I started out on S7 Eucs, went to D-pull Wabcos and LeTourneau's, then got onto Cat DW20's, MRS 110's, and TS24's in the Seabees. Got a ride on a Cat or International pulling either a cable or hydraulic scraper once in a while. Back out of the service I ran TS14's in Texas and then my 1st real love again, TS24's outside of Denver. Pound for pound I enjoyed operating a 24 more than any other scraper before or since. Powerful, fast, easy to load and dump, they were great! But life moves on, Cat 613's, International 295's and 495's, AC 260's, 261's, and 460's, then Wabco 222's, then the big time, Cat 651B's and Euc TS32's in Wyoming. Since then Cat 641B's, 627's, 623's, 637's, 631D's, 615's, and 651E's, a 660A and a 666B.
The DW20, or Twenty-wagon we called it, was a real hand full. Hard to start (pony engine), very stiff five-speed manual transmission with a hard clutch, cable controls, and it was a four-wheel tractor, not an overhung model. The damn thing nearly killed me once and I know other operators that jumped off the derned thing when it got out of control. It was a bad bouncer on rough haul roads and the bowl lift cable would hang up under the cable control lever right at the cable drum at the back of the tractor. Once it got tight, it would kill the engine or snap the cable. I hated that thing. So this picture of one is truly where the darn thing belongs. 20's and 21's did carry a lot of muck during the late fifties and early sixties building freeways and missle silos around America though.