Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

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Nevil Whitlock
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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #131 by Nevil Whitlock » Mon Mar 30, 2015 6:13 am

XS650 wrote:Yes welcome Nevil , if you don't mind me getting straight into it , one question springs to mind -
Some websites credit Whitlock with producing the very first tractor mounted backhoe / loader, beating JCB etc to the market, do you think this is correct ?
Craig

Coincidentally spotted this old but solid looking Whitlock ( 605 ? ) in an old railway station yard ( where else! ) yesterday.
P1090764.JPG


Hi Craig --I hope this gets through to you as it is the first response I have endeavoured to do ....but , yes ,Whitlocks were the very first to introduce a tractor mounted backhoe when a Scotsman , Robin Euan , brought my father a sketch of one and from that early sketch tractor mounted backhoes were born and two years after us , Joe Bamford entered the market and , all credit to his company , have achieved wonders in their products . Cheers and thanks for the interest .. Nevil


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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #132 by Nevil Whitlock » Mon Mar 30, 2015 6:24 am

essexpete wrote:G'day Nevil

I am sure many of us on here would be delighted if you could sketch out a little of the Whitlock history (including the Agricultural side).

If I remember correctly the factory site at Gt Yeldham was taken over by various companies including the Hunnable group and Spot machinery and now is a housing estate.

Peter


Hi Peter .. To do as you ask would take an eternity but the business was founded at Great Yeldham in 1899 by my great grandfather , Walter Whitlock and was involved in all kinds of agricultural production and services and this side , to a degree , was there until the end in 1972 but in 1952 with the introduction of the FIRST tractor mounted backhoe to the market , this side became lessened as the construction equipment side increased until our employees numbered some 600 --and with world wide sales but please email me if you want more detailed info . After Powell Duffryn ( Hymac ) bought and transferred production to South Wales --the site was acquired by the Hunnable Group for their machinery side but when that folded they kept the site and sub-let the buildings to various smaller businesses --which is how it remains today --sadly they seem to not have spent one cent on maintaining it and represent a very sad story when driving through it ..and , yes , the front part of the site ( the old timber mill area ) has been converted to a modern housing estate --entered by Whitlock Way !! Thank you again for the interest and trust this finds its way to you and any more information please ask ! Cheers Nevil

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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #133 by XS650 » Mon Mar 30, 2015 10:38 am

Thanks Nevil , thought this was the case , many people credit JCB with the first but to their credit ( specially when Mr J C Bamford himslef was such a great promoter !) JCB themselves never have .
Craig
Nevil Whitlock wrote:
XS650 wrote:Yes welcome Nevil , if you don't mind me getting straight into it , one question springs to mind -
Some websites credit Whitlock with producing the very first tractor mounted backhoe / loader, beating JCB etc to the market, do you think this is correct ?
Craig

Coincidentally spotted this old but solid looking Whitlock ( 605 ? ) in an old railway station yard ( where else! ) yesterday.
P1090764.JPG


Hi Craig --I hope this gets through to you as it is the first response I have endeavoured to do ....but , yes ,Whitlocks were the very first to introduce a tractor mounted backhoe when a Scotsman , Robin Euan , brought my father a sketch of one and from that early sketch tractor mounted backhoes were born and two years after us , Joe Bamford entered the market and , all credit to his company , have achieved wonders in their products . Cheers and thanks for the interest .. Nevil
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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #134 by TullyveeryClassicJCB » Mon Mar 30, 2015 6:53 pm

Whitlock quite comfortably beat JCB to the market in tractor mounted backhoes but what about backhoe-loaders, the combination. When JCB are labelled the inventors of the digger or more accurately the backhoe-loader. Is this true? It has quite often been said that Whitlock were first to the market in this integrated concept in the UK.

I would imagine it was a very close call. 1953 I believe is the year. The BHL's at this time would of course have been marketed as separate items as the BHL popularity had not yet been foreseen. JCB marketed the hoe as the "Excavator" and the loader as the "Major Loader." For Whitlock it was the "Dinkum Digger" but I have no notion of what the name for the loader was.

Furthermore, what makes the subject even more interesting is that Whitlock were supplying backhoes before JCB, but JCB were supplying tractor loaders before Whitlock. Ironically, some would say that Whitlock mastered what JCB invented (the loader) and JCB mastered what Whitlock invented (the backhoe).

The world back then would have seemed a much bigger place than what it is today. The company to be "first to the market" in the UK would automatically be accredited as the inventor.

Globally, in the mid 1940's a company called Hough (owned by International Harvester) were manufacturing loaders. In 1947, a company we all know, Wain-Roy started manufacturing backhoes. By 1950, a patent was filed by Wainroy for the invention of the Backhoe. In 1952 the first Backhoe Loader was manufactured, it was Hough's loading shovel with a Wainroy backhoe. In 1954 International Harvester bought Wainroy.

Source: http://www.leadingedgeattachments.com/originalbackhoe.html

http://www.leadingedgeattachments.com/images/original%20backhoe/First%20TLB%201951.jpg
Last edited by TullyveeryClassicJCB on Tue Mar 31, 2015 9:10 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #135 by essexpete » Mon Mar 30, 2015 8:43 pm

Nevil Whitlock wrote:
essexpete wrote:G'day Nevil

I am sure many of us on here would be delighted if you could sketch out a little of the Whitlock history (including the Agricultural side).

If I remember correctly the factory site at Gt Yeldham was taken over by various companies including the Hunnable group and Spot machinery and now is a housing estate.

Peter


Hi Peter .. To do as you ask would take an eternity but the business was founded at Great Yeldham in 1899 by my great grandfather , Walter Whitlock and was involved in all kinds of agricultural production and services and this side , to a degree , was there until the end in 1972 but in 1952 with the introduction of the FIRST tractor mounted backhoe to the market , this side became lessened as the construction equipment side increased until our employees numbered some 600 --and with world wide sales but please email me if you want more detailed info . After Powell Duffryn ( Hymac ) bought and transferred production to South Wales --the site was acquired by the Hunnable Group for their machinery side but when that folded they kept the site and sub-let the buildings to various smaller businesses --which is how it remains today --sadly they seem to not have spent one cent on maintaining it and represent a very sad story when driving through it ..and , yes , the front part of the site ( the old timber mill area ) has been converted to a modern housing estate --entered by Whitlock Way !! Thank you again for the interest and trust this finds its way to you and any more information please ask ! Cheers Nevil


Thank you Nevil, an interesting piece of British and of course Essex history.


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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #136 by topkit » Sun Apr 05, 2015 1:15 pm

This item has been mention in the backhoe loader thread but i definately think that it belongs here, i am not sure if it is an original Whitlock Dinkum Digger but it is quite an early model and certainly needs to be saved. eBay item number:321715968306

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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #137 by XS650 » Tue Apr 07, 2015 10:58 am

Here are some photos of the above ebay item ( for the record :) )
Reg number issued Wolverhampton 1959 onwards but I think machine is earlier.
$_57 (2).JPG

$_57 (1).JPG
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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #138 by topkit » Thu Apr 16, 2015 2:21 pm

Another old whitlock, I have read somewhere that there are some versions with IH units fitted which were quite rare if so then this is either a rare IH based unit

eBay item number:400902213214
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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #139 by TullyveeryClassicJCB » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:10 pm

This is almost the same as a Whitlock 105 other than it was powered by an International Harvester, marketed and badged as an International Digger except for the backhoe. The 105 that Whitlock sold was powered by a Ford 3000 skid. Its a nice lightweight digger. Pity about the cab though - reminds me of a popemobile.
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Re: Anything Whitlock ( Diggers, dump trucks, cranes et al )

Post #140 by expeatfarmer » Sun Sep 20, 2015 11:04 am

Found some pictures of a couple of Whitlock machines taken at Tractor World 2015 the loader is a WR8 (Whitlock Ransomes) the dumper is a WR4.
Both machines were based on the Ransomes MG6 tractor.
Image
Image


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