Big trucks that sit in a field usually stay there, because the repairs scare everyone off. However, a British recovery crew that posts as @MrHewes took on a Foden recovery truck that had sat abandoned in a Welsh field for more than a decade. They fixed its brakes, crane and exhaust, then used it to drag a stuck bulldozer.
“This was bought by Dave Crouch and he asked if we’d go down and recover it from Wales,” the crew explains at the start. Once it was home, though, they decided to keep it.
The reason is a big job coming up. According to the video, they will need every heavy recovery truck they own for something “trapped and very stuck.”
Fixing Years Of Air Leaks
First, they tackle the air brakes. With the engine off, they fill the system from a compressor and listen, and valves dump air everywhere.
Next, they cut off a mismatched brake chamber and remove two valves. Inside, rust has jammed one piston, because water gets into air systems and has nowhere to go when a truck sits, they explain.
Then they harvest parts from old trucks at a friend’s yard and build working valves from mismatched ones. “Jack, this doesn’t have a single air leak now,” one of them says at 23:14.
In one valve, rust had built up so much that it pushed the casting out of round. Meanwhile, a tank that the crew says had not held air in about a decade finally fills.
Getting The Foden Recovery Truck’s Crane Working
The crane would swing one way but not the other. On advice from a Foden expert named Ken Jackson, they find a bypass valve under a cover, and setting it to emergency gets the crane slewing both ways.
After that, they rebuild the exhaust from second-hand parts, find a gash in a compressor pipe, tighten a loose alternator and free seized diff lock pins. Finally, the road test goes well, although the brakes need adjusting.
They also adjust the fuel pump on the Rolls-Royce engine and set the idle. Then, with the cab tilted, they find the gashed metal outlet pipe on the compressor.
The Test Recovery
Before the big job, they want proof that the winch and crane can take a real load. So they pick an old bulldozer on site.
First the winch drags it forward, and then the crane lifts and swings it into a new spot. “The crane works. The winch works. Everything works on it,” the crew says.
The target is an old Detroit-powered bulldozer that once worked as a drainage machine, so it is a real load. As a result, the test gives them confidence before the big job.
What To Check On A Truck That Has Sat For Years
Their fixes point to the jobs that usually wait on any long-parked air-braked truck:
- Listen to the air system with the engine off, because leaks are easier to hear.
- Open suspect valves, since trapped water rusts them from the inside.
- Test every function of a crane or winch before trusting it with a load.
- Road-test gently and plan to adjust the brakes afterward.
Where The Foden Stands Now
By the end, the crew calls the Foden ready for any job. They also fix a diesel leak on their older Foden, so both trucks are lined up for the big recovery at the end of the month.
More from Fast Lane Only
