Afew pics taken in NZ in the 60s of a Hydro power station on the Waikato river.
Nice pictures. I've got quite a few I've taken over the years, need to scan them I guess. I think the scrapers are Euclid TS24's but not sure. The twin stack dozers may be IH TD24's and the lone dozer might be a Cat D9, possibly the 19A model. I've attached a pic of a similar D9 and a TD24. The D9 and D8's of that time period could come with the winch in the back, which was a better unit, and could then be used for a pull scraper too. I don't remember the early IH dozers as being a long life unit and I've heard that anyone who has one uses it sparingly because there are few parts out there. The D9 I believe could come either way, a direct drive,or with torque converter added. Phil
dozers from wayback A few pics of the dozers I learnt to operate on, Allis Chalmers HD 14 Cat D8-8r and TD 9-90 series.
That is one huge blade attachment on that AC machine. I operated a D8 2U series for 2 summers. A slightly newer machine than the 8R, with a Johnson bar. I've attached a picture of a restored one. Used to start the pup with a hand crank that stuck up through the hood. Nice pictures. Phil
Great seeing some Waikato history,keep them coming.Who was the contractor, Doug Hood?
Dont think Doug Hood was in the NI back then, the TS 24s were Taylor & Culley think the TD24s were probably Waikato Earthmovers or Mistry of Works [MOW] there was also Dryden Construction, Allen Mills from Rotorua, Seton contracting from Tirau as well as a few others that I cant recall at the moment they were all into the Hydro jobs back in those days. Feast & Mcjorrow were another one but think they were down Wellington way more.
That Allis Chambers machine has a real "Art Deco" look to it. One heck of a great design. They would put that design in the Museum of Modern Art. It's got that real 1930s "moderne" look to it. Awesome, m8. Bet it was fun to operate big powerful iron like that too.
RDG, Is that on the Matahina Dam ? I've operated that exact TS24 (Taylor & Culley were my former employer)
fond memories of my childhood and im only 33 lol... the last machine we sold was a D8K, boy i loved that machine. i still remember snigging lods in our little D3 when i was 12. if i had some land i would certainly be rebuiling some old gear. hope the young keep up the dream. brad
The blade on the HD14 is a Baker hydraulic blade they also made them for the HD 7 & 10. Wabcoman those pics were taken at Maretai 1 or 2 on the waikato river, I was the fair haired kid in the pics and was probably taken in about 1959/60, my dad was into earthmoving and we used to go on sunday drives to look at all the big machines on the dam jobs of which there was plenty happening back then, must of rubbed off on me cause Im still playing in the dirt at nearly 60yrs.
Couple of more oldies.
Hi RDG, Great photos ,Thank you for posting them .Ian .
The photo of the old overloader jogged my memory from when I was a kid, our local council had one working down the road from our place, loading trucks with fill from the side of the road. I was in to all things mechanical and was quite intrigued by the way the bucket went right over the top and tipped out the back into the truck. It realy was quite an efficient operation, just driving backwards and forwards, but imagine operating it, if you were loading dry dusty material on a windy day. Interesting pics, RDG, a lot of history there. RnR.
Awesome pic of the high putput d8. Love seeing them, I have the cat factory blue prints for building a McCoy d8 with the dw21 engine.
My 1955 D7-3T. Still work it occasionally. Have a root rake which will be replacing the blade in the future....
That "Baker" blade on the old HD14 Allis only had one way hydraulics, they lifted but had no down force, that's why they were so heavy. The pony crank on the older RD8 up to 2U and D7-7M up, could have the crank in any of 3 positions-vertical thru the bonnet-out the side over the track or out the front when there was no front attachments. There was never any HI-OUTPUT D8's in NZ as far as I can remember. The little red" TD6 Overloader" was built by "Hamilton Engineering" in Christchurch. He who invented the "Hamilton Jet for boats. N.Z. railways had a lot of them used in ballast pits and trackside clearing. Seton Contracting from Tirau had his first two TS24 scrapers on the Mere Mere to Kopuku causeway in 1957,McRobbie Bros from Pokeno and M.O.W. did from Mere Mere out to Island Block,Seton did Island Block East and west, and Stevenson did Kopuku to Island Block. Waikato Earthmovers was "Baldy" Margen, formerly Dryden and Margen. That looks like a very early TD25, turbo Cummins, and an older TD24 in the 3rd pic. Just going by the shape of the fuel tanks and the planetary steering sticks by the operators boot and also the planetary hubs.
The one with planetary hubs and in colour with the scoop on it is a TD 20 B with a DT 429 engine, the one behind it is a TD 25 B power shift, both belonged to G A Renner from Tauranga. When I started with Renners I was on the 20 B which by that time had a Hyd semi U blade on it and still had the PCU on the back, A F Porter had the 20 later in its life . The 25 was later sold to Taylor & Culley and eventually ended up at Huntly Quarries with blade and rippers on it, Renners bought it back and it ended up back as a scoop machine.
thanks for the update RD, I never had anything to do with the TD20's so didn't recognise it. Those little "overloaders" by Hamilton could be hand cranked, as the hydraulic pump was front mounted, you put the transmission in neutral, engaged the master clutch then unscrewed a cap on the rear end and stuck the crankhandle in and wound back asward. regards ray
Passed by this today.
More pictures
More yet
New grousers welded on
Looks like she could still do some work, wonder how long she's been sitting?
I don't really know, 10-20 years maybe, the seat is in good shape and there is not the expected carpet of pine needles on the deck, there is a grease gun and a can of brake cleaner laying there like somebody had high hopes, but the pony is kind of opened up so who knows what it would take.
I was trying to determine the year of the D8. I believe that serial number you posted is not for the actual machine. My serial number book does not have any number like that. I'm thinking it may be the rear mount Cable Control Unit number as they also had a serial number located usually on the left upper side. The sheet metal looks like it might be that. The machine serial number would be on the back on the left side of the transmission case about half way down. If the plate is scraped off you can normally see the rivets and a little paint removal will normally reveal the serial number as it is also stamped into the case. The Cable Control Unit may cover it on some model. The serial number is also on the left side of the engine block near the operators end.
Sorry, yes that is the plate for the CCU. I did not attempt to dig for the actual machine SN, I will try to remember when I go back there to look for that.
The plate is missing, the stamped number says 15A870. That doesn't seem like enough digits but I looked carefully and don't see any more.
It is probably around a 1955 model 870 is 870th built . Someone with a serial number book should give you a better answer , not my uneducated guess .
If anybody wants it I am sure the owner would like to have it gone. It is a long way down a narrow road, you *might* get a lowboy up to it but some of the uphills between it and civilization are pretty steep, might need a pusher. It could probably be dragged out but it would take a big machine to drag it up those hills.
I have friends out there I will contact. They can get it out if its worthwhile.
1955 is the correct year. 1955 serial numbers started at 1 and ended at 1152, 78" gauge, Peoria plant.
A couple guys who I've been friends with for many years have me doing ongoing work on their places, very rural area. Their uncle is recently retired and has his ranch up for sale. It's the best laid out place I've ever seen, and his equipment is older but extremely well kept. Amongst all of it is this old girl - 1947 Cat D7-3T, he thought 100 hp, cable blade, bought new by the Northern Pacific railroad in '47 to do train derailment cleanups. Spent the first part of it's life doing that, maintained by a buddy of his who worked in the Livingston MT shops for NP and later Burlington Northern. At some point they fabricated a cab to keep the winter at least a little warded off. The undercarriage and tracks, possibly a few other things, were replaced in 1985 when he bought it. Minimal hours from '85 to now, a little roadwork and developing a small pit on the ranch. Come fall it was always winterized, and parked up on timbers, blade and tractor. Pony and main motors run strong. Cable looks to me like it could use replacing, but I've not been around cable machines so I don't really know if a fray or two is time to panic. Phone pics don't really do this dozer justice; it's got a couple very minor leaks, obviously the paint is weather-worn, but it's darn near a museum piece with a complete history. I wasn't aware of the hour meter location when I was out there last summer, but have at least a week or two again this year so I'm going to look. I'm hoping to catch up with the guy and see if he'll show me the ropes and let me do a little topsoil removal for a 1/4 mile of road that needs put in. I have a little time on an old D8 in the past, so I figure I should be at least able to point this thing straight and curl some soil. One thing that lends credence to the story - there are several old railroad tank cars with the ends cut out acting as large culverts on his property, which leads me to believe he siphoned off a wreck or two through his buddy at the shop. There are also some odds and ends for old signals and some other RR-looking stuff around the place, probably from the BN scrap pile. He's wanting to sell it, too big for my little operation, but I hope someone snags it who'll give it a good home. Just seems like a great piece of old iron, and I think a guy would be hard pressed to ever find one this age in this kind of shape.
Well I talked to Glen about it shortly after I previously posted, he was interested, the owner was not interested in selling though. Now the property has been sold to new owners who may not appreciate this classic antique so I have been informed that it might be available for real this time. But Glen has since passed away so I am putting it out here again, this is for the 15A870 in case it is not clear. Buried in snow now but it will melt soon.
Let me first apologize for the "weird" looking brush. I do art photography as a hobby and I only had my infrared camera the day I ran on to this ex military D7 and Golden Jublilee Ford out in the brush at a friend of ours place. The Cat belongs to a local fire district and has for a number of years. It's intended use was for fighting fires. According to the guy that was telling me about it, the machine has never been used for its intended use. He goes up and starts it when he thinks about it and moves it around a little to make sure it stays free but mostly it just holds that piece of real estate down. He told me where it was at and asked me to start it as long as I was going up there. Fired right up didn't miss a lick. It has a purpose but seems under employed... THe Golden Jubilee belonged to his Dad and is his now.
We are headed out that way in the spring. I know some other folks that might be interested. I am also but its a long haul for me. I'll get in touch with you when the snow goes down.
OK, I will let them know someone is interested.
This is way back
While this is really a loader...
The orchard fenders give a certain coolness factor!