is it worth fixing old machines like that?
who uses them?
Please share what you have with us.There are many of us here that really enjoy the older machines.Thank you for the pics.Ron G
Thats how I make my living restoring old machines - some people can only afford 3-4 thousand pounds - the job gets done a bit slower but does get done - plus they are never stuck with the machine at the end of the job - there is someone always waiting to snap it up. Farmers and self builders are my target customers.
Very nice work man my hat is off to you and in some ways the older equipment sometimes out works the new gear.
If we're taking requests any JCB pics?
Well...let's not get carred away here.
Noone les to have some very nice older machines more than I do, but they DO NOT outwork the newer stuff.
We like to think that companies like Cat ADVANCE with experience, not go backwards.
Its a pretty big disrespect to the current manufacturers/workers to say that the older stuff is better.
Well I think there's room for a slight debate here - I wouldn't agree that older equipment could "outwork" a brand new machine as regards speed or perhaps power but there is an issue regarding build quality and simplicity. On the forum we have machines that are talked about and preserved mostly between 30 - 50 years old. They only exist nowadays because when they were built they were built to last. By this I mean built to last a lot longer than manufacturers of today schedule for a machines lifetime (averaging 10 years)
One of the main reasons that todays machines will be cut up long before machines of yesteryear have been is the materials used in todays machines (for example plastics.) The materials used nowadays are a lot more fragile and more prone to breaking especially in the cab/operators environment - which is vital to a machines lifespan. The expense of replacement and complexity of theses components would not allow the machines of today to be economically viable to restore or give a second life to in the future.
Computers by far are the biggest problem - Whoever thought that putting a highly sensitive complicated electrical management system into an environment of dust, vibration, damp, mud, dirt etc etc etc is just mad! we all know the problems broken computers cause and the enormous expensive involved in replacing the simplist of parts.:bash This is when older equipment has the supreme advantage because of their simplicity and basic functionality.
As regards respect to manufacturers -More respect would be earned by listening more to the people who drive their creations day in day out - the mechanics who are constantly fixing them and the owners who are forced to buy their highly expensive spare parts. It has to work both ways.:beatsme