One of Priestman’s Finest Still in Fine Fettle

Digger Man Blog Facebook Group member Pete Smith recently posted some photos of an ageing, but still very tidy Priestman Mustang hydraulic excavator on the group, and I was keen to share them here on the stand-alone blog.

Priestman excavators who used to produce their machines in the city of Hull, have a special place in my heart, and I’m always delighted to re-visit the topic whenever the chance arises.

As a kid I used to "skive off" school to go down to my local park, where I got the opportunity to drive a Mustang 220, it’s a memory that will never leave me. Later on, in the early years of my operating career, I spent time on Mustang 108’s for Wimpey Construction, and as I’ve documented before, I really liked them, much more than the Hymac’s of that era, but for some reason, they remained in the shadow of Hymac in those days.

Pete came across this fine example of a Mustang 120 at a local farm not far from his home town of Kingston upon Hull to give it the full title, so not a million miles away from where it was built.

Considering its age, it’s in great order and as I understand it, its still used on a regular basis. She’s clearly had a paint job at some point, as she no longer sports the familiar Priestman orange livery that used to be the standard offering.

The Mustang 120 through its various MK guises, was slightly heavier than Hymac’s ever popular 580C model which it competed with. Priestman’s answer to that was to launch the 108S model, which initially caused controversy as they launched it as the 580S, which understandably upset Hymac, and following a court battle Priestman were forced to change the model number.  

The 120 was a good machine but a glimpse inside the cab there, with the ultra-long levers coming up from the floor, whose linkages used to wear a lot with time, shows how far we have come with cab interiors and comfort levels. I recall going home after a day one of these feeling absolutely knackered! 

However, its great to still see these machines are still around, and not only that, but still serving a purpose, how many of today’s modern machines will still be around that long, not many I suspect.

The Digger Man Blog would like to thank Pete Smith for allowing us to use his photos in this post.