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Author	Message
Sunbar ◊ 2006-09-16 19:51	The yellow truck on the right. The only detail I possibly recognise is the two round areas on the front. They look like 'London Brick Company' logos so the truck could have been made for that company. Thinking they could have used AEC trucks? Although it has a crane I think this was added later.
Sunbar ◊ 2006-09-16 20:00	New Make... Confirmed.... found it as Hydrocon? In which case it was made as a mobile crane. http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p26597276.html Made at Summerlee Scotland, the company built hydraulic cranes under the name of "Hydrocon" , from around 1950 to the early 1980s. -- Last edit: 2006-09-16 20:25:07
jplemoine ◊ 2006-09-16 20:42	Non-importable tel quel en France!
Alexander ◊ 2006-09-16 22:21	Great find! And a rare vehicle!
garco ◊ 2006-09-28 15:17	http://ccmv.fotopic.net/p26597276.html It has a license, so.....
Sunbar ◊ 2006-09-28 15:43	The commercial vehicle site example 'JTF 520F' not found on DVLA or RAC.
oliver ◊ 2006-10-27 12:16	In Malta, since we were a British colony, there still are a small number of Hydrocon cranes most of which are not active any more. Since I was young I was fascinated by this crane, maybe coz of its original cabin design&now I have bought one since I'm a collector of them. I would appreciate if anyone had to send me photos of any old Hydrocon crane found in England or Scotland (even if broken) coz I collect pictures of them. Thanks, Oliver
Sunbar ◊ 2006-10-27 15:41	Oliver its good to hear from you. I would think Hydrocon must be very rare even in the UK now but if one should turn up I would certainly try to photograph it. As a collector is there anything more you can say about the above crane? The dates when it was manufactured and any model number or name plus load capacity?
oliver ◊ 2006-10-27 19:22	Hi Sunbar, well, the above crane can carry about 5tons coz its the short wheel-base model&is certainly from the very 1st generation of Hydrocon cranes, not only coz it has lattice work jib; but if one tries to notice, the diesel tank isn't on the left hand side, coz in circa 1960s (the era in which my Hydrocon was manufactured), the diesel re-fuelling tank was on the left hand side, even though it still has a lattice work jib! Therefore one may conclude that the crane in the picture above is about 50 years old! These cranes had a jib mechanism supplied by an old British company 'Wylie' and were powered by either a Leyland 400 engine or AECengines. Listen my e-mail is olione @di-ve.com! iF you have any photos pleasssee do sent them to me!!! If you give me your e-mail address I'll send tou a photo of my Hydrocon Hamilton(a model which can carry 12 tons & the Hydrocon Company didn't produce much like it) In fact mine is the only one of its type in Malta!!! 10x a million for your interest mate!
Sunbar ◊ 2006-10-27 19:37	Oliver thank you for your information. I will contact you soon.
oliver ◊ 2006-10-30 22:06	So have you found the exact date in which the Hydrocon above was manufactured-1955?Well-Done!!!Listen is the Hydrocon used in Lovejoy still alive and kicking or at least in the scrapyard? From which scrapyard in Britain or in Scotland was it filmed? Are there photos of its jib, etc.?By the way, Sunbar, this week I have managed to find an original specimen Hydrocon hook to fix to my crane!!!Don't worry mate I haven't forgotten to send you a ohoto of my Hydrocon but at the moment my crane is at my welder to fix some stuff in the professional way, as I'm quite fussy about it!Have you found any old Hydrocon and if yes have you got any pictures?Thank you
Son of Hydrocon ◊ 2007-08-05 00:14	Found this site the other day. As the son of the founder of Hydrocon cranes, I was delighted to find your references to them. There are a number of assumptions written in this page which, in the interest of historical accuracy, require correcting but first, allow me to give you a brief history. The name was an amalgam of HYDRaulic CONstruction with an 'O' in the middle. The company which built them was actually called Lambert Engineering Co. Ltd. named after Jack Lambert who sold the then engineering business to my father who then started to design and build the first Hydrocon with a staff of one! The first crane was bought by Brown & Tawse of, I think, the Rochdale area who became agents for the sale and maintenance of Hydrocons in the north of England. Hydrocon started in Maryhill docks in Glasgow, then moved to Burnfield works in Giffnock which was demolished last year and was replaced by Harry Fairbairn's new BMW workshop. In the late '50s they moved to the former coal board site in Coatbridge, now Summerlee Heritage Museum, housing and industrial estates. By then the company payroll was close to 500! Hydrocon was the first crane to operate by hydraulics, the first user of fibreglass in the UK and the first crane to carry its own jib sections. All the models were up till 1963, called after Scottish words beginning with the letter 'H' with the exception of the tiny Hornet which was designed for dock/shipyard/railway use and had a saddle for the operator to sit on in an open cab. The names included Highlander, Hamilton, Hebridean and the biggest was the Hampden at 50 tons which broke with tradition and for the first time had a separate cab for the crane operator. This was necessary to allow the operator clear visibility. Another unique Hydrocon feature was, this cab could tilt back to allow the operator clear vision of the end of the jib. The first Hampden went to Willie Coombe of Coombes Mobile Cranes in Tollcross, who bought it unpainted except for a cartoon on the back which read 'Coombes are too busy to wait for me to be painted' or words to that effect. Hydrocons were a great success in the rebuilding of post war Britain and were exported worldwide including Sweden, Greece, Middle East, Spain, Malta etc. They were extremely popular on building sites for the erection of steel work. Many crane hire companies had fleets of Hydrocons. The biggest competitor was Coles Cranes made in England. As a young child, I featured in the company's publicity which showed me operating the crane with the comment 'Our Managing Director's four and a half year old son operating a Hydrocon, so your drivers should not have any difficulty.' So no health and safety problems then - very happy days. In 1963 the business was sold to a UK Public Company and my father joined their board. Shortly after he became Deputy Chairman of the PLC - a position he held until his death in 1968. Now the corrections to what has been written previously. The circular raised panels on the cab had a full colour logo of a Highlander, complete with kilt and claymore and these were applied by transfer after soaking in water. Incidentally, the cab interiors were always covered in a red tartan. Next, Wylie was not the jib manufacturer, but was, in fact, the "Wylie safe load indicator" system. This would sound a buzzer in the cab when the load, angle and reach put the crane into an overload situation. Hydrocons were built on third party chassis. At the beginning, my father used to drive round the UK buying ex- War Department vehicles. The bodies were stripped off and the chassis and mechanicals fully reconditioned. Many of the bodies were used for observation by the Home Guard during the war when the Luftwaffe were bombing British shores. These bodies made great hide-and-seek places and slewing ring packing cases provided climbing frames for my cousins and I during the school holidays. Then as steel production returned to normal, the cranes were built on Thornycroft chassis. Later, Foden and Albion were used. JTF 520F is a 1968 registration, issued by Reading which is approximately 397 miles from the factory. I would be delighted to hear if anyone has any Hydrocon literature or other artifacts they wish to dispose of. I will be happy to try and answer any questions if this helps. -- Last edit: 2008-03-24 01:20:43
stronghold ◊ 2007-08-05 00:57	Thanks for all your info & comments, Great to hear from you.! I'm sure there are others on the site who would like to speak with you & have questions to ask you.
Neptune ◊ 2007-08-05 01:07	Yes, very interesting. Welcome to the site. Now if we could just get the designers of the Ford Expedition on here, I have lots to ask them.
Son of Hydrocon ◊ 2007-08-05 15:19	Thanks to Stronghold and Neptune for their welcomes. Another Hydrocon first, came about due to the impossibility of my, as a six year old, being physically able to manually pull out the outriggers and wind them down. I asked my father one night why they didn't operate from a lever in the cab? Six months later Hydrocon announced another exclusive first. Hydraulically operated outriggers! I must ask my mother if she still has any of the Hydrocon films. I also have a few photos but think posting them here would be way off-topic as this is a movie database site. Any suggestions where I could post them? Incidentally, the Hydrocon 'official' colour scheme was orange, silver and black. I have a pic of a Hydrocon lapel badge also in the colours which shows an outline of the Highlander logo used on the cab roundels. -- Last edit: 2007-08-11 18:36:47
Sunbar ◊ 2007-08-05 15:39	Hello 'Son of Hydrocon' your comments are very interesting and most welcome. I'm sure posting one or two images here will not be too far 'off topic' at all. I know I have also found some crane forums on the internet where you could possibly post some details and link to any videos that maybe available in the future (if they can be found). An example here when I was looking for details of early Coles cranes. Link to "www.practicalmachinist.com" There really are people interested in the history of the more unusual (and rare) vehicles manufactured in the past. -- Last edit: 2007-08-05 15:41:09
Alexander ◊ 2007-08-05 18:32	A cordial welcome to the site and thanks for sharing your inside information! Can you tell from the above pictures if "5-ton" and "1955" is correct and what the matching name would be? And, please, do send in some pictures. We often have additional images, especially for rare vehicles or if the film image shows only a fraction of it. Also extra images could help to identify further Hydrocons in other films. I found two links on the internet that might interest you: http://www.lifting-world.co.uk/lwmobtcranes1.html http://www.monklands.co.uk/summerlee/hydrocon.htm
oliver ◊ 2007-08-06 19:35	Hi Son of Hydrocon did you lodge any photos on any site? As I have not managed to find any Hydrocon pics or adverts which were issued in the past. If yes can you please indicate on which site?thanks
TASSIE ◊ 2007-09-09 16:07	Hi to all the Hydrocon fans, i started my crane operating career in 1965 on a brand new 6 ton Highlander. I spent a week at the factory in Coatbridge and was shown the complete building of a crane from start to finish, when my machine was ready i then drove it down to Bedford. After a couple of years i then found myself in another brand new Hydrocon, this time it was an 8 ton machine, it was quite remarkable, it had a 74 ft. boom maximum or you could have 64 ft. and an added 33 ft. "fly jib" this giving 97 ft under the hook, quite something for a short wheel base crane. They were a very stable crane and good to operate and looked great with the big shiny fibreglass cabin.My regret is that i never took even one photo of them and would love to "lay my hands" on some if possible. To "Son of Hydrocon" is it possible that i may have met you on my visit those many years ago?. My love affair with cranes is still going strong and am still "pulling' levers. So glad i found this site.
Sunbar ◊ 2007-09-09 16:33	Hi Tassie, and welcome to IMCDb. Its remarkable the interest in Hydrocon canes and the background information generated by this listing. As you say, any photographs and any Hydrocon literature would be of interest.
wrenchhead ◊ 2007-09-09 16:43	Son of Hydrocon wrote I must ask my mother if she still has any of the Hydrocon films. I also have a few photos but think posting them here would be way off-topic as this is a movie database site. Any suggestions where I could post them? You can certainly post them on the forum. Click the "forum" link at the top of the page and then start a new topic under the misc link. Use imageshack to upload the images into your new topic. If you post in the forum, it would be ok to put a comment here pointing to the forum so folks will know they are there and where to look.
aecsouthall ◊ 2007-11-19 21:28	We currently have 10 photos in the Hydrocon collection on CCMV (Classic Commercial Motor Vehicles). http://ccmv.fotopic.net/c880927.html Neil Fraser
Son of Hydrocon ◊ 2008-02-06 02:12	Neil has now posted my scans of an early Hydrocon Highlander brochure on a Thornycroft chassis on the left hand side of the index page or see:- http://www.aecsouthall.co.uk/ccmv_brochures/hydrocon_highlander_1-6.jpg Have also posted pics of my (ex) Hydrocon Marksman 1972 which are on the Hydrocon pic page at:- http://ccmv.fotopic.net/c880927_1.html Any questions I can be reached by email using HydroconCranes at gmail dot com -- Last edit: 2008-04-23 00:21:40
Monty ◊ 2008-04-10 14:27	Hi everyone, I am looking for information, instruction book, parts list for my Hydrocon 2 axle telescopic hydraulic crane. It is on a Leyland Clydesdale chassis with a 410 turbo engine and G cab, which I was told was not the original.The jib has 2 hydraulic sections and 1 manual pull out. The hoist unit is not mounted on the jib, but is mounted on the turntable. The jib is raised by two hydraulic rams and measures about 62'00" when fully extended. Any comments on, and identification of crane would be greatly appreciated. Martyn, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK.
Son of Hydrocon ◊ 2008-04-13 01:17	Hi Monty, Any chance of some pics so we can see exactly what you've got?
spud ◊ 2008-11-01 19:49	Monty, hydrocon built cranes on quite a few chassis cabs which they modified and strengthened to suit there needs, I'm sure your Leyland g cab is original, as well as Leyland they also built on Thames trader,and Albion,and Faun chassis cabs, their own fibre glass cabs were fitted on Highlander Huntley Hamilton Hebridean Hibernian Hampden cranes, which all had Scottish links to them, after the company was sold by Mr jesner they tended to to name their models on names ending in man eg marksman huntsman kinsman clansman and so on, would like to see a photo of what you've got perhaps you could post it to neil on the hydrocon fotopic ccmv,cheers spud -- Last edit: 2008-11-01 19:55:21
jcb ◊ 2008-11-03 11:24	Similar crane in spookily similar scrapyard still hard at work in Middlesbrough October 2008.with link ! http://www.classicmachinery.net/forum/download/file.php?id=7898&mode=view
Gag Halfrunt ◊ 2008-11-03 12:25	jcb wrote Similar crane in spookily similar scrapyard still hard at work in Middlesbrough October 2008.with link ! http://www.classicmachinery.net/forum/download/file.php?id=7898&mode=view It's members only.
Sunbar ◊ 2008-11-03 12:35	Registering is easy but here is the picture anyway Picture from Classic Machinery:
jcb ◊ 2008-11-04 12:02	Sorry about that -what is a simple way to post photos into messages ?
garco ◊ 2008-11-04 12:59	http://www.imageshack.us
Sunbar ◊ 2008-11-04 13:01	Copy the image to your computer (right click then select 'Save Image as') Then use imageshack http://imageshack.us/ to upload the picture (click "Browse...", select an image), then use the link for forums.
antp ◊ 2008-11-04 16:56	Sunbar wrote then use the link for forums. "thumbnail for forums"
oliver ◊ 2009-05-24 11:55	Dear JCB, did you take the photo of the orange Hydrocon in the Middlesbrough? can you kindly explain to me where it is and give me the details of the scrapyard and any contact number? as I'm interested in restoring it and bringing it back to life when i'll come to the UK next summer!!!At the moment I am restoring another two Hydrocons and if you want I can place them here or send them to you via email...my email is olione@maltanet.net
LADY APSLEY ◊ 2012-10-01 22:37	HELLO, I CURRENTLY HAVE AN ALBION HYDROCON CRANE FOR SALE ON EBAY, ITEM NO. 320990187221. THE REGISTRATION NO. IS THE SAME AS MENTIONED A COUPLE OF TIMES IN THIS FORUM, JTF 520F, how bizarre, THE SALE ENDS ON-LINE THIS FRIDAY, 5TH OCTOBER 2012. WOULD LOVE SOMEBODY TO BUY TO RESTORE, TEL. 077309 52006 IF ANY QUIERIES, THANK YOU .
dsl ◊ 2012-10-01 23:00	Ebay link ^ is Link to "www.ebay.co.uk" . Lots of pictures - Is there an easy way to capture them or archive for future reference? Text from ebay page for reference: "FOR FULL RESTORATION, ALBION CRANE WAGON FITTED WITH 6 CYLINDER LEYLAND DIESEL ENGINE, APPROX. YEAR OF MANUFACTURE 1968, 'F' REGISTERED, 13,332 MILES, WYLIE/HYDROCON. THE CRANE BELONGED TO A CRANE HIRE COMPANY IN CUMBRIA THROUGH THE 1970s AND WAS NAMED 'GILWILLY GIANT',... HAS BEEN IN MY FAMILY FOR 30 YEARS, PERSONALLY OWNED BY MYSELF FOR 12 YEARS, IT HAS BEEN STANDING UNUSED NOW FOR 10 YEARS, WITH COOLANT DRAINED. ITS LAST JOB WAS TO VERY CAREFULLY TRANSPORT A GRAND PIANO FROM A SECOND FLOOR PROPERTY ONTO A PURPOSELY MADE WOODEN CRATE ON A TRAILER. WE CALL HIM BIG WILLY (AS IN HIS TRUE NAME WYLIE), APPROX. LENGTH 19' x WIDTH 7'6", 20" WHEELS, 6 WHEELER. Bids reached £1,022, but Reserve not met. -- Last edit: 2014-10-07 15:05:31
chicomarx ◊ 2012-10-01 23:26	DEFINITELY
jcb ◊ 2014-05-14 11:58	This is actually a Hydrocon Highlander https://www.flickr.com/photos/62532775@N03/5861823706/ -- Last edit: 2014-05-14 12:00:35
Son of Hydrocon ◊ 2014-10-07 14:34	He is a colour scan of the Hydrocon Highlander transfer which goes into the two roundels on the front of the cabs. Have just acquired a 10 ton Hydrocon Hamilton to join my 6 ton Highlander. Am looking for a windscreen and door glass for it. I understand the windscreen is an Albion LAD cab screen if anyone knows of one available. Thanks -- Last edit: 2014-10-07 15:14:09

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Last completed movie pages

1955 Hydrocon Highlander 5-ton Mobile Crane Series I

1955 Hydrocon Highlander in Lovejoy, TV Series, 1986-1994 Ep. 4.07

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