More Machine Memories from Dirk Bömer

We have had a phenomenal response to the recent posts featuring photos from the archives of our German friend Dirk Bömer, which to me just proves the interest in old machines that is still very apparent judging by our readers and followers’ messages.

This batch from Dirk, feature scans of original paper photos which were take by Dirk’s father back in the 1980’s during visits to sites and quarries, when according to Dirk, he was just 10 years old and like many of us, was already bitten by the heavy machinery enthusiast bug!

There is very little information on this batch of photos, but we can simply enjoy them for what they are, and the machines featured in them.

Talking about the shots and the machines of the period Dirk said, “I’m delighted to hear that people are enjoying the photos, back in those times the machines seemed to have so much more "character" than they do today.

They were all so unique that you could easily name the brand or type from far away, even if they were painted in the colours of the contractor. These days I find I have to look twice to find small differences in the form of the cab or a bend in the canopy or bodywork to distinguish them”.

One of my favourites from this batch is the photo above which features and O&K RH9 LC Series F excavator loading material from a river bed which is being pushed up by what I suspect is a Massey Ferguson (Hanomag) MF600C dozer, it’s a very Germanic scene not only with the machines, but with the green hillside and properties in the background, just a cracking old photo.

In this photo we see another famous German brand in the form of a Demag H31 excavator, seen here lifting a large steel frame section out of the back of a truck. The Health and Safety guys would have a field day these days with the way the strop is just draped across the bucket teeth, but hey, we’ve all done it, I’m sure!

In this shot we see two O&K RH6 LC models, one in the original red and white colour scheme and one featuring the yellow livery of the German contractor.

And finally in this batch, in this quarry scene we see a Demag excavator in the foreground, possibly an H51 on breaker duties, looking rather dwarfed by a rope-controlled face shovel loading a Caterpillar 777 dumptruck.

We thank Dirk for sharing these images with us here on the Digger Man Blog.