In December 1959, the first production Cat wheel loader — the 944 Wheel Traxcavator — was driven off the assembly line at the Caterpillar plant in Aurora, Ill.

Peoria, Ill.-based Caterpillar last month celebrated the 50^th year of production of its medium wheel loaders. In December 1959, the first production Cat wheel loader was driven off the assembly line at the Caterpillar plant in Aurora, Ill. — the 944 Wheel Traxcavator.

The 944, fitted with a 2-cubic yard bucket and available with either a 105-hp gas or diesel engine, was the culmination of a seven-year development effort — and the beginning of Caterpillar’s leadership in the worldwide market for mid-size wheel loaders.

The 944 was joined in 1960 by two additional models, the 80-hp model 922 and the 140-hp (104 kW) model 966, using buckets of 1.25 and 2.75 cubic yards, respectively.

A 1960 press release quoted W. S. Zeigler, domestic sales manager, who summed up Caterpillar’s goal for developing the new wheel-loader line: “These new Traxcavators will enable operators to perform their work quickly and well, and give them safer working conditions.”

The Cat Wheel Loader line today includes 8 models with power ranges from 55- to 1,577-hp. These models offer standard buckets from 3 to 8 cubic yards and can be fitted with a diversity of work tools for applications as varied as material handling, scrap yards, quarries and forestry.