by Nick Drew | Mon 05 Aug 2019
Classic Cats Discovered by Our Cornishman in Canada
Keen eyed readers may recall that Jack had previously served his apprenticeship with Volvo Construction Equipment in the UK and also had a spell working for Caterpillar dealers Finning based at Nanpean in Cornwall. He was also heavily involved in the Prynn family business, Padstow Sea Sand, which unsurprisingly is based at Padstow Harbour.
As still a relatively young man Jack had long had a desire to go and work overseas and what better place to go than Canada. With a job secured with Great Western Equipment a Volvo Construction Equipment Dealer, Jack headed off to his new base in Fort Saint John, in British Columbia. Jack reports that he has come across many examples of classic machines which he says seem to be lying around all over the place in the giant land of lumberjacks, maple syrup and moose. One of his favourite discoveries so far is the classic Caterpillar D9H pictured above with Jack stood next to it.
This D9H seen above parked next to a Cat D6C was apparently number 93 off the production line, It has spent most of its working life in a goldmine in Keno City in the Yukon, the family have owned it since day one and report that it is still more than capable of putting in a 12 hour shift when needed, such is the durability of the classic Cat product.
In the grainy photo above, taken from Jack’s work truck, we see that familiar belch of black smoke as the big Cat powers up, something that has almost become a trade mark display for Cat equipment from that era! Jack reports that Great Western Equipment work on a wide variety of machines not just Volvo so he's going to be seeing a lot of different kit out there! I for one look forward to hearing more from Jack and to share his experiences and photos here on the Digger Man Blog over the coming months.