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Drotts on demolition

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:29 pm
by XS650
I'm just old enough to remember when all demolition seemed to be done with an old Drott ,a piece of wire rope and a Bedford tk or Thames Trader tipper ,(into 1970s) .Not sure wether demolition men distrusted 360deg excavators or couldn't afford 'em.Heres some old pics .Don't know why the mans got his head in the Drott bucket or what the purpose of the grillage type bucket on the Chaseside loader is.
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Cat? creeps in
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Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:50 pm
by martyn williams
Great photos,pre bump hat days :lol:
Any more photos?
Martyn

Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 7:02 pm
by tim
Superb photos Craig,the bucket on the Chaseside -sometimes known as a riddle bucket- was used for picking up hardcore and the dust or dirt would fall out between the tines.Hardcore was normally sold on and customers would complain if there was too much dust or dirt in it. :thumbs_up: Tim

Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 8:45 pm
by IBH
2nd photo from the bottom looks like a Priestman Lion and an unknown Case tracked loader.

Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:00 pm
by Fowler VF
The old wire rope trick was great. You pushed it in through one window and out of another, preferably on a corner, and then hooked up to the drott and pulled. On brick work it would cut through like a cheese wire, at which point you had to duck as the wall of dust and debris swept up behind you. The other trick was to clamp a telegraph pole into the 4 in 1 and poke the high bits off; not for the faint hearted!!

Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:42 am
by XS650
These are the sort of pictures that interest me ,old plant at work , they are all culled from t'internet :D
Tim -looking at the Chaseside picture theirs a stack of reclaimed bricks next to it so maybe they were using the Riddle bucket to sort bricks.
IBH-The base truck on the Priestman (?) mobile crane looks like a Foden
Here are some similar pictures of 60's stuff ,anyone identify all the gear ?
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Not much plant but first sighting of a Tesco bag !
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Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:01 pm
by XS650
Cat 955k AEC tipper and Alf Garnet
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Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:29 am
by JimInOz
Fantastic pics of old gear & tuff blokes at work.
My first Drott experiences were on my uncle's demo jobs,in the 70's/80s...on a MF300.I nearly took my head off a few times,trying to "gently" pull long pieces of steel or wood from the still- standing structure.
Once I had to unload the MF300 from a tipping tray.As there was no dirt or ramp,I just drove(slid) off the slightly elevated tray backwards with ripper down. :dizzy: I never did that again....
As much as I love Drotts,I know why excavators are used now....they're safer for a start
With a Drott,pulling/pushing over a 20 feet high brick wall was always...er...exciting.An excavator just puts the boom up & flicks the wrist & job is done in a controlled manner.
.
It's nice to see some non-USA pictures.Thanks for sharing.

Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:01 am
by martyn williams
I also like the photo's from 1950's 60's.These were sent to me by John Drott jr.Will be getting a few more from him shortly.
These Drotts are on demo in the UK.
They are being operated by Vern Lanier,Drott mfg chief demo driver

Re: Drotts on demolition

Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 12:50 pm
by JimInOz
Hey Martyn,
Fantastic Drott pics.It's nice to see them in near-new condition,instead of in a 50 year old state of decay.
That first pic,on the heap,is the best IH Drott action pic I've seen.
Thanks..
Jim