The Roadless 109" or 'Forest Rover'

Around the end of the 1950s the Hounslow company Roadless Traction focused its attention on the Land Rover.
The Forestry Commission was having some difficulty with its use of conventional Land Rovers, which were prone to getting stuck on rutted forest tracks and were hampered by fallen trees in cross-country use.
The Machinery Research Officer for the Forestry Commission, Colonel Shaw, suggested that tractor-type 25 X 70cm/ 10 X 28in wheels should be fitted to the Land Rover.
A prototype was built and evaluated in the Alice Holt Forest in Hampshire, England.
The machine had potential but required further development in order to be viable.
A 109 inch wheelbase Land Rover was despatched to Roadless for a redesigned and properly engineered conversion to be effected.
Roadless used a combination of components to make the machine functional: it retained the original gear-and transfer boxes and coupled them to a pair of Studebaker axles with GKN-Kirkstall planetary hub reductions and the same tractor type wheels that had been used before.
The front axle had a track 35cm/14in wider than the rear in order to give sufficient steering lock to retain the vehicle's manoeuvrability.
The turning circle was approximately 12m/40ft.
In order to accommodate the large wheels and tyres, the normal Land Rover front wings were removed and replaced with huge flat wings while the rear ones were fabricated in the manner of tractor rear wheel arches.
With the change in gear ratios and wheel diameter the complete machine was capable of approximately 48kph/30mph.
This machine was despatched to the Forestry Commission's test site at the Alice Holt Forest.
Roadless prepared a second prototype that was sent to the Special Projects Department of Rover.
It was thoroughly tested, reportedly at the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) cross-country course at Lindley.
Roadless made some further modifications to the Land Rover, including strengthening the chassis and altering the axle clearances, and after a couple of years of tests, Rover approved the conversion.
This approval meant that the converted Land Rover could be marketed as the Roadless 109 from 1961.
In December of the same year the 2.25 litre petrol engined model retailed at £1558 and the diesel variant at £1658.
A special pick-up body was listed as an extra at £172.
The Roadless was capable of returning 16kpg/10mpg and had a 68 litre/15 gallon tank.
Tests showed that the machine understeered when cornering at 24kph/15mph.
The steering was found to be heavy at low speeds (and a little agitated at 'high' speeds).
The machine was very capable of deep wading.
This latter fact was one of the features that Roadless Traction Ltd mentioned in its advertisements, also pointing out that the wide track ensured stability on side slopes : a useful asset for forestry work.
The Land Rover project was something of a side-show for Roadless, as only around 20 examples were produced.
Roadless were also known for their pioneering work on half-track vehicle technology and 4x4 tractor conversions.

The 'Ag-Rover'

The Ag-Rover conversion was produced by AT Vehicles of Rossendale.
It was originally designed to be a smaller version of the Unimog.
Initially it was promoted in the agricultural market, moving on to include local authorities, who used the vehicles for grass-cutting and parks maintenance.
The vehicle was based on a 110" Defender chassis/cab, fitted with portal axles, and a tractor style power take-off and three point linkage.

Roger Stephenson and Steve Castellani (both previously from Trantor, the Stockport high-speed tractor makers) were responsible for the design and construction of the vehicle.
The rear chassis has a flat platform of box section steel at the rear to allow the hi-cap style tub to be fitted or removed quickly.
Rear mudguards are bolted to the chassis, and the vehicle has adopted modified Land Rover axles, with portal droppers.
The standard factory axles were fitted with the portal 'droppers' which fitted directly to the original bolt arrangement on the ends of these axles, before re-attaching the steering swivels to the front and the drive flanges to the rear.
The portal modification was made to allow a greater ground clearance over rough ground.
The portal 'droppers' or 'stub ends' that were fitted to the axle ends were the less common chain driven type, not spur driven like the Volvo C303 or Unimog.
These units are reported to have produced a fair bit of backlash.
The exhaust exits between the wheels, just behind the cab on the passenger side of the vehicle.
The rear axle has a steel cradle welded to it, acting as the mounting for a three point linkage (for tractor accessories) and associated hydraulic gear.
This meant that any implement carried added it's weight to the rear axle, increasing grip.
The chassis has been chopped short, just behind the rear axle, to allow clearance for the three point linkage etc.
The power take off emerges centrally at the back, providing a complete tractor style connection point for powered implements.
The vehicle is fitted with series IIb / One Ton specification wheels, and 9.00x16 tyres.
Complete Land Rover vehicles were purchased and then stripped and then modified to suit.

The engine fitted in the vehicle pictured is a 2.5 litre normally aspirated diesel driving a standard 4 speed box, which is maybe a bit underpowered.
We would like to know if other engines were tested, we have no data at present.
In hindsight, the Ag-Rover came to the market a little too soon and suffered reliability problems centred around the gear train.
This meant that the cost of keeping the Ag-Rovers running in a commercial environment was prohibitive.

Land Rover built its own 110 for testing fitted with portals, but the project was abandoned due to 'handling issues'.
At this time as many as four examples of the Ag-Rover are known to survive.

Thanks to Roger Stephenson for information on these vehicles.

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In the first instance, contact us at admin@lr-mad.co.uk

Roadless Forest Rover.

Roadless Forest Rover.

Roadless Forest Rover.

Ag-Rover.

Ag-Rover rear.

Ag-Rover with wood chipper.