Transport

Pennine Ploughing

Member
Mixed Farmer
What's wrong with aendless fungo Pennine? By the tone of your post maybe I should ask what's right with a cargo?
Cargo tend to be a rot box in cab dept, and will give you hours of endless fun keeping on top of it, they used to be bad on the underside of cab, more so than any other makes,
then the brakes, older ones where air over oil, and will fail test on rusty brake pipes for fun, and replacing them and the air over oil was a real pleasure to bleed and get right, even then when braking when empty was a lottery, as they were either all or nothing,
oh and they were on disc brakes not drums, so are prone to rusting when laid uo on periods of non use, again not a good idea for occasional use,
and then there was the gearbox with the missing gear, the big jump from changing down from top, meant it was on its knees to reving its tits off, if only they had been better spaced out, , the one i had for 1 year was 13 months to long,
You might be looking at 1 as you think they seem a lot for the money, yes they are a lot hassle and end up doing your head in, bit like a cheap woman that is high maintenance needs constant attention, and wont ride well the odd times you you need it,
as said stick to a Mercedes man or last choice a daf in that order,
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
So ley, would I be right in thinking that anything before 2002 would qualify? Out of interest what lorry do you drive?
E prefix MAN 8 136. It manages about 17 to the gallon, loaded and towing the caravan. As its so old(30 this year) it does not have or require a speed limiter. I would check up with NFU re date cut off and premium. The faults are mainly the narrow tyres, they are not as good as they could be in fields. Cab was rotten around the front screen, and the water ingress had rotted most of the floor, but that was a simple repair.More than can be said for the screen surround! Front wheel arches were rebuilt when the floor was done. That may put you off, but I only paid £700.00 for the old girl, and its done me well for more than 12 years.
Oh, one more thing, cab electrics can be entertaining, heater resistors give up the ghost, and headlight switches are suspect. My fuel gauge is manual, IE bit of wood to dip the tank with!
Parts are still available, though getting harder to find, most of the time they have to come from Germany.
 

arcobob

Member
Location
Norfolk
Get a MAN 8.163 if you can afford it. No speed limiter before 2002 but don`t go inside emission controlled zones as these old trucks are not compliant, thus the courier firms got rid of the at about that time.
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
Get a MAN 8.163 if you can afford it. No speed limiter before 2002 but don`t go inside emission controlled zones as these old trucks are not compliant, thus the courier firms got rid of the at about that time.
I would go for an 8 150. much nicer engine. I have one in my old girl.
 

arcobob

Member
Location
Norfolk
I would go for an 8 150. much nicer engine. I have one in my old girl.
I had a 10.150, deadly slow ( 6 cylinder non turbo) and poor gear change but reliable with a good cab. The 163 was more economical, much better performance and still no problems. It was much more car-like to drive.
 

Ley253

Member
Location
Bath
I had a 10.150, deadly slow ( 6 cylinder non turbo) and poor gear change but reliable with a good cab. The 163 was more economical, much better performance and still no problems. It was much more car-like to drive.
Mine is a straight six, non turbo, but slow, its not. It will if pushed hit 70! However, its never asked to do that now, 50 usually is the max. Gearchange is ok, but it helps to keep the linkage on top of the gearbox greased, and the plastic guides at the lever bottom in good order.
Best lorry I had was a Leyland road runner, with the Leyland 6 98 engine. It would cruise at 70, do 19/20 to the gallon, and never gave any trouble. Worst was a Merc 814. too heavy, and drank fuel. Brakes operated by a "stop go " switch!
 

Cordiale

Member
Thanks for all your comments so far. Decided to do a little research yesterday, rang NFU to get some idea of insurance costs. Used a hypothetical 1992 lorry for quote purposes and they came back with £750 third party, £850 fully comp, thought blimey this is a none starter. Only to be rung back 15 minutes later to be told £100 fully comp. Is that about right?
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 80 42.1%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 67 35.3%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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