Hervé on the CAT 963

While checking out a video on the Cat 963 over the weekend, I quickly realised that it featured our French friend Hervé "Exca" Prenat, who is the President of the hugely successful online organisation Technique TP.

Hervé has had a long and illustrious career in the construction & public works machinery industry and for a period of time was a demonstrator for JCB in France. He is a highly skilled operator who appears to be able to operate any machine to a very high standard. He is also somewhat fearless, as I have seen him at numerous trade press events operating machines at hight speed and negotiating some steep slopes.

The Technique TP group worked to assist a moto cross bike racing team to shape and maintain a track on some land they had bought, and with their substantial influence, they were able reach out to dealers to provide some machines to undertake the work with.

Among those machines was a Caterpillar 963 which as you will see in the video below proved to be a perfect machine for the job.

Powered by a Cat C7.1 EU Stage V emissions compliant diesel engine which offers a power output rating of 151kW (202hp) the Cat 963 equipped with a standard 2.5m³ bucket is a very capable and powerful piece of kit, especially in the hands of an experienced operator.

We don’t see so many tracked loading shovels about these days, but back in the 60’s, 70’s and early 1980’s they were a ‘go to’ machine for medium sized earthmoving projects. I recall watching the old-style models with front mounted engines back when I was a youngster and I was often mesmerized by them.

There is something hypnotic about these machines as they go about their business, and these new models are a different breed altogether.  

Anyway, enjoy the testimonial video from Caterpillar below, commentary is AI dubbed as Hervé is a French speaker.