Inching back to life

Chris McCullough finds an extremely rare excavator restoration

It could be the only example of an Inchgreen IG-5 excavator currently restored in the world and for its owners this model has real sentimental value. The much adored excavator is owned by Chris McCann from the civil engineering and quarrying company FP McCann Ltd.

The IG-5 has been restored for over four years now, but still sits in pride of place at the company headquarters in Knockloughrim, County Londonderry.

Back in the 1960s, the founder of FP McCann, the late Paddy McCann, first purchased an Inchgreen IG-5 just at the time the first hydraulic excavators were being launched.

Roll on half a century later to 2009 and Paddy’s son Chris McCann decided to find and restore an identical model for sentimental reasons - and that is the one standing proud today.

Paddy McCann began operating as a sole trader in the 1940s supplying quarry products to the local construction industry. His passion for diggers was evident throughout the years and his first mechanical rope digger was the Priestman Panther, purchased in the 1940s.

Due to the Inchgreen company not manufacturing for a long period, there are very few of these particular backhoe loaders available today.

The IG-5 and IG-6 were produced in Scotland at the Inchgreen Engineering Company’s Greenock factory. Many of them put in hard working shifts all over Europe and, no doubt, have been lying in scrapyards for decades. But one was found in Ireland and was dramatically brought back to life thanks to the hard work and dedication of Trevor Marsden.