5th - 9th February 2007

Monday 5th February 2007

0700 Start. First job this morning was to run out into the sticks near Ongar to collect the 6t Hitachi that I’d dropped off on Friday. As I threaded my way theough the narrow lanes I caught up one of our machine drivers who was crawling along, obviously lost in his van. He pulled in to let me past and I guessed that he must be going to the same place as me for whatever reason. I was slightly more puzzled to find the service van there, but somehow the bloke who had it on self drive had managed to slip the machine out of one of it’s tracks. There was not much I could do so I fired up the night heater and kept out of the way whilst they got it sorted. The houseowner appeared and was moaning, saying he had requested the same machine he’d had previously as it had steel tracks and that rubber tracks were not really suitable for outdoor use, I resisted the temptation to ask if carpet or perhaps laminate flooring would be more suitable and kept quiet. It wasn’t too long before the fitter had it all sorted and the machine was loaded and chained without further incident. As this machine had been given a clean bill of health and wasn’t caked in mud, it bypassed the return visit to the yard and was delivered straight to site in Chelmsford to replace a 13 tonner that the lowloader had just collected. The next job on the sheet was to collect a 7t Volvo from Hornchurch so it was a quick blast down the A12 and through to Emerson Park. The site address was a name and address, with door number so I assumed it’d be a small development but in fact it was a reasonable sized site that I discovered by accident whilst waiting for a Readymix lorry to unsuccessfully reverse in. It would appear that I was in the nick of time and collecting the digger now would clear some space so I jumped the queue and loaded the machine straight on. The extra buckets were loaded by remote tower crane and I left quickly to minimise further disruption. Unfortunately the road ahead was closed and I ended up getting diverted where I really didn’t want to be, this resulted in a couple of wrong turns and a slightly haphazard route back to the yard to offload the machine.

There was not much happening for a while so I refuelled the machine and tucked it out of the way between a couple of bigger machines before having a cuppa and a snooze in the cab for half hour or so. My next job was to collect an 8t Hitachi (the one the bloke wanted this morning) from a farm field in nearby Great Baddow. This had been one of my first jobs, delivering here so I knew exactly where to go and was slightly puzzled to find no sign of it or anyone working there where it had clearly been. I followed the road until the end just to make sure it hadn’t been moved to a different field before calling in. It turns out that they had tracked the machine back across the fields to the farm (about 1½ miles) and someone had just not told me (at least it hadn’t been nicked). Getting to the farm by road was slightly less direct and was about a 5 mile journey (although still quicker than the machine, no doubt) Once I found the machine it was loaded with just two buckets and driven a couple of miles to another of their farms nearby where they have some more work for it. It didn’t quite get the record for shortest move, that going to my former employer who sent me from Harlow to Lewes to move a drill rig 1.1km with my 8 wheeler before returning empty, job done. I was back at the yard at finished bang on 1500 for a straight 8 hours, no overtime.

Tuesday 6th February 2007

In at 0745 this morning for a local first job not requiring urgent attention. After a brew up I go round the wagon and give it a good check over, it’s due in for service next week and there are a few niggly bits that sorting when it goes in. One of the brake lights has blown, but the yard fitter finds one in Bob’s cab and swiftly changes it over. Once I am satisfied that everything is tip top I head off to the local VOSA testing station in Chelmsford to collect a JCB 3CX. I’m not sure what they are doing here but most of the testing buildings have been demolished and the place is a right mess. Whether they are still testing here or not I don’t know, but the HGV tests are obviously still operating from here as I spy the silver Scania 92M that I learnt in pull through the gates. The JCB is parked down at the end so, I spin round and drop the ramps in front so I can drive it straight on. Unfortunately the keys where not where they should have been and no amount of searching can find them before I admit defeat and call the office, after a few minutes they call me back with the news that the machine driver has forgotten to leave them, but someone will bring me the spare set from the yard. I settle for a half hour snooze and a cup of tea whilst I wait, obviously I just want to get going but sometimes life keeps throwing these obstacles at you. The keys arrive and it’s not long before it’s loaded on and chained ready for the short run back to the yard. Where I find that the cab door has decided to lock itself with the keys in the ignition. Uh - oh. Luckily the fitter is in the yard and produces a JCB key which opens the door and I’m back in business and able to swap it over for the 7t Volvo that I brought in yesterday. This one is going to Colchester Garrison and I am swapping it over for another machine but cannot do so until after lunch, I take the opportunity to run some tachos into Wheelers down at the Hythe and park on the quay for a spot of lunch. Admittedly that sounds far nicer than the reality of over looking the scrapyard on one side of the muddy river, Jewsons dead ahead and a bit building development over the other side but you’ve to take what you can.

The Garrison job is far larger than I had realised and I am surprised by how much it has all been developed since I last went that way, I find Gate A and the security guard waves a plan of the site under my nose to try and help me find the right area. As I drive round I realise that this development is vast, and finding my 9t digger is going to be no easy job. Everywhere I look there are diggers, JCB’s, telehandlers, dumpers, HUGE dumpers and people. In the end I give up and call the office as it is hopeless, they give me the number of one of our machine drivers and tell me to find him first. Our machines are tucked away, and it’s a bit of an offroad course to get there but somehow I battle through. I have some parts to drop off here, but that’s all the machine is going over there somewhere and the other one is over there as well. I am told that someone in a red 4x4 will come and lead me in the right direction, but I have gleaned the info that I need to pick up a 9t buff coloured Komatsu. After 5 minutes of waiting I figure that on a site with hundreds of people (poss. Thousands) I could end up waiting forever for my escort so I decide to trail round ‘over there’ and see if I can find the machine myself, I eventually spot something probable and I decide to walk over and check it out as I cannot see anyway of getting there with the lorry. This itself is no mean feat being something of an assault course, crossing trenches and climbing over stuff to get there. However I am in the right place (only been an hour) and they tell me how to thread my way round the site to get the vehicle there. It’s a simple switch, our machine off and the contractors one on and I eventually hand in my gate pass at 1500 having been on site for an hour an a half.

This machine is being delivered to a big waterside development at Brightlingsea, so I retrace my route to the Hyte and pick up the old Clacton road through to Thorrington before turning off for Brightlingsea. As I come into the village I see a large tower crane and figure that is a good place to head for (although there’s not much choice of waterfront to aim for)

Once I find someone to hand the machine over too, I am forced to offload and then hang the chains, fold the ramps and sweep down whilst being assaulted by the aroma of fish and chips from the chippy next door.

[img]http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g122/8wheels/Work152.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g122/8wheels/Work153.jpg[/img]

It is 4 o’clock and I am very tempted but I resist the temptation and instead get irked by the lift axle refusing to lift. I leave it down and run back as is, knowing full well it will lift first thing in the morning but would probably have messed me about for ages if I had persisted. A good run back and I’m back in the yard just after 1700.

Wednesday 7th February 2007

0730 This morning, frankly I’d rather have stayed in bed as it was flippin freezing outside and waiting for the car to thaw did nothing to improve things, at least I’ve got a heated screen unlike many of the muppets that were driving along peering out through a letter box sized clear patch. Despite my confidence about the tag axle, there was no way it was going to lift this morning, it went through the motions with the body doing press ups whilst it kept trying but I had to give up and leave it down. I had to gingerly track a 1½t mini digger up the ramps, it is a bit delicate on the best of days, being so narrow it only just cover the gap between the ramps, but today with frost on the ramps there is the danger of it sliding. Thankfully it goes on OK and I head off down the A130 to unload it at a boatyard on Canvey Island. The rear cab glass is frozen up, so I decide to spin the machine tracks and all and drive it down the ramps with one hand on the lever for the dozer blade in case it starts to go. The machine made it safely down the ramps unlike me sliding down whilst standing perfectly upright. I definitely need some new boots, anyone got a good source for size 13 steel capped Doc Martens? The axle is still not playing ball, and traction here is tricky too with no weight on, wet roads and the tag axle taking the weight of the beaver tail. I have heard other people moaning about 6x2’s in the wet and now I can sympathise, ideally it would be a double drive bogie for this job but a working lift would be equally good. Back at the yard there are no more machines to move so I get the keys to another beast, an R Reg LDV Convoy pick up. Woo hoo. I have to load a hydraulic breaker for one of the machines, this involves cranking the ancient forklift into life and finding that for some reason today it only wants to go straight ahead or left. I persevere by letting it run to warm up and driving it round in circles and eventually get a very small amount of right lock which enable me to somehow load the breaker on board before setting off for Ipswich to drop it off. I know I’m fortunate in having had a few decent motors to drive, but I’ve had some old dogs as well but this one takes some beating just the ergonomics of the thing amaze me. Take it’s nearest rival the Transit, they are so different. Now OK I’m a 6 footer and I’m about 14st, so not exactly tiny, but by the same token not really abnormal size, the LDV is cramped and uncomfortable compared to the Tranny which poses no such problem. My worst complaint were the mirrors though, the nearside one is so low that anything you could manage to see is blocked anyway by the quarterlight divider, I guess after truck mirrors anything seems inferior but I have always been impressed by the mirrors on Transits with the built in wide angle. Aaargh rant over. After Ipswich I have to lug the beast up the A14 to Volvo at Duxford to collect a part for one of our machines. Apparently the machine is on self drive and the driver is refusing to use it because the (cab) heater isn’t working. The small control box that plugs into the dash is a whopping £560. Back down the M11 from Duxford and I hand over my precious cargo to the unimpressed boss. A quick check over on the truck and one of the marker lights has blown, so I change the bulb and then refit a new emergency stop button on the winch. Finally the lift axle decides to work, which might be handy if the weather is bad tomorrow and I decide to quit whilst I’m ahead and go home at 1600.

Thursday 8th February 2007

Out the house at 0600 and in the last hour and a half about 2” of snow had fallen, this wasn’t particularly good news as none of the roads seemed to have been gritted. I was concerned mainly about other idiots on the road and it took nearly half an hour to get to Danbury which is only a few miles from home. At the top of the hill there is a sort of S bend with a dip in the middle, thankfully people were using common sense and spacing out well as it was more than a bit dodgy. I met Norman as arranged and we took refuge with a cuppa in the office whilst we decided that the roads (A12 included) were in such a bad way we’d sit it out and wait to see what happened. Various calls were exchanged and we gleaned the knowledge that even the M25 was bad by the Dartford Crossing and soon we learnt that the site we were to clear in Dartford had been closed and the blokes sent home. This rather stopped any further chance of getting sent out and we stayed put drinking tea. Our lowloader driver Bob called to say he was staying at home at to call if we needed him. After several cups of tea and generally getting in the way we were sent home at about 0930.

Friday 9th February 2007

Yesterdays job had been rolled over and to be honest I was dreading the road conditions this morning, all the snow had turned to slush last night and the weather forecasters were predicting a freeze over night. However the roads this morning were just wet and I arrived at the yard at 0615 and followed Norman out at 0630. we ran down to Dartford together and pulled onto the site next to the Tunnel abnormal loads area in just 45 minutes. It was a site clearance for a civil engineering firm and we decided that he would get busy loading the container and pallets of cement whilst I sorted out the JCB and compressor.

We also had a dumper to go but managed to squeeze it on his beaver tail as the container was only a 10 footer. Yesterdays plan was for the JCB to go to Gants Hill and everything back to the contractors yard near Chelmsford, however it was all headed back to the yard now. After following him through the tunnel I passed him by the A13 and watched him disappear in the mirror, much to his irritation. In fact I passed most things as my Scanny will happily steam along in the high 50’s and having been a 44t unit in a previous life is just not stretched by the piffling 26t that it now runs at. Of course 420hp and the full 14sp gearbox go someway to help matters, no slowing on hills for me then. Leaving the A12 at Margaretting there are two routes to Highwood, one is via the A414 the other through some windy lanes and I decide to choose these. I worked in Highwood for 6 years and know the roads well, but due to the almost complete absence of snow by the A12 I forgot how much we’d had and was slightly concerned when I turned into the lane. I kept it nice and steady and arrived at the yard safely about 5 minutes before Norman who had come the long way round. Once everything was unchained the compressor was forklifted off, Norm took the JCB off whilst I sorted the chains and straps, folded the ramps and got out of the way so that he could unload his. My next job was a bit of a mystery I had been given an envelope of cash, a collection address, a delivery address and told to bring back whatever was there. It was a farm on the Bedford side of Hitchin and I made my way up the A1M and followed the lanes north of Hitchin, one of the things I love about this vocation is the different things that you get to see when you pass through places. Today was no exception and in the village of Stondon I was pretty surprised to see a large sailing ship standing in a yard, I noticed a sign about a transport museum and thanks to the web I now know that it is a replica of Captain Cook’s Endeavour. In rural Bedfordshire. Before long I found the farm and the driveway was compacted snow and nice and slippery. I handed over the cash and was shown my prize a digger of unknown manufacture and age about 5t or so, a bit of a rusty relic but I suppose obviously worth something (£3500) to someone. It took a bit of cranking to start and my jump start pack got dusted off and helped get the beast started, once it was going it all seemed to work and it was loaded without further fuss, although I left it running whilst I attended to the chains and ramps. I decided to stop for a 45 here and I enjoyed a nice peaceful snooze, much better than stopping at South Mimms with all those inconsiderate drivers coming and going. On the M25 on the way back there had been an accident involving several vehicles just before the M11 but I was lucky enough to a.) not get involved and b.) get through just as the Incident Response Unit arrived and not get stuck in the traffic jam that would no doubt result in their cone and sign wielding operation. Back into Essex I came off the A12 and took the old A130 Southend Road along to Hanningfield and at one point was running alongside Bob in the lowloader. All I had as an address was the farm name and an X on the map although this turned out to be the telephone exchange, I was sure it would be the next road down as there were all sorts of bits of plant at a place there so I went to give it a look after having a little drive around to make sure. The other place looked promising but had the wrong name, but a quick snoop round to find someone confirmed I was in the right place after all. The machine started perfectly and was swiftly offloaded before I made my way back to our yard a short distance away. Finished at 1615. Total Distance 739Kms

20th - 26th January 2007

Some of you may recall that back in October I was unceremoniously ditched by my company for no reason and left with the prospect of being out of a full time job just 6 weeks before going away for all of December. I decided to try and find some temp. work for November and worry about January when it happened, I made some cards up and targeted small local plant hire companies and a couple of places on the advice of acquaintances. During seven days of unemployment, I visited 12 companies and two agencies, did three days work on agency and had one day with nothing to do. One of the agency days was at one of the places I had previously visited, but got me a days experience on a skip wagon. I managed to get a full time job with Easco in Boreham, with the promise of work in January if I was OK and happy to go back. This was somewhat a relief and I was grateful for the chance, sure it was only delivering and collecting skips of scrap metal but I was left to my own devices and given my own fleet of an Iveco 18t single skip, and a Scania 8 wheeler 2 skip to shuttle back and forwards between. Both were fairly well hammered but I was fairly happy, not pushed and found them a fairly decent to work for.

After returning from holiday in January, I was called by the metals company I had done the original day on skips with ad offered a job, but I declined as it was just the same job but 10 miles further from home. A week later I was called by Danbury Plant Hire who had also kept my card since October and now needed a full time plant driver and asked me along to see them. This as you may recall was my thing before and I called in the next day and was offered the job on the spot. I explained to my TM at Easco that I’d been approached and had accepted another job, he was disappointed that I wouldn’t be staying but could see why I wanted to go, however it didn’t stop an almost daily plea to stay and an invitation to go back if things didn’t work out which does give reassurance that maybe I aint too bad after all.

Saturday 20th January 2007

Saturday’s are not usually on my working calendar, but Danbury had asked me in so that I could go through the paperwork and have a looky round at my leisure before staring on Monday. I arrived at 0830 and started to fill in endless forms including a contract and was issued with a phone and various ticket books etc for use during the week. My new wheels for the job are in the shape of a Y reg Scania P 124 – 420 6 wheeler with beaver tail body. It’s a tidy little motor the cab is immaculate despite it’s 550,000Kms (which is roughly the same as the T plate 8 wheeler I’ve just left which was ingrained with dirt) and generally it seems to be in good order for a plant vehicle of this age. Apparently it started life as a unit and had been stretched and had the plant body added later in life before being acquired by Danbury late last year. It joins another Scania 6 wheeler with beaver tail and crane, and also an R420 with a Nooteboom low loader trailer. I moved all my gear in to the cab and spent a while looking at the bits and pieces and working out how to unfold the ramps etc. just so I’ll be familiar on Monday. Overall the setup seems good, and I feel that the boss could be one of a dying breed who is a actually a decent bloke to work for, loads of his staff have been there 20-30 years and he seems like a genuinely decent man. Time will tell of course, but I really hope that I’m right.

Monday 22nd January 2007

I’d been asked to start at 0700 and collect my paperwork, but I had the keys and was in the yard at 0645 and had my checks done so that I could be out by 0700. As I only had a 1½ t mini digger on the rear axle was up and it took a bit of getting used to being able to manoeuvre a full length vehicle so easily, just had to keep my eye on the rear swing. The next hurdle to overcome was the gearbox, a 3 over 3 range changer, out onto to the main road and I can’t get over about 20mph, now I know I’m doing something wrong as it clearly isn’t going into high when I flick the switch, this triggers a colleague telling me of a similar problem, and I discover the range change is actually on a lifting collar disguised as a gaiter whereas the splitter is the switch that on every other Scania I’ve driven is the range change. Oh well it’s all good experience and now I know what’s going on it is fairly easy to adjust to the unorthodox layout, although through the day I periodically split the gear instead of dropping the range, or try and force it into where 5th gear lives on a 4 over 4 only to find no slot. First call is to drop of the digger in Wanstead and I cop for a bit of traffic on the M11 before arriving at site at 0830. The road is narrow with parked cars either side, so I park the truck on the adjacent wider road and set about unstrapping, and removing the restraint bars on the ramps, so I can nip round the corner unfold the ramps, drive the digger off, fold the ramps and go with minimum disruption. It’s a nice idea that soon unravels when the digger just will not start, I’m sure I’m doing everything right and call the office to check, they give me some suggestions but it’s not playing ball and now the battery has had a hammering so they say someone will come out to look at it. Luckily I had stuffed the kettle in the cab, as I was to wait for about 3 hours for a fitter to arrive. Despite being a sleeper I cannot find a night heater and the diesel tanks were in desperate need of filling so I could sit running the engines too long to keep warm. When the fitter arrived, I was pleased to see that it gave him some problems too and took about an hour to effect a short time fix. The diesel heater had packed up on the machine (it’s only done 290 hours) but once it was going it was swiftly off loaded and I was on my way to my next call at Little Laver near Ongar in Essex. A short hop up the M11 and onto the A414 after a quick stop for fuel, I cut through the lanes to Moreton forgetting that last time I did this was in a 7½ tonner and that was tight enough, all is going OK until I discover an EDF crew taking up much of the narrow road leaving just enough room to squeeze a car through, to make matters worse they are French linesmen who have been shipped over with their vehicles to help repair storm damage. After about 15 minutes they pack their gear and move the truck so I can get through. At the next call one of the digger drivers is waiting for me, having been sent to assist and we quickly get the 8t digger loaded and chained with all its buckets. This gets taken back down the A414 to Chelmsford where I have to offload it into a field entrance, I manage to get it off OK but the neatly nested buckets have strewn themselves across the ramps and need rounding up before I can leave. It’s now nearly 1600 but I still have another to collect at Takeley near Stansted Airport, however I make good time and arrive on site just after 1630. No sooner than my feet hit the ground, someone hands me the keys to the little 3t digger and it’s on board and strapped down in record time. Aaargh, according to the paperwork there should be two more buckets, these took some finding in the gloomy compound and I was grateful to the machine driver who swiftly lifted them on for me. Again I’m lucky with the traffic and pull back into the yard at Danbury about 1745 just before the other 6 wheeler arrived. The machine was off loaded, the deck swept down, and finally I finished at 1815.

Tuesday 23rd January 2007

0645 Start. Straight out this morning onto the road for all of five minutes to reach the first call, another plant hire company where I have to collect a 6t dumper that has been cross hired. There are a few signs of life so I get busy dropping the suspension and lowering the ramps in anticipation and take refuge back in the cab as it’s flippin freezing and get the kettle on for a cheeky cuppa. Some 45 minutes later someone appears and presents me with the keys to the better looking of the two 6 tonners. Right here we go then, fire it up and drive it straight up the ramps. Err no, it’s got a flat battery. To get to the battery the old battered dumper has to be moved and of course it dutifully starts first time round. The newer one is soon jumped and going and five minutes later it’s all chained down and leaving the yard. It’s only a short hop this morning to Great Leighs, to a little works where they saw willow for cricket bat blanks.

It’s offloaded there without fuss and I’m on way to Felsted to collect another 6 tonner for a groundworks company. The site at Felsted is a massive housing development with several larger house builders each doing their bit, and it takes over half an hour of walking about asking before I finally find the machine. Dumpers have got to be one of the easiest things to load and secure and I’m soon off to drop it at another site in Southend. The access to the site was too tight from one end and when I found the other end I find that there’s an Entwistle wag & drag waiting to tip blocks and he’s waiting for Canute to finish so he can get in next. I was swapping the 6 tonner for a 10 tonner and the groundworkers agreed to run the dumper round the block for me a take the other one back effectively jumping the whole queue.
There was also another bit of plant to collect, but they couldn’t get it out past their fresh tarmac so again it was nice and simple. This was now my final job and I left Southend about midday, back to Chelmsford then follow the road to Braintree, Halstead and onto the site at Sudbury. A stop en route for a brew produced the missing night heater control box, and I discovered a little heated seat switch too. Things are looking up in the 8 (-2) wheels world. Apart from some heavy falling snow on the run back from Sudbury nothing much happened and I was back at the yard just after 1530. Wednesday 24th January 2007 0800 Start. Not much happening this morning as my first job is 11.00 in Colchester, I had planned to drag the steam cleaner out and have a bit of a wash down but there’s a bit of snow about and the ground is icy so adding more water seems like a bad idea. Instead I give the dash a dust off and sort out the toolbox, and generally kill a bit of time by hanging all the dogs and chains symmetrically from the bulkhead. Looks nice though. The site in Colchester is in Crouch St, which is in the town centre and it’s a good 20 minutes until I can get in when a wagon finally moves from outside the Tesco Express. This job is simply to collect a 6t dumper and move it to another site in Colchester, there’s no-one here other than the site agent and he gives me the keys. Hop up, turn the key, nothing. FFS what is going on with flat batteries these days. I try various combinations of foot on brake, accelerator etc whilst turning the key but still no result. There are no lights on the dash either and I wonder if it’s been standing for some time. Not so, it was in use yesterday afternoon according to the agent. It would appear unlikely to be completely flat and I turn my attention to looking for a battery isolator or similar immobilising device. Not finding anything I call the office, and the service fitter gives me some suggestions of where to look (it’s not our machine) It turns out that the metal rod on the key ring has to be detached and turned in a slot hidden under the engine cowl to turn on the electrics. It fires first time and I load it straight on, along with the compressor hitched up behind it. Round at the other site they ask why the compressor has turned up, but agree that it can be left as I am off to do more work for them afterwards. It’s backed off and left parked where it stopped, and I’m off to Kirby Cross near Walton to collect a 7t digger and 6t dumper to return to the groundworkers yard. Just as the welcome to Kirby Cross sign appears the phone rings and the job has been cancelled so I turn round and head straight back to the yard. Back at the yard the snow has gone and the temperature risen (a bit) so out comes the steam cleaner and I set to returning the body to red and the wheels silver. Norman the other 6 wheeler driver is shamed into doing his, despite the best efforts of the fitter trying to persuade him not to bother. Although the lowloader stayed where it was despite the best efforts of it’s driver Bob to persuade anyone else to do it for him. End 1600

Thursday 25th January 2007

0645 Start. This morning it’s first call at the Jovic Plant yard just down the road where we are cross hiring yet another 6t dumper. Things are a bit livelier there this morning and despite the freezing temperatures everything is sorted quickly and I’m on the road by 0730. It’s a quick blast up the A12 (unlike the poor buggers going the other way) to Lexden on the outskirts of Colchester. The dumper is being dropped off for a groundworks firm who are doing some work at the Essex Fire & rescue workshops. It was a shame I didn’t have the camera as I’ve never seen so many fire engines, I know it’s sad but I was like a little kid in a toyshop. Next up is a collection in High Garrett near Braintree from another groundworks firm, this time taking a brand spanking new Hitachi 7t digger and a full set of buckets to a sister company in Cottenham, Cambs. All I have to do is drop the ramps and chain it down when it has been loaded and secure the buckets, it all seems too easy sometimes. I decide that as I am not rushed I’ll meander through the countryside up towards Cambridge rather than take the dual carriageway route along to Stansted and up the M11. It’s a nice pleasant run, although not one you’d necessary want too often as it does seem to take quite a long time. Up at the A14 I decide to go around Cambridge rather than through to the ring road, and I arrive at Cottenham in just under an hour and a half. The machine is to be offloaded at a nearby farm, and I follow a bloke in his van out into the fenland near Longbeach. Unloading is equally simple, just unstrap, remove chains and drop the ramps and everything is taken care of. I stop just off the M11 for a break on the way back and have a lovely doze in the winter sun, it even gets so warm that I have to open the passenger window (and yes the heater was OFF) After a good run back I am back in the yard about 1400, and as there’s nothing much else to do I trundle back down to Jovic’s yard where I load a little 1½t mini digger and deliver it on to nearby Howe Green, it’s one of tomorrow’s jobs but it was ready and the customer to take it so at least I’ve got a head start for the morning. After adjusting the washer jets so that I could actually get some water on the top of the screen, I call it a day and head for home just before 1600.

Friday 26th January 2007

0645 Start. Off to yet another plant hire company this morning, this time near Brentwood to collect a JCB bucket for the machine that I will be moving first. The yard was a nightmare to find, and it’s an area I know well from working round there for 6 years. I’m not quite sure how we got this job as it was something to do with the other company, but the machine was a new JCB demonstrator and I had to collect it from a house in Epping Forest. It was a long reverse down the narrow driveway and for the first time I found the reverse camera useful, with all the bushes obscurinf the view from the mirrors. I found the machine tucked round behind a garage and started to nest the buckets against the dozer blade so it could all be moved together, this is not as easy as it sounds and took several minutes to achieve. Next I had to back (squeeze) the machine down between the garage and the fence without hitting anything and minding the overhead cable. Somehow I got out unscathed and loading the thing was the easiest part of the job. Once it was all chained down, the ramps folded and secure and the buckets strapped I headed out of the forest and picked up the M25 at J26 and followed it round to the A127 for a run down to Hockley. Although I knew where it was going I had to stop and think of an alternative as there are several ways in and out, mostly with low bridges, I keep forgetting to take a tape measure in but I measured one yesterday and that was about 13’6” so I decided to refresh my memory of the slightly less direct but unobstructed way. I arrived at Hockley around midday and the machine was quickly offloaded, and everything stowed away and all the mud swept off the deck. For reasons unknown the tag axle wouldn’t lift so I decide to run with it down, unfortunately the ABS warning light also came on and the exhaust brake stopped too. I ran with it for a few miles until I could get to a decent spot to stop, and tried fiddling with the switch, the air suspension box and turning the thing off for a couple of minutes. None of this did any good so I called it in, and was told to drop into TruckEast Scania on my way past. Obviously they are good as soon as I left the layby the ABS light went off, the exhaust brake started working again and when I stopped the axle lifted when I hit the switch. I did call in at the workshop, it would seem that it thought it had lifted the axle but hadn’t, and when the wheels turned it faulted the ABS and killed the exhaust brake. We decided that I’d keep an eye, as it is due in shortly and I headed off to collect a 3t dumper from a site near Mannheim auctions in Frating. The dumper was one that had been cross hired from Jovic plant so I dropped it in on the way back to the yard where I finished at 1515.Total distance 1146Kms