Caterpillar Legends - Les Bergsten

It is difficult to adequately introduce Cat enthusiast Les Bergsten. His 40 year career at Caterpillar is clearly the source of his “yellow blood”. Incredibly it is just one chapter in a work history that started with driving a Case tractor on his family farm at age 7 and includes a 37 year career in the Air Force, 20 years on the Peoria city council and 20+ years of shareholder activism. He jokes that his combined years of service make him 137 years old. He has undoubtedly fit that much living and then some in his 93 years (and counting!).

Yellow Power recently had an opportunity to sit down with Les and listen to his many varied life experiences. Les started his Caterpillar career in 1952 after graduating from Kansas State with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. After starting at Cat as a College Co-op he was called up to active duty in the US Air Force where he had what can only be summed up as an incredible experience. Caterpillar held a spot for him to return to full-time in 1955, although he continued to serve as an Air Force reservist until 1990.

Les’s first assignment at the Cat Peoria Proving Grounds in 1955 was working on 4-wheel scraper tractors. Those tractors obviously continue to hold a special place in Les’s heart and replicas of those machines are a prominent part of his diecast collection.

Les humbly recounted an early experience as a test engineer on the DW20. He figured the best way to get to know the product was to get some experience running one. The test machine on hand at the Proving Ground was an electric-start model but unfortunately Les found that the batteries were dead. Seeking assistance from one of the more experienced operators, it was suggested that it would be easier to pull start the DW20 than to jump start it. Les sat in the seat on the DW20 as the operator made multiple, unsuccessful attempts to pull start the machine. Les soon noticed oil coming out of the air cleaner and quickly realized that he had the transmission in reverse! He confessed the error to the operator who commented, “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

Les revealed a few other behind-the-scenes details on early scraper tractor development. He recounted how management felt the original DW10 with its curved fenders didn’t look “tough enough” which is why there was a drastic change to the more simplified fenders on later versions. He went on to point out how on one of his scale models the radiator extended significantly higher than the hood. He described how cooling issues required a change to a larger radiator but the hood was left at the original level.

One of the more colorful stories Les recounted was testing on the ill-fated 668 tractor. The 668C was a four-wheel-drive version of the DW20E scraper tractor. The previous generation of DW20 that was sold to the military had a four-wheel-drive configuration that apparently didn’t have any known issues, but when it was adapted for civilian use as the 668 it was fraught with problems. Under certain conditions, a vibration would develop in the front drivetrain with disastrous results. Les recalled a time that the front driveshaft of a test machine was thrown 30 feet!

After several different drive shaft designs and materials, Cat threw in the towel on the 668 and decided to buy back all of the 50 or so units that had been sold. Les recalls that they were successful in buying back all but one unit. “A customer in Canada built an elaborate snow plow onto his tractor and Cat would pay for the tractor but not the snowplow, so the customer refused to sell.”

Following his scraper tractor experience, Les went on to work on Cat gas turbine engines (prior to Cat’s acquisition of SOLAR) and then reduction of noise levels on Cat machines. Les conducted sound testing on Cat machines all over the world. His work undoubtedly helped preserve hearing for countless machine operators. Finally in 1992 after 40 years of service, Les retired from Cat.

In retirement, Les has maintained his connection to Caterpillar. He has been a frequent attendee at antique Caterpillar shows across the US since the early days of the Caterpillar collecting hobby, and although he has downsized, still has an impressive collection of Caterpillar diecasts and memorabilia. He also has a legendary attendance record for annual Cat shareholder meetings. Despite a tendency to put Cat Executives on the spot regarding issues important to customers and employees, he has been recognized by the Cat Board of Directors for his persistence.

Les says his current goal is to be retired from Cat for as long as he worked there. That may seem like an ambitious goal given his lengthy time as an employee, but it is obvious from talking to him that he should not be underestimated. Thank you Les for your service, and your time spent talking to us.

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