In 2019 when dad and I decided to give up the earthmoving, part of that included selling off all of the gear, including the only excavator dad ever bought new, a Case CX290, arguably the best digger we’ve ever been on, he brought it brand new in 2003.
We sold it to a friends farm at Caveside, I’ve long wanted to go back out there and donate a days work to have a go on here again.
A few Sundays back, this friend was speaking at our church and asked if I would like a few days paid work, things are quiet so I happily accepted.
I’d forgotten how much of a beast this machine is, even though its the same size as our Hitachi, its got 600mm plates with extra lugs welded on, so the track frame looks huge, its also powered by a 6 cylinder Cummins that runs so smooth and sweet, I definitely miss that with our 4 cylinder Hitachi.
Anyway, Tony had a few jobs for me, once of which was to build a new little dam, I had forgotten how useful a thumb is on a big digger, but also, the lack of a tilting bucket made this one a challenge, but not in a bad way, old skills re-surfaced.
Next up was finishing putting the topsoil on a dodgy dam that Matthew had built and never finished.
While I was working her she kept getting warm and needing a water top-up, I soon figured out that the water pump was on the way out, I spoke with Tony and got permission to give her a full service, I had figured out that she had not been properly serviced since we sold it (it still had filters on it with dads and my handwriting), she has done around 2000 hours since then.
Joe and I went up with tools, oils and filters, along with a new water pump and gave her some love. After that she ran like a dream, I really miss this machine.
