The 240-page book Diesel, Dust, Men and Machine contains hundreds of colour photos and stories about the unsung workers and their machinery who actually built the Waitaki, Tekapo, Manapouri and other hydro schemes.
Burnett Motors and Doug Hood Ltd feature in the book, which is a machinery bible that includes a history about each of the contractors featured and the trucks, bulldozers, caterpillars and other earth-moving machines they used on the job.
The book is the work of Kevin Freeman, who has spent many hours researching the contents. It is stocked in Ashburton at Paper Plus, which has sold and re-ordered its allocation several times.
Bob Burnett started his business in 1928 in a shed on his parents’ farm at Hinds doing general mechanic work.
The business boomed into a transport business, working mainly for farmers and councils. But in 1950 he ventured into contracting on the Cobb hydro electric scheme in Golden Bay. This was followed by work on the Tekapo, Roxburgh and Waitaki schemes. Machines used there were three International TD24 tractors towing carryalls and two International TD24 tractors with blades. As the projects got bigger so did the need for larger machines.
Doug Hood started contracting with a haybaler when he was 15 in 1953 - it was the start of a contracting empire.
He gained his first Ministry of Works contract on the Benmore scheme with a Nuffield tractor and a set of discs, used for discing on the dam core. He removed willow trees on the Falston Downs side of the dam with a TD24 International and the Cat D4.
The company’s main work of general contracting and irrigation, border dyking and cable laying was carried out alongside the high profile hydro scheme works in the Waitaki.
The book is $59.99.
