Still at it!

[Eddiebackblade]

A good friend of mine is currently on holiday in Australia for 5 weeks and asked me to load a few lorries at a quarry he runs.
It is a very small operation supplying 'Etruria Marl' into the now virtually gone Stoke-on-Trent Pottery and Tile industries.
The whole opration is performed by this old girl, and despite it's age and appearance is more than capable of keeping the whole place going single handed.

 

[joispoi]

Nice! You won't find too many -if any- track loaders in Iceland, today. An old timer told me that they used to use them for gravel quarry operations. They used to put the truck between the pile and the loader. The truck would pull forward to let the loader take a scoop then the loader would back up, then the truck would back up, the loader would pull forward, dump and then the truck would pull forward again to let the loader take another scoop. This was to avoid the wear on the undercarriage that occurs when turning in sand and gravel.

It's hard to imagine why they don't do that anymore.:beatsme

 

[boone]

I really like the 931 and 951 Cat. In about '87, my dad bought 15 acres of mostly woods and hired a guy to come in and clear most of it and cut ditches on the property. The guy rolled in with a 931. I think I remember it being a '76 model. It was so fun to watch that machine work. I don't remember there being a tree it couldn't take down. I've wanted a track loader ever since.

 

[BritOperator]

Well this goes to prove the one good thing about track loaders, all you need is one man and one machine and you can pretty much do it all.
Good to see the old girl is still going strong and putting alot of the modern machines to shame. Always wondered if any of the the latest machines you get today will last as long as some of the older models that are still around and running like their new.

 

[Eddiebackblade]

Welcome to you BritOperator, I guess you are a bit of a Track Loader fan then!
I truly have a soft spot for them and usually jump at any opportunity for a blast.
I have done a fair bit on an old 941 and to be honest it would run rings around this 951. However given their age they are still very capable and in situations like the one pictured have no real alternatives.
I have been lucky enough to get time on a 943/953 and 963 but the one I am desperate to get hold of is a late 977 with a 4in1 bucket.
It's on my wish list but I haven't decided if it comes before or after a Unimog!!

 

[BritOperator]

Yeah you could say I'm a bit of a track loader fan!
First machine I ever ran was a 943 and they've been my favourite ever since. Ran 953, 963 and 955 but still have fond memories of my little '43.
She was ex-waterboard and had been used to muck out the settlement pits so having been used on concrete her tracks were knackered. Got really fed up running her cos the tracks kept slipping on the sprockets and she couldn't push for toffee. Then luckly I she got what every good woman wants, new shoes! After that, wow what a tool. Did everything and anything with that little shovel. Managed to get alot of repeat hire and new hire by convincing people how versatile a machine track loaders are. Sadly they are as you know a dying breed in the UK and like you any chance I get to run one I snap it up.
Would love to own my own shovel one day, def get a 943 or a 939 cos they are small compact and you don't need a artic to move them. Used to move my 943 on an 8 wheel beavertail.
I suggest you get the 977 before the Unimog!!

 

[JimInOz]

It's great to see that there are still crawler-loader fans around.
The Cat 931/941/951/955 are my favourites,as well as the Liebherr 631,Mitsubishi BS3 & Komatsu D41S.I regret never getting on a 977 & 983.
Basic,tough & versatile...that's how they survive & continue to produce.
Any machine that can excavate a shed site,rip clay,grade a tennis court,box out a road,demolish a house,clear trees,dig a pond,load trucks,& backfill trenches ,is gonna survive in the industry.

 

[Martin]

I always remember a a kid growing up back in the 1960s in Christchurch NZ there was a local company called Ryan Brothers and they used to have a few of these Cats(cant remember the size)and a fleet of International 5 yd tippers.They were always down at the New Brighton beach loading out sand and when we finished school half the kids would rush off the to watch the machines.There wasnt any O H and S then and we would stand on the sand at the top of the pile until the dozer took away a bucket load and ride the collapsing edge down.We would do this until the operator had enough and the local cop come and got rid of us.
A boy in my class s father was an owner driver and had a 955 and a small tipper and used to go around the area demolishing the old houses.
Those were the days Champion and Galion graders ,my favourite the old Gradalls used by every one ,Aveling Barford rollers and the list go on.I remember the Christchurch drainage board Link Belt draglines cleaning the weed from the river.Christchurh is flat so it wasnt much of a problem riding the push bike around the local area to catch the action.
There was another company (that I actually ended up working for as a kid)called Maugers.They had a Terex 82-30 and when it was at the tip pushing cover you could hear the GM from about 2 miles away.Sensational.Maugers had an old D8 winch tractor that I remember was used to drag a Link Belt out of a swamp after it fell of the mats it was working on.
Enough talking about the past I could go on for hours.

 

[BritOperator]

Nothing wrong with talking about the past. It's what made us as operators as what we are.
I second your comment JimInOz!!