Old timers spotted

by Nick Drew | Tue 17 Nov 2015

Old timers spotted

Here is the first in a series of blog posts featuring some photos which have been sent into us by regular Digger Man Blog reader Karsten Beckmann.

Karsten works for Hitachi Construction Equipment and during his travels around the country he is often fortunate enough to come across some real old classic plant gems, some of which are still in use and some which are simply rusting away or being cannibalised as a donor machine to keep others working. In this first batch we will show some classic excavators that Karsten discovered like this air cooled Deutz powered O&K RH4LC which has clearly seen better days.

Another ageing machine which is still capable of putting in a good days work is this Komatsu PC120, which is fitted with an “orange peel” grab and works processing scrap metal and loading roll on roll off skips. These models were great bits of kit back in the day and I spent many hours on them for HT Hughes of Fareham, mainly on housing site work.

And finally in this batch a classic Ford H42 model. These Ford machines were based on the French built Richier models, after Ford took a controlling interest in the French company in 1972. This 12 tonne class machine was not the most attractive looking excavator and from what I have been told, was not the best of drives either.

The model in the photo probably dates back to 1974/75 if the number plate is genuine. I recall Wimpey Plant in Southampton having one of these and its operator Terry Tapp loved it for some reason, but nobody else wanted to operate the machine.

The model was replaced in the range by the more modern style H43 in 1982, joining a range that consisted of H45, H48, and H52, but by late 1984 the Richier business ceased trading.

The Digger Man Blog would like to thank Karsten for sharing these photos with us. Look out for more later this week.

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