1930s Slingsby Sack Truck

[Rhyolith]

Another thing from the car boot which I don't need, but liked a bit too much to not have for £10 :roll:

Forgot to take a picture before doing it up... all the wood was white and the metal parts rusty, I am sure you all know the look. Basically I removed the rust with a power brush, buffed, then oiled (linseed and engine oil as appropriate). The wood has just been linseed oiled. I am pleased with the result, nice easy restoration!

Slingsby Sack Truck by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Slingsby Sack Truck by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Slingsby Sack Truck by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I have done a bit of googling and found Slingsby Ltd on graces guide (http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/H._C._Slingsby) and there seems to be a reasonable number of images of various barrows, trolleys & trucks by Slingsby floating about.

Narrowing down the date is difficult as usual. However graces guide lists a ad from 1932 with a sack truck on it, this truck though not the same as mine looks like it has similar (maybe even identical) wheels, so I think 1930s is a good assumption.

Slingsby Limited still exists and still makes sack trucks! https://www.slingsby.com/

 

[lurker]

I have one that's near identical.
Its in the garden with planters slung from the cross braces.
But, tomorrow I have to move some slabs so it will get used for its intended purpose.

 

[AndyT]

Well worth the effort - it's a design classic.

Putting a date on it will be difficult, as the design was so long-lived.

I've not done much digging, just looked in the easiest places to hand so far. My 1902 Nurse catalogue has a couple of similar but not quite identical designs - a "Lorry Pattern" with only two cross bars and a "Manchester Pattern" with three cross bars (like yours) and rivets on the wheel guards (not like yours). But I bet they go back earlier.

Buck and Hickman 1935 has what looks exactly the same as yours - in a choice of six sizes - listed as a "London Pattern Sack Truck".

The exact same illustration is still there, with the same description, in the 1953 edition. It's still there in 1964, which is the latest one I have!

And for what it's worth, I'm sure I used one in a hospital in 1980. They just don't wear out.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

They just don't wear out.

I can confirm that! Several similar models appeared on the railway during my volunteering years - including a couple we used and abused in the loco works, moving axleboxes, springs and all sorts. They're much heavier to use than a modern sack truck, but tougher, and they make a great rattling noise when pushed or pulled over a concrete floor. Anybody in the vicinity will hear you approaching from about a hundred yards away!

 

[AndyT]

Sorry, I just looked again and saw that yours has only two cross-bars, not three.

Here's the other picture from the 1902 Nurse catalogue. Of course, we can't know if these were made by Slingsby or by someone else, but it does show that the design is at least this old.

Do the dimensions tie up with yours?

And CC's post reminded me that those broad, solid wheels are very effective at crushing cockroaches as they scuttle across a solid floor!

 

[sunnybob]

I used to have to use those in anger in the late 60's. Working in a paper recycling mill in south London. After sorting, the paper was compressed into half ton bales and we used those trucks to wheel the bales from the press rooms to the warehouse, where the bales would either be loaded onto lorries or barges, with the occasional ship from the netherlands taking a 100 ton or so.
Bloody hard work pushing them about, but nobody ever wanted to steal one from the factory.

 

[dickm]

Slight tangent, but were they the same Slingsby as made wooden gliders/sailplanes? If so, bit of an odd combination of products.

 

[Rhyolith]

Sorry for the slow reply, got distracted then forgot about this thread.

Do the dimensions tie up with yours?

Mine seems to be slightly larger in every dimesion, e.g. the handles are 3'7" and the foot iron (assume thats the lifting blade) is 11 1/2". Also the foot iron is a different shape and I just noticed the one in the catalog lacks the metal bar under the top wooden bar.

Slight tangent, but were they the same Slingsby as made wooden gliders/sailplanes? If so, bit of an odd combination of products.

I think the frame is ash, which was suitable for wooden frame aircraft. So maybe thats the connection?

Thanks for the story sunnybob. The irony is that these are probably a lot more likely to be stolen now due to their value as display items.

 

[sunnybob]

There was a man who had worked at a factory for twenty years. Every night when he left the plant, he would push a wheelbarrow full of straw to the guard at the gate.
The guard would look through the straw, and find nothing and pass the man through.

On the day of his retirement the man came to the guard as usual but without the wheelbarrow.

Having become friends over the years, the guard asked him, “Charlie, I’ve seen you walk out of here every night for twenty years. I know you’ve been stealing something. Now that you’re retired, tell me what it is. It’s driving me crazy.”

Charlie simply smiled and replied, “Okay, wheelbarrows!”