The Classic Machinery Network

worked for them in seventys Ben had 24 scrapers and 3 R35 dumptrucks at the time but the dw 21 where not used much after 1976 when I drove one on the A11 at Rougham hearth .
He had 4 dw21. 4 ts 14, 4ts 24, 4 631b.2 631c, 3 627, 3 657,plus pushers ,blades, tractor and boxs 22rbs ,38rbs,tracked and rubber tyred diggers ,graders,
When I worked there the jobs he had was a14 trimley bypass A66 cockermouth bypass M 90 Kinross ,Glenfarg and Bridge of ern Scotland A14 Woolpit A12 Hopton Bypass A111 Rougham heath. and several smaller jobs.
Ben sold out to Phelans around 1988 Phelans went on and done 2 sections of norwich southern bypass for Budge hue went bust? owing Phelan £750thousand they never got over it and went broke a few years later.they was a lot of accusations in local paper at the time about budge how RJB just managed to get out just in time plus other things.
Neil Beacher was also forced into bankruptcy on the Norwich bypass working on the third section working for a different contractor who did not pay very quick.
Note non of the machines were fitted with silences (or mufflers) we never fitted them untill late seventys when they went onto an opencast site and that was part of the contract .

nice pictures ,i take it that the man in pic 3 is the slasher TC refers too
cheers graham

Great pictures!

I remember Wyatt working on the M9 Grangemouth-Stirling section, maybe '78ish?

They had Euc dumpers and scrapers. Was also the last time I saw rope blades on a major job.

Story is that they buried their worn out Shawnee-Poole dumpers in the embankmets.

Dave S.

Great pictures,Bob, keep em coming

Great photos Bob, I could look at scrapers all day, pity these days are gone
Innes

great pics! Thanks

Great pictures bob, we had some D8s on hire to Phelans near
Ipswich a Breheny job,we just got paid before they went bust

yes graham the man the slasher most peaple on muckshifting in sixys and seventys have funny storys about slashers they got there name because slasher means to crack the whip
Hi Dave forgot about those Shawnee-Pooles most were four wheel drive not Bens if I remember right they were base on 2wheel drive ford 5000 as soon as you went of the road they had to be pushed .Wyatts kept using there machines as long as they worked no matter how old they where ,when he sold out the 631b s where still working after 24years, just a new coat of paint before new contract and they looked better.
But still it was a good firm to work for.
Roly you where lucky to get your money my son was working for them just before they went bust people where coming onto site picking up gear and driving off. plant was being moved on lowloaders from one site to another and if the hauler was owed money machine never got to site.
Roly you once posted on another site some pictures of Neil Becher working at Thurrock I think they was some of the best scraper pictures I have seen Neil was still welding scraper box and spud was lifting tracks off just wondered if there is any chance of a link to site as I lost my bookmarks when computer crashed and cant remember what site it was

Great pics again Bob.I have a Leverton 'Guard' book somewhere with a pic of Wyatt's 657A with a cab on being pushed by a rope blade D9.I will try and scan it for you.

bob wrote:Roly you once posted on another site some pictures of Neil Becher working at Thurrock I think they was some of the best scraper pictures I have seen Neil was still welding scraper box and spud was lifting tracks off just wondered if there is any chance of a link to site as I lost my bookmarks when computer crashed and cant remember what site it was

bob,i think the pictures were on ACMOC,s old site under my thread D8s dead or alive
with almost 90,000 views but i think the link has gone,i.ll post them up again under a
few dozer repairs