I attempted this route a few weeks ago in an empty artic, thought id fly up with being empty. It had the complete opposite effect and i didnt even get to the hairpin before i spun and couldnt move. Everytime i released the handbrake i just wheel spun and slid backwards, was honestly one of the worse experiences ive had driving. Thankfully i managed to put the trailer into that patch of mud or half a layby whatever it is and turn around. This road is not to be underestimated, its steep AF and very tricky when wet
@@Rickytricky01that was my first thought. Good video highlighting this on here, class 1 going round a roundabout, back wheels of the unit just slid out, rear axle was down I think, probably nothing in the trailer.
I did this climb up Sutton Bank with a fully loaded artic, only went that way to take in the views on my way to Stockton, then began to realise their could be a problem when the drive axles began losing traction, the tractor unit (fortunately) was a FODEN three axle with double drive, with diff lock and cross axle diffs engaged i finally made it ONLY JUST, thanks to the FODEN set up, which was the one and ONLY benefit that the FODEN possessed, thanks to the Kenworth chassis set up.
Well done to the driver for getting that beast round the hairpin. For anyone not familiar with Sutton Bank, it's a lot more steep than it looks in the video, and the hairpin tighter. It's tricky because you can't carry momentum so you can easily find yourself in the wrong gear and lose traction.
Thanks for your video, l thought he was going to struggle with that climb because the road surface was wet and it seemed there was a lot of weight in that rig, well done that driver 👏👏👏.
Am a fairly local retired driver. We never went up or down loaded with bulkers. We had grip but would break half shafts. On tautliners with 4x2 units only go up with less than 10 tonne loaded up front, 6 x2 with a tag lifted ok, but mid lift, dicy. If it was wet go around via the caravan route or Malton and Pickering. Fridge boxes with plastic trays full of meat would regularly have them escaping out of the back doors on their way up the bank on their way from Durham to Malton Bacon factory.
brilliant driving on the second attempt, also backing down to find his crawler gear with a piggy back trailer on the artic trailer, brilliant reversing as well.
My old man was a trucker and we once went for a holiday to Helmsley. It would have been the late seventies. We went up Sutton Bank which he already knew from his trunking and the car failed. It turned out to be the cable for the accelerator had come adrift from the carburettor. I remember clearly him bemoaning that his lorry never fails him getting up the bank. He loved that ERF. 🤣🤣🤣 RIP Dad. X
That hairpin has been improved over recent years, but its still steep.. there in lyeth the problem, the weight on long vehicles shifts to the back taking valuable traction away from drive axles on artics... sutton bank has caught many out, even nearly got caught out myself on a motorbike fully loaded with camping gear on my yearly jaunt to a bikers rally at Duncombe Park in Helmsley because i was forced to stop by car that fluffed a gear change, stopped and couldn't get going again, and so my own bike wouldn't move until i turned my traction control off ! So it can even catch experienced drivers & riders out ! Take care all, its all part of the fun and building experience ! But do heed the signs caravaners !! 😉😊
I'm ex-REME attch 5R-Anglian a TA battalion, that was reserve for BOAR, so we were 24hr activation, I was a driving instructor for the Batt teaching new recruits how to drive a L/R into and out off Tank Traps, Don't unless you absolutely, positively, MUST, was always my first words, I've busted 4ton(SWL)winches trying to pull half-ton(AP)land rovers out of soft mud, You try and tell car drivers, that wet grass has less traction than Ice, they look at you gone out,
Interesting to see a trucker's point of view. I am a member of the gliding club at the top, so I tow a glider trailer up and down Sutton Bank from time to time. With a four wheel drive Audi A4 it's no real problem, but keeping moving makes it a lot easier. Still it has my full attention! Occasionally a car driver who should have no problem takes one look and panics, which is a pain.
@@rogeratygc7895 I was wondering about that! Towing a glider is not a lot of difference to towing a caravan so wondered how you guys went about it, that car certainly is the key!!! Very nice. I mentioned the glider club in the 1st video I did. I get a thrill flying the drone so your thrill from flying gliders must be unreal!
In the 50’s and 60’s underpowered push-rod engined cars would boil over tackling Sutton Bank. 👍🏻🏴 It was notorious for stalled and broken-down vehicles.
I think the modern auto gearboxes on trucks nowadays plays a big part in getting stuck on hills , not just Sutton Bank . Drivers need to stick the box in manual and leave it , autos are not fast enough and will stall if the driver is not quick enough , momentum is everything, got to keep the truck moving . I wouldn't try Sutton Bank loaded at 44 tonnes but , I've done it half loaded with weight over the drive wheels for traction and made sure to be in manual for the hairpin 😮
Used to deliver round there with 4 and 6 wheel fuel tankers. Used to go up and down no problem, but I knew the road so knew to keep it down a gear before the sharp left as it rises quickly there and if you've gone up a gear just before - as it flattens a bit - you can't change down quick enough once the hill starts😂
I've been up Sutton Bank several times in a car and even then it is obvious how many car drivers do not know how to approach steep and twisty banks like this one and try to get up in far too high a gear only to lose engine revs when they try to change down and end up stalling. THEN they have trouble remembering how to do a hill start!!! Especially on that hairpin! At which point I stop a comfortable distance back, apply handbrake, put the car into neutral and let them sort themselves out.
2nd December 2024 1.30pm drove up Sutton Bank in my motorhome, road surface challenging, the first steep gradient near emergency lay yards was extremely rough and pitted and then after the hairpin bend surface very smooth ,giving cause for wheelspin ,I've been driving on this route for nearly 50 years on and off and this is the worst surface ever NYCC need to stop experimenting and put down decent surface .
I once saw a truck carrying very long steel girders going up Sutton Bank with an escort van, the engine on the escort van blew up when it got to the top !
I drove up this Monday about 7.30 in morning roughly 22ton had a nice queue behind me but took it nice and steady traffic behind was patient but turned foggy halfway up
Done it in a rigid and stuck it in manual at the bottom to be on the safe side. Fortunate I was 3/4 loaded as it was an 18T box van that didn't like traction if it was empty.
I might have gone to where the caravan had been I took a tarmac paver, a cat skid steer & possibly 2 rollers however I was advised to avoid Sutton Bank it apparently put 45 minutes going via the diversion I was in a terrible G450 Scania with a single drive axle & tag axle just terrible
I am not a driver but having been up and down there and seen the signs for no caravans, I am surprised that someone tries it with a large trailer on the back of a truck.
It's different for a few reasons. Front wheel drive cars have virtually no traction and that'a why they are banned with caravans as the caravan acts as even more of a counter balance. I tried to explain this in the 1st video I did about it if it helps? 🤣
@@john1703afraid not. Hence the caravan ban and signs. You see even with 4x4 drive you still have next to no weight on the front wheels for traction or decent grip for steering.
He may not even have attempted a first run. He may have decided on seeing the approach signs to abort as when you came up on him the first time he seemed to be too far away from the hairpin to have reversed that far? he then realised there was no turning or side roads so aborted the reverse? I'm not a truck driver but do have a C+E and with modern trucks they should be able to climb any gradient in a low enough gear. I think the failed attempts are when the driver trys to approach at too high speed and gear and if there is a camber on the bend then possible loss of traction due to weight transfer and then when the inevitable gradient kicks in the gearbox can't cope? Hmm just my thoughts!
Thought this was about my mate at work coz he went up Sutton bank in an artic to get to Pickering and was threatened with the sack untill he told the office manager that’s his at nav took him that way and he just saw it as the A170 untill he got to the bottom of the bank.. Fact is he got to the top no issues but our office staff are a bunch or morons who haven’t even been up Sutton bank in a car😂
It’s a full ban for Caravans, advised not suitable for heavy loads, there’s no ban on HGV`s or coaches. The Trucker’s Eye did a video on this previously, showing all the signs from Thirsk.
Ironic that you are calling out "these people" for not being able to read roads signs when in fact it's you that can't. Caravans are not allowed to use sutton bank, there is no signs saying HGVs aren't allowed
Ya know those signs you are reading? They actually read Caravans are prohibited. HGV's aren't mentioned. Cars are front wheel druve and when pulling a caravan the caravan will act as a counter balance to the weight leaving the towing car with no traction. HGV's are a totally different configuration!
@@imogenharrison3432 have you got the idea now halfwit! Shows how much attention you dickheads in cars pay, come back when you know what you're talking about
People think that Alf Wight's "patch" was the Yorkshire Dales as the original series was filmed in Wensleydale and upper Swaledale (mostly) but most of his patch was in the Hambleton hills, Sutton Bank eastwards. He did occasionally go to Leyburn to help another vet there ("Ross McEwan" in the books).
@@stephenphillip5656 I've read his photographic book "James Herriot's Yorkshire" featuring some stunning pictures of Sutton Bank and the Yorkshire Vet is a good real life documentary
I attempted this route a few weeks ago in an empty artic, thought id fly up with being empty. It had the complete opposite effect and i didnt even get to the hairpin before i spun and couldnt move. Everytime i released the handbrake i just wheel spun and slid backwards, was honestly one of the worse experiences ive had driving. Thankfully i managed to put the trailer into that patch of mud or half a layby whatever it is and turn around. This road is not to be underestimated, its steep AF and very tricky when wet
I think that exactly was your problem going completely empty & no weight over your 5th wheel nothing to force your drive axle/s into the tarmac
@@Rickytricky01that was my first thought. Good video highlighting this on here, class 1 going round a roundabout, back wheels of the unit just slid out, rear axle was down I think, probably nothing in the trailer.
I did this climb up Sutton Bank with a fully loaded artic, only went that way to take in the views on my way to Stockton, then began to realise their could be a problem when the drive axles began losing traction, the tractor unit (fortunately) was a FODEN three axle with double drive, with diff lock and cross axle diffs engaged i finally made it ONLY JUST, thanks to the FODEN set up, which was the one and ONLY benefit that the FODEN possessed, thanks to the Kenworth chassis set up.
Well done to the driver for getting that beast round the hairpin.
For anyone not familiar with Sutton Bank, it's a lot more steep than it looks in the video, and the hairpin tighter. It's tricky because you can't carry momentum so you can easily find yourself in the wrong gear and lose traction.
I live in the vicinity of Sutton Bank, do not underestimate its difficulty !
Thanks for your video, l thought he was going to struggle with that climb because the road surface was wet and it seemed there was a lot of weight in that rig, well done that driver 👏👏👏.
Exactly what I thought!
Am a fairly local retired driver. We never went up or down loaded with bulkers. We had grip but would break half shafts. On tautliners with 4x2 units only go up with less than 10 tonne loaded up front, 6 x2 with a tag lifted ok, but mid lift, dicy. If it was wet go around via the caravan route or Malton and Pickering. Fridge boxes with plastic trays full of meat would regularly have them escaping out of the back doors on their way up the bank on their way from Durham to Malton Bacon factory.
Thanks again for another insightful video Mr Trucker 👍
brilliant driving on the second attempt, also backing down to find his crawler gear with a piggy back trailer on the artic trailer, brilliant reversing as well.
My old man was a trucker and we once went for a holiday to Helmsley. It would have been the late seventies. We went up Sutton Bank which he already knew from his trunking and the car failed. It turned out to be the cable for the accelerator had come adrift from the carburettor.
I remember clearly him bemoaning that his lorry never fails him getting up the bank. He loved that ERF. 🤣🤣🤣
RIP Dad. X
Aww nice one. I didn't mind an ERF (especially the Olympic), still call them Every Rattle Felt!
That hairpin has been improved over recent years, but its still steep.. there in lyeth the problem, the weight on long vehicles shifts to the back taking valuable traction away from drive axles on artics... sutton bank has caught many out, even nearly got caught out myself on a motorbike fully loaded with camping gear on my yearly jaunt to a bikers rally at Duncombe Park in Helmsley because i was forced to stop by car that fluffed a gear change, stopped and couldn't get going again, and so my own bike wouldn't move until i turned my traction control off ! So it can even catch experienced drivers & riders out ! Take care all, its all part of the fun and building experience ! But do heed the signs caravaners !! 😉😊
fantastic video lov the james herriot theme
I'm ex-REME attch 5R-Anglian a TA battalion, that was reserve for BOAR, so we were 24hr activation, I was a driving instructor for the Batt teaching new recruits how to drive a L/R into and out off Tank Traps, Don't unless you absolutely, positively, MUST, was always my first words, I've busted 4ton(SWL)winches trying to pull half-ton(AP)land rovers out of soft mud, You try and tell car drivers, that wet grass has less traction than Ice, they look at you gone out,
Interesting to see a trucker's point of view. I am a member of the gliding club at the top, so I tow a glider trailer up and down Sutton Bank from time to time. With a four wheel drive Audi A4 it's no real problem, but keeping moving makes it a lot easier. Still it has my full attention! Occasionally a car driver who should have no problem takes one look and panics, which is a pain.
@@rogeratygc7895 I was wondering about that! Towing a glider is not a lot of difference to towing a caravan so wondered how you guys went about it, that car certainly is the key!!! Very nice. I mentioned the glider club in the 1st video I did. I get a thrill flying the drone so your thrill from flying gliders must be unreal!
In the 50’s and 60’s underpowered push-rod engined cars would boil over tackling Sutton Bank. 👍🏻🏴 It was notorious for stalled and broken-down vehicles.
I think the modern auto gearboxes on trucks nowadays plays a big part in getting stuck on hills , not just Sutton Bank .
Drivers need to stick the box in manual and leave it , autos are not fast enough and will stall if the driver is not quick enough , momentum is everything, got to keep the truck moving .
I wouldn't try Sutton Bank loaded at 44 tonnes but , I've done it half loaded with weight over the drive wheels for traction and made sure to be in manual for the hairpin 😮
Used to deliver round there with 4 and 6 wheel fuel tankers. Used to go up and down no problem, but I knew the road so knew to keep it down a gear before the sharp left as it rises quickly there and if you've gone up a gear just before - as it flattens a bit - you can't change down quick enough once the hill starts😂
I've been up Sutton Bank several times in a car and even then it is obvious how many car drivers do not know how to approach steep and twisty banks like this one and try to get up in far too high a gear only to lose engine revs when they try to change down and end up stalling.
THEN they have trouble remembering how to do a hill start!!! Especially on that hairpin!
At which point I stop a comfortable distance back, apply handbrake, put the car into neutral and let them sort themselves out.
2nd December 2024 1.30pm drove up Sutton Bank in my motorhome, road surface challenging, the first steep gradient near emergency lay yards was extremely rough and pitted and then after the hairpin bend surface very smooth ,giving cause for wheelspin ,I've been driving on this route for nearly 50 years on and off and this is the worst surface ever NYCC need to stop experimenting and put down decent surface .
I once saw a truck carrying very long steel girders going up Sutton Bank with an escort van, the engine on the escort van blew up when it got to the top !
I drove up this Monday about 7.30 in morning roughly 22ton had a nice queue behind me but took it nice and steady traffic behind was patient but turned foggy halfway up
Done it in a rigid and stuck it in manual at the bottom to be on the safe side. Fortunate I was 3/4 loaded as it was an 18T box van that didn't like traction if it was empty.
The first time I ever did it was 1996 and in a rigid with a long overhang, i thought I was going to do a wheelie 🤣
Good video mate, watching on my 45 is south mimms, would definitely rather drive this road than the m25 though 😭😂
South Mimms typifies the M25! Both are absolute holes lol
I might have gone to where the caravan had been I took a tarmac paver, a cat skid steer & possibly 2 rollers however I was advised to avoid Sutton Bank it apparently put 45 minutes going via the diversion I was in a terrible G450 Scania with a single drive axle & tag axle just terrible
I am not a driver but having been up and down there and seen the signs for no caravans, I am surprised that someone tries it with a large trailer on the back of a truck.
It's different for a few reasons. Front wheel drive cars have virtually no traction and that'a why they are banned with caravans as the caravan acts as even more of a counter balance. I tried to explain this in the 1st video I did about it if it helps? 🤣
@@thetruckerseye This implies that a rear, or four, wheel drive car and caravan would be OK.
@@davegb99 well thats because you drive a car and no comprehshion of anything to do with hgvs
@@john1703afraid not. Hence the caravan ban and signs. You see even with 4x4 drive you still have next to no weight on the front wheels for traction or decent grip for steering.
Is the signposted "caravan route" still plagued by huge speed humps? It was like an obstacle course when I towed that way (quite a while ago now).
Because of the corners, HGVs with dodgy loads could do with a tow vehicle, but that would make the load uneconomic.
He may not even have attempted a first run. He may have decided on seeing the approach signs to abort as when you came up on him the first time he seemed to be too far away from the hairpin to have reversed that far? he then realised there was no turning or side roads so aborted the reverse? I'm not a truck driver but do have a C+E and with modern trucks they should be able to climb any gradient in a low enough gear. I think the failed attempts are when the driver trys to approach at too high speed and gear and if there is a camber on the bend then possible loss of traction due to weight transfer and then when the inevitable gradient kicks in the gearbox can't cope? Hmm just my thoughts!
Thought this was about my mate at work coz he went up Sutton bank in an artic to get to Pickering and was threatened with the sack untill he told the office manager that’s his at nav took him that way and he just saw it as the A170 untill he got to the bottom of the bank..
Fact is he got to the top no issues but our office staff are a bunch or morons who haven’t even been up Sutton bank in a car😂
A bit long winded.
HGV's and Caravans are banned on Sutton Bank. Plenty of signs for miles before the gradient. Why is it so hard for these people to read a road sign?
It’s a full ban for Caravans, advised not suitable for heavy loads, there’s no ban on HGV`s or coaches. The Trucker’s Eye did a video on this previously, showing all the signs from Thirsk.
Ironic that you are calling out "these people" for not being able to read roads signs when in fact it's you that can't. Caravans are not allowed to use sutton bank, there is no signs saying HGVs aren't allowed
Delivery dictates where these people go you arrogant halfwit
Ya know those signs you are reading? They actually read Caravans are prohibited. HGV's aren't mentioned.
Cars are front wheel druve and when pulling a caravan the caravan will act as a counter balance to the weight leaving the towing car with no traction. HGV's are a totally different configuration!
@@imogenharrison3432 have you got the idea now halfwit! Shows how much attention you dickheads in cars pay, come back when you know what you're talking about
Am I the only one to get the "All Creatures Great & Small" reference at the start? 🧓😆
No
The author of the stories lived in Sutton under Whitestonecliffe near the bottom of Sutton Bank
People think that Alf Wight's "patch" was the Yorkshire Dales as the original series was filmed in Wensleydale and upper Swaledale (mostly) but most of his patch was in the Hambleton hills, Sutton Bank eastwards. He did occasionally go to Leyburn to help another vet there ("Ross McEwan" in the books).
@@stephenphillip5656 I've read his photographic book "James Herriot's Yorkshire" featuring some stunning pictures of Sutton Bank and the Yorkshire Vet is a good real life documentary