Smalley 425

[robin]

I bought my Smalley 425 several years ago from a dealer in
Hillsborough in Northern Ireland. I had built my own house in the
country and wanted a mini-digger occasionally to tidy up the site and
to do some drain cleaning, hedge removal, gate post digging etc. on
the nearby small family farm.

I really needed a "rubber duck" to travel the quarter mile road
journey occasionally so tracks (without a plant trailer) were out. I
needed a small cheap machine as I had little spare cash. Most mini-
diggers available were in the £8 - 10k range and were track type and
the larger tyres versions (Atlas, CAT etc.) were mega money.

Hiring was out because I only wanted a digger at weekends for an hour
or two if the weather was suitable.

I spotted a "for sale" ad with a photograph of a wheeled Smalley but
could not afford the asking price at the time. I kept watch on the ad
and the location on the internet for months and it eventually
disappeared. A new ad appeared more locally so I went to have a look.
I believe it was the same machine with another dealer. It was
demonstrated to me as being of low hours and despite the fact that it
had no cab door I fell for it. That was 5 or 6 years ago. I borrowed
their trailer and took it home. I spent several days cleaning, washing
and greasing it and made a simple temporary door for it from thin
plywood. I cleaned out the diesel fuel tank and the lines, remade the
battery support, fitted a tow ball hitch, obtained and altered
additional buckets and added a dumper body (converted to a tipping
trailer) so that I can move excavated materials around the site via
the combination.

Exactly what the doctor ordered !!! A real boy's toy. I love going to
it, connecting the battery and turning the key.

An hour on it is like a week's holiday. It was idle (not started) from
last October until April this year, I was doing other things. I turned
the key and ... perfect. It is always outside and really needs a
little TLC. I have some yellow "Hammerite" to touch up any surface
rust and I must make a proper door for it. I know it will serve me for
many years to come, it uses so little diesel (the hour meter was stuck
when I bought it and it still is) I have topped up the hydraulic oil
once since purchase and it is always ready to work when I need it and
for as long as i need it. I used it for 2 days non stop in July
removing tree trunks and roots (trees were cut down 2 years ago) and a
hedge. A large tracked machine would have done that job in a couple of
hours but would have cost me hundreds. Just think of the fun I would
have missed !!

Long Live Smalley.

I knew a little about the Smalley manufacturer and their walking
digger since my university days at Aston in Birmingham 1965-1969 and
often dreamed of owning one.

My thesis was based on operator plant and ergonomics, lacking in the
early development of the hydraulic machinery never mind the rope
operated 10 RBs that were in common use then for trench excavation. On
one of my first jobs in Carrickfergus as a site engineer in 1966 there
were 2 rope operated 10 RBs we used to dig the trenches for the main
sewers. I'd love to have one of them now in working order or to
restore.