1950s CATERPILLAR CAT 944 TRAXCAVATOR FRONT END WHEEL LOADER CONSTRUCTION PROMO 52444
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2019
- The No. 944 is a short Caterpillar promotional film from the late 1950s or early 1960s that highlights the features and abilities of the new Cat 944 Traxcavator (later renamed the wheel loader). The 944 is manufactured in Aurora, IL, and is powered by a four-cylinder Cat D330 Diesel Engine or a Cat six-cylinder gasoline engine. The film opens with a man climbing onto a 944 Traxcavator. A 944 is operated in a field (00:50). A man climbs onto a 944 and demonstrates the machine’s adjustable seat, controls, and bucket controls. He uses the 944 to shovel dirt and then dumps it. A Traxcavator is driven along a gravel road (02:30). An operator drives a 944 down a paved road. On a rural road, the 944 stops for a school bus (03:55). At a gravel pit work site, the 944 makes quick work of moving gravel into a truck (04:40). The film shows the two engines that 944 customers can choose between (06:17). The Caterpillar transmission is shown as it hangs from a chain at the Aurora production plant (06:58). The film shows the 944’s chassis frame, then the clip ends.
Traxcavator was originally a namebrand of the Trackson Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The word "Traxcavator" came from combining "tractor" and "excavator".Trackson commenced business in Milwaukee in 1922 and built tracked attachments for primarily Fordson tractors, initially - then built tracked attachments for other tractor manufacturers. The early Trackson tracked attachments were popular on tractors used for road grader power units, as well as for tractors used in poor ground conditions.In December 1951 the Caterpillar Company purchased the Trackson Company, and the cable Traxcavators and the HT4, became Caterpillar Traxcavators.
In late 1952, the all-new No.6 Caterpillar Shovel was announced by Caterpillar, and cable Traxcavator production ceased. The Caterpillar HT4 and No.6 Shovel were the only hydraulic Traxcavators available from Caterpillar until the all-new 933, 955 and 977 made their appearance in early 1955. The name "Traxcavator" was a registered Caterpillar brand name for many years, but has developed into common usage to describe any tracked shovel/loader.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com
Been using our 944 since we were the second owner after a mining company about 1970. Still use it nearly every day. Wish they made things to last that long today. It does have a cab and heat. Looks pretty much like it did then. Out of frame overhaul in early 90s. Few broken rear axles, never had good brakes, other than that just keeps running. Tires, by the way have been on it 50+ years also capped by a Hudson Odom Mining, They have lost several inches of rubber and sidewall getting weak but still going. I will see if I can attach some pics.
If you want to attach pics, set up an imgur link or somn
My dad bought a 922 in 1965 and we still use it everyday in our yard!
Crazy seeing those old machines, when they were brand new!!!
Love it. Even the heavy equipment promos had that happy 50's soundtrack. Gee, what a swell time that must have been🙂
we had a 944 in the pit when I was a kid, loaded lots of trucks with that ol battle horse......
Can't imagine running this without a cab!! I run the 944, 966, 988, and the 992 cats in various coal mining operations in eastern Kentucky and the western part of Virginia in the 70s and 80s... All great machines... 👍👍👍
Hell of a machine in its day! Wow have they come a long way
We use to have a machine like that a Case we acquired it in the 1978' s and it was an antique then the the steering linkage went out . The boss replaced it with a junkyard part so to turn left you had to turn right. Turn the steering wheel right
@@robertbrawley5048 Well to be honest some things were built a lot better back when.Now plastic is used where metal once was. Yes technology is great but some old stuff....especially us old 50s models😁
That ain't no lie
Back in The Day !- When CATS were CATS and Men Were Men
Funny because I just ran that same one with a cab today at work. 09/04/2019 and wow it’s the exact same and with no issues. We have a 1966 model 944 Traxcavator. Great machine as always
i guess im asking the wrong place but does any of you know a trick to log back into an instagram account??
I stupidly lost my login password. I would love any help you can give me!
@Huxley Connor Instablaster ;)
@Julio Alfred i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and Im trying it out atm.
Takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Julio Alfred it worked and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy:D
Thanks so much you really help me out!
@Huxley Connor Happy to help :)
Driver is real man. No safety cage.
I'm a local 150 operator engineer from Chicago, but love all of those old machines, cool very coo!!
I almost Bought one for 2,500 my X wouldn't let me.
I'll never forget her voice Echo in my mind SAYING ( What will you do with that ) damn Witch
I heard that when I bought my first tractor.... Now I run my own forestry and agriculture business
it's easy to forget how much things have changed in just ... 60 years? .... until you see it. No ROPS, no articulated steering, no electronics at all (just some lights), and not even a seat belt! I'm a bit surprised to see that a gasoline engine was an option. I would have thought diesel would have take over by this time. Pretty cool to see it all through the eyes of that era!
and yet they survived and thrived in most cases. amazing how soft and needy we have become.
At that time the Cat higher speed diesels were kind of a newer unknown thing. I would imagine the gas engine was some sort of Contunental or such.
That boy from the school bus sure seemed interested.
@@farmcentralohio imagine getting upset that life got better
@@farmcentralohio "soft and needy" lmao. Soft and needy is the man who bought a 944 when he could have been using a Ford 8N loader like a real man, right?
@@lowercherty ..boys from the school bus wouldn't be interested today...he just wants to get home to his PC and start gaming..😐
Thanks, Periscope! I had a chance to run a 44 on a sand dredging deal loading trucks and another time with a 66 on a grading job. They took a little getting used to with being used to articulating machines but they did the work just fine! Thanks again!
That dudes back is gonna be as crooked as a politician after a couple of weeks on that.
awesome machine!
No cab no worries!! Better getcha a straw hat!
In mid 1960s i had a Tonka Tracked Loader & loved it. This Caterpillar reminded me of it. Open cab design made for real men not wimps of today. Enjoyed this Periscope Caterpillar Promotional Film 👍🚜
3 easy steps and your up to saftey lol,no rops, no seat belt,fenders to shield you from dust, just raw machine, and tuff operators,
miss the one i worked on as well as the 950 ,955,966 ,980 and 988(and i had the model as well back in the 60's) the 944 was tricky at slopes and many operators flipped it 😪
thanks.
Where is my nearest cat dealer, ill take two!
well bud you will need a time machine and a cat dealer they don't make things like they used to
Freaking school buses always do that, couldn't wait 10 seconds before whipping that stop sign out
This would be a nice machine to have. Little bit simpler cause rear steer and no articulation. Very tough
Several people have got hurt or killed by lifting stuff that was able to come over the bucket or forks and land on the operator
Very good machine,i have one and runs very good.
The sawmill in BC I worked out in the 90s had two of these: one with a cab and the other more like the one in this video but it did have a ROP added. They were for clean up only as they were pretty slow
Nice . My guess is the 1960s I'm pretty sure in 1950 they didn't have loader buckets . Pans pushed by cable operated bulldozer and gasoline steam shovels . You know what I mean right
I guess I was expecting something called a Traxcavator to have tracks
Hopefully it was better than the 920/930 Cats that followed. Gutless wonders could barely fill a bucket of loose material. Easily the worst pieces of equipment we ever ran. Bought em cheap at auction and sold em for more than we paid - had a good laugh at that.
funny how they talk about safety and it doesn't even have a rollcage, let alone anything resembling a cab. Would be terrifying to dig into a rock face without either
Zero concern for operator comfort or safety back then… Cool video thanks for sharing!
they expected the operator to be trained and use common sense back then...
@@dyer2cycle “Common sense“.
A virtue that isn’t that common anymore
To think my grandpa used to make parts for these
It's unlikely these were popular in Canada or Alaska from November to February . . .
Or here either but you had to pay the light bill somehow.
Most machines of this era had an optional cab, my uncle has several old graders and dozers from the 50's. Some have cabs and some dont, depending on how much the original owner wanted to spend.
@@ivanferguson2019 A bunch of guys from here ended up in upstate New York and the dozers there had a canvas cover that only the operator's head stuck through. With a pull fan and something on the bottom of the radiator guard to keep from getting sandblasted it'd be a nice system. I've wrapped an 8-H up on one side and was able to run wearing a 'T' shirt in a snow storm, just to aggravate the boss. He was freezing!
I have one it has a cab and heater
Never knew wheel loaders were called traxcavators. I thought only Cat machines with tracks, bulldozer/tracked front end loaders, were deemed traxcavators?
the old wheel loaders that weren't articulated were called traxcavators for some reason, even though they're obviously not on tracks
Is that Hank Hill driving?
No, they don't have a propane powered model.
I want one!
I still want one
Back in the 1950 there was a machine that was like a forklift dual front tires and a single rear wheel steered with a pivoted over head tiller. Cable operated bucket ( for loading previous excavated material ). It had a dumb dumb name like pushmobile and with that tiller steer rising over the operators back it look like something from the prehistoric age
I wonder if Geoff Wilson bought one of these as well as the D9!
Do you happen to have a video like this for the 955?
Wow, Hank Hill drives a tractor-vator.
Tires must have been cheap back then
Interesting, neither front hinge-pin Articulated nor 4WD but rear-wheel steer like a forklift.
Mechanical transmission rather than hydraulic transmission to final drives or wheel motors.
Constant Mesh rather than Synchro or Automatic.
Not even wearing a hat, I've never spent a day in the sun in a machine that didn't at least have a plastic cover - I just can't see how you could last on a big job with the elements bearing down on you day after day, that seat with no back support...
More back support than our Farmall 🤷♂️
If I had to operate one I'd demand some basic rops and a good air seat. The air seat is such a godsend. I've put one on a Farmall M.
Watch a little closer and you'll see 4WD. You could shift it out and into high range for transport. 2 speed Power shift with a torque converter, not a constant mesh.
That seat actually looked pretty comfortable to me...btw, I never have understood the "comfort" thing about bolstered high back bucket seats and headrests...I can drive 200 miles solid without getting out in my 1990 Chevy pickup with bench seat, very comfortable to me...used to be the same with my '85 Chevy truck, and my '77 Old Cutlass with nice comfortable cloth bench seat...I can't drive, or ride, 50 miles in anything with bucket seats without my back and neck killing me..why do they angle the headrests forward, anyway?...and the bolsters on the sides and the seats prevent you from moving and shifting a bit to get more comfortable...and nowadays, you can't get anything without freaking buckets seats..not even a pickup. Their version of a "bench seat" now is two bucket seats with a little fold-down jump seat between them...😠
I read all these comments, "Where's the cab and ac?" and shitie comments like that. Men these days aren't men anymore. Those days Cat where also Cat not these soft machines we have now but the 944 is a great machine!
966 isn't changed no.
Não gostei...sem cabine... você esta exposto...a tudo...ok.!!
Omg no seat belts.
No annoying roll bar or sun protection for the operator. Skin cancer, not a concern, since most operators will be crushed when the tractor eventually rolls over.