after reading through my latest ACMOC magazine I really enjoy the right up that Jan did about the twin D8's.  but I hear to add more questions than answers.  M-K help build the Garrison dam in North Dakota from 1947-1953.  well, featured in the film "A big job" they show and talk a little about a twin Allis Chalmers crawler .  showing at 2:40 4:50 9:40 12:12 13:15 . which would put it ahead of or in the same time frame as the first prototype Caterpillar machine .  so witch machine came first ? or was Buster working with them on this one as well?


 

Hi. mog5858.
In Eric Orlemann's book, "Caterpillar Chronicle", he mentions that Buster built a Siamese pair of Allis Chalmers tractors before he built the first twin D8s and I have seen video and photos that seem to indicate that there were two of these jiggers at Garrison Dam based on two different appearing front blade lift frames. One had rounded top corners above the raditors while the other had square top corners.

I also remember reading 'somewhere' - just where, I can't remember - that Buster had nothing to do with the Garrison Dam rigs.

And I suspect that all those who would know are no longer here to tell us, one way or the other.

Here izza link to a conglomeration of videos on Youtube complied from old movie films of the clearing and construction of hungry Horse dam in Montana - 1948 - 1954. there is about 4 seconds of the twin D8s at about 15.13 in the video.



And another on Veoh with the same 4 seconds at about 1.52.:

www.veoh.com/watch/v29408183beMJc4Gr

And a couple of attachments;



And a Youtube video of an old-timer telling of his days on the South Fork of the Flathead river before and during the dam construction. I only found this video after I had originally posted this reply and so I came back and added it.



Just my 0.02.

thanks Deas that's some good info you added. and got me to thing a little more thanks

Hi, mog5858.
Yer most welkum, Sir, That is what this club and this 4um are supposed to be about.

To add to the above, it begins to appear as if Siamesed units were popping up like weeds in MANY places across the U.S. in just a couple of years. There appears to have been as many as FIVE Siamesed D8 sets built for various destinations within about a 2 year period with one more going to the King Ranch in Texas a year or two later and THREE sets of Siamesed Allis Chalmers HD19s working on the Garrison dam around that same period.

Just my 0.02.