Responsible for giving extra life and Lastability® to hundreds of vintage pieces of Caterpillar equipment across the UK, the newly formed ‘Link Club’ for Caterpillar enthusiasts across the UK and Ireland, has been given an extra boost with the support of Lastability.com from Finning.

In a move that sees the creation of a dedicated page www.lastability.com/Linkclub on the main www.lastability.com site, the 250 member strong ‘Link Club,’ are set to get a well deserved boost to their profile and membership.

Commenting on the move by Finning to support ‘Link Club’ through its standalone www.lastability.com industry portal, Finning marketing manager Tim Ballard said: “The members of the ‘Link Club’ are true ambassadors for the Lastability® promise - to save the industry £10m in 2010. In restoring and maintaining old Caterpillar equipment, they know just how much hard work and dedication it takes to ensure equipment performs to its very best in challenging environments.

“It is a testament to how well Caterpillar equipment is made, that these individuals can literally rebuild and restore to full working order pieces of Caterpillar plant, that in some cases are over 70 years old. To all of us at Finning it is their story and the enthusiasm with which they work that truly epitomises what Lastability® is all about.

This is why we are now looking to support the ‘Link Club’ through www.lastability.com giving them the ability, through a dedicated page on the site, to interact with our members and site visitors. To kick things off the ‘Link Club’ magazine with be available as a download from the page with more information to be added as the club expands. In turn, as Lastability.com continues to grow in popularity, we will look to add further value to the ‘Link Club’, so watch this space…”

Adding his comments to the launch of ‘Link Club’ at www.lastability.com/linkclub , club chairman David Wills said: “Since the new club was formed in 2010 as a standalone organisation, we have worked hard to establish a new identity and to continue the important role of the club, as a voice for all of the vintage Caterpillar enthusiasts across the UK, Ireland and expand on our existing membership base in western Europe and further a field .

Since the Club was first established in 1994, we have produced a newsletter to share best practice amongst our members and this has now evolved into a professionally produced quarterly magazine known as Link”.

“Club members own and operate around 1,000 different items of vintage Caterpillar equipment including D9 track type tractors, 641 motor scrapers, 983 traxcavators and are engaged in a variety of different construction, quarrying and agricultural related activities”.

"When we heard about Finning's Lastability® promise to save the industry over £10m in 2010, we felt that the messages and information on lastability.com perfectly complemented the aims of the club and its members. We then approached Finning to see if there was a possibility of supporting the Lastability® promise, whilst also promoting the existence of the new club".

“We were very excited with the response from Finning, to have our own page on the site and from this beginning hope that the support Finning has given the club with help to develop the membership and the greater understanding of the Caterpillar equipment we maintain.

“Our members know at first hand the durability and longevity of Caterpillar built equipment and have a wealth of knowledge and experience on extracting the maximum service life from every component and optimizing the performance of each machine well beyond its intended lifecycle.

“We look forward to developing this relationship and helping to communicate with the www.lastability.com website visitors the important benefits to be achieved from adopting best practice operation and maintenance techniques when working with Finning and Caterpillar equipment.

Download LINK Issue.

Below: 1949 D2 5U Tractor, still in regular use in the Scottish Highlands for bulldozing, snow clearing and timber extraction.

You can view more images from the Link Club by clicking here.