JOHN  DEERE  CAT

John Deere Cat
on Copper Mountain ca 1970
Now was this a job with a view or what?
I believe in the background of this picture
You can see the back side
of the Seven Sisters Mountain Range
If you drive between Terrace and Kitwanga
there is a pullout to view the front
or highway side of this range.
The view above isn't normally seen by the public.
 

From the late 60’s to the late 90’s,  we had a couple John Deere Cats we used.  In the summer they were used for ditching and brush clearing all of our access roads.  In the winter, the tracks were changed to wide snow tracks, and it was used to plough snow on Copper mountain, to keep this main road open at all times.  Copper Mountain was never used as a manned site, unless an emergency, so a trip up the hill was required each day.  The cat cleared all the drifts, and made a snow road for the snow-cats.  Herman Wiebe operated this Cat in late 60’s, early 70’s. My first winter job in fall of 1969 was operating the cat on the hill.  It was a lot of fun, and could be scary as well.  I remember one day ploughing along and making a road wide enough for 2 Snow-cats, when behind I heard a rumble and looked and 2 feet behind the cat, half the road gave way and disappeared down the hill.  I put it in high gear and headed for the bank!  After that the road was not quite as wide for Phil Lepage and the Sprynt to ride on. Woody Larson operated this Cat, and it’s replacement, for many years until he retired, and the Cat was sold. Woody passed away Mar 2014.
 They were John Deere  350 & 450 models.

Herman Wiebe with the 350 John Deere Cat
1971
note- Thiokol Sprynt Sno-Cat on right
Ice and Horror Frost on the trees and equipment.
It could be a nice place, and an ugly place
all in the same day!