Caterpillar Everywhere

On Thursday, we visited the Caterpillar Museum – the big earth-moving kind, not the warm and fuzzy variety. The museum contained a number of very large tractors, excavators, dump trucks, etc. They were huge. For example, the one truck that we viewed first could hold 400 tons, we were told, and it could carry 250 Volkswagens. Its size obviously hampered its speed, and so it could only move at a top speed of 42 mph. The tires were over 13 feet tall and the rubber used in the tires could be used to make 600 regular car tires. The museum was staffed by retired Caterpillar employees, and they were all very friendly, and very proud of Caterpillar.

 

 


   


The different Caterpillar machines are used worldwide. They have been shipped to Australia, New Zealand, China, Europe, have been used in the construction of the Panama Canal.

There were simulators there, also. I sat in a simulated excavator and Joe sat in a simulated bulldozer. We had some fun moving dirt around. I managed to move enough dirt to fill a pipe that was in the ground, waiting to be buried, and Joe moved some dirt into the hole also. Although at first, Joe was admonished because instead of putting the dirt over the pipe, he somehow managed to put the bulldozer over the pipe. I don’t think he’s ready to operate heavy machinery yet. It took me a few tries, but I finally got the hang of operating the excavator and was able to bury the pipe.

 


After our inner child was satisfied by playing with the “big machines”, we stopped at the merchandise store and looked around. We were trying to decide if we wanted to buy clothing that said “Caterpillar” on it, and when Joe found a shirt on sale for half price, he decided to go for it.

 

Downtown Peoria - Illinois, Land of Lincoln

As we drove around the town of Peoria, there were signs of Caterpillar everywhere. There were many office buildings bearing the name and you could tell the company has had a big influence on Peoria. It apparently provides many jobs, and is probably responsible for a great deal of the economy here.

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 14, 2024 at 5:13 PM

    It makes sense they call them caterpillars instead of butterflies moving tons of earth! Lol, how interesting!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 14, 2024 at 5:15 PM

    That corny joke was Ellen Hutchinson post Incase you’ll didn’t know!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 19, 2024 at 6:28 AM

    Omigosh. Huge tires!!! The simulators look fun.
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete

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