Building Britain - British Three Stroke Trench Rammers
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- In this video Peter talks us through the evolution of the British Trench Rammer, demonstrates several and takes us from the 20's through to the 60's as Pete says they were a health and safety nightmare. This video was filmed over a hot weekend at the Haddenham Steam and Heavy Horse Show September 7/8 2024.
I did an apprenticeship at Johnson Machinery, Stockport in the early 70's. The firm built Dumpers, pumps and rammers. During my apprenticeship I manufactured parts as well as building and testing the rammers. Memories are the fly cutting of the Magnesium alloy cylinder heads using paraffin as a cutting fluid with the swarth falling like snow. This swarth had to be brushed up and taken into the yard where it was set alight as it couldn't be recycled with the other aluminium swarth. Testing the newly built rammers was also fun and you soon learnt to keep the thing vertical when working as any tilt meant it flying out of control; things were bloody heavy to pick up off the ground. Way before my time Johnsons also built something they called a Frog Rammer which weighed a quarter of a Ton. This also had a angled foot and on firing would leap forward dragging its operator with it.
@@alastairmellor966 thanks for posting pal all the very best
I’ve never heard of paraffin used as a cutting fluid. Is it better than machine oil?
@@ronliebermannit use to be, especially for machining aluminum....or aluminium being the British term.
Small world....I served my engineering apprenticeship at Simon Engineering, Stockport, my first day was 1st September 1969.
I now find myself retired in East Texas after 50 odd years in the metal cutting industry, UK and the US.
@@stockportbrits thanks for your kind comments mate all the very best
Red and white striped tents. Wackers going badoomf badoomf
Jumpers for goalposts and a raspberry mivvi
I used to work at a boatyard in Oxford & had to use an adapted version of these machine up to 20’ in the air on a rig to knock oak piles into the riverbed for mooring posts. Scary stuff as I had to winch the piledriver up to sit on the post & using foot runs on the rig climb up to operate it. The machines base had a hole in the centre which slid over a pin allowing it to rise & fall without drifting off sideways. It would sometimes clear to pin 😬
What does the very last sentence of your comment mean? I have no mechanical, construction or engineering experience so I don't know what clear to pin means?
@@thomasrussell4674 What he meant to type was 'clear the pin'. As in the device would jump up so high as to clear the height of the pin, potentially causing it to fall in an unsafe direction.
I hope my wife doesn't learn about these. I'll be out of a job.
I remember those jumping contraptions. Used to watch the Navis using them when I was a kid.
@@mikethespike7579 same here I always wanted to have a go. Rather ride my bantam off a cliff pal
Me too; I couldn't have been more than five or six. The things used to terrify me!
me too also remember the nick name for them Paddy's motorbike
Me too, mid 60's to early 70's when I was 3 up to about 9 I used to be really entranced watching the road gangs using these - never knew what they were called so used to call them road thumpers. The sound was somehow very soothing - a lot nicer than the modern whacker plate.
I also used to love watching them use a pneumatic drill.
@johno4521 When I was 5, I saw one of these being used and asked my Mum what it was. She told me it was a "shooshbomper"!!
So many having a miserable retirement with hand arm and shoulder issues from these and other pneumatic hammers , let alone a l;ong life of breathing in mostly siliceous dust . Un represented canon fodder were a lot of people in the building industry .
@@MyKharli yup - I remember being told asbestos was safe ……
These weren't as bad as the pneumatic breakers for that. Vibration white finger with those for sure, that and tinnitus and hearing loss. The breakers were compact though and you could have a point, spade or compaction bit, so one tool for the whole lot.
Well I've learnt something today 3 stroke !!!
@@derek876544 same here mate never heard of them
Some people call them 5 stroke
Thats because its bollocks - if you try and look into it at all theres nothing talking about a three stroke. in the classical use of the term it would mean that the piston is at the opposite location per firing. Impossible unless perhaps its using combustion either side of the piston, but I don't see what use that would be for this. And even then wouldn't be a 3 stroke, would just be two 2 strokes sharing a piston sleeve and firing out of phase.
@@trotskiftw Exactly my thoughts too.
@@trotskiftwyep, this design was quite common back in the day.
They are referred to as 2 stroke ground compactors.
Irishman’s motorbike 😂. I remember the last model being used by the electricity board when I was a kid back in the 80s. Happy days. Cheers.
Back when they repaired road works properly ,didn,t end up like the somme battlefield 😢😢
@@barryjones872 yup not like today mate
@@Anotherflyonmyvisor we back filled made good and the traffic was running on the same day, now they close the road it's like it for weeks,
Australia is exactly the same!
Elephants foot we are 4 generations of ground workers and civil engineers we have some of these in our collection awsome bits of ingenuity
My father was a road ganger for the local council and used many machines like the ones you have demonstrated. Working in a trench is back breaking work even when using powered tools .
Must be 40 years or more since I last saw one of those working.
Yeah, I was just thinking I remember seeing those, but when I was quite a small kid - I'm 60 now.
Gees Ive done my apprenticeship on ne of them
Sore arms and back bu was young and fit in those days ❤❤
‘Trench Rammers’ ‘Jumping Jack’s’ ‘Paddy’s Motorbike’ call them what you will, you can still buy them if you look, but the actions mechanical (like the later one demonstrated , rather than compression ignition (diesel, just like large piling hammers) which came after the original petrol powered ones , ‘Wacker’ plates and double drum trench rollers took over
I remember them well, we called them jumping jacks
it's a wackerplate... nothing new
Elephants foot was a name I remember,
Paddy's motorbike lmao
Yes I can remember them , when I was a young apprentice mechanic we used to service / repair several building firms vehicles. I used to get sent out to get these things going again and I was terrified of these things. Health and safety had never been heard of then .
Great explanation of the Benjo working. Used Wackers at Southerngas in early 80s 😊
@@waynetetley584 Pete’s a natural I think he maybe even the new Fred D - we will have to find another subject he’s passionate about
i work on rammers in the mechanic shop and dang they have come far from then
I remember watching the men when i was a lad using these. A gang of workers would come dig up the street and the night watchmen looking after all the tools over night. Then JCB's came along and you do not see the gangs anymore.
......and the smell of the paraffin road lamps too, happy days.
@@reverendodarn4295 The night watchman' brazier fire sparks from the coal and the smell
Wouldn't count on the Brits, BSA went from the world's biggest motorcycle maker to broke in two years. They even had the world 500cc championship and blew that by overthinking.
I have one of these Pegson elephant foot trench rammers and it must be about 45 years ago I last saw it work. I recently got the magneto working but a strong sense of self preservation has precluded any further progress!
Interesting to see Boris Johnson walk past at 1:23. 😂 Good video. I used to watch road workmen use these as a kid.
0:55 I love this description: ..a dob of iron on the end of a wooden or a steel pole…” …dob of iron…
Two items I’ve always wanted to operate…a trench rammer and a Stop/Go lollipop. Such power in my hands.
You would have regretted after the rammer compacted your foot or gave you an upper-cut. I am glad we don't have these rammers today.
@@Frank-Thoresen Naaah, I would have been sitting on it for the ride!
Stop/Go lollipop is 80k job now
@@littlehills739 Go on… Reeely? Reeely reeely?
@@josephinebennington7247 amazing u have the internet and cant google yes in Australia
Paddys motorbike
@@stevesavage8784 love that term
Also air compressor jack hammer's known as Paddy's motorbike
Not quite, the Paddy's motorcycle was a term used for the petrol engined road breaker, I've got one of those....perhaps another video for Mr.Clough......he'll need his ear defenders for that....blooming noisy thing 😂.
Remember to keep it upright unless you want either a punch under the chin or to have it leaping off like an iron kangaroo.
Fascinating 😮
@@ianwarriner8193 thank you a little different for me
When I was a little lad about 3 or 4 and we were being converted to north sea gas I used to call them things plump uppers.
Looks like a 2 stroke to me. Otherwise an interesting video.
Well, I'll soon be going to bed with a bit more knowledge than I woke up with .👍
just what i wanted!! a 2 stroke pogo stick
I remember seeing those used when the paving slabs were being reset in the pavement (sidewalk for N Americans). We called them “jumping beans”. That was back in the late forties or early fifties.
Fantastic, subbed, thanks for sharing
We used to call it "Jumping jack." Watch out for your toes! A dangerous contraption.
Always wanted a Pegson rammer, but you just don’t see them..
Quite interesting
A Donegal motorbike!
Hand Tool Rescue on YT restored a US Barco one around a year ago. Narration is in the subtitles so make sure you have them on.
As lads, we called the 'thumpers' because of the noise they made. Great fun watching them being used though - ! 😅
I remember using a jumping jack on construction sites in the early 2000s
I used to call them butcherkers cause that’s the noise they made 😂😎👌🏽
Used a similar contraption called a "tamper" in Canada in the 1970`s for ground compacting between forms to be poured for house foundations.
This is soooo cool. Greetings from florida!
Just operated a modern one a couple of days back, beat the heck out of me!
Excellent we used to use "Wackers" but of a handful to use
I used the jumping trench rammer, terrifying when starting to use it but very easy when you got the knack.
Another school day for me.
Paddys Motorcycle.
Last week I had the latest version in my back yard. A sticker on it said " no personnel within 30 feet ". Radio controlled for maximum safety. Two vibrating rollers.
As a kid, I imagined a 2 stoke pogo stick very similar to your rammer.
There was a 2 stroke pogo stick back in the day called "hot rod", spectacular stuff!
A guy calling himself backyard scientist bought and demonstrated a powered pogo stick on youtube. Dangerous.
I'm sure I remember something with Johnny Ball on TV (Think Again maybe?) talking about corrugated cardboard and demonstrating its strength by laying under a big slab of the stuff while somebody set off one of those trench rammers on top of it.
Jeepers creepers.
Trench rammer lol that dosnt even make sense
@@Mao_tse_tung lol well that’s what Pete and his mates referred them as
When I was a kid, I thought these things were evil robots, they scared the crap out of me.
You never actually explained how a "Three stroke" engine works....
They basically marketed these to children in America in the 60s, gas powered pogo sticks.
They were banned because they just broke the childs ankles.
This is exactly how gas-powered pogo sticks work. They aren't really 3-strokes. Just 2-strokes without crankshafts.
I remember those thumpers. Along with hand crank start dumper trucks (Thwaites?) with single cylinder engine - I imagine H&S saw those off too, probably Aircon and Elec start today 🤣
Great to see .
Back in the early 70s as a teenager, I remember trying to start one and scaring myself stupid when it fired. Used to love them building site play days as a kid. Lol. No H&S but loads of fun......
6 passes every 4" for max compaction. We used scalping with British Gas Scotland, had to be moist, not wet. Arms still going hours afterwards.
Ceredigion council have a better way . Just push the dirt back in and sprinkle a bit of tarmak on top . SORTED !
How can it possibly be three-stroke? I'd say that's flat-out impossible.
In fact it's quite worrying watching this and vintage car stuff because who's going to carry on with these contraptions and Steam engines etc.
Are the young generation interested enough to keep all this stuff going ???
Mmm 🤔
Who in god's name looked at the problem that needed solving and _didn't_ think big heavy rollers??? 😮
I remember seeing one of these on Shed & Buried as the one thing the legendary Sam Lovegrove couldn't get running. - Maybe the 3-stroke thing bemused him?
Then in March of 1960 a brand new childs toy called the “Hop Rod” hit the market. .
You're flying kinda low there bud.
Why doesnt someone invent an attachment to go onto a jackhammer. instead of a cutting chisel you have a flat plate.
Remember those well from my childhood. We called them "thumpers".
Thumbs 👍 very interesting
Looks like we still haven’t invented anything that can repair pot holes properly.
I well remember those rammers, as a kid, they used to fascinate me, but I also found them to be a little bit frightening; the thought of what would happen if one landed on the operator's foot.
@@martinsims1273 I bet it was quite a regular occurrence mate especially after a lunchtime pint mate
Yeah you dont want something that makes that movement to be named"pegson"😂😂
Is it normal for these industrialists to go round with their trousers half unzipped? Don't let the horse out man!
Our local roadmen in North Wales called them dollies in the 60's
The old ones look like they get the job done better, just stay out of the way like any machine.
We used to call 'em K'jundas when we were kids, It was the noise they made.
They are like giant petrol powered pogo sticks.
Aka road thumpers Great educational video, thanks for posting!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Growing up in the 60's I remember these being used outside my house and listening to Paddy cussing because "the fo**en thing won't start boss"
We finally four the real piston return springs!
Life before health and safety was so much better
Might attract the wrong type of worm...
Would have been nice to see one actually work
so you didnt explain how its a 3 stroke engine
I used one those awful things, they were very dangerous, they often fell over and you couldn't lift them back up. with out help. often they wouldn't run pushing them up and down till you want blue in the face, when they did go they got red hot, they had them that work off a compressor you could a flat foot to a pneumatic drill they were far better, happy days,
Pogo stick from hell
That guy has a 9 inch trench rammer.
Terrifying pogo stick
I bet some teeth have been lost due to these. very interesting thankyou
@@johnnyslap1009 thanks for your kind words. Both Peter and I enjoyed making it.
Looks like a fun pogo stick.
could you imagine holding onto one of those for an 8hr shift? great video,i enjoyed that.thanks
i might start one up in tesco,s
Is that a Dorset accent?
So how does the 3 stroke work?
Paddy's Bike!
00:35 … I thought I was watching a Blur video remake for 'Park Life' if you look in the background.
These rammers were effectively replaced by 'Whacker plates' … The worst invention for potholes was 'Temp tarmac' .. useless crap.
I never saw one of these actually being used, other than in the Captain Sensible "Wot?" video.
gabs wahrscheinlich viele verletzte bei den ersten Verdichter )))
How to give moles a headache....
@@cedhome7945 and plastic pipes matey !!
Pile drivers are/were diesel. Simpler mechanics. (See elsewhere on YT). Was diesel no good for this smaller version?
I well remember these.If the ht lead was not unscrewed for safety when at rest, it has been known for people to lean on the control lever,fire it and knock their teeth out Good old Paddys motorbike:-).
My Irish ganger back in the olden days on the roads informed me as an apprentice this was a paddy's dancing partner and potcheen was good for you😝