Far from it, Oily, you’ve done wonders, cheers!
No need to mess, it even has a number plate (JOA476E) which might help identify it.
Its a Brummie Reg, Regards Larry.
Lawrence Dunbar:
Its a Brummie Reg, Regards Larry.
how very dare you !!!,its west bromwich.nowhere near birmingham 
curnock:
Lawrence Dunbar:
Its a Brummie Reg, Regards Larry.how very dare you !!!,its west bromwich.nowhere near birmingham
Well I was close to getting it right, Its a Birmingham County Brough Reg, Regards Larry.
Hi Oilreader, This is a Hydracon crane based on an Albion Clydesdale chassis made at Motherwell or Coatbridge I can’t just remember. There was a one in a field at that farm where the old tractors are on the top of Drumossie Brae on the A9 just south of Inverness, It disappeared about two years ago.
Cheers Leyland 600
IIRC Hudsons Engineers of Sandside,■■■■■■■■ ran one or two Hydrocons,they called them “Strut Cranes” as they had to have the lattice jib erected for each job,what a difference it was “timewise” when the first hydraulic jibbed cranes came into service!! Cheers Bewick.
Hi Bewick, there were a lot of Hydracon cranes about at one time they were state of the art when they came out. They were an improvement on the ex RAF & Navy, Coles cranes built on AEC chassis generally. I vaguely remember seeing Hudsons with one.
Cheers, Leyland 600.
Bewick:
IIRC Hudsons Engineers of Sandside,■■■■■■■■ ran one or two Hydrocons,they called them “Strut Cranes” as they had to have the lattice jib erected for each job,what a difference it was “timewise” when the first hydraulic jibbed cranes came into service!! Cheers Bewick.
Hi Dennis,
I seem to remember that Hudsons had a small B.M.C. FG 2 or 3 tonner with dropsides which ferried these lattice crane sections to the various work locations. Am I right, or was it some other pre-hydraulic crane hire company in our area ?
Thatll pick thi brains, - going back to the late 1960s , or early 1970s on this one !
Cheers, cattle wagon man.
cattle wagon man:
Bewick:
IIRC Hudsons Engineers of Sandside,■■■■■■■■ ran one or two Hydrocons,they called them “Strut Cranes” as they had to have the lattice jib erected for each job,what a difference it was “timewise” when the first hydraulic jibbed cranes came into service!! Cheers Bewick.Hi Dennis,
I seem to remember that Hudsons had a small B.M.C. FG 2 or 3 tonner with dropsides which ferried theselatticecrane sections to the various work locations. Am I right, or was it some other pre-hydraulic crane hire company in our area ?
Thatllpick thibrains, - going back to the late 1960s , or early 1970s on this one !Cheers, cattle wagon man.
You are partly what right there Roy,but usually Hudsons Strut cranes carried all their sections “on board” for normal operations but when they were on a job that required a “fly jib” that little FG you mention was used to deliver the “fly”.Cheers Dennis.
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the quick reply !! There was also a Sherpa ( ? ) dropside pick-up that did the runabout jobs too.
I cant remember his name , but one character former crane driver is still treading the streets of Milnthorpe . Im sure you`ll know exactly who I am referring to . 
Cheers, cattle wagon man.
I realise that these two Hudsons cranes aren’t “Strut” jibs but it demostrates the flexibility of the Hydraulic cranes that took over from the lattice jibs,a bit like tautliners superceding flats.When we had an influx of new trailers,which we fetched down from ■■■■■■■■■■■ 3 at a time,it was easier to ask Hudsons to pop in at finishing time on their back to Sandside,our shunters,or me! would whip the trailers out of the rank and the job took a few minutes for little cost!!
Dennis, That one on the right is a Coles made at Sunderland the one on the left looks as though it might be on a Leyland Hippo but don’t know what kind of crane probably Coles. Cowans Sheldon at Carlisle had a Leyland Hippo crane employed on outside erection of their cranes made in Carlisle.
Cheers, Leyland 600
cattle wagon man:
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the quick reply !! There was also a Sherpa ( ? ) dropside pick-up that did therunaboutjobs too.I can
t remember his name , but onecharacterformer crane driver is still treading the streets of Milnthorpe . Im sure you`ll know exactly who I am referring to .Cheers, cattle wagon man.
Aye I remember their Sherpa pick up,but I’m at loss to think who the former crane driver in Milnthorpe could be ! There was Tom Grindey,RIP,I think he was the last Crane driver before they packed up.Alan Smith ( no relation) went to drive a crane for Glaxo Ulverston,Trevor Foxcroft who left a long while ago as they ran the crane side down,Ted Lowe RIP (aka Sweetey) but he was the “star” wrecker driver and Dave Pearson who left years ago! Hang on,if it is “the character” I think you mean that wanders around Milnthorpe,annoying everyone, he never worked for Hudsons and I wouldn’t let him drive a meccano crane never mind a real one,possibly I’m missing someone,give me a clue then ? Cheers Dennis.
Leyland600:
Dennis, That one on the right is a Coles made at Sunderland the one on the left looks as though it might be on a Leyland Hippo but don’t know what kind of crane probably Coles. Coawans Sheldon at Carlisle had a Leyland Hippo crane employed on outside erection of their cranes made in Carlisle.
Cheers, Leyland 600
Hiya L600 I do believe that all the Hudson cranes were Leyland engined,600 and 400’s but other than that I couldn’t say,but we hired them regularly over the years initially for unloading woodpulp bales into outside store and later on as per the shot in our depot.Cheers Dennis.
Bewick:
cattle wagon man:
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for the quick reply !! There was also a Sherpa ( ? ) dropside pick-up that did therunaboutjobs too.I can
t remember his name , but onecharacterformer crane driver is still treading the streets of Milnthorpe . Im sure you`ll know exactly who I am referring to .Cheers, cattle wagon man.
Aye I remember their Sherpa pick up,but I’m at loss to think who the former crane driver in Milnthorpe could be ! There was Tom Grindey,RIP,I think he was the last Crane driver before they packed up.Alan Smith ( no relation) went to drive a crane for Glaxo Ulverston,Trevor Foxcroft who left a long while ago as they ran the crane side down,Ted Lowe RIP (aka Sweetey) but he was the “star” wrecker driver and Dave Pearson who left years ago! Hang on,if it is “the character” I think you mean that wanders around Milnthorpe,annoying everyone, he never worked for Hudsons and I wouldn’t let him drive a meccano crane never mind a real one,possibly I’m missing someone,give me a clue then ? Cheers Dennis.
Hi Dennis,
I can remember Tom ( RIP ) , who was a great chap to know, as he would help in the garage if he finished a crane job early. I think that Dave Pearson went to work at M.M.B at Kendal , as I am sure I met him again there a few years later.
Ted Lowe ( RIP ) , - I can remember his head of thick bushy dark hair, and more often on the recovery jobs.
As for the character I was referring to ,- aye , thats him !! I honestly believed he worked at Hudsons as a crane driver ! Sorry about that brain slip` ! Did he work at J.D. & S. ? Surely someone employed him ?
Cheers, cattle wagon man.
Leyland600:
Hi Oilreader, This is a Hydracon crane based on an Albion Clydesdale chassis made at Motherwell or Coatbridge I can’t just remember. There was a one in a field at that farm where the old tractors are on the top of Drumossie Brae on the A9 just south of Inverness, It disappeared about two years ago.
Cheers Leyland 600
What do I win?
hi all,
this thread has everything…i suppose the clue is in the title,but keep up the great work lads.a few from me.starting with a good mates mandator v8,seen at sharpness dock on 01/01/12.
regards andrew.
Cavlad:
Leyland600:
Hi Oilreader, This is a Hydracon crane based on an Albion Clydesdale chassis made at Motherwell or Coatbridge I can’t just remember. There was a one in a field at that farm where the old tractors are on the top of Drumossie Brae on the A9 just south of Inverness, It disappeared about two years ago.
Cheers Leyland 600What do I win?
Moving swiftly on 
Oily
That’s a brilliant input Andrew, cheers for taking the time 
.
The ex US Army Mack ( and the present weather) sent me looking for the following though not quite the same model. This is the winter of 1947 and an Aberdeenshire County Council ex army Mack, the similarity is the canvas cab. These photos are dear to my heart as the man on the right is my father born 1898, I never saw him wearing gloves, I have fond memories of him sitting by the hearth of an evening during these harsh winters melting candle grease onto his shovel and rubbing goose fat into his boots in preparation for the tomorrow.
When the plough got stuck, they would cast(local lingo) a track about 3ft wide for a few yards, the driver would reverse a bit, have a race at it and this got the plough going again.
I remember some of the tales with the drivers getting used to this mighty machine compared to the previous 4cyl AECs.
Oily
