Where do diggers go to die?

[Guest]

No, 'tis a Thorneycroft airfield fire tender, possibly a Nubian, but i think those were six-wheeled

 

Lorry Graveyard II by zenithfivenine, on Flickr

Thanks for that, I wondered what this one was

 

Looks to be the same, another DP1 or DP2, hard to tell from that angle.

Another great find, can you say where it was?

[wackywacerwill]

Wow, I love places like these. Many many hours could be spent there enjoying that lot.

 

Just reminded me of an old thread as it happens, just off to dig it out...

[HBR]

Well I've been happy to be lurker here for ages but on this I have to comment! I'm an Agric Engineer so much of this stuff is my terittory, what a fantastic place to go wandering about!!

I'm not too good on the heavy plant, road making gear etc but stuff with agricultural connections I can shed a bit of light on:

 

This looks to be an International Harvester crawler, mabye as old as the 1940/50s the styling of the bonnet is very similar to a smaller one I've been to fix in the past, it's had a hydraulic pump improvised onto the front at some point.

 

This is a late 1960s/early70s Ford industrial tractor, similar to the 3000 agric model that's common & which I'm quite familiar, the round tank under the L/H foot board means it's got a compressor fitted.

 

This Plough Master will also be late 60s/early70s. It does indeed look a bit like a County, but they were built by Roadless, a rival company who also used Ford skid units for most of their tractors. Non of the main players in the tractor market made 4wd models so County, Roadless & a few others built them using existing manufacturers models as the base.

 

A Massey Ferguson industial more 60s & 70s, probably a 40B based an the very common 135 agric tractor or mabye 50B based on the 165, the earlier one registered FBJ 961J in the pic further up would be similar.

 

A 1980s Zetor from Czechoslovakia that's been running a little hotter than it should! Crudely made compared to the established brands but cheap & tough, the spare parts for these used to come with Skoda lables on them!

 

A couple of Russian Belarus tractors, crude & cheap like the Zetors but they never really caught on, a bit Heath-Robinson like in their constuction.

 

Another industrial Ford, based on the 5000 tractor, the vents up the side of the bonnet means it's an earlier pre 1968 one but the reg tells that anyway.

 

A Muir-Hill (aka Muriel), another Ford based 4wd conversion, these had a stepped gearbox to lift the engine high enough to clear the front axle with equal size wheels, the biggest had Perkins V8 engines.

 

Something David Brown based, by the faired-in footplates & front mudguards I'd expect a Douglas aircraft tug.

 

 

Cheers for posting these up, I cant say it's a trip down memory lane as I'm not as old as most of the stuff in the photos but I like old kit like this! There's still a suprising amount of it still out there doing real graft!

[Richard]

What makes a tractor industrial? I've seen plenty tractors in industrial use but I didn't realise there was anything different about them.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

No, 'tis a Thorneycroft airfield fire tender, possibly a Nubian, but i think those were six-wheeled

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lost-fragments/5240704297/

Lorry Graveyard II by zenithfivenine, on Flickr

Thanks for that, I wondered what this one was

 

Looks to be the same, another DP1 or DP2, hard to tell from that angle.

Another great find, can you say where it was?

 

In Cyprus.

 

I know of a Belarus tractor still in use, though it's just static I think, it's used to power a firewood processor.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Incredible! How all that lot's gone untouched for years is beyond me, especially during the OMG SCRAP PRICE MADNESS.

[Alexg]

Hey HBR, welcome to the forum and thanks for the details

[HBR]

What makes a tractor industrial? I've seen plenty tractors in industrial use but I didn't realise there was anything different about them.

 

A bit of a grey area really, but they tend to have extra weight built into them, like on that Massey Ferguson the front of the bonnet/radiator cowl it's a thick casting which might weigh 100+kg where the agric version would have a light fabricated or pressed steel one, the axles & brakes are often heavier, different gearing & wheels etc, different lights & mabye extra gauges on the dash, the drawbar & lift arms would probably be a different spec. And most importantly, YELLOW PAINT!

 

There's plenty industrial ones working in agriculture, councils & construction firms that would run them will tend to buy new & replace them when less than 10 years old, so they find their way into agricultural use where tractors can work till decades old. I'm on a farm here & our youngest tractor is M reg, the oldest N (but 1970s N )

 

Tractors dont really have a banger phase like a car does before it becomes a classic & desireable again, there's no MOT test so as long as it does the job ok there'll be a job for it. Before they become truely obsolete & impractical to use the enthusiasts are wanting them to restore & there's been a big export demand for some models over the years.

[scruff]

Roadless Ploughmaster = £££££

[mattblack]

This...

 

 

...looks like it needs to pee!

[CIH]

excllent info spew new guys!

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Roadless Ploughmaster = £££££

 

Old Ford tax

[Captain Mainwaring]

Hey HBR, welcome to the forum and thanks for the details

 

And yes, indeed, thanks HBR, clearly you know your stuff.

[Spottedlaurel]

Excellent work all round, great photos and some very useful commentary. It’s like a gigantic version of the airfield auctions they have round this way, but nothing sold or ever got collected.

 

My dad used to sell International Harvester tractors and other agricultural stuff, but I seem to recall they weren’t allowed to sell industrial/construction models.

[trigger]

I tell you what is a impressive piece of kit, the Doe Tripe-D, Which is basically two tractors bolted together, running two engines and two gearboxes, Worth a bloody mint now though.

 

They was made my a local agricultural dealer called Ernest Doe & Sons who was based near Hatfield Peverel in Essex but now have branches all over East Anglia, I used to go to there shops a lot as a kids as i worked for a agricultural engineer and my dad works on a farm as well.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_Triple-D

 

[Tonka]

I know a man who can build these.......

 

http://belfield4x4.vpweb.co.uk/

[lovejoy]

Wow, that's a pretty wicked looking piece of kit indeed

[Pillock]

Wow, thanks for the threadbump and extra info new-people

 

I must admit to knowing absolutely sod all about the stuff I was photographing, I just knew it was both sad and awesome at the same time. It's nice to get a bit of background on a few items there. I'm considering a return trip at some point, not yet decided whether to make it official or not but I've been told of something there in particular I want a photo of.