Classic kit rolls out again to delight plant enthusiasts

Wed 26 Feb 2014

Classic kit rolls out again to delight plant enthusiasts

First up is the revolutionary JCB 110 hydrostatically driven crawler loader, which featured the rear mounted engine concept long before any of the other manufacturers. First introduced in 1971, and comprising of three models, 110, 112 and 114, they were not produced for very long and were eventually withdrawn from the product range in 1979.

The twenty four cubic yard Terex TS24 motor scraper is possibly the largest piece of earthmoving kit in Andrew’s collection, these massive machines, affectionately known as “green lizards” were once one of the most popular items of kit, for UK muckshifters, back in the glory days of the 60’s & 70’s alongside Caterpillar scrapers.

This un-identified machine which is currently undergoing restoration work appears to be a Hull manufactured Priestman Cub, rigged up in skimmer configuration. A very rare model to see these days.

A regular at this event is this more modern hydraulic Priestman Mustang 120 excavator, which was being worked with a clamshell grab. I spent a fair amount of time on these machines as a youngster, when the company my late father worked for, Marsh Plant Hire bought a fleet of them to replace some outgoing Hymac’s at the time. Their machines were however painted in the more familiar Hymac lime green colour, with Marsh Plant’s distinctive blue signage emblazoned on them. I used to think they looked really smart until they got some scratches on them and the orange used to show through from underneath. Just wish I had kept some photos of those machines, they did look very smart at the time!

Here’s another rare machine, a Ruston Bucyrus RH220 hydraulic excavator, there can’t have been that many of these machines manufactured and although I recall they were not much of a success its good to see that one of them is still around for other generations to see.

Andrew once again rolled out the Vickers Vigor VR180 tractor, which always delights the assembled crowds, these fast machines featured a track arrangement very similar to those that are found on military tanks, and were powered by a 180hp Rolls Royce engine.

Finally in this batch of shots we have an old rubber duck, of which I have no idea of its identity, it does look slightly Germanic in design to me so it could possibly be an Atlas, or Eder model?

We thank Ian Fletcher for once again bringing us a flavour of the event to the pages of the Digger Man Blog.

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