Restored International BTD-6 Drott spotted

by Nick Drew | Sat 21 Dec 2013

Restored International BTD-6 Drott spotted

One of my ex school colleagues, Theo Stickley, recently sent me this photo of a classic machine that he often passes on his travels in Dorset.

Back in the 1950’s through to the mid 1970’s the International “Drott” was a common sight on building sites, earthworks and demolition sites around the UK. Sadly most of these industries fell out of love with the crawler loading shovel in favour of the more versatile hydraulic excavator. However there are still some very fine restorations of these classic machines still being kept for showing up and down the country including this one that Theo spotted parked up undercover at the premises of the Raymond Brown Group in Ringwood.

The Drott was based on the highly successful BTD-6 tractor, with power coming from a 50hp four cylinder BD264 diesel engine. This base machine was fitted with the Drott B-6-K3 hydraulic loading shovel with the famous 4-in-1 bucket, a name that became synonymous with all future clamshell type loading buckets in the future. These machines were not the easiest things to operate but in the hands of a skilled operator they could be almost legendary. I think I need to pay this machine a visit one of these days, for a more detailed look around. In the meantime check out these old International promotional films from back in the day when these machines were regarded as cutting edge earthmoving technology!

Look out for more on this machine in the coming months here on the Digger Man Blog. And if you have a restoration machine you would like me to cover here on the blog, then please get in touch with me at nickydrew16atbtinternet.com using the usual @ email format.

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