A very near and dear old friend of mine, and a preserver of the past for the future has past away. John B. Bates Sr. was an avid collector of Automobiles, Trucks, Tractors, and Vintage Construction Machinery for many years. He past away Wednesday, April 21, 2010 after a long illness. Formally of Banksville NY he was partners in Bates Brothers Excavation though the 50's, 60's and 70's. He then moved to Hudson NY in 1981 and ran John Bates Excavating until 2005 He then Moved to Maple Hill, North Carolina where he has resided until now. We all knew Him as "Jake". He was well known in the circle of collectors and will be sorely missed. He had a collection of early crawlers that included a 2 Ton Cat, a Bates Steel Mule, a Cletrac 15 and many more to numerous to mention. His final words were. " I'm going on now to Drive that Big Bulldozer in the Sky." Dandy Dave!