Mark Waters, Gloucester, Mid North Coast of NSW: with father, owns 1960s-era D60A-3 bought used from original owner 20 years ago.
My father, Albert and I have had this machine for 20 years, since we bought it from Teddy Crawley, a Gloucester logging contractor who was retiring, and who'd bought it new.It's a great old machine; it's so easy to keep going, and we can still buy parts for it, either from Komatsu or Cummins. It has an NH220 Cummins engine rated at 120 hp, and there's nothing we can't get for the engine, right here in Newcastle.
We have a small family business cutting rural fence posts and sawn timber around Gloucester.
The dozer goes like a charmer; the old man's been logging for 60-odd years, he loves it and you can't get him off it!
She will still walk out of the bush pulling 10 cu m of logs, with ease. The Komatsu winch on it is unstoppable.
She still operates three to four days a week, and runs on the smell of an oily rag.
When we bought her, she had 30,000 hours on the clock, but now the hour meter has gone. She would have to be well into 40,000 hours now.
The only thing we've ever done is put a water pump on the engine, plus we had a steering clutch come loose, and we have had to make a few track adjustments, but that's all in 20 years-not bad going.
She's such a great old machine, we will never get rid of her.