The Classic Machinery Network

Here's a link to the moment she first fired up;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOluYpdg3cU

Jeremy

Good to see it running again.

Were many Hymacs built with Volvo engines?

Neil. (v1230nm)

v1230nm wrote:Good to see it running again.

Were many Hymacs built with Volvo engines?

Neil. (v1230nm)

Neil, the original Hymac 880 was fitted with the Cummins V8 which was sort of new to the market and gave lots of problems, as Hymac had quite a large export market to Scandinavia, they fitted Volvo engines new to 880 machines that were exported there, when the replacement 880C model was first introduced it was initially fitted with the Cummins V8 but quickly replaced by the much better Volvo engine. Don't think I have ever seen an 880C with the Cummins V8 engine in it; there was 135 of the 880 model manufactured and 151 of the later 880C, I also knew that Hymac fitted a Scania engine into a single 880 as an experiment but I have no details about that.
Most of the rest of the Hymac range with the exception of the digger loaders and a few odd machines here and there were fitted with Ford or Perkins power units, the only other exception was the 1080 and 1290 models, the 1080 either powered by a four cylinder Rolls Royce engine or a Cummins V6, and the 1290 of which only 24 were made was fitted with the Cummins NH220 in-line 6 cylinder engine.

Jeremy

Thanks for the reply Jeremy.

My thoughts were that they would have most likely to have been fitted with either Perkins or Ford engines. I guess the Volvo Engines would have been manufactured by Volvo Penta and would have been 6 litre or 7 litre and rated at around 180 -210 BHP. In one of my previous lives at Volvo Trucks it was not uncommon to be asked for parts for construction equipment even though I worked for a different division of the company.

Prior to joining Volvo, Saville Tractors were agents for Hymac which I believe came under the NEI Thompson banner at that time in the mid 1980's. I believe we obtained the parts from The Pleck in Walsall at that time if I remember correctly.

Neil. (v1230nm)

v1230nm wrote:Thanks for the reply Jeremy.

My thoughts were that they would have most likely to have been fitted with either Perkins or Ford engines. I guess the Volvo Engines would have been manufactured by Volvo Penta and would have been 6 litre or 7 litre and rated at around 180 -210 BHP. In one of my previous lives at Volvo Trucks it was not uncommon to be asked for parts for construction equipment even though I worked for a different division of the company.

Prior to joining Volvo, Saville Tractors were agents for Hymac which I believe came under the NEI Thompson banner at that time in the mid 1980's. I believe we obtained the parts from The Pleck in Walsall at that time if I remember correctly.

Neil. (v1230nm)

Neil, when Hymac were under the NEI Thompson banner, they were made at Ettingshall near Wolverhampton, after BM Group took them over that was when they moved to Pleck Road, Walsall and stayed there for that short period plus the Brown Engineering Hymac era, after which they moved back to Wolverhampton under the John Kennedy/Ross Read era, to the site of the former Guy Motors works.
I'm not sure which Volvo engine it was in the 880C but you are around the correct capacity and horse power, and they were a similar power unit to those used in Volvo trucks; during the mid 80's Hymac diggers would have mainly been powered by Perkins engines.

Jeremy

Awesome news Jeremy, looking forward to finding out more!

Here's a short clip of the machine being checked that she would track okay prior to moving her:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwF9KnoB64o

Jeremy

A lovely row of Hymacs taken from a brochure for Norwest Holst Soil Engineering Limited of 1980s vintage for its grouting services. One of them bares the name Gordon Anderson Plant (now GAP Group). They are fitted with rotary drilling masts (possibly from Halco) and top-drive rotary hammers to drive the rods and drill bit into the ground. This set-up was used to 'probe' for mine workings and/or old shafts as well as create holes through which cementitious grout and other materials e.g. pea gravel or sand could be pumped/poured as part of the process to infill and/or consolidate old mine working voids and shafts. Norwest Holst Soil Engineering live on as Soil Engineering Geoservices and are still involved in drilling and grouting works to this day.
https://www.soil-engineering.co.uk/services/drilling-grouting/

They are getting much harder to come across these days but I came across this 580BT which is a minimum of 50 years old! Not bad condition, cab rot and no windows but what do you expect for that age?

Jeremy

This tidy 370 came into Andrews Farm today, the machine belongs to his next door neighbor who has owned this digger loader sine 1985 not in bad condition for its age!

Jeremy