Gardner Denver has supplied racing legend and TV star, Guy Martin, with a state-of-the-art Hydrovane compressor for his home workshop.

Martin (pictured), who runs his own automotive workshop on the grounds of his home near Grimsby, is now the proud owner of a Hydrovane HV04 Air Compressor, provided by Gardner Denver distributor MH Pneumatics Limited, Immingham, NE Lincs. A trained vehicle mechanic, Martin uses the compressor to power his workshop’s machinery – including saws, blowguns, CNC lathes and bolt guns – when working on trucks and motorbikes. It is also used for air and water-based cleaning applications.

The machine’s vane design allows the compressor to supply clean, high-quality and pulse-free air reliably and efficiently, with less downstream equipment required. With low noise levels – down to 62 dB(A) – the Hydrovane compressor can be sited close to the point of use. This made it an ideal choice for Martin’s workshop, as he explains.

“It’s smaller and quieter than anything I’ve had before, and it’s doing a brilliant job. The unit has been installed in the corner with pipework running around the workshop, so there’s still masses of storage, and I can reach everything with the rollout hose.

“It’s a lot more convenient than my old portable piston compressor – which is not as efficient as the Hydrovane compressor. It also needed constant recharging, and rolling it around the workshop was really tiring, but I can avoid that now.

“The Hydrovane suits my needs far better – I use my compressed air sparingly, but when I do, I use it for long periods of time. It powers anything and everything in the shop, so the fact it can reach pressures of up to 10 bar so quickly is very useful.”

Alongside the fact it was manufactured in Britain, a final feature that appealed to Martin was the Hydrovane’s reliability. Its simple design results in low stresses and long life. Because the compressor has no gears and belts, it requires less servicing than conventional models and can operate in excess of 100,000 hours.

“For me, Hydrovane’s longer service intervals really stood out,” Martin said. “As a mechanic, I know that routine maintenance is vital for long equipment life, but being able to keep the machine running for longer in between servicing is extremely handy.”

“Simply, it’s a great machine from a great company.”