Forestry Memories

Ploughing tractors bogged at Lochans near Lairg 5

Ploughing tractors bogged at Lochans near Lairg 5

Date Added: 16 April 2007 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1987 Picture No: 156

Picture no 5 - courtesy of Frank Thom, retired District Forester. Dirty, cold and wet! Sludge pump is draining some water away from the bogged D4 tractor. Rossie Ross is using the Smalley digger to keep water level down also. Three tractors and a Muskeg are now lined up to start the first major pull. The second tractor has the strong mechanical winch and the two macnines in front of it are simply to keep it from sliding back wards as it winds the cables in. Angus Ross and Sandy Allison on the tractor tracks. Frank Thom and Len Newman looking on. This is probably day two or three.

Download Large Version (135kB)

Groups: Caithness and Sutherland, Forestry in Action, Tractors Ploughs and Drainage Machines

4 Comments

I stumbled across this site looking for some information on the specialist machinery manufacturer Smalley. These pictures (and the memories I'm sure) are really amazing. I couldn't find a contact email address but I was hoping someone might be able to tell me a little more about the Smalley mini excavator. I am aware of only one wide and long track model, the 808, but this machine looks a little on the smallish side to be that one. Can anyone help?

Thanks very much for putting such great pics online and for any help you can give.

Best regards. Comment left on 17 July 2007 at 20:52 by Gavin Phillips
From memory this machine may have been one of two trial or early tracked models that Richard Smalley produced and I remember him coming up to see it in action and doing a bit of trouble shooting. The first Smalley diggers were the two wheeled models that hauled themselves about by the use of the pulling power of the bucket arm. This tracked model appears to have been wheeled machine mounted on a light track chassis. Two hydraulic motors were located on the ends of the track chassis which drove the belt tracks armed with light metal box section cross plates. Like all new developments it did have its troubles - motors pegged out now and again, the belt tracks were very stressed on rough ground but it was a fantastic machine on the soft peat conditions that we were encountering those days. I think its ground pressure was something like 1.2PSI! Comment left on 23 July 2007 at 19:51 by Norman Davidson
Good to see the smalley machines coming to the rescue. Although the track design was fairly basic it had some basic principles which are now continued on to our later designs and the altos chassis systems on much heavier duty machines, such as bionmass harvesters, forestry tree harvester machines, exploration drill rigs and pile drivers all requiring to get over very bad ground safely and with the minimum of damage.
Richard Smalley International Ltd is still designing specialist machines to customer's requirements see our website www.richardsmalleyinternational.co.uk
Best regards
Added by Richard Smalley on 31 October 2007
 Comment left on 31 October 2007 at 10:06 by Richard Smalley
I also came here looking for information on Smalley machines using the terms 'smalley excavator winch' as I have a Mk2 Smalley5 walking machine and was trying to find some photos of what the winch, it previously had, might have look like. Mine came via WRG (waterways recover group) but I understand it might have started life with a utilities company, hence the winch and rollers, and perhaps also being fitted with a pole planter. Very interesting machines, right at the forefront of mini excavators. Comment left on 27 August 2014 at 18:57 by Daniel Hutchinson
Form Goes Here