    owned and still operated by Lanes Recovery ...now only used for severe off road winching  and the occasional shows 

 

 

A view of the working end is  now mostly redundant,  but is  I am told, it all still works ok, but a bit of a finger nipper  !!

 

 

 Boniface Recoverer and maxi reach equipment,   operated by ND Services,  a prominent Wiltshire operation.

 

9h

 

The business end of a few of them ....  check out the  reflectivity of the rear facing panelwork ...sorry about the quality of the picture, my battery went flat ...

Apologies to those I have not included....I have missed lots of superb trucks  but....no battery left..

 

 

 

 

We attended the South Eastern  Truckfest  at Hop Farm    just south of London  with about 500 trucks on show  to include, tractor trailers, historic, specialist vehicles and tow trucks ...

A recovery demonstration was held in the main arena  in front of a large crowd by the Professional Recovery Drivers Club   ( PRDC )  organised and commentary  by Stan Gallears, showing the overturn  and upright of a large tractor trailer ....plus various scenarios involving car recovery  etc 

Stan is also part of the UK  Slowdown Move Over campaign  and was using commentary time to get the message across to the viewing public ....

 

 

Stan  works as a Heavy Recovery operative  for Crouch Recovery his truck is the 4 axle  Scania   530  hp V8 diesel  fitted with Boniface Recoverer ,  twin winch  maxi reach equipment

 

A very smart custom built light duty transporter with a Century rollback body  giving a working payload in excess of 4 tons 

Operated by  highly respected  Ashford Recovery,  owned by  my old friend Nick Ovenden  and driven by eliot Pauley 

 

 

This is a band new Volvo on 3 axles  for Dynes Recovery    fitted with the latest walk in  type locker system  very popular  with  European operators ...

 

This is a lightweight  Iveco  rollback  also operated by Dynes   payload approximately 2 tons 

The livery is specially done to raise funds and commemorate  one of their drivers who was tragically killed at the roadside whilst on a rescue job .....

 

 

This is a NRC Rotator operated by  Cedars Assist  based on a 4 axle MAN  chassis fitted with the very latest low emission engine  now necessary to  enable working in London.

 

 

A brand new DAF  on 4 axles  operated by Niel Yates Recovery   part of his fleet replacement program   also featuring the latest Boniface euro style body and Recoverer equipment.

 

 

This has to be one of my favourite   older  Rotators,  and a very hard working truck,  on a triaxle  rear ended   cabover  Kenworth,  the  paint scheme affectionately named and based on BJ the Bear ......several of Neils fleet has the same colour  scheme ...

 

 

A new 3 axle DAF  also fitted with the high Euro style body  from Boniface and maxi reach equipment    from Neil Yates Recovery.

 

 

A 4 axle plant lorry  fitted with a massive 65ton /metre knuckleboom crane  designed to haul plant and construction equipment ....additionally it can be used for  vehicle Recovery  work at accident scenes and all sorts of load transfers and lifting situations 

Neil tells me he wanted his trucks to be as versatile as possible and able to be put to most situations ....so far they haven't failed to perform ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a tractor  also fitted with a huge  75 ton/metre  knuckleboom  crane     also operated by Neil Yates 

Check out the rear subframe and stabilisers legs double extenders ....they extend out nearly 20 feet either side 

 

Thanks for that  guys ...appreciate your kind  comments ...

 

Coordinating 8 winches ....all running at different speeds   was a challenge !    Hence the bent shackle...

 

Regards   John 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Richards family, friends and co workers,

 

From your fellow towers in the UK and Europe. 

 

This is a job we did a few years ago......

We had a call from the Police control asking if we could send an incident manager to liaise with the emergency services  on the recovery of a Tank transporter  that had overturned and blocking the westbound side of the A31  and causing major traffic disruption in the surrounding areas

On arrival we met with the police, fire and rescue, highways officials and  army officers.   

What we had was a 4 axle Oshkosh tractor  hauling a 7 axle low loader trailer  carrying an armoured KRAV  recovery unit ......whilst negotiating the roundabout the suspension on the left hand side of the trailer had collapsed, throwing the whole lot over .....the weight of the KRAV with its combat armour on  was  67 tons  150,000 lbs  and was lying upside down  still attached to the trailer 

The army advised the police that they will organise their own recovery teams to recover the vehicle   .....when the police asked how long will it take  ?   The reply was it will take 2days !! To get the necessary teams and equipment on site .......this was totally unacceptable by the  police officers in command and we were asked how long will we take ? .I replied  we can have all the necessary recovery equipment on site within 2 hours.....at that stage we were advised by the highways dept there was a subway directly below the vehicle and ther could be a point bearing risk  for any heavy equipment directly above , we were also advised by the water authorities  that there was also a 24 inch high pressure water main  close by  feeding two major towns....           no pressure !!

We advised the police that we will need a full road closure for at least 10 hours   because of the risk of shock loading  we decided it was also necessary to get a  80 ton crane in from one of our account  customers ....just to be on the safe side   that will take 4 hours to get there.....the police and army agreed to that and we  got on with the job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first job was to release the KRAV  from the trailer ....the plan was to upright the unit and trailer first and get it all out of the way .......some of the hold down chains had snapped when it rolled but there were 2 chains  holding on and they were under extreme tension ...it was too dangerous to cut them  so we chocked the wheels of the trailer and rigged to winch  the trailer further over 

 

 

 

 

See the chain round the blade ....that had a lot of stored energy  on it ....if we tried to cut it it could have gone anywhere...

 

 

This Graham and me having a discussion with the police, army  high ways, fire and water co,  officials  working out a lifting and winching plan 

 

 

We put the 750 in the field adjoining and rigged to haul over  and then restrain on the upright  we put our Mercedes 6x4 alongside   ( just out of  picture )   giving plenty of deadweight for the final restraints     4 x  2 part lines 

 

 

 

 

A picture of the entrance to the subway which runs directly underneath  the  job 

 

 

 

 

After the chains were released, the next job was to square up the unit and trailer ready for the upright    the back end of the tractor was lifted over  and then rigged for the upright 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We hauled the unit and trailer over using 4 x  2part lines  to haul over    and  4  x 2part lines  to restrain  plus we used the crane as a catcher on the front of the unit ....

 

 

 

 

It came down perfectly    a bit of overkill perhaps but we were taking  no chances !!

 

 

 

 

The army had showed up with transporters in readiness to take the  casualty  vehicles away    there  is a 3rd one,  just out of picture

 

 

Once the unit and trailer were out of the way ..... now we can concentrate on the  tracked  vehicle    ....fully upside down  there is a crane on the top of it and that was buried into the roadway 

As we did with the tractor trailer,   we rigged   4 x 2 part lines to haul   and 4  x  2 part lines to restrain    we used the crane as a  catcher for the last couple of feet just in case it kicked 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The job went  perfectly.....no dramas, no injuries, no breakages, the only thing we had, was a bent shackle pin ....we cleared the site at midnight   giving a total time on scene  start to finish  9 1/2 hrs         2 days  Huh !   Good job there is not a war on !

The road was closed for the rest of the night to repair the holes made by the KRAV ....

Police  happy,   Army happy,  Highways dept happy,  Water co happy,       me happy, we got paid by return..no quibbles !!.

 

Aileen and I will be going,  along with my Grandson Jordan, his partner Callie,  Aileen's sister Ann and her husband Neil

plus several friends and colleagues from the UK towing industry,  

Really looking forward to meeting up with old and new friends and acquaintances

We shall be taking part in the 5 km run     😊   🚶‍♂️🏃‍♂️🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️🚶‍♂️

John.  

 

We travelled 500 miles to the north of the UK  to  Edinburgh in Scotland  for the Scottish Truckfest, the premier trucking show ......

With over 1, 500 entries showing off the very finest working trucks and historic vehicles in the country ...

 

Scotland's Towing and Recovery  operators were very well represented  with most of the top operators in attendance 

 

 

 

 

 

A 3 axle  heavy duty  on a  DAF  105  XF chassis  fitted with boniface recovery equipment   to include a very long reach  Maxireach slimline  Underlift  ideal for coaches and vehicles with set back axles  and low ground clearances

Operated  by Norscot Recovery  from Perth 

 

 

A 3 axle  Mercedes Actros   operated by M8 Recovery  based in Glasgow 

 

 

A   MAN   2 axle car transporter fitted with a 6 seater passenger cab   payload on the platform  is over 4 tons  plus a 1.5 ton   2nd car  lift   

Another truck from M8 Recovery 

 

 

 

The 3 axle Mercedes  fitted with Boniface Recoverer tilt boom fitted with twin winches and  a  Maxireach  extralong underlift 

 

A versatile medium duty  from  M8  Recovery

 

 

The proud boss of  M8  recovery    Junior  Mc Manus    a very hard working  operator  who is out on recovery jobs all of the time  with his crews 

 

The pride of Sotland  some of  M8 recovery  crew  having a beer and a bit of fun with the boss 

 

 

A  4  axle  Scania  V8   fitted with Boniface  Recoverer  equipment  operated   by another prominent operator   Karen Yuill 

 

Heavy duty  trucks  from  Andrew's  Recovery 

 

A tidy  NRC quick swap  from Andrew's Recovery 

 

 

A roll back  installed  on a 18 ton  Mercedes  actros  chassis   with a  payload of  8 tons    a slick looking unit  from  Karen Yuill  Recovery

 

 

A very smart  2 axle  Sania T cab  tractor   also from Karen Yuill  Recovery 

 

 

A 3 axle  MAN  coupled into a sliding 3 axle  Landoll   giving a total payload  of  46 tonnes      from M8 Recovery 

 

A front line NATO  spec  MAN   8 x 8   from the Scottish army  and part of the Army recruiting display 

 

This vehicle has seen action in Afghanistan and the middle east 

 

 

A lightweight  breakdown service vehicle  and can lift and tow  upto  1.5 tons     from the Arnold Clark  Group 

 

 

 

 

More  vehicles from Arnold Clark  group 

 

A  Mercedes  Unimog   4 x 4  severe off road  winching truck    from  M8  Recovery 

That is tragic ....our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and co workers...

 

From fellow towers in the UK and Europe....

 

John.

Well Done Guys...

Looks like you kept the load intact ….happy Fedex... 

Last weekend saw another Truckfest in the mid west region of the UK, bordering  Wales  in the delightful.... Malvern  Showground ....

I had the pleasure of meeting up with long time friend and colleague  Archie  Archibald,  the boss of ASK  Recovery,   A long established and highly respected Towing and  Recovery  service  based in Wales.

He had just taken delivery of a very neat  2 axle  medium duty  Volvo ....  the NRC  equipment and body  having been removed from one of Archie's old wore out trucks and fitted onto a low mileage Volvo  chassis 

All the equipment  had been shot blasted, painted and installed by Roger Dyson  Recovery Systems of Droitwich ...

Archie is delighted with the versatility of the vehicle  doing pretty well everything asked of it ....so far.   Towing anything from a small car  through to a buses and tractor units

 

 

 

 

 Based on a 2 year old  Volvo  18 tonne  chassis

 

 

The Equipment is NRC ...fitted with twin winches, rear support legs  with  detachable ground spades , motor cycle attachment  long reach underlift.  

The control  levers are located either side  under hinged protective covers  the air lines are piped for 2 different operating pressures at the same ...to  accomodate some of the latest  European trucks fitted with  high pressure air operating systems ..

 

 

 

 

One Locker is totally dedicated to accommodate  the very latest  VDZ  System of lift and tow attachments  necessary for lift and towing  and winching  the new breed  trucks and tractor units ...... most European manufacturers  specifying chassis attachments with 2 pick up  points  must be used for towing ...

 

 

 

The easy  accessibility  of the forks, chains and airlines 

Archie tells me it is very easy to work and is delighted with the out come 

It  has been a successful  low cost  refurbishment  coming in on time and below budget ..

Promoted by the Professional Recovery Operator Magazine,   The largest annual trade event in the UK dedicated to the Vehicle Towing and Recovery Industry.... returns to the Telford International Centre  Wednesday 25th  and Thursday 26th September 2019

 

for further information,  Visit,    www.recoverytowshow.co.uk

 

As well as all the very latest Recovery Vehicles from all the main manufacturers, the Tow Show displays a broad selection of the Equipment, Accessories and services that make up the Recovery Industry

the  2 day event includes seminars,  live recovery displays and one of the highlights.... the Gala Charity Dinner....  the  UK industry dress up for an evening of entertainments, presentations and fundraising for the industry charities.

 

    

Nice pick.... you guys made a tricky job look easy ...

 

John.

This is one of our multi purpose accident units,  very adaptable for all sorts of car and van recovery,

 

This vehicle was Based on a IVECO chassis  because of the sensitive work it was doing on statutory removals, tow aways and repos we did not have any graphics or writing.

 

 

 

the slide bed has a payload of 4 tons , built in extension ramps for low ground clearance vehicles.

 

The Knuckleboom crane equipped with a street lifter attachment  for damage free removals,   the frame has a hydraulic levelling and rotating capability.

 

 

 

It can lift 1.5 tons at full reach and rotate through 180 degrees.

 

 

the lifting equipment can be easily dismantled and stowed at the front of the platform 

 

 

fitted with hydraulic winches on the platform and an additional  front mounted one..

 

 

 

 

 

Note the Jack Plugs  for  12 and 24 volt  jump leads …

 

 

Second car lift  with provision for clip on ball hitch  and a clip on winch fairlead on the platform.

This truck was very busy al the time and did pretty well anything asked of it within reason, including carriage of stolen /recovered goods, load transfers. 

 

That is tragic... our thoughts and prayers go out to the families ..

 

John.

Over 3,000 trucks were on show at Peterborough, the UK's largest Truckfest of the year 

 

 

One of the UK's top recovery operators    CMG  and long time friend Mark Cowan at the controls of one of his Rotators  and a small selection of his fleet on UK and European Recovery and repatriation work 

 

 

Part of the Crouch Recovery fleet ... Dave Crouch has the largest private collection of historic and military tow trucks and heavy haul units in the country 

 

 

 

A pair of N R C s  from the Statham Group

 

A beautiful Scania  fitted with a knuckle boom crane    a very popular application in Europe 

All the paintwork and graphics are  airbrushed

 

 

 

Another fine airbrushed Scania 

 

 

A couple of rotators  from the Neil Yates  group,  a large operation located just south of  London 

 

 

A selection of trucks from Lantern Recovery....located just north of London  serving one of the busiest motorway networks in the country 

 

One of Neil Yates  newest tractors  fitted with a mighty 75 tonne/ metre  knuckle boom crane and 3 inch pin   5th wheel  used  with a 5 axle trailer for heavy haul work 

 

 

A 4 axle rigid  with slide off body  and knuckleboom crane 

 

 

 

More knuckle boom cranes....

 

A customised van  travelled to the show  from Austria  over 1000 miles    a fabulous airbrushed paint job 

 

 

 

 

 

A truck and trailer  travelled from Poland    the airbrush theme is to commemorate the polish pilots that fought and lost their lives in the Battle of Britain ...

 

 

My dear friend.... Dave Bland  a prominent tow truck builder in the UK  joining us for the show  weekend with his latest creation,  a stunning custom v rod ...

 

Another pic of Dave infront of my Pete and trailer

 

 

The Lantern Recovery  truck racing team.....

 

 

That's heroism in my book …. it takes a special kind of person to commit to that...

 

John.

Randall.....that is the most sobering and accurate piece of text I have read in a long time ....you are bang on the money !!! 

 

I too in my career  have been hit twice, my son Graham had his leg smashed, we had 2 other guys also injured on seperate occasions, both had life changing injuries,

Additionally we lost long term employee  Terry Booth ......Terry died at the side of a busy road in the middle of the night....witnesses at the inquest testified that his truck was properly positioned with cones out and lit up like a,    quote ... "Christmas tree"   he had a comprehensive training record with all the regular refreshers ...

And STILL it happened  !!!   The woman driver that hit him was DUI and went to jail   ....my point is ...on this occasion all the training he  had did not save him ..

 

I whole heartedly agree with your points about self preservation at the roadside ......

 

Just this morning, on my way to the supermarket ,   I saw a tow truck at the side of the road half on the kerb and half on the carriageway......apart from the beacons on there was no cones or warning signs displayed the operator had no reflective clothing on,  just shorts and tee shirt  and  worst of all,   he was working on the traffic side of the truck ....I stopped and parked my car behind him with the hazard warning lights on....as a bit of warning to other traffic ....

I said to the driver,  don't you have any  hi vis clothing ?    Yes  he said, I forgot to bring it ..

 

This Tow truck is owned and operated by a very good company  and the owner is a long time friend and colleague,  he is very pro active  with safety and training...he will be furious and dissapointed when I advise him what I saw ......

 

.your point about  macho,  testosterone,  it wont happen to me ??.   Case in point !!!     NEVER TAKE THE JOB FOR GRANTED .....NEVER DROP YOUR GUARD .

 

The constant  loss of life at the roadside is an absolute tragedy .....but if 1 life can be spared through increased reflectivity, hi visibility clothing, awareness training....

Then it is worthwhile ....

 

Sorry if I have bored or offended any one  but , self preservation is the key ...no matter what country  or language it is in 

 

John.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family,  friends and co workers at Algoa towing ...

 

From their fellow towers in the UK and Europe. 

 

John.

That is a Stunning looking truck ....

 

I am sure it served you well...

 

Thanks for posting,

 

John.

Plenty of Holmes trees to help the job along ......nice rigging.

 

John.

That's the way to do it...!!!

 

Thanks for sharing 

 

John.