Here are some Glasgow built 68A's for you.pics taken during the 1980's and 1990's
the 1st pic is actually of me in the mid 80's on a topsoil strip for a local council.I should have been at school but was deemed to be more usefull on my dads D8 than bothering to turn up for school.It was the only Dozer we had at this time as my father was a haulage contractor who traded in topsoil.It replaced a D4D that I couldn't seem to drive well at all!.When I left school at 15 I tried to make a go of the D8 simply because I liked it.I did allright(never got rich though!) and currently run my 8th or 9th D8 amongst other things.one of the resident board members here helps me keep them in profit.
Most of the tractors I bought over the years had various forms of the 'Leverton'cab.This was our version of the dealer cab and was soft to say the least.Bowmakers,Westlode and Otterman offered up different levels of 'luxury' cabs but no cab at all or 'open tourers' were still seen in the UK up untill the 90's.The last job I worked on where a cab was removed for the summer was during 2001 and we had a nice D7E with sucker fan pushloading a mixture of D8H/K,D9G/H and boxes.I think you chaps refere to them as 'pans' or 'cans' Enjoy.
Great pics Nicky, always good to see!
Nick, good pictures , its ok here on the dark site
a few more The D8 pulling the 463G was an ex CEGB tractor which was hardly used when I bought it in 1992 as it was a 68A 2623 which still had the donkey engine.as a result the power station owners kept it as a standby dozer using it only if one of their other 68A and 66V tractors went down.It came with a Balderson coal blade,sweeps and only a drawbar.It still had the the dry type pin and bush tracks.It was obvious that the tractor hadn't really done much but within the 1st year of operation I had new pistons and liners fitted as there was a fair bit of blowbye.during the in frame repair we were happy to note the standard crankshaft and the almost new camshaft,pto etc.The tractor went on to work for me for another 9 years fairly trouble free and was sold to another contractor that ran it for a year then shipped to Africa.I can tell you that the 83A D6C was sold to a Greek chap who is still running it to this day. The bottom pic is of another 68A 2236 which I bought in 1993.It had a 77V spacer engine in it that was bought in from Canada.Here it's pictured having a final drive service in 1995(you cant drop oil on the deck anymore!!!)It spent all spring and summer of that year pushing scrapers.That engine was a monster.I sold it in 1996 where it worked for a year before spitting a top pinion bearing.I bought it back and broke it for spares.
More 68A D8H's on various jobs in the UK during the 1990's
Funny thing Nicky, the rest of the World run High Drive Tractors while here in the U.K. the Direct Electric Start D8H/K Tractors are seen as the latest up to date thing?? at least we have managed to master the Beast's after about near 50 years, and at least their is still plenty of good blocks and big chunks about to keep things running at not crazy coins, I have a pal who is running an International TD15 on a Landfill Site against a CAT D6R??? the site manager loves it as it sips only a 3rd of the Vimto the 6R scoffs, plus another chap I know is doing a 6'000 cube Muck Shift with a BTD20 ??? whats going on its like the land of the Fintstones, 600 cube to a 20 is going some I thought, but blow me he is on the final trim and fancy bits with Muck moved and coins earnt??? and no "Drama's" I love it. will call asap Tctractors
Thanks Niky excellent to see these girls in all their glory................
a few more.The D9 currently has a ripper attached to it and is over in Ireland.
Very nice pics! I missed out on the D8Hs for the most part, but ran a few D8ks. I loved running them!
And some more
Yair . . . Thanks for those pictures Gavin84w they are the best I have ever seen of some of the special eights. Cheers
I worked for an Irish company from Wolverhampton, the MacAuliffe Brothers on a Walsall council job,sometime in the 1990's.The machines were mainly old D8 with rope boxes.I drove a D6 towing 2 rollers, boring as hell but the money was good, 2 wage packets, one with 40 hours taxed the other packet overtime and tax free.
lovely old 8s nice to see the big dogs eating....I was in one once a long time ago....no seat cushion and hard on the arse loved it..plenty of black smoke
Good to see those cool machines. Thanks for sharing!
some more
struggling to get new pics on.cant seem to download any pics from my library on to here
just figured that the files are too big on some pics
some pics of current D8's I have.these tractors just work every other day or so and aren't frontline tractors as I finished about 10 years ago with working around the country.I have other business intrests these days but still enjoy working with these apart from when they are acting up! These are current pics from this seasons muckshift.I will be bringing a D5H out early next year and sticking another old D8 in it's place.
Probably better to load them in to photobucket and link them back to here............... like this...........
:thumbsup
this tractor came back into the yard during easter for some work.Did more work to it than I figured but am well pleased to have done it.Turns out the torque was shot and the tranny was getting ready for some tlc.Did the lot and now it's heading back to work soon.
these two seem to be chugging away sound enough.The D5 has had some new brakes fitted and will be coming back into the yard for a steam clean and basic service.Not sure where it's going next.Not bothered either.
few more
The D5 got it's brakes done on a pub carpark in Wigan somewhere. The D8H sandwiched between the 9N and 9L is one of mine about 1992. The tractor and boxes belonged to Maurice Hickey.The 22a was Billy Kitchens.Taken north of Lockerbie around 1993 I think.not mine
Very nice, Thank you very much! I really enjoyed them!
Managed to bog this all by myself:Banghead
these tractors have been working pretty much flat out every day for the last five weeks.They are doing 11 hour shifts in one of the hottest July's on record in this country (England).They have been working stripping heavy red clay in very hilly terrain and also being used to shift sand down to a hopper that's too far away for a Volvo 220 shovel.On sand the scraper is pulling 10 loads per hour and burning around 25 litres per hour believe it or not.It's a downhill dig and then it hauls in 2nd gear on medium idle just dragging the cutting edge to stop any over run.The D8 on the blade is working much harder pushing solid clay over the high wall and blading a clay fill area up.It's running in 2nd gear most of the time apart from pushing the clay and is burning around 37 litres an hour.The dozer has now been dropped onto pushing sand over the high wall to make it easy for the shovel to dig (and keep the high wall safe).This operation is steady slot dozing in 1st gear forward and reverse only.Fuel burn will drop right down now I suppose. Some of the overburden removel has been short haul with 20 loads per hour and the pusher bulling muck up between scrapers.This has been profitable!
Where are you based, Nicky? Do you keep to working locally?
IH,I only work local these days in the Cheshire area.I have other business interests than muckshifting but still do abit as I enjoy it and If the old boys want to keep operating them and TC keeps fixing them,then I will continue to run them.
Sounds like a good position to be in, Nicky. I hope you can keep them working.
pics taken this month
Old dozers still chugging about this late in the season although not as much.
Great to see some of the good old 68a's still working and looking to be in great shape, thanks Nicky. It brings back some good memories. I recently retired, but worked all over the North West of England operating 68a dozers and much of the time pulling 463 scrapers for McAlpines and others when building the motorways across the North West in the late 60's and 70's. Also ran 22a's for Wardle's some of the time. I moved to Canada in the late 70's but not many 68a's still working here now. If you ever need a holiday fill in jockey for a couple of weeks in the summer keep me in mind, I'd be there in a shot!
Thanks old dozer man.My yard is just down the road from Wardle's.They are still on the go in a big way.David Wardle is still alive and kicking as far as I know. The last Macs job I worked on was the A34 Wilmslow bypass around 1994.Had an 8K pushloading Pakki Mallons and Don Fords D8 and boxes.For the record one of J G Morgans (St Helens) tractor and box drivers went off to Canada at that time.He was called Frank Phillbin I think and was a good pilot.Drove to work in a converted ambulance. I have visited Canada myself quiet a few times.Mainly Alberta and BC.Actually Skied at Fernie with good views of the River Elk coal site.One year,the snow was that bad at Calgary Airport they had some 637's cleaning the snow off the aprons!
I've never been to western Canada but would like to see it some day. I settled in Ontario near Toronto and worked for several local contractors before working for Wimpey who were big in Ontario at the time. They changed names to Tarmac and eventually Carrillion but unfortunately they sold all of their equipment and got out of the road building/sewer game a few years ago. I was with them for 15 years. Great company to work for. I imagine David Wardle is getting on a bit now. Would guess he'd be in his late seventies now. I was long gone by the time Frank Phillbin came to Canada and hve never met him. In my day in the UK I worked on various sections of the M56, M57, M62, M55