I was looking for a small Bing road roller to go with the small Bing traction engine already in my collection. However, it appears that the larger ones are more common (probably because they are more collectable and more have survived) so I bought this one, which is somewhat larger.
The simple pot boiler is 54mm diameter x 150mm long. It has a dummy chimney, safety valve and whistle. The front end cap shows an embossed GBN logo. The burner is a three wick meths type with the tank attached below the cab by a pair of clips, and three flat wicks under the boiler. This arrangement makes filling and lighting the burner tricky. The steam is fed directly to the top of the port face block, which incorporates a reversing mechanism controlled, via a linkage, by a lever in the cab. The single cylinder is a single acting oscillating cylinder type, 9mm bore x 18mm stroke, driving a simple crank on the crankshaft, the other end of which has a 65mm diameter spoked flywheel. The flywheel incorporates an 11mm diameter pulley, which has a drive band to a groove in the rim of one rear roll. The front roll is a one piece roll in a fork underneath the boiler end. The rear rolls are spoked and a different style from the front and, therefore, might not be original. Condition is generally good, assuming the paintwork is original (it appears to be).| Make | Bing |
| Model | Pluto |
| Date Made | c1902? |
| Description | Road roller |
| Cylinders | 1 |
| Cylinder Type | Single acting reversible |
| Bore mm | 9 |
| Stroke mm | 18 |
| Valve Type | Oscillating cylinder |
| Boiler Type | Horizontal |
| Boiler Diam mm | 54 |
| Boiler length/height mm | 150 |
| Fuel | Meths |
| Mechanical Condition | Good |
| Cosmetic Condition | Fair |
| Paintwork | Original |
| Packaging | |
| Purchased | 2 June 2020 |
| Purchase cost | £445 |
| Additional spend |