Old friend visits Finning Cat in their backyard

Thu 13 Mar 2014

Old friend visits Finning Cat in their backyard

Natalie has always been a massive follower of ice hockey, and used to come and watch as a supporter in Southampton, when I was a player with the Southampton Vikings back in the late 70’s and 80’s. While many of us have hung up the “axe” (stick)and our skates and moved on into other things, Natalie’s love of the sport is as strong as ever, hence this latest trip to the home of “hockey”, Canada. On her way to get tickets for a local match that evening, Natalie stopped by the local Finning depot to see if she could take some shots for the blog. One can only imagine this request must have seemed totally random, with the team on reception greeted by a lady who had come all the way from the UK to take shots of diggers! However once she mentioned the ice hockey connection everything was cool, if you like hockey in Canada everyone is your friend! The local Finning Cat depot even sponsors a banner at the rink behind the net in this shot.

The team still seemed a bit sceptical but Natalie explained a bit more about the Digger Man Blog concept and Earthmovers Magazine and everyone became a bit clearer about things. Natalie was then introduced to a guy who turned out to be a very nice man, Tony Peters’ who is the Customer Account Manager who said if Natalie didn’t mind putting on all the safety equipment he would be delighted to show her around the yard. Then looking like a contestant on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Natalie ventured out into the yard!

There was not a large amount of kit in this yard but there were a few items of interest, like this Caterpillar 416C centre mount backhoe loader, featuring extending dipper and 4 in 1 front bucket, which was in great condition for its age.

Next up an even older Cat 980C sporting the old iconic Cat logo once again in good condition.

Parked to the right of the 980C was what looked like a forestry harvester machine, which is possibly a 325D FM model? Also of interest in this shot in the distance, is the shell of an old Caterpillar D9L dozer.

Finally in this post, a look inside the workshop where it looks like a couple of machines, including an E series excavator and a 262D skid steer loader, are being pre delivery inspected before despatch to their new owners.

We thank Natalie Murphy for taking the trouble to go digger spotting on her holiday, and additionally we thank the team at Finning Cat in Cranbrook for accepting what must have seemed like a very bizarre request!

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