Delicate job for Hi-Swivel

Selwood Plant, in the shape of Thwaites' Alldrive Hi-Swivel dumper, came to the aid of English Heritage restoration workers at Osborne House, near Cowes, Isle of Wight, when they were faced with a delicate problem.

Within the grounds of Queen Victoria's famous home workers were shown an ice-house buried under many tonnes of earth with trees growing above it.

The problem was how to clear the earth away without causing damage to the 30ft long brick structure or the surrounding landscape.

Thwaites' dumper, supplied to local contractor, Hewitts (Southern) overcame the problem. Low overall weight (3t), four-wheel-drive and high lift capability - up to 1.75m - proved an ideal combination when it came to limiting damage to the environment. 'I see a big future for this machine in specialised applications. We bought the dumper from Selwood specifically to tackle this job.

'No other machine could have tackled it satisfactorily,' said Peter Hewitt, md of Hewitts (Southern)

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