Lister Autotrucks

[wheeledhorseman 19]

A tale of two Lister Autotrucks

 

My son is on the organising team for the Isle of Wight Steam Show and spends a week over there helping to set up the show and camping. Back in 2012 and with some time to spare he dragged an autotruck out of the brambles where it had been left outside for several years to see if he could get it going.

 

Having managed to get it to run it was given a good clean up, a bit of paint here and there, and put in the show.

 

 

That's me having a go - great fun but a bit scary on eneven ground!

Turned out it was owned jointly by several guys associated with the railway where the show is held but they wouldn't sell it even though it had been left outside to rot.

 

Anyway, my son had to have one and here it is. Not a diesel like the example above but JAP petrol engine powered.

 

 

Bought as a non-runner that used to run it was soon running again but it does burn oil as you can see.

 

 

Over the winter it was dismantled, shot blasted etc and emerged in Royal Navy livery as both my son and I collect and restore military vehicles. It made it to a couple of shows last year (Overlord military show and Netley Marsh) but still needs some bits and bobs finishing.

 

 

Things like the toolbox, foot gong (we've been told it was probably originally a railway's autotruck based on having one) and some RN markings still need to be done.

 

We haven't touched the engine yet, having had no experience of rebuilding a 600cc JAP or knowing what the availabilty of parts is like but it will need doing as if you run it long enough the plug oils up.

 

Any info from those with any experience out there in MOM land welcome.

 

Andy

[Tom 215]

Hi Andy,

 

Pretty sure I remember you posting the one with a JAP engine on the other forum, they are really cool! Are they hard to steer? It would be great to see a video of one is action!

 

Tom

[wheeledhorseman 19]

You're quite correct Tom I did post a photo of 'Mister Lister' as we know him on RS in the non-tractor related section when it first arrived. Next time we get it out for a run I'll get some video footage to post.

 

Not too difficult to steer but perched up quite high on the seat and being a three wheeler it can be a little unsettling to go over uneven ground even though it has a low centre of gravity. This one has a one ton load carrying capacity, they did make a two ton model with double back wheels.

 

Andy

[meadowfield 1,900]

Tidy job Andy, it's moved on since I saw it...

[Tom 215]

Hi Andy,

I look forward to seeing the video! I can imagine it's a bit unstable on rough ground but as you said it is quite low. I bet the two ton model is a beast!

Tom

[wheeledhorseman 19]

Very much my son Jez's project, about the only thing I helped with was getting it to run and splitting the rims of the rear wheels to get the tyres off - it took two of us using the 10 ton press where rust was holding everything solidly together.

 

Andy

[Wallfish 698]

Very Interesting machine. Thanks for sharing it.

Do you know if there was a specific purpose these were built for?

[neil 524]

Like the Truck in the Royal Navy colours Andy , are you going to get it RN decals  put on it ?

[KC9KAS 3]

Very neat (and different) tractor.

Do you spin the front wheel/engine with your feet?

Will it spin 360*?

[wheeledhorseman 19]

Very Interesting machine. Thanks for sharing it.

Do you know if there was a specific purpose these were built for?

 

They were conceived in the 1920s to replace the use of horses to pull goods round factory sites. The idea took off and they became common sights in factories, at railway stations, naval dockyards, airfields and horticultural sites to name a few uses.

 

The one we have is a 1 ton load capacity with a long bed but there were short bed ones designed to pull a train of four wheel carts behind for lighter goods. Frustrating thing is that a friend who used to deal in ex military surplus had several of the carts but ended up sending them for scrap as nobody was interested in buying them.

 

Diesel engines were introduced in the 1960s I think. Google Lister Autotruck or Lister Auto Truck and there's quite a bit of info and even some videos on youtube.

 

 

Like the Truck in the Royal Navy colours Andy , are you going to get it RN decals  put on it ?

 

Its difficult to research much about these in general even more so ones used by the Navy. There's just one in  navy museum and that's imaginatively marked up with 'Royal Navy' on each side of the load section. As far as we can tell it should just have RN on each side and an inventory number stencilled on the engine compartment. They normally have a typical Lister in script on each side of the engine cover but the Navy tended to paint over things like that so we haven't put them back. The RN and inventory number are on the to do list.

 

There's an RAF one in a museum which we were tempted to copy but Jez decided on Navy.

 

 

Very neat (and different) tractor.

Do you spin the front wheel/engine with your feet?

Will it spin 360*?

 

They have a reverse gear but yes you can spin the whole driving section round. Ours is a petrol model from the late 40s - early 50s period. It's almost impossible to make it go backwards this way without serious risk as you can't reach the controls properly. With the later diesel type (first photo) it is possible as a stunt but not necessarily a sensible thing to do. You actually turn it using the handle bar which also has the throttle on it, there's a foot brake that operates on the rear wheels but that's all you use your feet for.

 

Thanks for the interest

 

Andy

[Ian 2,417]

It looks very nice after the repaint Andy, the dog certainly seems to like it

[neil 524]

 

[Wallfish 698]

AH, now I see.

It appeared that was a bunch of engine for such a small vehicle but when you add the trailers to pull behind it, it makes sense.