Rescued Dozer Buried In A Swamp For More Than 40 Years

Rescued Dozer Buried In A Swamp For More Than 40 Years MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Earth Movers “It looked like a doggone giant turtle coming out of there ” said Jeff Janke about the mud-caked TD-24 International bulldozer rescued from a swamp after being buried for over 43 years It took three wrecker trucks to pull the 57 000-lb dozer back to solid ground Janke says the dozer dubbed “Harold ” can be seen in a shed on the grounds of the Pine to Prairie Antique Tractor & Gas Engine Association in Perham Minn The bulldozer’s swamp adventure began on Christmas Eve in 1975 when a volunteer decided to use it to make a snowmobile trail The 1959 Army dozer had been transported from Missouri to the technical college in Detroit Lakes Minn for diesel students to work on It was also lent out for local community projects “Don’t go in the swamp ” the landowner emphasized to the driver But the driver did anyway About 200 ft in the dozer broke through the bog’s frozen crust to the top of the dozer’s tracks Rescue efforts held off until after Christmas when volunteers cut and laid logs over the bog to create a corduroy road Ralph Sandquist from Park Rapids volunteered his services and D8 Caterpillar with a 100-ton winch It pulled the TD-24 about 20 ft before the cable broke Frigid weather hit the area and before another attempt to pull out the dozer was made someone suggested contacting the local National Guard Permission was sought and granted by Sen Hubert Humphrey that the National Guard would pull out the dozer for free as a training exercise Unfortunately an untimely editorial cartoon in a local paper that included a keg of beer as part of the military’s rescue plan changed the guards’ minds about helping Sandquist returned with his dozer and was preparing to set up for another rescue attempt when a white pickup with men who said they were taking over the project pulled up With the help of a Montana demolition expert they planned to blow up the frozen ground around the dozer An ice auger was used to drill holes filled with a diesel fuel and fertilizer mixture which was set off with dynamite Perhaps more time should have been taken to calculate the charge The explosion blew part of the dozer seat 80 ft destroyed the corduroy road uprooted trees and plastered Sandquist’s dozer with mud The TD-24 also moved It was buried deep into the swamp with only the muffler sticking out The site was marked with a coffee can and all hope of rescue was abandoned Most forgot about it except for the landowners and Harold Wilkinson of Frazee Minn who was intrigued by the legend of the dozer stuck in the swamp After much research he tracked down the landowner “Harold got me kind of interested ” Janke says so he agreed to do the legwork for Wilkenson who was in his 80s In January 2018 they met with Norma Grotnes the landowner and her son Steve who took Janke to the site on a side-by-side ATV Though the swamp showed no sign of a dozer burial site they returned with an ice auger a week later On the third hole a 15-ft pipe in the hole hit something about 9 ft down Sandquist volunteered to return to the scene and dig out the frozen ground around the dozer “It was on its side at about 10 o’clock ” Janke says “Later that summer divers went there seven times to clean out the muck ” They also hooked up chains and attached them to floating barrels so they could be found the following winter As word spread about the rescue mission Janke says that volunteers came forward to help They included owners and employees from Jim’s Towing of Fargo who drove to the swamp on March 16 2019 with three wrecking trucks used to pull out semis and big equipment Two trucks with military winches were set up as anchors for the main tow truck which was brand new and designed specifically for the job It had 200 000 lbs of pulling power “The truck came off the ground 4 or 5 ft and hung there and finally broke the suction of the clay ” Janke recalls Once the dozer was pulled out sunflower heaters were put around it and it was covered with tarps Volunteers returned the next day to clean it up “The radiator was packed with mud and duck eggs ” Janke says “I was chipping mud away with a garden tool and saw the two belts on the bottom And the engine turned It wasn’t stuck so we thought we could get it running ” The dozer was towed and parked on solid ground until spring when it could be picked up with Jim’s Towing’s rotator tow truck and loaded on a lowboy trailer to be hauled to Perham So what was the cost for all of this? “They didn’t charge a dime They said we don’t charge for history ” Janke says “Everyone was intrigued to get it out ” The generosity continued as the owner of another TD-24 bulldozer offered parts to replace the fuel tank radiator and other parts that needed replacing With only 900+ hours on it the tracks and blade are in good shape Pine to Prairie group members cleaned and fixed it leaving everything as original as possible The TD-24 has been used for various events including pulling the tractor-pull sled at the 2024 Perham Pioneer Fest Unfortunately Wilkinson who passed away at 86 in 2020 wasn’t present for the event with the dozer named after him Janke invites readers to check out the group’s Facebook page and YouTube videos including “The Rescue of the Lost TD24” www youtube com/watch?v=CVGhTMuTG5Q and follow-up videos Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Pine to Prairie Antique Tractor & Gas Engine Association pinetoprairie@gmail com; Facebook: Pine to Prairie Tractor & Gas Engine Assoc

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