by Nick Drew | Mon 09 Feb 2015
Its a Small-ey world
Following on from last week’s post about the age of Ed Andrewes classic British Smalley excavator, we have been contacted by another owner, Daniel Hutchinson, who was keen to tell us about his machine and its restoration.
Talking to the Digger Man Blog Daniel said “Having acquired a Smalley myself last summer (Smalley 5 MkII with longer boom, to be exact) I have done some 'digging' to find out a little more about them. Mine is Ex 'Waterways Recovery Group' who are still in existence and work to restore our canal network, they have had a fair number of these machines over the years and I have been able to find several period photographs of these machines in action”.
Daniel also tells us that Richard Smalley is still trading and has a website with contact details and that he will for instance supply a copy of the handbook for the machine at a reasonable price which is well worth a look. Daniel thinks that the machine we featured in last week’s blog post is the original (Mk1) Smalley 5. The Mk2 gained the square roofed cab and sliding side window. The later version was the Mk3 which had the engine more enclosed to prevent damage. Although it also appears that there were a number of minor revisions, alterations and versions along the way, such as slightly longer booms, machines with longer dippers, variations in how the towbar attaches, floating dredger versions, etc.
Daniel continued, “To answer the direct question, I was told by Mr Smalley himself that the last two digits of the serial number on my machine are the year of manufacture and I would expect that holds true for the machine you featured here on the blog. The serial number on my machine is stamped into the right hand side of the boom about 18inchs from the main boom pivot and maybe 3 inches from the top edge in letters around 20mm in height and again I have no reason to expect it to be anywhere else on yours”
“Richard Smalley claims to still have records of all the machines ever sold, but they have not been digitised and he appeared hesitant as to how long it would take to dredge out the information. His suggestion to me was that my exact machine was likely to have originally been used by and electrical board for cable pulling, which would explain the drums and mounting points and hydraulic coupling for the winch and apparently the fact the machine was red, which would have saved WRG the need to repaint it when it was part-exchanged for a new machine”.
Daniel has thrown together his own website about his machine and its restoration which can be visited by clicking on the following link http://www.absolutelyoutrageous.co.uk He also suggests that a Google search for the Smalley topic can be useful and in addition there are some good video clips available on You Tube.
According to Daniel these machines historical significance does not appear to have raised their value very much; however some models do change hands periodically at a value of around £500-1000 depending on condition.
Daniel said, “I understand that once you have got the hang of operating them they are a lot faster than doing it by hand, but clearly if you wanted to do a lot of work, a more modern tracked version would be more practical. Although they will tow behind most large cars/vans short distances there is no suspension and I am told they do not like travelling fast!”
The Digger Man Blog would like to add that enthusiasts like Daniel should be commended for preserving these historic machines for future generations to see.