Any 639 operators out there?

[Sandshifta]

Hi fellas! I'm over here in the south west of Australia. I own and operate me own 639D scraper. have done for years. I know of all the ones here in west Oz, we still have 4 in the family, the old man has owned 9 of them in his time. As far as I can tell there were only 31 ever built by caterpillar, with 27 of them somehow ending up here in the west. a truly brilliant machine, the most versatile scraper by far. I was just wondering if anyone knows of one still operating outside of Oz?

 

[stangoodman]

Hi fellas! I'm over here in the south west of Australia. I own and operate me own 639D scraper. have done for years. I know of all the ones here in west Oz, we still have 4 in the family, the old man has owned 9 of them in his time. As far as I can tell there were only 31 ever built by caterpillar, with 27 of them somehow ending up here in the west. a truly brilliant machine, the most versatile scraper by far. I was just wondering if anyone knows of one still operating outside of Oz?

Gidday sandshifta,
Shadforths had two operating in Brisbane a few years back. Hautuma lime have one in NZ hawksbay going well.
As far as I know there's is the only one in NZ.
Cheers
Stan

 

[durtmvr]

Hi fellas! I'm over here in the south west of Australia. I own and operate me own 639D scraper. have done for years. I know of all the ones here in west Oz, we still have 4 in the family, the old man has owned 9 of them in his time. As far as I can tell there were only 31 ever built by caterpillar, with 27 of them somehow ending up here in the west. a truly brilliant machine, the most versatile scraper by far. I was just wondering if anyone knows of one still operating outside of Oz?

I don't know how that can be. A bunch of years ago Miller in Tucson had 4 of them. I find it hard to grasp that a little bitty company located in Tucson, Arizona had the only 4 outside of Australia and could actually find parts for them. LOL. Anyhow, during my travels through California I am positive I have seen at least 10 separate 639s and I saw a fleet of 12 when I worked up in Wyoming for a few months. I got to run one in Wyoming. It was definitely a dirt hog, hungry for some muck, but I think you could outwork it with a 637. Just don't see the need for all those moving parts.

 

[Gavin84w]

Numbers built were 39, there are a heck of a lot of those in West Australia i can assure you. 27 is what is listed for west Australia and there is certainly 1 in New Zealand so just 11 for the rest of the world. There was 1 listed as a watercart on American Independents site so now we are down to 10.

 

[durtmvr]

Numbers built were 39, there are a heck of a lot of those in West Australia i can assure you. 27 is what is listed for west Australia and there is certainly 1 in New Zealand so just 11 for the rest of the world. There was 1 listed as a watercart on American Independents site so now we are down to 10.

I can see it possible then. I responded to sandshifta who stated there were 31 built. 8 more is a big difference. I know a few of the machines in Wyoming were bastardized putting a rear 37 pack on a 33. Those only had one paddle motor. Have the ones you've seen have 2 motors for the paddles or 1? Also the "true" 39 I operated had a position on the hoist lever that went forward like closing the apron on 27B. That kicked the flights into a higher speed.

Your count could account for another on the other 639 thread, fella stated the scraper was sold at auction in California and heading on ship to South America.

 

[JDOFMEMI]

Here in SoCal, EL Yeager had a fleet of them. I forget how many, but I heard when they sold they all went to Australia, so that may account for someone thinking there were more than there really were built.

 

[JimInOz]

Sandshifta,
I worked on a dam project in Margaret River in 1992.I was operating a Liebherr 621 Drott there.There was also a D9H working onsite.If I remember correctly,there was at least one 639 there,& I possibly have a picture of it in my photo album.I think it had "638" written on it.

Around that same time,I remember being impressed by a fleet of Civils 651s at work in Southern Cross...all coloured white.I asked about getting a job driving one...but after watching them for 30 mins,I decided to stick to the slow old tracked machines.The grader driver working amongst all those scrapers must have been one brave dude...

I stand to be corrected on the model numbers...scrapers are not my forte...