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.
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... 👍👍👍
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!
@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.
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😁
Now that's a smooth ride! And it seems to glide a long with ease and appears to be really comfortable to drive and handle the controls? But most of all, it looks like it would get around quickly? And it would be fun to operate. A guy would really enjoy driving the cat 944 loader
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!
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 👍🚜
I thought technically speaking, a traxcavator was a tracked loader, not with wheels. Great to see this though. I love these old plant machinery promo videos. Our local landfill site had two much newer 944 traxcavators with tracks and a 3 in one bucket.
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!
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 "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?
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 😪
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
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
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!
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.
Never knew wheel loaders were called traxcavators. I thought only Cat machines with tracks, bulldozer/tracked front end loaders, were deemed traxcavators?
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
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...
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...😠
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
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.
![NLE Choppa - Or What ft. 41 (Orchestra Mix) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/biOFASEgSOM/mqdefault.jpg)
Love it. Even the heavy equipment promos had that happy 50's soundtrack. Gee, what a swell time that must have been🙂
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
Crazy seeing those old machines, when they were brand new!!!
My dad bought a 922 in 1965 and we still use it everyday in our yard!
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... 👍👍👍
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 :)
we had a 944 in the pit when I was a kid, loaded lots of trucks with that ol battle horse......
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
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,
Now that's a smooth ride! And it seems to glide a long with ease and appears to be really comfortable to drive and handle the controls? But most of all, it looks like it would get around quickly? And it would be fun to operate. A guy would really enjoy driving the cat 944 loader
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!
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!!
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 👍🚜
awesome machine!
I thought technically speaking, a traxcavator was a tracked loader, not with wheels. Great to see this though. I love these old plant machinery promo videos. Our local landfill site had two much newer 944 traxcavators with tracks and a 3 in one bucket.
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..😐
No cab no worries!! Better getcha a straw hat!
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
This would be a nice machine to have. Little bit simpler cause rear steer and no articulation. Very tough
That dudes back is gonna be as crooked as a politician after a couple of weeks on that.
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 😪
Very good machine,i have one and runs very good.
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
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
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
I want one!
I still want one
I guess I was expecting something called a Traxcavator to have tracks
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
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.
To think my grandpa used to make parts for these
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.
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
Wow, Hank Hill drives a tractor-vator.
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...😠
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
I wonder if Geoff Wilson bought one of these as well as the D9!
Tires must have been cheap back then
A rear steer Michigan with the 6v53t Detroit did the same work and had a cab
966 isn't changed no.
Do you happen to have a video like this for the 955?
Omg no seat belts.
Não gostei...sem cabine... você esta exposto...a tudo...ok.!!
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.