Caterpillar Carvings

Hello everyone,
Ive been meaning to do this for a few years now and finally got around to it. My great uncle, Harry Engstrom was a very interesting man who led an incredible life. Upon graduating from high school he went into the air corps serving as a tail gunner on B25 Bombers in WWII. After Serving he attended the University of Wyoming where he played quterback on the football team for two years, He then transferd to Mankato State university here in Minnesota where he was an all conference guard. He graduated from Mankato State University with a teaching degree and got a job in Winthrop Minnesota. In Winthrop he was the industrial arts teacher, head football coach, and assistant basketball coach. After leaving Winthrop he went into the excavating business with his dad (my great grandfather). When they went out of business he went to work for American Hoist in St.Paul. He eventually left American Hoist to start his own exavating business, which he ran until his death in 2002. The reason im posting this is because In my uncles free time he combined his industrial arts talents and his love for antique equipment to make beautiful wood carvings. In all he made over a dozen. Crawlers, attachments, anything that struck his eye. He didnt work off of plans, all he needed was a picture. He would start with the engine and construct everything else to scale around that. He gave away many of his carvings to people that had a love for antique equipment just as he did. He said that he would never make them for money, just for people to enjoy them. Here are some pictures of a few that are still in the family. As you can see the detail is incredible, everytime I look at them I notice something new. Harry's goal was for someone to look at one of his carvings and be able to tell exactly what model it was. Here are pictures of the 60 that he created, notice the tools made to fit underneath the seat.
Thanks for looking, Jeff Engstrom
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Hey D6Guy,

Wow, assume work. You should be very proud of your great uncle.-glen

Here is the D7 he made

Not sure of the model on this one but im sure some of you guys can help.

Here are some attachments that he made.
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really cool, more patience and talent than I have

Biggastractor

nice , the crawler with the frontwheel looks like a holt 75

Jeff, thanks for sharing your uncle's work. He was a very creative man. I wish I had the patience to do what he had. I hope you have the good fortune of owning a few of his masterpieces. It sounds as if his love of machinery has carried on in your interests.

Hey guys, thanks for the nice comments. Its nice to know people appreciate them as I do. I did inherit his passion for old equipment, however I did not inherit his patience, maybe that will come with age. These cats are in a display case and the bottom shelve is full of parts that had to be re-done, either to big, too small, or just didn't look right to him. The tracks must have been the hardest part as there a lot of leftover track parts.

These are excellent. I looked close expecting to see a little oil seep or a bit of dirt from a gas residue. I believe the tolerances on these are better than the actual machines were when they were new. You are blessed to have them and to have known such a craftsman.

Those are incredibly cool!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing.