@Tony Goddard Earlier this year I was sat in traffic on the North Circular queuing to get to Hanger Lane and get out of the big city. In front of me was a guy on a scooter fitted out with tool boxes and pack-outs on the panniers, the pièce de résistance was a telescopic surveyors ladder stood vertically above the rear number plate keeping the pack-outs in place. I could not work out what he actually does, possibly an electrician, surveyor or general handy person, whatever it is he is basically riding around on a self propelled mobile workshop and looked like he has more kit than many tradespeople. A lad I was at school with trashed a driving school car on his pre-test lesson, he did not keep clear of an artic trailer at a junction and it side swiped the car and took the roof off, he passed his test just over a hour later in another car.
I too have a classic, 1959 MGA which I believe has the same engine as the Riley but with twin SU's. Mine is overbored. Currently off the road as I have a intractable leak from one of the half shafts although I do have a plan to fix it.
I have one of these so I can travel by train/tube or bus. A dewalt box and and CK Magma technicians bag and off I go testing.
The main obstacle to the green agenda is getting people to take the step away from cars and vans, as I do, and as Happy has seen you can do a lot with no motor vehicle at all - but its getting people to make the change - I've never known different, for 20 years i've been rained upon in winder, roasted in summer, I have to be very organised to take just what I need and have the wholesaler drop heavy items at site. When I buy tools I have to look on the basis of weight/compactness, for example I use a Convac vacuum cleaner which is built into a case like a small toolbox, because it is light and fits in easily, and I re-spool T&E onto old drums so I don't carry as much load, I chose my latest MFT, a Seaward Powertest based on its very small profile. Getting someone who is comfortable in their nice Transit to make that kind of shift, whatever the trade, is a big ask - if I had a van, I probably wouldn't be looking to change. I think whatever motive power source is used, EV, Hydrogen, whatever, there still needs to be an overall reduction in numbers. I have had some hilarious adventures, I used to do work for a small chain store based down here in Southampton, but with a Branch in the Strand, the boss worked out it was cheaper to pay my rail fare than get a London spark on the case (whether true on rate or not, with fare factored in), anyway, I went up, with a tool case and drill case, on foot from Waterloo to the Strand, then found I needed mini trunking, tube to Newey's somewhere near the British Museum, then back with trunking - I got some very odd looks from the tube staff, I wasn't stopped, but a cheerful tube guy on the platform said, in a wonderful carribean accent "hey man, we not running a freight service today!", but he was laughing, so i pressed on, thank god it was off peak and quiet!!
Thats the key, getting people to change or think greener. I bet there is loads of ingenuis ways if you put your mind to it. Comlec has a kit trolley which turns into steps too, another good idea if traveling on a train.
A couple of months ago I saw a motorbike towing a trailer loaded with a Honda lawnmower and other gardening gear, I presume the rider was off to do a days work.
Don't know if you watch the electrician Thomas Nagy on YouTube? Very interesting seeing how expensive it is working in London. £65 parking for 4 hours is common! At the moment EVs are getting a lot of concessions, however from 25 December 2025 the cleaner vehicle discount is being removed entirely.
Current cost to work in Westminster with a Euro 5 diesel van ULez £12.50 Congestion Charge £15 Trade day permit £51 So that’s £78.50 on top of the diesel you need to buy to pollute the city. Then you can add the two hours or more in traffic getting there and back. Like others have said once you move away from the idea that the van is your transport,office,workshop, mobile storage unit all in one, you can begin to look for different solutions. It would be great if screwfix could team up with Deliveroo and get parts to site at the same speed you can get a takeaway.
Some years ago I had a questionnaire from Screwfix asking how much I would be prepared to pay for delivery within a hour, never heard anymore about it.
Newey's / Rexel are pretty good round here, order before 10.00AM normally delivered early part of the afternoon, no extra charge.
You need to win people over, its an old management trick, make people think that they are doing it because they want to - we've seen it with covid, ask people to stay home to stop them catching a disease, they all comply, it's a good idea for them. Try and force people to do a thing, such as get a vaccine, and quite a few resist. We inherently dislike forced change some part of our subconcious mind is suspicious of the other parties agenda, even if that suspicion is based on nothing really, if we feel it's our idea to change, then thats acceptable and feels safe. Seeing it with the concept of phasing out boilers, people are wrankled at the idea of being forced to get rid of their nice expensive gas boiler, if they sold it another way, ie keep the boiler as long as you like, but when it eventually packs up we can offer you something cheaper to run, more efficient, better for the planet - people would move over quicker.
Not true. Add iron (the most abundant metal in the universe) to hydrochloric acid (the most abundant acid in the universe) and the reaction produces iron (II) chloride + shedloads of hydrogen gas. Watch the YT video about the engineering research JCB have been doing for years - along with the huge excavators they already have running on hydrogen gas. This is the fuel of the future IMO - not electricity. Burning hydrogen yields one thing only = water.
My girlfriend can beat that. On her driving test, she knocked down a policeman and broke his leg Oh - and I have a 1957 Morris Minor. We have to keep these classics running.
A pro joiner with a pushbike and a box? We're sadly a different breed from sparks or painters who can rock up with a tester, a VDE screwdriver set, a cable reel and some clips, or a paintbrush and a bottle of turps. No. Just no.
Agreed, it can only work if the equipment is fairly compact - I know lots of fine chippies, and all have a full on van load - nice mobile workshop you have there, very organised!! i do like those festool cases and the nice circular saws they make that glide along the track!!
However in the 1980’s it was possible to earn serious money as a carpenter with a Honda generator, power and hand tools in the back of a Mini Metro van.
I lived in Hong Kong before the take over, I would not have dreamed of buying a can. But it was like that when I arrived, and if where I use to live I had no car, I could travel 12 miles to local city of Chester from 6am to 10pm, but here just 3 buses per day. From 16 year old you plan what you will do for a living and how you will get to and from work, how far ahead varies, our pension we plan 50 years in advance. The same in some cases where we live, so the change needs to be planned to happen gradually over 50 years. The first step is public transport, if when I need a new car I find I can do without my car I may give it up. However letter just came through door, Colvid19 injection set for 10:44 Wednesday in a centre 12 miles away, without a car can't get there, early injections were at local doctor walking distance from home. Be it schools, doctors, hospitals step one is smaller local units. This must come first.