Cat D10 Turned 40 Last Month.

The first D10's in the UK arrived in February 1977, 84W410 and 84W428, but I can't for the life of me remember which one was registered first !!

I remember the first one I saw ripping farm land, looked like a house moving across the field, never seen such a big machine.

I remember when I saw the first D10.It was broke down by the road.A Cat mechanic that I knew was working on it so I stopped to look at it.It had no cab or ROP and no decals.I had to ask him what it was.My first impression was...this thing is sure ugly.

I remember the coal mines in North Dakota getting them when they first came out. They used them to rip coal instead of blasting as was the traditional way. Them 10 ft. long single shank ripper started a whole new era of open strip coal mining. For a number of months the mine still received calls from the locals on traditional blasting days, claiming the blast broke a window. It was pretty funny that after many years folks had to pay for there own broken windows.

I remember the coal mines in North Dakota getting them when they first came out. They used them to rip coal instead of blasting as was the traditional way. Them 10 ft. long single shank ripper started a whole new era of open strip coal mining. For a number of months the mine still received calls from the locals on traditional blasting days, claiming the blast broke a window. It was pretty funny that after many years folks had to pay for there own broken windows.

I was on a service call to Green River Utah while I-70 was under construction. Saw a big shiny thing glinting in the sun & wondered why they would put up a steel building that close to the road...got closer & it was the blade on a D10...

I was in Peoria on a Cat tour in the D-8, D-9 and D-10 factory building when the first D-10's had come back from the proving grounds by rail. They were parked outside and very beat up looking. The tour guide said they in process of making some modifications to the D-10's before they were released for sale. During the tour, it was stated the D-10 was the first large Cat built by using components. The most notable was the operators platform/cab/controls was being swung in by overhead cranes in one piece. My wife and I were given royal treatment and had one guide for the two of us.

Same month i turned 50, so i am "10" years older than it!! Must be somethin in that! and to think i was 10 in 1977 when it was released! Certainly my most fav Cat ever and i feel blessed my career as a mechanic with the Cat dealer saw me work on plenty of them in that time. Here is a nice rebuild i was in charge of doing for New Zealand based contractor DML when they ventured over to Australia

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Hi, Gavin84W.
I only ever got to operate one 84W for one day but that was enough to leave a lasting impression. It has stuck in my memory ever since as one helluva machine.

Just my 0.02.