Bevan - thanks for the info on the 222H. Sorry to hear you had to part with it.
As for operating the 229F, it is a lot of fun. They are a very well balanced machine and you have to work hard to drop the nose. I enjoy showing up the Cat boys by going places they can not go. For example, with the very low centre of gravity and width on its side, you can cut a 2.5 to 1 batter (as long as you are careful not to overload the bowl and have a good exit route). The best I have ever done with a Cat is 3 to 1 and that's frightning.
The old girl looses it a bit on long hauls as the Cats have a better top speed but at the end of the day I am usually only down 2 or 3 loads.
Not bad for a machine which has just celebrated its 40th birthday!
Heres a couple of shots of it at work here in Canberra a couple of years ago.
Cheers
Gordon