Things you had to do.

[ceylon220]

My first job( 1960)on wagons was driving a Commer 2 stroke for a local man loading sawdust from saw mills over the Border into Scotland,buying the load for £3 and selling it to farmers on the English side for £3 a ton,my wage was £3 for every load that I achieved each week, the buying and selling was all done by me,all the boss had to do was do the books. He purchased an old S type Bedford tipper which had a steel covering over the wooden floor which was making the vehicle over weight for applying for the old C licence so a day was spent removing this --still over weight--so off came the spare wheel and not contented with that he removed the carrier also,when he was granted the said licence on went the gear we had removed plus he added extra boards to the sides and back just to get the ideal pay load--this was filled with the sawdust to the top plus two layers of bagged sawdust on top of that and all on by a shovel--you certainly worked for your £3 a load. Only once did one saw mill helped and by that they built a wooden hopper for me and this only lasted a couple of months until some "numpty" left a ciggy and burnt it down---those were the days where jobs on wagons was all hand ball--nostalgia!!!!!

[Dingbat]

Originally Posted by ceylon220

My first job( 1960)on wagons was driving a Commer 2 stroke for a local man loading sawdust from saw mills over the Border into Scotland,buying the load for £3 and selling it to farmers on the English side for £3 a ton,my wage was £3 for every load that I achieved each week, the buying and selling was all done by me,all the boss had to do was do the books. He purchased an old S type Bedford tipper which had a steel covering over the wooden floor which was making the vehicle over weight for applying for the old C licence so a day was spent removing this --still over weight--so off came the spare wheel and not contented with that he removed the carrier also,when he was granted the said licence on went the gear we had removed plus he added extra boards to the sides and back just to get the ideal pay load--this was filled with the sawdust to the top plus two layers of bagged sawdust on top of that and all on by a shovel--you certainly worked for your £3 a load. Only once did one saw mill helped and by that they built a wooden hopper for me and this only lasted a couple of months until some "numpty" left a ciggy and burnt it down---those were the days where jobs on wagons was all hand ball--nostalgia!!!!!

So no 'walking floor' on that truck,then.cheer,s.

[ceylon220]

This was the old Commer 2 stroke loaded up with sawdust from outdoor timber mills, the cab always seemed to lean back for some reason, at night when climbing a hill she would blast sparks from the exhaust,once or twice I was pulled up by motorist thinking that the truck was on fire.
Notice the Guy Indian casting on the front,must be worth a penny or two into days market.

[robertdavey6]

It took me a few moments to realise that was quite lucrative. £3 for the whole load. Then, sell it for £3 per ton.

[coastie]

I mustard mit it took me a couple of minutes for that to click too!

[coachman]

Originally Posted by ceylon220

My first job( 1960)on wagons was driving a Commer 2 stroke for a local man loading sawdust from saw mills over the Border into Scotland,buying the load for £3 and selling it to farmers on the English side for £3 a ton,my wage was £3 for every load that I achieved each week, the buying and selling was all done by me,all the boss had to do was do the books. He purchased an old S type Bedford tipper which had a steel covering over the wooden floor which was making the vehicle over weight for applying for the old C licence so a day was spent removing this --still over weight--so off came the spare wheel and not contented with that he removed the carrier also,when he was granted the said licence on went the gear we had removed plus he added extra boards to the sides and back just to get the ideal pay load--this was filled with the sawdust to the top plus two layers of bagged sawdust on top of that and all on by a shovel--you certainly worked for your £3 a load. Only once did one saw mill helped and by that they built a wooden hopper for me and this only lasted a couple of months until some "numpty" left a ciggy and burnt it down---those were the days where jobs on wagons was all hand ball--nostalgia!!!!!

Attaching boards to the sides of tipper bodies was very common and I remember drivers used to call them ' greedy boards ' because if you used them you were being 'greedy' and wanted a bigger load.

[G-CPTN]

Most tipper bodies were calculated according to what the expected load would be, but, of course, some contractors wanted universal loads.

If the body was sized to carry stone (or sand or gravel), then woodchippings and sawdust would bulk-out before the weight was exceeded, so greedy-boards were fully justified. You often see them on vehicles that carry scrap, as, although steel is heavy, scrap items might be things like bicycle frames with large voids, thus reducing the density of the load.

[coachman]

Originally Posted by G-CPTN

Most tipper bodies were calculated according to what the expected load would be, but, of course, some contractors wanted universal loads.

If the body was sized to carry stone (or sand or gravel), then woodchippings and sawdust would bulk-out before the weight was exceeded, so greedy-boards were fully justified. You often see them on vehicles that carry scrap, as, although steel is heavy, scrap items might be things like bicycle frames with large voids, thus reducing the density of the load.

One dealer I worked for had a separate body shop that would build the odd tipper body, most of these were for a company called 'William Hampton' who were coal and coke merchants. Sometimes I would get the job of taking them to the Weights And Measures Office after they had been painted. I had to take a big lead seal with me and after they were measured and the capacity calculated they fitted the seal and stamped it with a H.M Government Crown mark. They were 8 wheel Fodens and they had something like a 18 yard body, GVW for a vehicle like this was still only 24 ton.

[ceylon220]

Originally Posted by coastie

I mustard mit it took me a couple of minutes for that to click too!

£3 per load--generally worked out at 41/2 ton(damp sawdust mostly) then sold at £3 per ton--less my £3 wage --£10 profit,if imported wood sawdust which was lighter then this was sold per load which I think was £20---most sawmills let you have it free just for clearing it from the site, then the big boys cottoned on and the job went down hill---the boss then went on to buying brewers grain waste and selling it to the farmers, changed my job after that, the smell from the wet grain was too much for the system being then a teatotaller!!