Doug Hamilton’s machine memories (Part Three)

Tue 28 May 2019

Doug Hamilton’s machine memories (Part Three)

Following on from Doug’s exploits with the Cat motor scrapers in the China Clay pits at Lee Moor, Devon, he headed for the M62 Trans-Pennine motorway construction project in 1971, where he was once again reunited with one of Cripps International Payhauler 100 rigid dumptruck's which he had previously driven working on the Plympton bypass in Devon a couple of years earlier.

Doug has not shared much information on his work on this project, but as we know it was a challenging job carving out an eight-lane motorway across the often bleak, Pennine hills and moorland.

The 107-mile long motorway was built in stages between 1971 to 1976 and at 1,222 feet (372m) above sea level at one point, is said to be the highest motorway in England, there was plenty of muck to be moved and they had some of the best men in the business to do it!

In 1972 Doug got the opportunity to move back down the country to the Bristol area where construction of the M5 was kicking off. This was still with Cripps Plant on hire to major earthmoving contractor Larry Webb. The following season he was there again, only this time working directly for Larry Webb, on this job he was driving the iconic Cat 769 trucks, Doug takes up the story, “The Cat 769 trucks were very good, fast and modern, but received the nickname “flying cabbages” due to all the fibreglass components flying off them as we hurtled around at full pelt! Larry Webb certainly knew how to move muck, no doubt about it, they were, in my opinion a great company to work for”.

“The following year, I went up to Larry Webb’s site office on the M3 job just outside of Staines looking for the start, only to be told they weren’t hiring and had everyone they needed, feeling somewhat down in the dumps I trudged out across the car park and who did I bump into, the general foreman I had worked for on the M62 and M5 jobs” “Good to see you he said, but you’re a bit early” “Yes apparently I am, they don’t need anyone” “Who told you that”, said the foreman, “come with me to the office”, “Put this man on the payroll right now” he shouted, then told me to come back on Monday but in the meantime I was to find myself some digs”. On the Monday Doug reported for work where they put him on a Caterpillar 16 grader, Doug said, “I was put on this machine as a haul road operator not a finisher I might add! You had better vision standing up as opposed to sitting in those earlier models and they had shear pins, not hydraulics and some times if you hit something hard, they would break, as did your nose as it hit the windscreen at force!”

“The vast majority of the motor scrapers on this job were Terex/Euclid TS24’s, they were noisy as hell as they were all fitted with “Screaming Jimmy’s” as GM Detroit Diesels were affectionately known in those days” concluded Doug.

Doug has supplied a lot of photos from this M3 job and in the next instalment we will share more of them.

The magazine for owners + operators

News

Digging deep into construction machinery news

Doug Hamilton’s machine memories (Part Three)

Loads more

New Komatsu electric mini-excavators

Yanmar electric range at Intermat

New Michelin tyres for loaders and dump trucks

Subscribe to Earthmovers