Page 2. Shelvoke & Drewry Enthusiasts' Club Magazine - Autumn 2010.
A DUSTMAN REMEMBERS. Part 2.
By Trevor Wood.
I was always interested in the different types of vehicles I worked on, but I particularly liked the Fore & Aft tippers. From the dustman's point of view, you could get almost anything in the back and that equals more tips for the crew!
As you may know, with the F &A it was possible, if tipped forward facing downhill that the body would be over the point of balance and would not come down. This was usually cured by moving the vehicle to somewhere flatter. We had this happen on one occasion on a caravan site with a low electric cable crossing the road, we had to borrow a rope and lasso the back of the body and get all available hands on the other end to pull the body down.
A 'T ' type Fore & Aft tipper.
The little F& A we had, which by this time was also a spare, could have done with some new springs on the up and over rear door, because of this we didn't ride on the steps. But one of our gang thought he knew better, it was quite a sight to see this dustcart going up the road with the rear door 3 parts closed and a pair of legs sticking out the back.
This little F& A came from Dorking and Horley R.D.C. and for many years was crewed by the same two men. They used to cover the rural area south west of Dorking, around Leith Hill area. The mate, who was known to everybody as "Geordie" had at sometime found a hunting horn which he would keep in the wagon and blow out the window. On one occasion (must have been a Wednesday because that's the day the hunt meets) they were around Leith Hill when Geordie sounded the bugle. A retired colonel, who clearly didn't know about this local tradition, saddled his horse up and went off to find the hunt, which he failed to do and I am told was none too impressed when he was told the reason why.
The Eagle Crushload was a strange beast, it was on a 1965 Bedford TK chassis. The funny thing was we always noticed the smell of the load more with that than with the Pakas. It had electro-hydraulic switching for the compacting mechanism and would blow the fuse, which was situated in the cab, if it jammed up. The 'fuse' of course was a bit of silver paper or small nail, whatever could be found to keep it going. To empty the Crushload involved undoing a valve behind the cab and pumping a handle until it went solid, this diverted the oil to the tipping rams. Once empty the valve was switched back and the handle pumped again. On one occasion we forgot this and when the driver switched on the system as we travelled to site the body came up, fortunately there were no bridges in the area.
Another problem with the Crushload concerned the handbrake. These early Bedfords had a transmission handbrake and with the action of the Crushload packing mechanism the vehicle would rock back and forth when parked. Although the drivers were supposed to stay in the vehicle there were occasions when they got out to help load and at these times it was advisable to turn the steering in to the kerb if possible -- just in case.
In the final part of these memories I'll be recalling the Glover, Webb & Liversidge bodied Commer/Karriers.