We are getting ready for the seed grader to arrive in the next few days. Getting ready involves moving grain, emptying bins and getting trucks ready. It came time to get the old truck out of the shed and check its tyre pressures.
So Dan and I head over to to old truck and Dan offers to drive it over to the workshop. So in he hops, slides onto the seat and turns the key. After a bit of fiddling with the battery terminal leads, the engine turns over and roars into life.
There is a common misconception found primarily in young male drivers, which I suffered in my youth as well. It involves the throttle or accelerator of a vehicle. The misconception is that the throttle has only two positions – ‘On’ or ‘Off’.
Dan places the gear lever of the truck into first and then applies the throttle to ‘On’. The truck dutifully leaps out of the shed on full revs as Dan turns it to the workshop. Having returned the throttle to the ‘Off’ position he successfully negotiated the non-syncro gearbox into second and returned the accelerator to its ‘On’ position.
Its at this point that I suffer a flashback…
It was 1983, just after 10:30pm. It was a clear moonlight night as my girl and I headed down the back lane to home. I was 19, five months older than the girl of whom I speak and it had been a long day of carting grain. I had had my truck license for approximately three weeks.
As were heading home three events occurred simultaneously.
First was the sound of an electrical wire shorting accompanied by the smell of burning plastic. The second event was the flicker of my headlights before going out. The third, and most alarming, was the appearance of a mob of about twenty merino hoggets, disturbed by the vehicle, leaping across the road in front of me.
(NB…. if you hadn’t worked it out yet, my ‘Girl’ is a truck. To be precise, a J series Bedford with which I was destined to spend many hours with and this was the first of many unexpected events.)
So I dutifully applied the brake. The pedal depressed as expected, however it was not accompanied by any noticeable slowing of the vehicle. I released it and pressed again – just in case the slowing sensation was somehow caught napping the first time. But alas – there was no noticeable slowing of the truck. From here on in repeated application of the brake was more related to exercise or therapy, than stopping the vehicle.
But I digress.. Back to this afternoon. So, as Dan hurtles towards our workshop shed I remember the reliability of the truck’s brakes. However the fact that saved me all those years ago would also save Dan. Even with the throttle in ‘On’ position, the truck is so slow I ran after it, came along side and called out ‘Handbrake!!’
Now you may think that a handbrake turn would not be an appropriate maneuver in this situation – but the handbrake was the only viable method of bringing the truck to a halt. On that evening, the handbrake was also my last resort – although unnecessary – by the time I had stopped the truck, the sheep had run in front of the truck, ran around it at the back (thinking I may feed them grain) and ended up running circles around me like American Indians do in the Westerns as I came to a stop.
Those old trucks… The TARE weight was 3.2 tons with a gross of 9.7 tons. That gives us a carrying capacity of approximately 6.5 tons, not counting the bin. The bin was made of steel and probably accounted for another two tons of weight, leaving a ‘legal’ payload of approximately 4.5 tons
However, these were the days before the RTA and nobody really cared – you filled the bin up regardless of weight and kept a bag in the cabin to also fill and place in the passenger seat – just so you didn’t waste the trip!!
The petrol engine was so hot by the time you got to the delivery point that you had to leave the engine running – other wise the fuel would vaporize in the lines – making the truck impossible to restart until it had cooled.
But they were quite safe. With a load you only ever got to second gear. On the way home empty you may have used third. I know it has a fourth gear, as it is written on the gear stick – but I don’t know I ever used it. From the roar of the engine, anyone would have ample time to get out of the road – even if the brakes had failed.
Those were the days….
So here is a picture of my ‘girl’…..
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This is her. We are both turning 50 this year. It looks like we have both weathered a bit – but every year she fires up. No need to check the engine management computer in this machine. |
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For anyone interested in hydraulics. Its a flat top tipper with a ‘scissor’ style lifting mechanism instead on the single ram systems common on trucks today. This allowed you to tip the truck quite high with only a short ram. All of the hydraulic oil is stored in the RAM casing itself, making the unit quite self contained. |
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And the cabin was basic, but comfortable. I have never had to get the air conditioner re-gassed or the electric windows fixed. In the version of the Bedford before this, instead of brakelights and indicators, you had a metal hand on a pole which you stuck out the window to indicate turning or stopping. |
Ah the memories… These young ones just don’t realise what they have missed 😉
NeilK