A peek into Flemming's treasury
Behind a large barn door in the Danish countryside, hides a well-preserved treasure trove. The “treasure trove” belongs to Flemming Laursen and consists of all kinds of tools and mechanical parts. As far as the eye sees, there are gadgets such as discarded jacks, pipes in rusty conditions, and slightly damaged pumps. They are all placed on shelves in an organized style, because Flemming does not consider these components as scrap, but rather as potential components for his larger projects. Thus, the barn hides even greater treasures; from the darkness emerges old-school trucks and large vintage cranes, relics from another era, really. And it’s when fitted on these treasures that all the gadgets may one day prove useful.
For more than 20 years, Flemming has been interested in vintage lorries from the 1950s, which he buys and restores. While putting the finishing touches on his red Scania truck, he suddenly had an idea: of course, the truck needed some accessories. So, Flemming set out in search of the right accessories and fell head over heels in love with HMF's first A2-A8 crane series from the same period of time.
Since no one before him (outside of HMF, ed.) had restored such an old HMF crane, it was the perfect accessory, because as Flemming says:
"I like to have what others don't have!"
The perfect match
Toady Flemming's Scania from 1954 has an A6 from HMF's first crane series fitted. He found it discarded at a scrapyard. Fortunately, the vintage enthusiast was able to see some potential in the old crane, so he bought it home.
After several years of dedicated work in the barn, both crane and lorry are in fantastic condition. That might also be why Flemming shows off a bit pride, driving the shiny red lorry with its crane out into the farmyard to show us the result of years of hand-crafted body work. Here, the truck idles while Flemming manually unfolds the boom of this HMF gem and manoeuvres the hook in the direction of a pallet on the ground. Then he extends the last of the A6's extensions and attaches the hook onto the pallet, which he concentratedly moves onto the truck body. And so, Flemming proves that a 1950s HMF crane plus a Scania truck in the hands of a passionate craftsman equals... the perfect retro match - and it still works!
In addition to the A6, Flemming's crane collection also consists of the A2, A3, A5 and A8 models, and when you ask him, there is a clear purpose of the collection; to complete the full HMF series from the 1950s, of which only the A4 and A7 are missing. Therefore, he promises:
"This is not the last HMF crane you’ll see from me!"
Old stories get a new lease of life
Flemming's barn also contains treasures in the form of long-discontinued HMF gems such as sack and pig loaders from the 1950s for use in agriculture. But not least, the stories about the cranes' origins are of enormous value. For example, Flemming's A8 crane without a serial number is rumoured to be the original prototype. The story goes that HMF's founder, Arne Bundgaard Jensen, gave it to his friends in the haulage company Brødrene Frederiksen, who were to test the new crane before it went into production. Flemming is particularly fond of this story.
Although his interest in cranes started randomly in the hunt for accessories to the Scania truck, Flemming has over time become quite fascinated by the history of HMF and the durability of Danish-made cranes. But the old-timers in the barn only look like treasures thanks to Flemming's skilful hands.
He is a qualified sheet metal worker and works in a repair yard of a shipping company that carries out construction work at sea. Thanks to his profession and his curiosity, Flemming knows how to weld, mill cylinder tubes, and turn on lathes, thus giving old spare parts new life or restoring original components. With the same skills, he has manufactured hoses, hydraulic and valve blocks to recreate the HMF crane's original control system. The icing on the cake on these valve blocks are the original brass plates that Flemming has polished to a shine, indicating the function of each control valve lever. In this way, he manages to upcycle even the smallest crane parts, and that's recycled gold for the treasury!
A break from everyday life
The passionate work with the old-timers in the barn is a time-consuming hobby. Flemming estimates that it has taken him over 6 years to refurbish and build the lorry with the old HMF crane. But the immersion in the craft gives him something very special - and then, of course, there's the community that surrounds it. He is part of a circle of fellow enthusiasts who all spar and guide each other in their projects. Flemming also meets like-minded people at various vintage events around Denmark, with whom he exchanges stories and experiences.
Although Flemming's interest demands a lot of his time, working with the machines in a concentrated way gives him great peace of mind. He describes it as a relaxing break from everyday life, where he sometimes experiences a complete loss of sense of both time and place, but fortunately he is never far from home. While the family cooks dinner in the farmhouse kitchen, Flemming can sneak into the barn and continue working on his treasures. As he says with a crooked smile:
"I can just pop over there while the potatoes are cooking."
Watch Flemming handle his vintage crane her: