[AT] Tractor visualisation

[toma]

When we first bought the ranch in Mariposa County 6 years ago my wife had 
a few bucks earmarked to buy a tractor. We had some springs to develop and 
I was looking at them an thought a loader tractor could get in there and 
move those boulders. We have a D2 loader at the ranch on the coast and I 
thought of bringing it up there. We had no way to move it and she wanted 
to buy one.

I just started thinking hmmm they made a D4 loader, that D2 is kind of 
light for all these rocks. I found some pictures of the HT4 loader and 
realized I had never seen one. The next week one came up for sale in the 
paper less than 10 miles away. We bought it and it has been a good tractor 
for us and is a true antique too (1950).

Then I realized that those hills are full of old Cats. I had always wanted 
a Cat tool bar dozer so I visualized one of those and it came along, I had 
to take an old D4 with it.

I didn't even visualize the small 20, we saw an ad for a Cat 20 dozer and 
my wife wanted to look at it, I figured it was an L 20 and wasn't too 
interesed they are kind of a big clunky old thing. When I saw it my eyes 
popped out of my head. It was and 8C 20, rare as hens teeth only about 500 
made. The guy knew it was rare but it wasn't running and he was getting a 
divorce and had to sell it so we were able to get it for a good price.

Then she saw and ad for a D8 and I begged her not to call, we were tractor 
poor by then. Well recently 5 years later it finally followed me home.

We met a guy who was born and raised there and knows where all the old 
Cats are. He drags them out and puts them on Ebay and if they don't sell 
he takes them to the scrap yard. He scrapped a D8 about the time I bought 
mine. He probably got twice as much as I paid, Kind of sad.

Tom