Six days a
week, the landclearing company worked to clear the jungle of
South Vietnam, rising before sunup to check out their
machines, and prepare for the days work.
The plows, would line up in single file, along with the 548
Track, and the contact trucks, and head for the area that
needed to be cleared, known as "the cut". |
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A "trace" was cut in the
foliage to outline the area needing to be cleared. This was
usually done with the help of a helicopter overhead giving
the plow operator directions, as the jungle was too thick,
for the operator to see ahead of the plow.
Once the trace was cut, the plows would clear the area
inside. |
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As the designated area was cleared the plows would move
further into the jungle growth. |
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Two kinds of plows were used
by the company. The "Rome Plow" which was equipped with a
"stinger blade" and a "Bull Blade" which wasn't. |
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To the left, is the first cut with the "stinger" into a
large tree. To the right is the second cut into the same
tree. |
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These two pictures show the same tree toppling over from
different angles. |
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Once the trees were toppled, they were pushed into a pile to
be burned. |
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These four pictures are of a dozer that slid down a hill.
The picture to the left is the plow turning around to work
his way back up the hill...
The picture on the right is the view from the top of the
hill looking down at the plow.
The picture on the bottom left is the same view but a bit
closer. The picture on the right is an enlargement of the
dozer. |
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A birds eye view from the
operators seat in the picture to the left. On the right, the
operator stands on the roof of the plow, the blade being
camouflaged by the jungle growth. |
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On the left, the top arrow shows a plow in the overgrowth,
the bottom arrow shows the winch of another plow.
On the right, the circle in the middle of the picture,
points out an APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) pulling
security. In the other circle is a plow. |