Old Plant Films on Net

[XS650]

Andersons Garages . Slow start but builds literally .old cars in between last half all construction. Lots of old plant featured including first time I've seen a Matbro Mantis shovel at work . At 28 min on a Cat 933 digs a neat big straight sided pit inside a garage and then has a job getting out . Amazing how much excavation they did with track loaders back then, odd as there is a JCB backhoe on site . Quite a a variety of cranes as well Thornycroft Amazon , Smith , Allen etc
Link-

http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=7342&search_term=ANDERSONS%20GARAGE&search_join_type=AND&search_fuzzy=yes

Stills with times-

32.09.jpg

30.41.jpg

19.23.jpg

14.36.jpg

Matbro Mantis

8.26.jpg

2.19.jpg

[v8detroit]

Andersons Garages . Slow start but builds literally .old cars in between last half all construction. Lots of old plant featured including first time I've seen a Matbro Mantis shovel at work . At 28 min on a Cat 933 digs a neat big straight sided pit inside a garage and then has a job getting out . Amazing how much excavation they did with track loaders back then, odd as there is a JCB backhoe on site . Quite a a variety of cranes as well Thornycroft Amazon , Smith , Allen etc
Link-

http://ssa.nls.uk/film.cfm?fid=7342&search_term=ANDERSONS%20GARAGE&search_join_type=AND&search_fuzzy=yes

Stills with times-

32.09.jpg

30.41.jpg

19.23.jpg

14.36.jpg

Matbro Mantis

8.26.jpg

2.19.jpg

no elf and safety mob then the old drotts did a lot of work back then ,

[Hutch]

Nice to see a film showing a traxcavator equiped with a side tipping bucket which I have only seen shown as an option in Cat brochures.Earlier in the film when the road is being removed you can see the sloped inside of the side tipping bucket.The reason for using the tracked shovel for digging the pit in my opinion was accessing the area with tippers and speed with which earth could be removed compared to using the tractor based backhoe loader on site though im surprised they didnt leave an earth ramp and drive the machine out removing the ramp later with the backhoe to save moving all those timbers by hand.Like the way the operators cap comes off when the machine drops off the end of the ramp. Once again great find

[FOWLER MAN]

Nice to see a film showing a traxcavator equiped with a side tipping bucket which I have only seen shown as an option in Cat brochures.Earlier in the film when the road is being removed you can see the sloped inside of the side tipping bucket.The reason for using the tracked shovel for digging the pit in my opinion was accessing the area with tippers and speed with which earth could be removed compared to using the tractor based backhoe loader on site though im surprised they didnt leave an earth ramp and drive the machine out removing the ramp later with the backhoe to save moving all those timbers by hand.Like the way the operators cap comes off when the machine drops off the end of the ramp. Once again great find

Hi Paul,
Yes. Craig has made a brilliant find here.
I agree they couldn't have used the "JCB Hydradigger-Loadall," (I think its a 65 )," to excavate the pit very easily,they would have needed a 360 slew to service the Commer tippers.
Their rope backactor would have needed too much headroom to slew in the available space and retain its load over the discharge point.
Nice to see the "Smith 21" backactor at work, and the "10RB" skimmer loading the "Canadian Dodge" there was a "Priestman Wolf" skimmer in the background in one of the scenes too, and an "Allen" (Michigan) truckmount lowering in pipes.
Some great footage of the " Drotts, D4, 933 and 955" too, firm I worked for (60s) had seven side tips on 955s and 951s, I used to get sent out on them if they were short of opperators. I spent a few nights in the severn tunnel side tipping ballast into trucks on the adjacent track.
There are cranes by "Jones, Neals," and a "Coles" on a "Thornycroft" chasis. A real feast of old gear, not forgetting the "Shawnee Poole" and the ailing, steaming "Air Pumps" compressor. These were made by Armstrong Whitworth.
Fascinating to see the old cars and trucks too.
What make is the red "Fordson" powered loader Bray Does anyone know
Fred

[Tracshovel]

Fantastic old film and the operators of the tracked shovels are amazing. The garage in the film is now an ASDA store but at least some of the companies seen excavating are still around today.
Leggat Plant of Barrhead still exists today

[XS650]

'What make is the red "Fordson" powered loader Bray Does anyone know?'

Itsa a Matbro Fred , fairly sure they were called Mantis. Read in CPM they were very popular in France and most went there. First working pictures of one I've ever seen.

Question - are these reversed 2wd loaders with drive axle at front a lot better than the normal rear wheel drive set up ?

8.26.jpg

[Hutch]

Anybody know what became of Drysdale of Glasgow as they seemed to be quite big with the amount of plant they owned

[FOWLER MAN]

'What make is the red "Fordson" powered loader Bray Does anyone know?'

Itsa a Matbro Fred , fairly sure they were called Mantis. Read in CPM they were very popular in France and most went there. First working pictures of one I've ever seen.

Question - are these reversed 2wd loaders with drive axle at front a lot better than the normal rear wheel drive set up ?

8.26.jpg

Thank you for that Craig, great old film.
Obviously traction is better with the reversed set up when traveling with a full bucket.
On the other hand when digging, particularly with the loader arms pivoted high up like this Matbro, the tendency is to lift the drive axle and tansfer downward pressure onto the stearing axle.
This is probably why the Matbro in the film suffers so much wheel spin.
With rear wheel drive like the loader I had years ago, the steerung axle tended to lift off the ground when filling the bucket and all the weight was transfered to the drive axle where it was needed.
Fred

[brian]

Don't quite get this, how do you watch the film? I got diverted to a Scottish film archive.

[essexpete]

Excellent!
Agree with Fred a 2wd pushing and digging is best with rear wheel drive as the tendancy is for the front axle to lift even without positive downward pressure. Loading out of a stockpile is possibly better with front wheel drive. As the bucket starts to fill crowding back transfers weight to the driving axle and then the load is better placed for shifting. Our old front drive Weatherill would get stuck on a banana skin.
The track shovel footage is superb, I have never seen the side tip bucket before (photo or otherwise).