80-year old steamroller puts council to shame....

Putting the council to shame: How two farmers and their 80-year-old steamroller fixed a pothole problem

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 8:06 AM on 2nd February 2011

Two farmers fed up with potholes on their road used their massive 80-year-old steamroller to flatten it out and put their local council to shame.

The freezing winter left the stone surface to the Raleys' farm in Stillingfleet, near York, North Yorkshire, wrecked and meant one neighbour was unable to drive his car down it without scraping it in giant craters.

So determined Philip Raley, 43, teamed up with his father Allison, 72, to use his ten-tonne vehicle to repair the half-mile-long track.

No problem: The steamroller, operated by Allison and Philip Raley, makes light work of the potholes

In contrast to many council road repairs in the area, it took the hard-working pair just a day and 500lb of coal to transform the private road by filling in the craters with Tarmac.

Father-of-two Philip said: 'This particular steamroller was made in the 1920s specifically to flatten the asphalt on the new roads that were being built at  the time.

 

'The weather had completely wrecked the road, so we got together with our neighbour and decided we should put the steamroller to use.

'It took us a long day but it was worth it. It's unrecognisable from how it was and we are pleased with our work.

'It was quite enjoyable to do it the old way. The frosts have caused a lot of damage but the machine did just as capable a job as it was designed to do all those years ago.'

'Given the state of some of the roads, and the amount of complaints I have seen from drivers about potholes, the council might want to ring us up to help. 

Old-fashioned hard work: The pair have offered their services to the local council

'They should borrow it.'

Philip bought the Wallis and Steevens Advance steamroller last year and spent tens of thousands of pounds on it. He had dreamed of owning one since he was 16.

The cold snap, which saw temperatures plunge to minus 12 in the area, resulted in thousands of potholes appearing.

The situation became so serious City of York Council set up a 'pothole hotline' for residents to report particularly hazardous areas of damaged tarmac.

A survey showed the council has 576 separate areas where roads were so poor  'major repairs' were required.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352708/Putting-council-shame-How-men-steam-roller-fixed-pothole-problem.html#ixzz1CnQ8zN00