That's a pretty cool and cheap way to load an old Cat. That looks like an old oilfield rig? I usually try and source a big loader or a tractor-mounted crane for dead Cats. Here's a long-dead RD-4 that I picked up for parts this week .. the big Kobelco loader didn't have any problem lifting the RD-4 carcass onto the truck .. 😎
The farmers lent me the Kobelco to load the Cat .. but I never got any pics of loading it, 'cos I was the only one there .. the farmers were busy with sheep-handling, and only turned up after I had it all loaded and chained down.
RD-4 wreck .. http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3671/woodyrd41.jpg
RD-4 and Kobelco .. http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/84/woodyrd42.jpg
RD-4 on truck .. http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3097/woodyrd43.jpg
You have a nice truck to haul your Cats around it. It looks like a Barnum and Bailey Circus wagon driving into town with it's wild Cat caged up. 😄 Nice find.
SSsssteamer - LOL! .. yeah, nice little truck .. but it ain't mine .. 😞 .. For AU$85 a day, plus AU$0.27c a km, I could have it as long as I wanted .. 😄 😉
It was almost new, it had 7600 km (4700 miles) on the clock .. and it ran like a scalded cat. Turbo diesel, 4 litre, auto, bullbar, gates, driving lights, and disc brakes all round, it could do 130 kmh (80 mph) easy .. but don't tell any lawmen that .. 😮 .. I even passed a Big Hino, up a hill, at 110kmh (68 mph).
He was empty, and I was loaded .. and I think he got a surprise .. 😄
It was a shame I had to take it back the next day .. I could have enjoyed a few more days, with that nice cold A/C, good stereo, and the "D for Drag" transmission .. 😄
The RD-4 nearly went to China .. but thanks to an ole fella, he stopped the fools, and advertised it instead .. so I grabbed it.
It will be parted out this week, and I have several people waiting on parts from it.
The head, pony and fuel injection equipment is gone .. but all the rest of the drivetrain is still there, and there's a lot of useful parts there for other Aussie Cat restorers.
The little undercarriage that is left, is the most worn out undercarriage I have ever seen .. I reckon I could shave with the rails, and every second pin is welded in. Those guys sure got their $$$'s worth out of her .. 😄
Rental Hino .. http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4085/woodyrd44.jpg
Nice Rigging Truck!
At times I wish I still had my old one!
What is that screen at the base of the windshield for?
Bug screen? LOL!
GWH - That's a stone screen. We use crushed 3/8"-1/2" bluestone rolled on top of a thick coat of bitumen (asphalt) for 90% of our roads, to keep costs down .. rather than a fully-coated Hot Mix. This results in the bluestone initially being held in position, less firmly, than in a full-coat, Hot Mix surface.
As a result, there's usually a moderate amount of loose stone, particularly after road surfacing .. and flying stones from vehicles travelling in the opposite direction, are always a cracked or broken windshield hazard.
We have hardly any divided roads in Australia, so passing is close .. and often people travel too close to the sealed road edges. In addition, there are still sizeable amounts of Aussie sealed roads that are only "1 and half lanes" of seal .. meaning that passing involves pulling one set of wheels off the sealed section, and onto the ironstone gravel shoulder.
In all these cases, flying stones are a windshield hazard, and these aluminum stone guards have been proven effective in reducing windshield cracking, chipping (in the case of laminated glass), and broken glass, in the case of safety glass.
Fortunately, safety glass is rarely used nowadays in windshields, as laminated is far superior, longer lasting, and allows you to keep driving comfortably even after a large stone strike.
Add many road trains to the above (double trailer and triple trailer road trains are common in Australia), and you have an increased chance of stones being flung up. I was passing an average of probably 20-30 road trains an hour, on my return trip of 500 kms (300 miles) from the city to the wheatbelt.
Australian road surface .. http://karencheng.com.au/images/camp07_02.jpg
They do a similar thing with the secondary/town roads here, but the stone aggregate is fine, I forget the sieve size, but have worked with these companies installing that type of asphalt paving, used to run the stone truck, spreading the stone onto the bituminous material, takes awhile before the loose material has settled out, never saw it done with larger aggregate, especially any higher speed road types, those screens would certainly be a necessity.
http://www.peckham.com/liquid-asphalt.cfm
http://www.gormanroads.com/
The Gorman Group video, showing the "chip seal" sealing method .. is precisely the same method, as used on the sealing of most country Australian roads .. where distances are vast, traffic levels are relatively low .. and roadbuilding costs need to be kept down.
In the Australian cities, thick layers of the Hot Mix emulsions (typically 1½"-2" thick) are used, because of the heavier volumes of traffic, and the higher funding levels available for these roads.