Old Cat’s Set to Meet their Maker

Regular readers of this blog may recall our Finnish friend Mikko Suutela’s discovery of an old Italian SIMIT excavator that we featured on the blog earlier this year, well now he has discovered some old Cat dozers not far from where he lives.

Much like myself, Mikko has a passion for searching out old machines which have been left to the ravages of nature, often abandoned by their once proud owners for whatever reason. Mikko had also previously shared photos of some old Finnish built Lokomo motor graders that were at rest, in a forestry location.

This latest batch of images feature old Caterpillar D7E and D8H dozers that are lying in the Helsingin Metallipurkaus Oy scrap recycling facility in Nummela.

According to Mikko the place is a treasure trove of old machines with a variety of wheeled and tracked loaders, excavators and at least 10 old dozers all at rest awaiting the final meeting with the gas axe or shears, however, as I understand it these old classics could be available for anyone who is keen to restore them to their former glory, assuming they have deep pockets! Unfortunately many of the other dozers are being engulfed in bushes and small trees having been at rest there for some considerable time, these are real headgerow heros! 

The Caterpillar D7E which considering its age doesn’t look in too bad condition was a an early 1960’s replacement for the old D7D model, and was powered by a 160hp Cat diesel engine. This model remained in the Cat dozer line-up until it was replaced by the D7F model in 1969.

The D8H of course is the stuff of legends, and probably one of the most iconic track type tractors in the Caterpillar range, one that has left a long-lasting legacy in the world of earthmoving.

This is definitely a place I would like to visit on one of my future visits to Finland, if I can find the time while I am up there.

Thanks go to Mikko for hunting these old machines down and for allowing me to share his images here on the Digger Man Blog.

Checkout this old D7E with cable blade control in action at a Morris Leslie event in the UK last year, courtesy of the ACMOC You Tube Channel.