Hi, RollOverPete.
2 VERY good posts. Thank you for sharing. Like you, I owe some people in my past a debt - which I hope I am repaying by teaching others my craft and helping others whom I can't meet face to face with information in forums such as this.
My thanks go specifically to George Walmsley who, in Feb., 1965, gave me a start as a learner operator on a 3T D7 with a cable angle blade, Brian Bairstowe for his efforts in teaching me some of the tricks of the trade with that D7, some of which I still use today, and to 'Richard' (The site language censor won't let me post the abreviated form of 'Richard'. It seems to think I am referring crudely to a male genital organ.) Archer for giving me a run on a powershift Cat D9G (God, it was a BIG machine - then.) later in 1965, which stood me in good stead when I applied for the next job after that one, 'cos up till then, I had only run stick-shifts.
That old 980 with the V8 had the same 'donk' as the first 621 elevator scrapers, the J621's. I couldn't tell you the motor series but I'd be surprised if there isn't someone here who can. I ran one for a while in a quarry in Perth, Western Australia. I thought it worked well and gave very little trouble. It certainly had plenty of grunt and it did have its own unique exhaust note. I spent most of my time on it loading 2 x 30 ton Euclid dump trucks at the quarry face. I enjoyed it.
Like you, I also spent a bit of time on those old 46A's and really learned to know them and what they could do. I also spent a bit of time on 66A and 77V D9's and learned to appreciate them too. I've run a couple of 977's, K's and L's, and liked them too. I ran a couple of 988A's before I ran the 980A and a couple after it and I have to say I couldn't choose one over the other as far as operating was concerned. I didn't get to run it but I did work alongside a later 980 with the 3306 'donk' and it seemed to go well too.
Thanks for the memories.
