40 degree heat or pouring rain, it didn’t matter, there was a schedule to be met and they had to be taken back to our yard and then be fitted out with all the customers chosen features. So regardless of the weather, I would hop on these things and drive them back the approximately 10 kilometres to Linmac’s yard. They were unpainted, unlicensed, and had no cab yet. When Linmac took delivery of the cranes, they were simply a Chamberlain agricultural tractor that had the front wheels removed, and then the remains were bolted to the main frame, off the front of which, was hanging the very basic boom with one hydraulic and one manual boom extension. It started by becoming the guy who was taken in the boss’s car to the BHB factory where the basic machine was built. So I pushed and wheedled and dropped hints until I was allowed to do some more interesting work with them. I’d always had an affinity for driving and operating things and these cranes were the best big boys toy I’d ever come across. I was fascinated by the way they could pick up 10 tonnes and just waddle off with it and put it somewhere else. What happened was, I got more and more interested in the cranes. With my short attention span, I thought I’d give this a go for a while and see what happens. I started by driving the spare parts ute and sweeping the floors, making the tea, picking up the lunch orders. So after a succession of labouring and truck driving stints, none of which lasted more than a few months, I ended up at Linmac Pty Ltd, who were the distributors of the BHB articulated tractor crane. I’d had pretty good marks but just couldn’t stay interested or engaged. I started mucking around with cranes in February of 1977, in Perth in Western Australia at the age of 19 and a bit.
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