Brian keeps trucking on with hobby
A Richmond man has harnessed the power of mobility scooters in going full speed on his remotecontrol projects
Waimea Village resident and ex-mechanic Brian Bickmore has followed up a 12-month build of a 95kg John Deere tractor by completing work on a Ford Transcontinental 4435 truck and trailer last week.
The tanker unit took the 76-year-old 13 months to complete.
‘‘It’s a hobby – I suppose you’d call it a passion – I’m not fanatical about it like some people are,’’ he said.
‘‘I spend probably two to three hours a day out there and when I’ve had enough I come in, I’m not one of these guys that go back out at night and works by a torch – I just work on it when I feel like it.’’
Bickmore’s interest in machinery began as a six-year-old when his mother bought him a meccano set for Christmas.
‘‘When I started work at 16 in a garage in London, I actually knew quite a lot about cars although I’d never worked on one.’’
Bickmore continued to use Meccano for his model-making endeavours until 1976 when the amount of limitations grew with the scale of his projects.
‘‘The metal’s too thin to go any bigger, plus there are these blinking holes all over the place.’’
After emigrating from the UK and settling in Christchurch, Bickmore created his first model, a Bedford TM truck and trailer, from scratch in 1986.
‘‘That’s when it got serious – you’re building every single part yourself.’’
Bickmore has created many more trucks since then, as well as several tractors and bulldozers.
Models were created to a 1/5th scale and were powered by the engine and gearbox from a mobility scooter, with the help of Robin Jordan at FAV Services in Richmond.
The Ford Transcontinental model takes pride of place in Bickmore’s garage, along with the John Deere tractor, a Leyland Crusader and two trailer units.
‘‘I’m actually running out of space, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that, but we’ll sort something out,’’ he said.
Selling the models has enabled him to continue pursuing his hobby, he said.
‘‘I can’t really afford to just keep on making models, because it’s very expensive and it’s getting more so by the day.’’
For example, a Komatsu dozer Bickmore had made was sold for $8500, despite costing $12,000 to construct.
‘‘The trucks are much cheaper to make, they’re also not so much of a challenge, but the tractors and things are always a pain so I probably won’t be building any more of those.’’
Although he had no grandchildren, Bickmore said a young boy who lived nearby had taken an interest in the machines.
With the Waimea Village roads providing a ready-made track to drive the machines, Bickmore was more than happy to give the next generation a chance to share in his passion.