Iron Fairy

[Joes1989]

Theres one on the way out to Bakewell! Its in use on a regular basis at Twigg steel in Matlock!

[MGI]

What I will never understand is why the majority of crane companies put the novices on these machines... although they only lifted small weights and couldn't do a lot of slewing, they were a nightmare to drive on the roads, bouncing up and down at 12 mph flat out, they had rear wheel steer and because of their limited speed it was illegal to drive them on the motorway, although everyone did. The main reason I was surprised that any and everyone (at BCHC) would be sent out on the things (although there was a couple of drivers who always operated the same machines and didn't drive anything but Fairys.) was that the lifts they undertook always seemed to be in factories crammed with industrial engineering machinery with no headroom and really tight gaps to work in... they soon sorted the men out from the boys (usually on the drive to site, never mind squeezing in between machine bays etc) The ones I remember were the ones that you had to climb onto the bed and sort of lower yourself down through an aperture to drop into the cab, very claustrophobic if you were that way inclined! No doors, that would make it too easy! I had a brand new rough terrain Iron Fairy the first one made I believe, it was called a 'Cairngorm' it had enormous wheels and tyres like a wheeled earth mover and also had four wheel steer, and the rear axle could turn with the front axle or it could turn in the opposite direction, it could practically move sideways if you wanted it to. It was rated as a 12 tonner and weighed 20 ton, the manual extraction was very clever, it could be operated by a large chain and was very simple and didn't involve any pulling or pushing! (or grease encounters). I don't think they caught on as they were pathetic in the rough because of their weight! The crane part seemed very similar to a lorry mounted unit in the yard also a 12 tonner but its wheels (six wheeler) were chinese fashion.

[keepitbrief]

Well bill the six wheel type was the amethyst, and my late father Stan Sutherland drove it from new, the first one for BCHC , Bham, and as you say the first made, it was a K reg , it was very fast on the road 60mph amazing for then . As a crane mad kid, I would go with my dad when i could, and still did till he retired. But now i'm a crane mad bloke lol

[MGI]

I knew your Dad, he was at BCHC when I was there... In fact he drove the Cairngorm before I did because they gave it him for a day or two whilst his was in dock for some reason. I went out to Chelmsley Wood to drive it on a very small pipeline that was running parallel to the M6. The agent asked me to string out a load of pipes with it, up a hill (offroad in a field) carrying them free on wheels and on a side camber. I said it wouldn't do it - just then Stan turned up on his chinese six because he had left his brothers in the Cairngorm, I said to him " they only expected me to string those pipes up that hill with this, I refused because it'll never get up there" He told me he thought it would because it was supposed to be a rough terrain crane and it had four wheel drive so I went back to the agent and told him that apparently it would do the job. I picked up a pipe, slewed it to the high side and set off - within 10 feet I was bogged to the *******s and it took me all morning jacking myself up on sleepers to get back to terra firma, your old man was long gone when I finally got out - I was absolutely cream crackered hand balling those sleepers a foot at a time and filthy dirty! To put the tin hat on it, there was a JCB 3 driver there and he said he would string the pipes, I replied scornfully that if the Cairngorm couldn't do it, a machine specifically designed to move loads over rough terrain, there was no chance that 3C excavator could do it, but just to complete my day he strung out every single pipe right to the top of the hill! It was only 2 wheel drive to add insult to injury!

[keepitbrief]

LOL good story bill ,hope you gave the old man some s**t when you saw him again lol , as you said before it was heavy , and slow, i went in it ones back to the yard when he had it for a couple of days , possibly the same time of that job , back off water orton ?

[MGI]

You could be right Keith, it was that area... the pipes were steel but only about 4" dia. the site was right next to the M6 (at least I think it was the M6, it was a long time ago) I remember there was a line of massive pylons running up the hill adjacent to the job. I also remember the agent had a new Cortina and he locked himself out of it and even the Ford agents couldn't get him a duplicate key!

[kieran]

Well bill the six wheel type was the amethyst, and my late father Stan Sutherland drove it from new, the first one for BCHC , Bham, and as you say the first made, it was a K reg , it was very fast on the road 60mph amazing for then . As a crane mad kid, I would go with my dad when i could, and still did till he retired. But now i'm a crane mad bloke lol

keith i knew yer dad very well i worked with him in wharf rd me & the brother wer fitters there
went out on a breakdown to yer dad 1 day you wer with him small world m8

kieran

[keepitbrief]

well, well small world kieran , but we all have one thing in common ,plant and cranes. Was the breakdown to a coles ranger out at stratford, that,s the only one i can remember ?
keith

[MGI]

Kieran, do you remember Jody who was a fitter on the rope machines, and a Irish lad called Bill something, I think it might have been Geary? Not to mention Jock Ritchie who had the shout in the workshops!

[kieran]

well, well small world kieran , but we all have one thing in common ,plant and cranes. Was the breakdown to a coles ranger out at stratford, that,s the only one i can remember ?
keith

keith I think it was the iron/f amyt ????