Since 1960, the Chandler name has been associated with JCB excavators in the Marlborough area of Wiltshire. (Curly) John Chandler bought his first JCB in 1960 and quickly established himself as one of the County’s early pioneers in earthmoving and groundworks.
He had found a niche in the market that satisfied the needs of the private householder, the farmer, the builder and indeed the County Council. Curly had always had a passion for engines and machinery and would often be found up to his elbows in oil taking something apart or modifying some vehicle or another. Our house smelled of Diesel and Swarfega!
The post war days provided many opportunities for the entrepreneur and so Curly took the plunge and purchased his first JCB 3 for the tidy sum of £1,750.00.
Not content with just digging, he adapted his machines for any purpose and a crane jib for the front loader was soon added to help with the construction of this pole barn in Great Bedwyn.
An extended version of the jib was also used on a later machine to help with the installation of a water tank at Savernake.
A contract with the Southern Electricity Board provided the inspiration for this cable reel attachment.
Here, one of our larger machines is being used on a 43 house site at Netheravon.
Another great passion for Curly was trenchless installation of polythene water pipe or electric cables. This was done with a moleplough pulled by a winch. The moleplough took many forms as we were constantly modifying and strengthening. The one pictured is mounted to a tractor but not pulled by the tractor. (It would have required a very much larger tractor to pull this mole).
The winch truck was a master piece. Based on a Thames Trader lorry, we added a second inline truck gear box to reduce the drive for the larger rear wheels and this second gearbox also had a pto which was used to drive the winch taken from a military Scammell.
Yet another jib is being used here during the erection of a large covered yard at Collingbourne Ducis.
This same project also gave Curly the opportunity to utilise two more pieces of homemade machinery. A crane, built on the winch truck from the moleploughing mentioned earlier, and a scissor lift working platform made entirely from scrap machinery!
So passionate was Curly about his JCB excavators that he even constructed a swinging armchair that would be lifted high over the vicarage garden as a fund raiser at Burbage Church fetes.
I joined my father after leaving school in 1975, but you could say that I had already served my apprenticeship in digger and tractor skills having started many years earlier when my legs could reach the pedals. I was very lucky to have grown up in this environment and the following years have given me a wealth of experience and knowledge of the excavating and groundworks industry, not to mention the fun I had pioneering the crazy inventions crafted in our workshop at Burbage.
Today, I continue the family business as there still seem to be parts of Wiltshire that have not been dug up yet ! But excavating business has changed dramatically over the last 20 years with the introduction of the mini digger. The JCB 3CX wheeled machine is a rare sight these days and everyone seems to own a mini digger!
The homemade machinery has sadly now gone, but I am still digging wherever needed.
I recently moved to Devizes from where I operate the same business and can still offer the following services to the builder, farmer and householder alike.
All types of excavating jobs, small or large.
- Removal of spoil
- Construction of driveways and patios
- New houses and extensions upto dpc
- Drainage systems
- Ground source heat coils installed.
- Underpinning
- Riding Arenas
- and much much more…
