Part 2

Another problem to be faced on the hilly going was the vacuum brakes of this period. Often Lachie would be coming home in the early hours of the morning after a long day (doing hours that couldn’t be dreamt of in these days of log books), longing for a nice warm bed, but having to crawl down the hills making great use of the gears because of the trailer combination. The answer was found in another idea Lachie pioneered the use of - exhaust brakes, not wonderful compared to the engine retarders of today, but still allowing descents to be made significantly faster with less use of the service brakes. The first type, being of the internal butterfly valve type, were not a great success, but later the SVG damper type with the mechanicals outside the exhaust were more successful.


While unloading at the Canterbury Sales Yards, his early use of diesels, when they were few and far between, caused a great deal of interest from other contractors. Most wouldn’t believe the 10mpg Lachie was getting from the Leylands compared with the 4 mpg they were getting from their petrol engined machines, although diesel fuel did cause a few problems when it was not in common usage in those early days...
















On a trip carrying bananas from the port of Lyttelton through to Christchurch, they pulled into their usual garage to refuel. Now unfortunately the fuel cap of No 1, the Leyland 75 had been lost and the only thing they could get to replace it was a cap with “Petrol” written on it. A short time later, Lachie got a call from his brother Mick who was driving the truck for him at the time.

“I don’t know what is wrong with this truck but it’s making some bloody funny noises!” No prizes for guessing what had happened!


The photo shown here shows one of the early Commers at Purau Bay in Lyttelton Harbour, about to set off on a long slow journey to deliver sheep to Hawden Arm Station at the top of Lake Benmore, about a 350 mile round trip. According to Lachie, the load wasn’t enough for two trucks, but too much for one truck and trailer. So the two trailer solution was arrived at – all highly illegal but no-one worried about it too much in those days. Was there another 1950s truck of 105hp that could have done this? Certainly the trip home must have been faster than the trip down there! It has been estimated that there had to be between 20-24ton (not tonne!) on a truck designed for 7 tons.




After experiences with a number of early TS3s, Lachie also took delivery of a number of twin headlight TS3s. These also proved their worth and the increased power of subsequent models was appreciated on the hilly going. Other trucks were considered and tried but few matched the Commers at this time.

At one stage in the 1960s, the local agents lent an early Mercedes 1418 out on demo. But after a few days in action, Commer driver Jack Topp laughed at the suggestion that the Mercedes would replace the Commer as he reckoned they had neither the instant power or the economy of the Commers, although the excellent exhaust brake on the Mercedes was much appreciated.

The dry season, when hay carting was in full swing, presented another problem for Commer owners. They were well known for their tendency to discharge carbon particles when asked to do some hard work after prolonged idling, and Lachie still vividly remembers going along behind the Commers putting out the many small fires their ‘sparking’ exhausts would start in the dry paddocks.

Eventually, the end of the development of the TS3 lead to the demise of the Commer and the subsequent Perkins powered versions would have been no match for the TS3s on the hills. The purchase of an ex-Transport North Canterbury Nissan, which had been repowered with a Scania motor demonstrated the way of the future, with its greater horse power and hugely improved load carrying ability.

Today the green and sandy brown of Governor’s Bay Transport features on many late model Scanias. The company is now part of Banks Peninsula Transport, which operates all over Banks Peninsula, something Lachie could never have dreamed of happening when he started out in the transport business, so many years ago.



At 81, he still lives in the house he has lived in for 55 years, he still has the 1930 model A tourer he has driven for 61 years and is held in the highest regard in his community, still playing a very active part in Local Body Politics and community affairs in his beloved Governors Bay.

And he is still behind the wheel of a truck! - a very tidy 1966 International AR110 that was purchased recently. Suppose going back to an International is almost a full circle, isn’t it?











Thank you Lachie for sharing your amazing story with us.

 

No 2 sitting in retirement in its old yard. Give it a dusting, blow up the tyre and she'll probably fire up again ready for work!