Once a plant man always a plant man

Mon 05 Sep 2016

Once a plant man always a plant man

Like so many people involved in the plant and machinery game, Gary Down’s fascination for plant started at a very young age. While growing up in the Cornish town of Launceston, Gary used to be a regular visitor to the site of the A30 construction works, where he and his pals were to witness giant motor scrapers and dozers at work on what is now the major tourist route into Cornwall. Gary actually started operating machines at the tender age of 12, when he was engaged in back filling land drains, operating a JCB 5C, on Saturdays and during school holidays for local company K & AE Moore Plant Hire. In 1983 at the age of 15 Gary left Launceston College and went to work for Moore’s full time, operating a JCB 3CX on local farm and small building jobs. A year later Gary was on the move and got a start with Luke Furse Earthmoving, where he was deployed to drive a Volvo articulated dumptruck. In 1987 Luke Furse purchased the first Volvo A20 articulated dumptruck to be delivered in the UK and Gary was fortunate to be offered the drive on the new machine, which even sported his name on the bonnet! EPSON MFP image

Gary continued to work for Luke until 1990, when he left to join St Austell based Mellis Civil Engineering, where he was charged with operating a JCB 3CX Sitemaster on various road and bridge contracts throughout Devon & Cornwall. Sadly in an all too familiar scenario, the company slipped into administration in 1994, but there was hope on the horizon as Gary returned to work for what had now become K Moore & Son, operating a brand new Case five ton mini excavator, on hire to TJ Brent, a subsidiary of South West Water. EPSON MFP image

After a period of operating a wide variety of other machines including a JCB JS110, 40 ton Hitachi excavator and a Fiat-Hitachi FD145 dozer, Gary went on to run ground works projects, where his civil engineering experience, combined with his knowledge of plant, came together. A few years later and Gary was starting to become disillusioned with the way the industry was heading. Gary said, “I began to get fed up, the ticket for this and ticket for that side of things, which we all knew was just another money making scam from the CITB. Having got to the stage where my card was due for renewal and finding that I could drive fewer and fewer machines because of the categories achievable, I like many decided it was time for a career change”. As carpentry was Gary’s second love, in 2001 he started West Park Poultry and Pet Houses with another “retired” plant man Anthony Delgado. Sadly for Gary in 2006, he was diagnosed with a tumour on his spinal cord, and was told that after surgery it would be doubtful if he would ever walk again, luckily however he was to go on and make a full recovery and seeing this as his second chance, he decided to sell his half of the business to Anthony to allow him to spend more time with his family. However the lure of the plant game became too strong and Gary decided to venture back into it as a self-employed operator working on a part time basis. Initially Gary operated a Volvo EC45 three days a week for a local developer. Shortly after this the developer bought a new Volvo EC55, which Gary ended up operating full time whilst doing associated building work too. In 2012 Gary decided to set up another business and G J Down Property Services came into being. From their base in Launceston, G J Down Property Services now work on a wide variety of projects from landscaping, both private and commercial, to listed building refurbishments. Gary also undertakes small civil engineering works and as Gary says “any excuse to hire in a bit of plant for a few weeks, as it’s always nice to get back in the seat!” 002

Earthmovers joined Gary on site at their latest project at St Joseph’s School, and independent establishment in Launceston, where Gary is the main contractor for the upgrading works of the schools facilities, which includes the groundwork preparation and installation of a new footbridge across the River Kensey, to facilitate access for the students to a new sports pitch on the other side of the river. This project has been an exciting job to be involved with for Gary and his working partner Richard Adams and has gained a fair bit of interest with the local media and residents of the town, due in part to the fact that the two previous footbridges to cross the River Kensey date back to medieval times, and the Priory foot bridge was constructed in 1580. This latest crossing, some 250m upstream, will be the first bridge to cross the Kensey in 400 years! 001

Although technically speaking the bridge construction was not a huge challenge, gaining the necessary access was going to be difficult. Access down to the bridge job site was via an old grass covered track which winds its way downhill narrowing to just 8ft wide in some places. The first job involved clearing any vegetation off the track to enable delivery of concrete for the bridge bases and hardcore/stone. For this operation Gary used a Takeuchi mini excavator teamed up with a Thwaites narrow access dumper. The next problem that arose was when Gary and his team finally received the bridge specification, and noted that two of the sections were 40ft long and weighed just over 3.5 tons. Gary quickly realised that he was going to need a 22 ton class machine to lift and place the sections across the river. But how could he get a machine of that size measuring 9’6’ in width down an 8ft track without causing any damage? The answer to this problem meant obtaining permission to track a Case CX210B across a neighbouring farmer’s fields from an off load position some two miles away from the job location! This track involved travelling through three fields and widening of gates en route, but after much manoeuvring the machine finally made it to the jobsite. 015

Gary and Richard spent a careful morning setting out for the bases making sure the calculations were correct, as it was imperative that they had a minimum 600mm clearance from the flood plain to the underside of the bridge deck, adding to the complications was the fact that the bridge had to have 115 degree turn in it over the far side of the river. As the bridge was being constructed off site it was imperative that their bases were perfect for the four points of contact where the bridge would sit. Gary dug the bases with the Case CX210B, which he had hired in on a self-drive basis from M&M Plant. The holes were dug measuring 1.6m x 1.6m and 2.3m deep, these holes were then blinded with 300mm of C20 concrete. 1200mm concrete rings were then set into the blinding concrete and once set the rings were surrounded with C20 concrete and eventually were filled in the middle with C30 concrete to form plinths for the sections to sit on. 024

With the bases in place Gary set about tidying up the surrounding area using a combination of the Case CX210B and another hired in Caterpillar 308E2 CR 8 tonne class midi excavator. The small Cat was also used on another part of the works next to the main school building, where it was put to work stripping topsoil in preparation for a new area of stone car parking. This car parking area was completed as the team waited for the bridge sections to be finished and delivered to site. The topsoil was loaded on to a brand new Ausa 6 tonne dumper and lost further down on the site. Geotextile membrane was placed down and around 120 tons of 75mm clean stone was spread to act as good drainage, this was then topped off with 80 tons of road planings. 039

Talking about the Spanish manufactured Ausa dumper, driver Richard Adams said, “I’ve operated lot of dumpers over the years and I have to say I’ve found this model to be an excellent machine, its very operator friendly thanks to its forward and reverse transmission buttons being situated on the skip tipping lever. Another great feature for me is the hand brake, once its pulled on the transmission is automatically disengaged, which in theory should mean it will have a good handbrake for longer as people can’t drive these around with the handbrake still on, it’s a well made and thought out piece of kit!” 037

Gary was equally complimentary about the Case CX210B he has been using; the 2012 model with nearly 3,000 hours on the meter has left a lasting impression. Gary said, “Even with 3,000 hours on the clock the machine is still tight all round and really smooth to operate. I found it to be really stable even with a 3.5 ton bridge section hanging off the dipper at full reach. The cab is a great place to be with plenty of space, a really nice driving position, with good all round visibility, in addition the rear view camera made working in tight spots so much easier, I could easily see myself being happy in one of these on a daily basis”. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

However Gary was not so complimentary about the small Cat machine commenting, “I’m really sorry to say this but I thought the 308E2 CR was a terrible machine, I found it extremely uncomfortable and I was not at all impressed with the seat. Visibility is very poor to the left hand side of the machine with the thick door frame in the way, this can be improved on by having the door open, but on rainy days that is not an option. The two big mirrors on the cab I found to be more of a hindrance than a help as they created a huge blind spot especially when loading the dumper. As far as the dipper goes, it has nowhere near enough travel on it, making it difficult to grade with close in, the geometry just feels all wrong to me as it won’t come in close enough to the blade with a grading bucket on making it difficult to clean up with, I would not want to spend all day on one of these I must say”. With the work further up in the school completed, it was time to place the bridge sections onto the bases. The first section on the far side was the longest at 11.5m, the bridge deck itself measured 11m and the smallest section was a mere 5m long. Each section took approximately four hours to assemble prior to being into place. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Having already placed the far side section it was time to swing in the main deck, with local media, and representatives from the school in attendance Gary swung the 3.5 ton section in-place and with just a few minor adjustments the section was bolted to the far side and the River Kensey was crossed again. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Later that day the final piece in the jigsaw was put into place and with just bolting down to be done and fitment of the final handrails the job was complete. A delighted Gary pointed out that it was like the old and the new as he gazed up the hill where Launceston Castle stands proudly watching over the town.

Gary said, “This has been a great job and it’s always nice to get back in amongst the plant from time to time. At the end of the day plant is in our blood and the passion for it is something we never grow out of”.

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