Caterpillar is set to celebrate its 100th birthday at next year’s Wheels at Wanaka.
Founded on 15 April 1925 and developed in California, the Cat machine evolved when salesman Benjamin Holt replaced a steam tractor’s rear wheels with tracks, helping farmers to work on soft soils. The company photographer exclaimed that the machine “moved like a big caterpillar”. After merging with the Best Tractor Company in 1925, Caterpillar Tractor Co. has been synonymous with earthmoving equipment ever since.
The brand looks to be at the forefront of celebrations at the fourth and final Wheels at Wanaka, taking place 18 – 20 April 2025 at Three Parks Wanaka.
A.S. Paterson was New Zealand’s first Caterpillar tractor dealer. In 1932 Gough, Gough and Hamer took over and took a gamble, importing five machines to demonstrate to the Ministry of Works. The demonstration was successful and Cat earthmovers and their skilled operators have since built New Zealand’s key civil projects including roads, hydroelectric schemes, ski fields, as well as breaking-in much of the nation’s farmland over the last century. Today, Terra Cat is New Zealand’s Cat dealer.
The vintage earthmoving machines that shaped this nation will be in action, alongside their modern counterparts, at Wheels at Wanaka’s world-renowned Terra Cat Earthmoving Extravaganza. Terra Cat has been a platinum partner of Wheels at Wanaka since 2019.
Wheels at Wanaka’s general manager Allan Dippie encourages all Cat owners to join the celebrations and a possible world record attempt for the most Cat machines in a parade next Easter.
“Every Cat machine is invited to escape the shed for the weekend and join the biggest, noisiest birthday party the country’s ever seen” said Dippie. “It’s going to be quite the spectacle and earthmoving enthusiasts would be mad to miss it.”
In addition to celebrating a centenary of Caterpillar, Wheels at Wanaka 2025 will also host the New Zealand round of the Cat Global Operators Challenge. The winners then have a chance to compete against the world’s best operators at ConExpo in Las Vegas in March 2026.
Following the announcement that 2025’s Wheels at Wanaka will be its final spin, the event has sold thousands of tickets, with hundreds of exhibitors from trucks, tractors, cars and motorbikes registering for what’s sure to be a huge grand finale and a fond farewell to an event that has captivated enthusiasts from across the country and around the world.
Wheels at Wanaka is an all-vehicle, all-machinery history-in-motion vintage fair – including steam engines, tractors and farming heritage, cars, motorbikes, trucks, earthmovers and heavy machinery.
With over 50 acres of entertainment, tractor pulling and enduro-X competitions, ATV and rally car demos, an earthmoving extravaganza and a non-stop parade ground programme, it is Australasia’s biggest all-vehicle show.
The organisers encourage past participants and enthusiasts to join in making this farewell edition a memorable one.
