Pictured here in 1939 is an RD8 Caterpillar at work logging north of Campbell River, British Columbia.
As early as 1918, Bendickson Logging was active in the area. A century later, the descendants are still logging, having expanded into construction and transportation in the region. Diversification came hand-in-hand with the slowdown of logging due to plant closures in the region.
The Caterpillar RD8 machine, successor to the Diesel 75, went into production in the mid-1930s and was powered by a D13000 diesel engine rated in the 115 hp range.
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With improvements over the next few years, including increased horsepower, the RD8 designation had evolved into the Cat D8 1H series bulldozer.
Over 10,000 of the 1H Series machines were produced.
The RD8 shown here was equipped with Hyster towing winch, while handling logs with a Hyster crawler mounted logging arch. The Hyster Company, based in Portland, Oregon had begun manufacturing towing winches in 1929 for the Caterpillar 60 model.
That carried on for subsequent Cat machines up to the 1970s when they began manufacturing winches for other brands as well as branching out into other logging equipment, forklifts, compactors and rollers.
To see more than 60 restored pieces of vintage construction equipment in action, be sure to attend Historical Construction Equipment Association (HCEA) Canada’s events, including the Last Blast, at the Simcoe County Museum near Barrie, Ontario.
HCEA Canada is a Proud Community Heritage Partner of the Simcoe County Museum.