Rob Williams, who has featured in a couple of articles here on the Digger blog, had no idea he was going to get hands on with the big Cat’s until the day before he left for Spain on holiday. In what can only be described as an awesome surprise, his partner Fiona, with the help of Rob’s boss, Rob Bartlett and Cat dealer Finning’s, had arranged the visit to celebrate Rob’s 30th birthday. 
Rob, like so many of us is a self confessed plant freak, and was clearly in his element as he got up into the seat of Caterpillar’s flagship heavyweight dozer, the mighty D11T 
Rob’s current daytime mount at Bartlett Contractors is a 22 ton excavator model from a famous UK manufacturer, but he did look rather happy to be in the seat of this Cat 345DL machine. Also of note in the background of this shot, from the other end of the size scale is Caterpillars latest offering in the mini excavator market the 300.9D. 
The assembled audience were treated to a vast array of different products being put through their paces including this Cat 992K wheeled loader, loading the latest 777F dump truck . 
And a stunning display from a wheeled dozer, something we don’t see very often in the UK market, except on some of the larger coal mining sites in the North of England and in Scotland. 
Not to be outdone by the big dozers towards the end of the show, three models from Caterpillar’s Compact Tracked Loader range, comprising the 257B, 277C and a 289C model, performed their own version of “the big push”. 
As is customary at these events, members of the audience were invited to take a trip around the demo plot in some of the machines, in this instance Rob’s partner Fiona and other members of their family took a trip in the Cat 777F rigid dump truck. 
The highlight of the event in Malaga is always “The Big Push”, where examples of the Caterpillar track type tractor range appear over the top of an earth bank and proceed to push a tidal wave of earth towards the seated viewing gallery. 
This awesome spectacle of Caterpillar power is a guaranteed crowd pleaser and I for one am looking forward to seeing it personally when I visit later this year. 
After their visit to Caterpillar the couple continued their holiday in Malaga, where Rob had a little surprise of his own up his sleeve, when he produced an engagement ring to give to Fiona along with his proposal of marriage. The Digger Blog wishes the happy couple all the very best for the future.
