Tentsmuir Forest — fire trace formation

Date Added: 27 February 2018 Contributor: Norman Davidson Year of Photo: 1947 Picture No: 3954

Photograph is courtesy and copyright of Forestry Commission, Forest Research, Roslin, and provided with help from Glen Brearley. FR Photo number No B55 taken by George D Holmes.

A Caterpillar tractor (D4?) with dozer blade is clearing the vegetation off a strip around a fire vulnerable plantation of pine in Tentsmuir Forest, Fife. The fire trace would have to be kept clear of vegetation by periodic scraping with the machine again or more likely with a rotavator or some hand work by the forest team.

There is no FC number seen on the machine and could hired on contract but does anyone know the driver?

The photographer George Holmes was eventually to become Director General of the Forestry Commission in the period around 1985.

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Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Other Vehicles and Machines

1 Comment

Again, we have an early Caterpillar D4 equipped with a La Plant Choate dozer blade. This blade equipment is later than what is shown on Picture 2498. This company supplied add on equipment for Caterpillar before Cat started to build their own, and over the years the designs improved. note the long springs wound on the lifting arms; they were designed to increase down pressure on the cutting edge of the dozer blade. La Plant Choate company was bought up by Allis Chambers in 1952. All this happened long before my time with the Forestry Commission but amongst the stories from the old hands of past disasters, was the tale of Cat D4, working at Tentsmuir that broke its crankshaft lugging down under the weight of sand that was before its blade! I have no way of proving this, but could that be Duncan Jamieson at the controls? Comment left on 03 February 2020 at 15:46 by Ian Stuart Douglas Cameron

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