Page 2. SD Enthusiasts' Club Newsletter - Winter 2011.
Eric Salmons.
At the reunion lunch we received the sad news that Eric Salmons died recently. Eric played a major part in the design of the Freightlifter and Defiant fork lift trucks. He contributed a major article to the Enthusiasts' Club Magazine in Spring 2005. We offer to his family our condolences.
As a tribute to Eric I reproduce the aricle published in 2005.
FORK LIFT TRUCK DESIGN.
By Eric Salmons.
I first worked with John Huggins, the Fork Lift designer, in 1951. I became his Chief Draughtsman, running a small team, and the first SD Fork Lift Truck, Model 82 on pneumatic tyres, 6 to 8 tons capacity was exhibited at the very first Materials Handling Exhibition at Earls Court in 1952. J.L. Wilkinson, the Sales and Service Director, was very excited in his talks with the Western Region of British Railways. The Model 82 was not quite large enough to handle the standard Railway containers, so it wasn't long before we had a Model 100 by stretching the wheelbase to 100 inches. It was a great success until the Slough police considered it unsafe on the road between Goodsyards, due to lack of forward visibility. The outcome was a new Model 100 with Dual-drive cabs, such that it could be driven on the highway (technically in reverse gear all the time).
The new model was very popular with W.R. until an over enthusiastic driver began to lift overloads, costing W.R. and S&D money to replace damaged masts.
The next development was the Model 72 for its short wheelbase. It was so especially compact; I think only 60 inches wide. The Perkins P6 engine was standard, except for the cooling fan which may have been a pusher, instead of the usual suction type. Also the fan drive pulley, at the end of the crankshaft, was probably modified by S&D, to facilitate a coupling to drive the hydraulic pump. I am not sure whether the flywheel was Perkins' standard or special to accommodate a Borg & Beck 16 in. dia. clutch. The remainder of the truck was SD design to achieve the intense compactness.
The integral gearbox and driving axle were used only on that design of truck; although maybe the differential crown wheel and pinion and bevel gears were common to the 'W' type refuse collector. In Mr. Shelvoke's time it was policy to make everything in his own factory, so that he was not dependent on anyone else.
I enclose a scanned copy of the Model 72 Fork Lift Truck as used by Reeds Paper Group and Thames Board Mills, near Purfleet, where they had huge vats for digesting scrap paper, and ultimately producing new corrugated cardboard for packaging. I was fortunate to see the whole of this process.
Normally the Model 72 Lift Truck was only fitted with forks and masts to lift 10 or 12 feet for industrial use, but for stacking paper rolls on end, it was necessary to lift 26 feet. These paper rolls weighed 8,000 lbs. (3 ½ tons approx.) and were held in a clamp which could be rotated by hydraulic control. Later it became necessary to lift higher still - to 33 feet.
An SD Model 72 at work at Thames Board Mills.
John Huggins left S&D in 1959, and J.L. Wilkinson lost interest in the Fork Lift side, so that by 1963 very few people at SD were interested, apart from myself. R.M. Davenport, the Managing Director, at that time, encouraged me to develop a new range of trucks, and I had a close relationship with the London Brick Company of Stewartby, near Bedford. One model in particular was tailored to L.B.C. requirements, and eventually L.B.C. had 150 trucks to that design.
I left S&D in 1967 to become self-employed, which continued until 1987. This work involved a lot of transport container handling of types and sizes 20 ft., 30 ft., and 40 ft., ranging in weight from 20 tons to 40 tons, in use in numerous countries throughout the world; including 18 units on the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia.
I am now 84 years of age, but I'm not as fit as I would like to be. I also knew Ken Smith very well, (see Winter 2004 issue of the magazine) and still remember my visits to his private workshop in Hitchin; such tremendous skill and precision. My years at S&D were a tremendous experience. I do hope that this information is of value to you.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Salmons. Braintree, Essex.
Subsequently Stan Quin gave his perspective on the history of fork lift truck production at S&D and the fiollowing is from the Summer 2005 issue of the magazine.
SD's FORK LIFT TRUCK RANGE.
Following the publication in issue 9, Spring 2005 of Eric Salmon's article about Fork Lift Truck design, I was contacted by Stanley Quin who made the following observations:-
So far as the London Brick Company was concerned, S&D's business relationship dated back to 1952 when the first Freightlifter was delivered to Stewartby and subsequently remained in service for over 21 years, as did many others which were to follow. LBC became S&D's most important FLT customer and by 1974 when S&D ceased truck production, it's fleet of SD trucks was approaching 200 units.
During the period from 1952 to 1974, close co-operation was established between S&D and LBC Engineers and this was an important factor in regard to procurement. In this respect, Jack Arnold and his Service Engineers played an extremely important part, bearing in mind that the trucks were operating around the clock in the worst possible environment which was polluted with grit and brick dust. The service provided was second to none and ensured that down time was restricted to an absolute minimum.
S&D was the first UK company to enter the heavy-duty Fork Lift truck market, the nature of which was poles apart from the Municipal market. Jack Wilkinson, the Sales Director, had the disadvantage that, in those days, the Company's severe lack of financial resources denied him the assistance of a specialist sales force to exploit S&D's position. This unfortunately allowed some hard nosed competitors to penetrate the market at our expense. The suggestion that Jack Wilkinson lost interest in the Fork Lift side is a little harsh, bearing in mind that the decision to develop the new range of Defiant Trucks involved a substantial investment which had to be sanctioned by the Board of which he was a member.
The comment that by 1963 very few people at S&D were interested in fork lift trucks, was certainly not the case. Priorities at that time were strictly dictated by a severe lack of capital, as well as human resources. So that the first priority when Tom Tillson joined the Company, in 1959, was the design, development and promotion of the Pakamatic range of refuse collection vehicles in order to maintain our position in the Municipal market. The Pakamatic project was highly successful, and was responsible for a significant increase in S&D's share of the market thus creating a problem of coping with expansion which opened up another chapter in the Company's history.
With regard to Fork Lift Trucks, this was an extremely competitive market and profit margins were less attractive than those obtained from municipal products. It was for this reason when considering the allocation of resources, that further development of the FLT Division was of a lesser priority.
However, following the successful development of the Pakamatic range, Tom Tillson, who as Technical Director had overall responsibility for fork lift truck design, directed his attention to the design of an extensive new range of trucks including those supplied to the London Brick Company, some of which incorporated hydrostatic transmission.
Regrettably sales of the impressive range of SD Defiants proved to be uneconomical, both in terms of profitability and the disproportionate demands on engineering capacity which could be better utilised by a new range of products incorporated in what was to become the Special Purpose Vehicle Division.
In 1974 all of S&D's Fork Lift Truck Designs, and associated assets, were sold to the Rubery Owen Company, an established manufacturer of the Conveyancer range of fork lift trucks.