Bob
Well-known member
Was one of them driving 963 an American ?
Bri963
Well-known member
No, he was from Norfolk As far as I remember. Can’t remember his name but he kept a detailed log of everything he did with the machine, every day. Years before log books. Seemed quite an educated bloke for a Drott driver. Did you work for them or alongside?
Bob
Well-known member
No I worked for Wyatt and left late seventies but my son worked for phelen at claydon and Norwich Riverside and he use to go on 963 a bit
Bri963
Well-known member
There were still a few of Tom’s men with Phelan’s when I was with them.
Bob
Well-known member
Was Bruce Bailey still there he was contracts manager I saw him a few weeks before phelans took over and he said he would still be there . Yvonne in the office , and John a fitter Peter on the Digger and one or to others I knew were there when Phelen went broke. Cazyhorse a foreman left as soon as Phelan took over don't think they would have got along at all 
Bri963
Well-known member
Don’t remember any of those names, John Haynes was muckshift foreman. Lovely bloke, cockney. Didn’t have too much to do with the brothers but apparently they were a handful.
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Bob
Well-known member
I heard I of the brothers went a bit mental when upset dont know what would have happened if they had owned it a few years before foreman upset one driver next thing TS24 had accidentally parked on foreman car.
Were you at Cambourne?
Were you at Cambourne?
Bri963
Well-known member
No, missed that job. I wasn’t with them that long. When they finished at Thrapston and Peterborough they wanted me to go over to Norwich, but I moved onto another muckshift nearer home. They were generous, I didn’t get the lodge (too near home, hour’s drive each way) but got the travel plus a good weekly bonus. In one year I went from almost bankrupt to paying off a good bit of mortgage, so I won’t knock Phelans.
Did you ever come across Lancasters or Pete Dalton?
Did you ever come across Lancasters or Pete Dalton?
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Bob
Well-known member
That Thrapston job was the first job for Phelen ,Wyatts got that job just before Phelen took over I had to go over Wyatts the week before Phelen took over and the 631s was getting another 5 gallon overhaul ready for that job.Before that Phelen had some diggers and other plant doing general plant hire ,Phelen Holdern and Lamberts were all cutting each other prices to get the hire and if one of the 3 saw one of the firms machine on a job they would ring up the hirers head office a offer to do it for 10% less .Phelens done 2 sections of the Norwich ring road for I think Budge who went bust on them I think it was about £750thousand and that was the beginning of the end for Phelen. Budge also caught Lamberts out for several Thousands Neil Becher also went broke on Norwich Bypass but he was working for Fairclough But when I was talking to Neil he said Fairclough set him up because of an opencast pit he done muck on and fairclough got kick off.
Lancaster came from near newmarket but I never had anything to do with them and Peter Dalton use to roll up to Ben Wyatts yard when he wanted something thats the only time I saw him
Lancaster came from near newmarket but I never had anything to do with them and Peter Dalton use to roll up to Ben Wyatts yard when he wanted something thats the only time I saw him
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Bri963
Well-known member
They had five big jobs going at once, two sections of the A1-M1, (4 miles at Thrapston, another 3 the other side of Wellingborough), a 3 mile section of the A47 at Milton Ferry, the Castle Mall complex at Norwich and the Southern Bipass. They spent a fortune on new Cat, Volvo and Ackerman equipment on top of what they had of Wyatt’s machines, as well as cross-hiring and sub contracting out work. It was obvious they couldn’t keep that pace up. Towards the end of the Thrapston job they wanted me to go over to Norwich with John, when I said no my machine went without me so I went on the tools. I welded the floor back into one of the 631’s over at Milton Ferry, biggest welding job I’d done at that stage, with a diesel Lincoln welder they’d inherited from Wyatts.
First worked with Dalton on Molesworth on the hardened shelters for the cruise. He had two D3’s and two D8’s on blades on the job. He had half of the Spalding. bipass in the 90’s, last time I worked with him.
I never had anything to do with Lancaster until I started this job. We put some of our test machines with them to get hours on the engines and I was on and off several of their jobs servicing and testing the machines. I think they’re finished now.
First worked with Dalton on Molesworth on the hardened shelters for the cruise. He had two D3’s and two D8’s on blades on the job. He had half of the Spalding. bipass in the 90’s, last time I worked with him.
I never had anything to do with Lancaster until I started this job. We put some of our test machines with them to get hours on the engines and I was on and off several of their jobs servicing and testing the machines. I think they’re finished now.
sobitlama
New member
Greate photos!
Bri963
Well-known member
A bit back someone was asking for pictures of excavations for a project, I said I‘d try to get some of a basement dig with a dozer. I had a spare hour and a half yesterday so belatedly….
First picture, first slot, front-to-back dozing.
Next picture, start of second slot, note down to full depth from start, app. one third blade width between slots.
Below, slot progressing back, almost full length.
Looking backwards, taking out the berm, soil pushed along existing slot for maximum production
Second push from rear. I normally alternate from left to right to even out wear on blade, but not compulsory.
Finished basement. App. 120 cubic meters in 70 minutes with a 13 tonne machine.
(Below) Looking backwards. I didn’t have time to put the polish on the turd, but you get the idea. Before anyone says they could do quicker on a 13 tonne 360, single handling you could, but the minute you need to jackball material, I’ve got you beat. Practical uses? Not many nowadays, but stripping deep topsoil off an area it‘s a quick way of doing it, even in six inches. This was about a metre twenty deep.
First picture, first slot, front-to-back dozing.
Next picture, start of second slot, note down to full depth from start, app. one third blade width between slots.
Below, slot progressing back, almost full length.
Looking backwards, taking out the berm, soil pushed along existing slot for maximum production
Second push from rear. I normally alternate from left to right to even out wear on blade, but not compulsory.
Finished basement. App. 120 cubic meters in 70 minutes with a 13 tonne machine.
(Below) Looking backwards. I didn’t have time to put the polish on the turd, but you get the idea. Before anyone says they could do quicker on a 13 tonne 360, single handling you could, but the minute you need to jackball material, I’ve got you beat. Practical uses? Not many nowadays, but stripping deep topsoil off an area it‘s a quick way of doing it, even in six inches. This was about a metre twenty deep.
S
Smiffy
Well-known member
Why do you leave the 3rd in the middle. No criticism a genuine question, as Coming from a farming back ground and never having driven a dozer I was taught when handling anything to move over the width that meant the blade/bucket was full by the other side with no material coming out the side. So the longer you are traveling the smaller you move across.
I still do this when filling digger buckets now.
I still do this when filling digger buckets now.
Bri963
Well-known member
No problem, mate. The berm is left to contain the material in front of the blade. If you didn’t leave it you’d have material spilling out of one side of the blade and you end up not pushing quite as much. Remember it’s not like filling a bucket, where the size of the bucket limits how much you can move each cycle.
When you’re stripping or re-instating with a dozer, the amount you move each time is what you can keep in front of the blade. When you push in the slot the only thing that limits how much material you can keep in front of the blade is traction/power. In theory, by the time you’ve taken the berm out, you should, in theory, have a flat floor that just needs a trim. If you push downhill in the slot, you can push more than the weight of the dozer. The third of a blade berm width is a rough guide, if you’re in clay or anything that stands up on its own you can get away with a narrower berm.
I did this with a PAT blade, but it’s easier with a U or semi-U blade.
When you’re stripping or re-instating with a dozer, the amount you move each time is what you can keep in front of the blade. When you push in the slot the only thing that limits how much material you can keep in front of the blade is traction/power. In theory, by the time you’ve taken the berm out, you should, in theory, have a flat floor that just needs a trim. If you push downhill in the slot, you can push more than the weight of the dozer. The third of a blade berm width is a rough guide, if you’re in clay or anything that stands up on its own you can get away with a narrower berm.
I did this with a PAT blade, but it’s easier with a U or semi-U blade.
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Bri963
Well-known member
Had a few minutes on this Bobcat T76 today at Plantworx, just before chucking out time. Had to admit it was a weapon. Bobcat offer the option of torsion bar suspension or none. This one had it fitted. The 4in 1 was nice, had bolt on edges on the bottom of the blade and the trailing edge of the apron. Even the 963 doesn’t have that. I could quite happily spend all day on one of these.
Lancs Lad
Well-known member
Cost ??
Is that what's actually stopping them been more popular?
Uk it's just grab a mini 360 and do everything with it ?
Can see why yanks love em...
Is that what's actually stopping them been more popular?Uk it's just grab a mini 360 and do everything with it ?
Can see why yanks love em...
S
Smiffy
Well-known member
Cost ??
Uk it's just grab a mini 360 and do everything with it ?
Can see why yanks love em...
And you need a lorry to move them
Vinpetrol
Well-known member
Bri , Years ago we had 941 , 951 track shovels everywhere . Every builders yard had one for loading lorries . The 360 replaced them in most applications . I know they are brilliant at running material out as I’ve worked with them on roads and railways jobs but these bobcats look to small to do what you’ll do with a 963 so what is the target market for them ?
Bri963
Well-known member
Just think Drott, but smaller and much faster. That T76 is about five tonnes, so close to a IH B75 or a Bristol drott, but with a lot more power. It’s obviously not going to cut the ground from under a 963 or even an old 943, but having had that little bit of lever time, I think with a bit of imagination it would be handier for stripping soil or levelling smaller areas of stone or soil, or even grading with a box blade on the front, than reaching for a 360 every time.
It was a dream to level with even without using any machine guidance. After backfill, I got the area as tidy with the 4in 1 as the demonstrator did with the grader attachment (have to admit that he was rushing). Then you have the advantage of a multitude of attachments on one tool carrier.
they are expensive, but how expensive is a 6 - 8 tonne machine with guidance and tilt rotator?
It was a dream to level with even without using any machine guidance. After backfill, I got the area as tidy with the 4in 1 as the demonstrator did with the grader attachment (have to admit that he was rushing). Then you have the advantage of a multitude of attachments on one tool carrier.
they are expensive, but how expensive is a 6 - 8 tonne machine with guidance and tilt rotator?
6
6feetdown
Well-known member
Should have said you were there Bri would have met up for a chat.
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