Just A Car Guy: I have the pleasure to introduce you, to the oldest dozer operator that Caterpillar is aware of, how first drove a dozer at age 7, and 84 years later, is still operating a couple D6s

Tuesday, October 12, 2021

I have the pleasure to introduce you, to the oldest dozer operator that Caterpillar is aware of, how first drove a dozer at age 7, and 84 years later, is still operating a couple D6s

His dad passed away in 1934, when Kenny was four years old, leaving the him, his mother, and older siblings to eke out a living from the land during the Great Depression.

One day, seven-year-old Kenny was on an errand, walking a county dirt road in rural Missouri, when a man driving a Caterpillar Ten crawler came down the way.

“I was just a kid walking along the road. The driver stopped to give me a ride,” Kenny says. “And he let me drive it about a half a mile.”

Eventually, duty called, and the U.S. Army sent him to Korea. During his service in Korea, Kenny ran a Caterpillar dozer.

“ It wasn’t in my MOS code, but we had the equipment over there to dig trenches. The operators were tired and didn’t want to run them, so I said, ‘I’ll do it!’” Kenny says with a twinkle in his eye. “I got to run them a lot over there.”

Upon the young soldier’s homecoming in 1953 he picked up where he’d left off – working as a dozer operator. Over the next few years, Kenny built a strong reputation as a skillful operator known for his integrity and passion for high-quality work.

Kenny says, “You can’t find machines that are any better. You can afford to pay more for a Cat machine because it’s cheaper in the long run. They last longer and they handle better. They prove themselves.”

Does Kenny think about retiring anytime soon? He pauses for a moment and then says, “Why quit something you like doing?”