by Nick Drew | Mon 05 Dec 2016
Once loved now abandoned (Part One)
Keen Digger Man Blog readers have been in touch to tell me some of our old posts appear to have lost their photos following our move to a shiny new home. With that in mind I am going to update the old posts wherever I can and re-post them, starting with this post featuring old abandoned kit which follows nicely on from Fridays machine graveyard blog post.
Regular readers of the blog will recall that Michael Bullock has been working in Australia for well over four years now, but in August last year he was back home in Herefordshire enjoying a 5 week holiday, catching up with family and friends. Michael had known about this breakers storage area close to his families UK home for many years and was determined to finally take a look around. JCB machines were in abundance at this site and one of his first finds was this 805B model. This machine dates from 1978, so it really is one of the first examples of this model, as it was around that time that this updated replacement for the original 805 was launched. It featured a 112hp Perkins 6 cylinder engine and was the first of its kind to feature the Powerslide boom.
Next up we have a couple of MF/Hanomag models, including the remains of what looks like a Massey Ferguson 450D hydraulic excavator and an early 1980’s example of a Hanomag 66C in trash compactor configuration, both machines coming from the time when the two companies were working in partnership.
Another machine from the JCB stable is this 820 model possibly from the late 1980’s. It is displaying signs of the cab rust that was familiar with JCB models from that era in the later years of their lives.
Representing the French construction machinery market at this machine graveyard is this Poclain 61 hydraulic excavato,r which is gradually disappearing in amongst the undergrowth. These machines never really proved as popular as the earlier 60 models in the UK. The distinctive red colouring was soon to be replaced by the brown and tan of Case-Poclain, with Case eventually dropping the Poclain name altogether.
Strangely enough, Ford/Richier excavators were brought up in conversation on our Digger Man Blog Facebook page recently and in this shot we see an example of a machine which I suspect is from the early to mid-1970’s as its bears both brand names.
In this last shot we see another JCB machine, this time it’s there largest wheeled loader from the 400 series range the 428. These models were first introduced to the market in 1974 along with the 423. The initial two models 413 & 418 had been launched in 1971.
There is something mystical about seeing all these old machines at rest, many of which would have been their owners pride and joy back in the day. In some ways it’s sad to see them decaying away like this but hopefully some donor parts are enabling other surviving machines to keep moving somewhere in the world. Look out for part two of this post on the blog soon.