Forged by fire - a blacksmith's Volvo

Mark Holloway reports on a Volvo N10 in good hands.

Peter Embury is a very talented man. Based out of Bendigo he is a qualified carpenter who took up work as a farrier when his wife was a partner in a riding school. A logical extension to farrier work is blacksmithing and Peter applied himself to such an extent he went on to become Victorian Champion Blacksmith in 1994. His smithy skills have since won many awards at various shows though more recently he has been a stall-holder demonstrating his skill and selling hand wrought products. He still wins awards for best exhibit though!

Peter was the local smithy at Maldon for many years but can now be seen at shows as far afield as Sydney and Brisbane. He initially took his tools and stock in a 5th-wheel gooseneck van behind an HZ Holden twin-cab ute (both made by him). The overworked HZ was replaced by a Ford F350 diesel and the trailer was eventually superseded by a 20ft curtainside container (more on that later).

A good mechanic and skilled fabricator, Peter performed some crafty work to the container so that it unfolds to be an old fashioned blacksmith shop complete with veranda (Best exhibit Royal Melbourne Show). However paying someone to cart the container around the country was not good for the bottom line, so why not buy a truck? Admittedly Peter knew nothing about them but, undaunted, got his truck licence, searched Ebay and bought a Volvo - because it had hydraulic legs.

Top: the N10 as bought. Above: functional and well used office.

The N10 1985 model probably spent its early career with Brambles as a prime mover but was bought from Southern Farm Supplies of Bega by Peter in late 2007. It is not known if there were other owners or who did the chassis stretch and added the legs but they were probably added to suit Southern Farms as they used the truck to deliver bins of fertiliser products to farms for spreading. The empty bin was placed on the back of the truck and filled with fertiliser before being driven out into the farmer’s paddock. The truck would then lift itself up on its four hydraulic legs and the folding legs on the bin would then be set up. Once the legs were supporting the bin, the truck would drop down and drive out. The spreader could then load by driving under the bin.

This was exactly what Peter needed - a suitable truck with ready-to-go hydraulics. On inspection the truck was a little worse for wear but sound. In short order, Peter started making legs across his container’s ends. The lift is too great for a single stage so intermediate legs are required to hold the container halfway up while second stage legs are lowered - very clever. The container was then covered with authentic 1900s-looking weatherboard cladding and the result was a blacksmith’s shop on legs.

Above: the two-stage jacking system.

Tackling the Volvo, Peter attacked the front of the tray, slashed a hole in the back of the cab, slipped on an old Scott’s sleeper, plonked a scoop on the roof, cut in some container pins on new rails, slapped some Brambles orange paint about and with only days to spare he was off to Tamworth for his first trip January 2008…and all went well.

Very recently he bought another N10 prime mover for parts. How could you go wrong???? Easy. There are lots of differences - even the wheel nuts seem to be different. I know that won’t stop Pete. He can fix, mend, shape and create. You should think about all those original hinges on your dropside trays, rims on your wagon wheels, panel work and welding. If you want it, Pete can do it!

Postscript: the Volvo suffered an electrical fire recently. But for the quick response of the local CFA, the truck would have burnt to the ground. Fortunately, only the cab suffered major damage. In true Embury style, she has already received a new cab and scoop as can be seen below. Apparently it’s quite likely the new colour scheme will spread across the rest of the truck.