Ah, the gentle application of an engineer's extended vocabulary to enable recalcitrant lumps of metal. Often accompanied by the search for an even larger hammer......
It is really nice to see this bit of heavy equipment history being restored. Thanks for sharing this with us. Odd thing is I can remember when theses were new to the market here in the States.
I used to drive cranes for Greenhams in the seventies. They had three groves the earlier 22 ton model that didn't have the sharp angular edges to the crane cab, it was all curves. The one in your clip is the later 25 tonner hence the extra ballast weight on the rear. Also a new 1978 Grove TMS250 which was a totally new design with a v8 Cummins engine that powered everything. Also it had the new trapezoidal jib which was able to lower to negative boom angles for ease of falls changing. The safe load indicator in the cab was made by weigh load and was the best sli at the time. The other unusual point of the groves compared to other cranes of the time was the freewheeling slew with a foot brake and a parking dog that locked into the slew ring. Groves were about the smoothest cranes I drove ever. Road speed, you may see 40mph max on a flat road, but would struggle to keep up 20 on the long slopes, going down hill Mexican overdrive was often used to make up a bit of time.
So nice to see things are moving well on the Allen Grove. This unit went into use in the same year I completed my 5yr apprenticeship with John Allen and Son. I worked for them until 1981 when made redundant. I spent several years in the Hydraulic Shop where I assembled/repaired and tested all the different types hydraulic cylinders and winches on the full ranges of TMS (Truck Mounted Super) cranes. FYI There are NO Rams on cranes. They can be found in fields chasing sheep! You have Lift Cylinders, Extension cylinders, to move the stabilisers out from the chassis. Levers in the cab are slew, Telescopic (Boom) Lift and winch. Always ensure all extension cylinders are fully extended before lowering stabilisers. Front first till they come into contact with ground and then same with rear. Extend all stabilisers to full height in order to ensure hydraulic lock works in stabilisers. I have seen guys tip cranes over by rotating the turntable and not extending extension cylinders. Still have fun be safe and enjoy. Love your YT chanel
There could be many uses for this crane like lifting a Ruston 48 onto a flat bed trailer so it can visit many preserved railways. By the way love the 1980's style music you are using in the films you are doing now.
Looks great I really enjoyed the crane and video. Please do more updates. it great to see construction vehicles get restored as most people go for cars and vans, the bigger things get scrapped
Hello there it’s Keithscraneservice from Headingley Manitoba 🇨🇦🏗🪝😀Yes thanks for the update and I would love to see it painted! Just a little tip you didn’t know why the counter weight was removable, well there’s certain times especially where the temperatures are at a point in spring where the frost is coming out of the ground and the highways that are not built for heavy weights during this time. We refer to this as the “Spring Road Restrictions” and the weight you are allowed on we thinner asphalt or concrete highways are reduced so if you need to travel during this time you have the option of reducing the weight, or if you have to lowbed or trailer the crane anywhere once again you can reduce the weight for transporting your crane. Another point I would like to make is if you don’t have a “On Rubber “ section on your load chart you must Fully extend your out riggers and level the crane before you can swing the superstructure. The reason is you will tip over. If you have a ON RUBBER chart you must be careful that your on level ground and your tires have the proper pressure. One more thing I noticed is the cable had a pig tail or two that is dangerous because if the cable isn’t reeved properly you might pickup something the cable behaves iraticly it may cause the load to drop as the cable tightens on the drum without you engaging the cable lever function. The cable must be reeved perfectly on the drum so that there’s no chance of it jumping and kinking on the drum. I hope things continue to progress on the old girl and I am so happy to see you restore this amazing piece of engineering 🇨🇦🏗🪝👍👎👈👉👇👆🤌😀
Very nice. I can imagine the levels of swearing that will have been required to help bring this back to life... I thought you might be interested to know that I recently saw a load of pictures taken at Rush Green Motors within the last year, and it rather appears that they have a number of Dodge D-Series cabs that look to be in rather better condition than Bodmin's. So that could be a potential for maybe replacement or, at least, repair panels for the project...
Another update video would be awesome Lawrie 😁😁 great to see an old crane coming back to life 👍👍 I love the piece of music during the dismantling of the outriggers.... May I ask what piece of music it is please?
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it. It's a bit of music created by our resident composer - if you follow the link in the video description for Alex the hat, I think it's there.
Wow .. I used to own one of these Cranes .. a Grove/Allen 25/64 .. they were a good crane back in the day, good lifters, the 680 super power plus was a good engine (200HP)and the old Leyland boxes too.. the Ford D series engines were a bit noisy and Smokey, but they just went on and on... I had a fold away fly jib on mine... keep them greased, especially the slew ring, and they will last a long time ... it’s the cabs and sheet metalwork that corrodes ..
Yet again LMM brings us something that I've never really given any thought to and again I thoroughly enjoyed the video, I'm all for updates. Thanks Lawrie
Great to see all the progress made on the crane , it will be something to see it driving and lifting . I can feel the pain in the wallet on the NEW tires
Yup had about a thousand things wrong with it but it was a cracking bit of kit had the same 11 litre 680 power plus lump in it only problem was the Lino in the engine had gone and the clutch was a pain to use unfortunately it was sent to scrap as it was to far gone I wish it could’ve been saved it was beautiful in my eyes
I wanted to be crane driver when I was little, being near Waterloo station people thought I meant train driver but no I lived opposite a large crane depot !
I used to see these often back out in Australia, owned by a company called Brambles and used in the steel works area. You look like you were having a lot of fun.
Took me 2 seconds to figure out it was a Grove! There was 4 of them in my home town, one of em had a Mercedes v8, which would not fit into the rest of em. 3 of em were 20 Tonnes the forth was a 40 Tonne.
@@lmm ye they had one like this and also a big blue one which looked like a drag line style they used to use them for pulling boats from the water the boat yard as it was is now gone i believe as they build new houses on it or were goin too when i moved away from there some years ago
If you put them Goodyear’s in American money. There about $1500 a piece so $1500 ❎ 8 (not including the 2 front tires/wheels) that’s some serious green!!
Two more vehicles to review there, an interesting looking late '30s or '40s saloon between the crane and the hedge and a series 2 or 3 Hillman Husky in the owners workshop.
Hey Lawrie,I Saw An Episode Of That NYMR Show & I Remembered Something I Forgot To Ask. Were You At The NYMR's RAF Gala. (The One With Douglas & 92 Squadron) You Were On Camera & Said You Had Slept In Your Car The Night Before. Also With A Guy Named James Also,When Will You Repaint That Crane. The Paint Is Chippin Everywhere Dude
Yes, if you check out chasing dinosaurs episode 2 that'll cover it from our perspective. I think they're going to sort everything else, get it all working then paint it up.
At the point of 90 comments who is the A hole, angry, lonely, putz that dont likeed ?? Oh I got your mug I like it if it was larger just by a bit 2-3 OZ.it would be my favorite Thank you forr your content.
