The Classic Machinery Network

Hi,
Glad I found this forum.
I am fettling a dumper at a local steam preservation site. Not so much as an exhibit, but as a useful bit of equipment. As a retired fabricator-welder, patching the rusted bucket and other bits and getting the bucket securing/release latch to work reliably has been fairly easy.
As a motorcyclist, deisel engines are just things that spill fuel and fetch us off and I have no familiarity with them, but fortunately there are guys on hand who know Petters and Listers inside out.
I put "front wheel steering" as the subject as I understand its quite unusual on dumpers. As yet we have no idea what make it is. Possibly when the inches deep filth below the engine are cleaned off some identifying marks may reveal something.
I don't have a good enough photo at present so maybe a general description will be enough to get some suggested names.
It is rear wheel drive, belt driven from a single cylinder Petter with front wheel steering.
Wheels are all 3 stud.
Driver's seat, behind the bucket. Steering wheel & column is central with driver's seat slightly to the left.
Main chassis member is very basic, being just sturdy "U" section steel.
Most guesses of age are around early '60s
The Petter needs new big end shells, but that's in hand. Apart from one wonky steering ball joint it steers Ok and rolls remarkably well and so we hope to get it running fairly easily.
Pete.

Hi Pete and welcome I can picture your dumper but can't put a name to it but there are members on here who are very knowledgeable on dumpers so somebody should be able to identify it for you; which steam preservation group is it that you do your work for? I quite like to visit preserved railways when the chance permits.

Jeremy

Thanks Jeremy.
Its the Weston Zoyland Pumping Station near Bridgwater. It is mostly stationary steam, a lot of it connected with water level pumping on the Somerset Levels.
We have a narrow gauge railway, initialy set up to help move heavy equipment but now extended to provide rides for visitors on steaming days. The locos are all deisel but there is one steam powered loco still under construction.

Hi, sounds like it may be a George Fowell
John

Thanks John!
George Fowell it is!
Found a manual and an article, showing a calf-dozer attachment. Now there's a project.
I should be able to post pics of ours Sunday evening.

Look forward to the pics (and if there are bikes in the background that'll be a bonus!!)

As the steel plate to mend the bottom of the bucket hadn't arrived, today at the pumping station I got the bucket detached to make the repair easier and to clear the chassis for deep cleaning.
Hand scraping removed the heavier deposits, some old, slightly used white spirit worked well and a jet washer shifted nearly all the grease and flaking paint.
(I took photos and tried to add them to a post. But it didn't work. I attached them to the post but wasn't sure what I did wrong or didn't do, but no joy. If sombody can explain in simple terms I'd appreciate it.)
The other guys at the pumping station today were very interested to hear of G.F. as the maker and the other info I'd gathered from this forum
Looking at photos of other examples, and the Parts list, they pointed out some significant differences on our example.
The engine and transmission are mounted at 90 degrees differently from other examples. Placing the drive bet running cross the chassis under the driver's thighs, (Ooh er, Missus!) rather than alondside the r/h rear wheel.The gear change is to the driver's left rather than to the right and the gear box itself has a protrusion on the l/h side that is not there on others.
The steering column is also different, and as I thought, the drivers seat is offset to the left of the steering column.
I understand that dating GFs is difficult, but we wonder whether these differences indicate that it is an early example.
Thoughts please.

Ok,
I've found some pics of GFs with the same layout as ours, "belt drive across the front" but all I can discover is that "belt at the side" is a "GF type A"
So is the one we've got a "Type B" ?

Besides not being able to add pics to my post, looking through the forum I keep encountering posts tha presumably have photos, but they are not visable and there is just "You do not have permission to view this post" which is a bit irritating.

Here's a download
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... SnAUCtxrwI