6335 Hazelgreen Rd. N.E., Salem, Oregon 97305.
I have been reading GEM for many years. I have read a lot of
articles and have seen many collections of assorted tractors and
motors, but I have never seen a picture of a Caterpillar
collection.
I have enclosed a picture of some of my Caterpillar collection.
These are the ones I have restored so far (from left to right):
1929 Cat 10, wide gage; 1930 Cat 15, narrow gage; 1930 Cat 15, wide
gage; 1932 Cat 22, narrow gage; 1934 Cat 22, wide gage; 1939 R-2,
wide gage; and a 1929 Cat 30, narrow gage.
I have a total of twenty old Cats and am buying more as they
come along. This year’s project is a 1934 Cat 28, wide gage
with factory electric start (very rare). It takes me about a year
to restore a machine. I am an excavating contractor in Oregon and
have time to work on my Cats during the winter months.
I enjoy buying and collecting old Cats partly because of the
people who have previously owned them. I have bought Cats from
‘old timers’ who purchased them new. When you listen to
these people and their stories, you learn the Cats’ complete
history. These old machines will be around for a long time, but the
saddening part is that the people who bought them new will be gone
with all their stories of farming, logging, and construction. That
is one of the reasons why I’m going to try to preserve as many
as I can in my lifetime and hopefully someone will follow in my
footsteps and keep all the stories straight for the next
generation.