Autoguide Equipment celebrates its 40th Anniversary! In recent years, our development of special bespoke machines has increased, cementing our reputation for creating the weird and wonderful! We have also developed the rest of our products as well, including a Maxi Postmaster, 900H Torquehead and Lightweight Cable Drum Spreader Bar. Over the years, development of powerheads continued to keep up with customer demands, but 2014 saw the birth of a large 25 tonne metre torque head. Additionally, in 2014 we manufactured the first 6500Nm Hand Held Anchor Drivers for installing larger 76R piles. We were asked to make a second JCB Digger ride. This one was to be installed in Hong Kong! The year of the wind turbine. In 2012, over 200 foundations were installed for 5Kw turbines. We also developed and sold a 21 tonne metre torque head. ABC Anchors picked up speed; increasing sales and new developments of screw pile foundation solutions including units for hard and soft ground. We designed, manufactured and sold our first two TC600 rough terrain vehicles for the Utility industry. Our design team were busy again, developing the Star Strimmer (a triple rotating tractor mounted mowing attachment) used predominantly on race courses. This was also the year we finalised prototypes for the Mini Vibrating Postmaster. We were approached to design and manufacture a unique project at LEGOLAND Windsor, using ten JCB 801 machines. Digger Doug is alive and well today! The ABC Anchors business was picking up. Yet again we saw a niche area in the market for a new product; the Hand Held Anchor Installer. These are still very popular machines in our hire fleet and are used on jobs such as underpinning or on sites with limited access. We developed the Junior 3ft Auto Roller, aimed at smaller cricket clubs with limited funding. This was also the year we developed the Self-propelled Vibrating Post Driver. We had our First Young Engineers Competition in conjunction with IAgrE. ABC Anchors continued to expand into the contract and domestic market, with screw anchors becoming the 21st century alternative for foundation work. Another new development was the Autoguide Repower Kit, designed to ‘revive’ the older Auto-Rollers by switching out the old parts for a new engine, hydrostatic drive and power steering. This was a very busy year for selling the high rise kit for hover mowers. We also completed the development of the 120 000Nm variable speed torque head. Alongside the busy day to day sales of the business, we developed our Rockmaster auger drive. A deal was struck with AB Chance via Hubbell in the USA, and our sister company ABC Anchors was established to launch Pisa Anchors in the UK. This involved the supply of stay anchors for electricity poles to Utility Boards, as well as the ability to manufacture under licence in the UK. This was the year we purchased the well-known AutoRoller business from TH White Ltd. We still hold parts stock for the very first 1930’s TH Whites rollers. In the latter part of the year we developed the Pole Jack for BT. Our first Turf Trooper ride on mower was designed along with the ‘Out front rear discharge’ and ‘mulching mowers’. In conjunction with Kubota, Ford and Allen Power Equipment, over 500 were sold throughout Europe. Because of our expansion into groundcare attachments and our continued development of auger equipment, we changed the company name to Autoguide Equipment. We received a production order for auger drives for BT lorries. Unimog hitches were also tested successfully at DEKRA Dresden – their first UK contract. We developed the variable speed auger drive for cranes. The first one was demonstrated to Seeboard in Kent and started a revolution in design. So far over 1500 have been produced with most of the originals still actively working. Production orders began to flow from JCB for auger equipment and ushering in an era of improved quality (we recorded the lowest warranty of any JCB attachment supplier). The storm of 1987 destroyed many electricity poles and prompted electricity companies to use augers during their repairs. We developed a range of powerheads and accessories (still in use today) for the Utility and Telecommunications industries, thinking at the time that 10,000Nm would be the biggest unit needed (by 2014 we stocked units up to 250,000Nm)! Compact tractors were becoming popular in the UK and we expanded our design field to incorporate mower decks for these; in parallel we developed the hitch further, and won a production order from Ford for initial equipment on their Compact tractors. This was a flagship year for the company. We designed and patented the first “Autoguide” hookless hitch (which is still in use). This is also the year we began working more closely with Ford and designed the Trailer Braking Kit, which was incorporated into their range of tractors. Business was picking up and the company invested in a word processor (the Adler Bitsy with 8” disc drives!) and AutoCad, version 2.1. We were one of the first companies in the South West to do so. Drawings were converted to AutoCad and a new design for a waste container handler followed. We moved to Heddington, which remains the current location for the business. Pick up Hitch development continued and we introduced the Safeway quick release couplers and hydraulic auger drives to meet industry needs. We expanded to the cellar and garage. The main activity included the design of Intermec Pick-up Hitches for Deutz, Ford and Mercedes Benz, plus seed drills manufactured in Spain. The foundation of the current business was established by Richard and Peggy Robinson. Intermec Farm Machines Ltd was founded in a spare room with a drawing board, typewriter and a cat. The company’s aim was engineering design. One of the first designs was the tractor pick-up hitch; parts for which are still sold extensively.
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