We have recently taken on a project to help Hope Cove Lifeboat with a new vehicle for when they launch their lifeboat. Hope Cove Lifeboat was formed in 2011 and is an independent lifeboat based in Bigbury Bay, Devon and not part of the RNLI which means it operates purely on donations and legacies received to keep going. Its operational area goes from Prawle Point to Stoke Point in Bigbury Bay and responds to around 30 ‘shouts’ a year and since its inception has saved hundreds of lives.
The lifeboat is a 6.5 metre rib powered by two 90hp engines and is manned by a crew of 3 or 4, depending on the nature of the incident. The lifeboat is launched from its own trailer and is towed down to the slipway by means of a modified dumper, currently based on a Mecalac TA6, with the launch vehicle entering the water to quite a depth depending on the tide. In times of bad or stormy weather the dumper can, at times, become swamped and the salt water has a really bad adverse effect on not only the paintwork but the electrics as well. The current Mecalac dumper is an emission compliant JCB engine and therefore has a complicated ECU based control system which the saltwater has rendered the machine unreliable. They have decided to replace it with an older non-emission compliant Perkins engine used dumper so instead of a complicated electronic throttle, ECU and sensors to rev the engine up there is a throttle cable.
This dumper is in PES workshop at the moment where we have stripped it down and carrying out modifications and conversions to make it ‘sea-worthy’. As the largest supplier of Thwaites, Terex, Terex/JCB and Barford spares in the UK and a wealth of unrivalled knowledge Hope Cove Lifeboat have called on this expertise to carry out the work. The Terex dumper is now completely stripped in our workshop and the first process is to galvanise every single metal part to help prevent corrosion. This is being done with the assistance of South West Galvanisers Ltd of Crediton who have recognised the nature of the volunteer lifeboat and, like PES, have come to the party in terms of cost.
Some of the modifications we are doing are re-positioning air cleaner, silencer, battery and modifying breathers on components to take it above potential high sea-level as well as a multitude of work to try and make the dumper as dependable as possible.
Over the coming weeks we will update the website with progress and pictures to show you the work we are doing and you can see what is probably the world’s first galvanised dumper take shape!!!!
