K220 ready to rock! Part 2: The machines

The last big reveal before it all gets properly real. Following on from the Bombay show, Southpac Trucks had the new K220s on show south of the ditch. Dynes Transport has had its one on the road now for a few months, and hard on the heels of that will be the Guy Knowles machine, with the other truck at the show, painted in the official Release Red, sold to McCarthy Transport Contractors.

Arguably the greatest example of an evolution of design in automotive history, the K220s were crowd magnets the whole weekend.

The 220 retains all the essentials that have made the model line the icon it is – front-axle position, durability, customisable, vendor componentry, overall look, and most importantly, support.

Southpac Trucks Waikato, BOP, and Taranaki sales representative, Adam McIntosh, hosted the parade commentary while the K220s were front and centre, saying more than 100 changes have been made on the K220 over its predecessor, the K200, including a hydraulic clutch and cab suspension.

Guy and Helen Knowles brought their new machine down as cab and chassis. “The ride, even as a cab and chassis, is amazing,” said Guy.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Allan Dippie and his amazing Wheels at Wanaka crew for another memorable Easter weekend. Thanks to everyone who took the time and footed the cost to bring an incredible machine and put our industry’s best foot forward at time in history when we need it most. And don’t worry if you can’t see your truck or favourite machine in the coverage or digital gallery. On page 82, we start our Wanaka Memories monthly half-page all over again.

MACHINE RESULTS

Vintage	RB30 Dragline, Alistair McDonald
Classic	Cat DW20 Scraper, Kevin Capell and Vic Draper (sponsored by Paul Clarke)
Motorscraper	Wabco 222F, Goodman Contractors (sponsored by Central Machine Hire)
Bulldozer	Caterpillar D9D, Paul Clarke
Loader	Caterpillar 992, J Swap Contractors
Dump truck	Caterpillar 789, Oceania Gold (Sponsored by Oceania Gold Macraes Operation)
Horsepower	Wabco 252 motor scraper, Dempsey and Wood
Performance	Robin Porter (sponsored by Komatsu New Zealand)
Terra Cat operator	Ken Tisdall (sponsored by Terra Cat)

Think you’ve got what it takes to drive one? Call Oceania Gold, Macraes Flat gold-mining operation. The company demonstrated one of its Caterpillar 789 dump trucks capable of carting a 190-tonne load.

A Terex S24 on the left, and on the right, Brutus, a Euclid 16TDT being push-loaded by a Terex 82-80.

There were some more modern machines on site this year. Here’s a superb example with Thomson Earthmoving’s Caterpillar D9T push-loading its Caterpillar 637G motor scraper.

Paul Clarke’s International Payloader 560 in Baker Construction livery sits loaded, awaiting a candidate for a dump of fill.

Another new addition to the paddock this year was Porter Group’s Terex TS14. Seen, here, with the bowl up and powering away from the cut.

The Terex TS8 was built to fit inside a C130 Hercules aircraft. This one is owned by HES Earthmoving in Hawke’s Bay.

The cable guy! In 2021, dragline virtuoso Alister McDonald was swinging dirt in his gorgeous little RB10 (Ruston Bucyrus). In 2023, he brought a bigger bucket, entertaining an awe-inspired crowd with his RB30.

The Detroit Doll: Goodman Contracting is known for naming its gear. This WABCO 222F elevating motor scraper has recently been refurbished. She’s seen here in her element.

J Swap Contractors’ Caterpillar 992B was rescued from the ‘bullrushes’ a couple of years back, lovingly restored and let loose at Wanaka in 2023.

One of the stars of the show this year was Paul Clarke’s recently restored Caterpillar D10 84W single-stack tractor, with bulldozer blade and single- shank ripper. The D10 was the original Caterpillar elevated sprocket tractor, and the early single-stack machines are now rare, replaced by twin-stack versions early on to alleviate heating issues. This example was retrieved by Paul ex-Japan and is 10 serial numbers from the original New Zealand tractor of the same model owned by Nelson-based FA Willetts, whose livery the restoration sports. Interestingly, at 700hp, the D10 84W was the biggest of the D10s, and even today, you’ll need to buy a D11T to trump it.

A sight never seen in New Zealand before Easter 2023 at Wheels at Wanaka – a Caterpillar 84W D10 single stack (itself a rare beast) push-loading a Caterpillar 660B motor scraper. Paul Clarke owns both machines.

The smoke tells it all. Vic Draper gets his recently restored Caterpillar DW20 into some work with a little help from a Caterpillar D8. This would have been a common scene half a century ago at the Kopuku coal mine in the north Waikato, where W Stevenson and Sons held the stripping contract for many years.