The Classic Machinery Network

Does anyone remember Mcgregors pretty certain they were a Chesterfield firm.They had if my memory is correct some Terex r45 trucks and a Cat 16 grader on hire to Tarmacs on the M20 in 1979 1980.The 16 grader driver was a guy called Mossie who I came across again when working on the Falklands in 1984.Working in the Falklands is another story wonder how many people on this forum got out there.It would be interesting to hear what other peoples Falklands experiences were.

Hello there .... Yes i worked for McGregors on a D9 .... on an open cast ..... And my mate Bomber and i was over in the Falkland's .... We are still in contact with Dennis Cornish and a few more of the lads that was out there .... Give me a call some time ... Roy

Sounds interesting!
Start a new topic on the Falklands ... tell us your stories!

I remember Mc Gregors motor scrapers doing the St.Neots section of the A1 in the late 60s /early seventies. I think they had some Albion 6 wheelers on the job too.

On a job in the seventies we had some of there old Maggy Duetz dumptrucks tipping to me when i was on a 22a string blade, some of the trucks were a bit tired on the hydraulics, i had to tuck the blade under the buck and give them a lift.

Dougle???.A bit before my time but worked with some of their kit that still had name on.Did CP Holdings swallow them up?
A lad from Durham called Jeff Hallam was on a tractor and box a few times for me and had spent a while in the Falklands.Reckoned the D9L's were wearing tips out in 4 hours on the rock.

68a wrote:Dougle???.A bit before my time but worked with some of their kit that still had name on.Did CP Holdings swallow them up?
A lad from Durham called Jeff Hallam was on a tractor and box a few times for me and had spent a while in the Falklands.Reckoned the D9L's were wearing tips out in 4 hours on the rock.

That must have been up in the quartz quarry I reckon, that stuff was hard as hell.
Russ

IIRC Mcgregors were acquired by Norwest Holst.

Hello Everyone,
To my very surprise,just last week,I found some interesting information out about McGregors,by reading an article about them in Keith Haddocks new book on Opencast coal mining from the 40s to the 80s.They were taken over by Norwest Holst & then a management buy out called AGK Civil-Engineering,where they sadly went into liquidation @ the Derlwyn Opencast Coal site,by the side of Wimpey's Maesgwyn Cap site near Glyneath South Wales in the 90s.
They were actively involved in Opencast coal mining from the early days & were indeed from the Chesterfield area.They had RB 110 & Lima 2400 draglines.
I am not sure,but I think F Shephard'Hill & Company bought the draglines off them,as being from the same area they used to look after 1 & other in business,from my experience working with Shephard'Hill.
I didn't know who Norwest Holst were for a long time.While I was working on the Shephard'Hill & Comany's Ras Bryn Oer & Pen Bryn Oer Opencast coal sites in Rhumney South Wales,Shephard'Hill contracted Norwest Holst to come in on a 6 month deal to speed up muckshifting.They brought to site a Poclain CKB 1000 front shovel,5 Terex R50 & 1 Terex R45 dump-trucks.
After this contract their plant was relocated to the new Derlwyn site.I am not sure,but I think AGK bought 2 Lima 2400B draglines off Shephard'Hill for this job,as they did use 2 there.If anyone can confirm this.
At the time the Norwest Holst contract was going on for Shephard'Hill,this company were on contract for Wimpey Mining,for a good year or so @ the Ffos Las Opencast site in Trimsarron West Wales.They had a Demag H185 front shovel & some Caterpillar 777 trucks on hire there.
I think @ this time,where Opencast sites were declining,Norwest Holst was finding work hard to come by.
The Demag went up to the Derlwyn site,where it joined some new haul -trucks.I don't know what happened to the Caterpillar 777s?
Hope this was of some interest,
Regards,
Mark Williams.

In the opencast images book there is a good picture of the site with two AGK 2400's, H185, RH40, Cat 245 and 992C. You can also see a Poclain 1000 shovel parked at the workshops.

Dave