Story of the exhibit

A road grader made in 1965 at the Paide branch of the Tallinn Excavator Plant (formerly the Paide Road Machinery Plant). The grader's early history has not been fully established. From an unknown date it belonged to the Edasi collective farm in Pärnu district and later to its successor Edda Wildenau Ltd, where it probably arrived second-hand after being written off by the road administration. From 1997 to 2000 the operator was Arved Puls. At an unknown date (certainly no later than 2003) the grader was sold on to Viljandi County. It was last used in Kõo rural municipality, where local entrepreneur Ago Vingissar graded the municipality's roads with it. Later the municipality decided it was more practical to buy in the service, and the D-512 was retired. The grader last worked in summer 2004, after which it stood unused for a couple of years at the Koksvere workshop of the former Võhma collective farm. The grader was discovered back in summer 2003, while it was still in use, by Old Tech Park friend and now member of the Old Tech Park's board Silver Kuik.* He was also the first to suggest adding an Estonian-built road grader to the Old Tech Park's collection. Old Tech Park leader Tuve Kärner agreed, so the options for acquiring the D-512 graders then known in Estonia were explored, and the machine standing in Koksvere, recently retired, turned out to be available. The previous owner had planned to scrap the grader, but on learning of the Old Tech Park's interest agreed to wait until the money needed to buy it was raised. A fundraiser was organised on the Auto-Moto forum to bring the grader to the Old Tech Park. The campaign was also supported by Järva-Jaani Auto Ltd, AS Paide Masinatehas and the Järva-Jaani Fire Brigade Society. The cab's corner windows have been modified from the original (flat glass was used instead of the original curved glass, probably because it was easier to get), and a bulldozer blade was fitted to the front of the grader during its working life (new D-512 graders did not have one from the factory). In summer 2010, as part of the «Built in Estonia – 2010» campaign, Silver Kuik and Martin Männik restored the grader. Toomas Arukask helped with the electrical system and Veljo Hecht with reviving the long-idle machine. *In 2003 the name "Varjupaik" (Shelter) was not yet used. The Järva-Jaani Old Car Shelter (Vanaautode Varjupaik) opened only in summer 2004, and in October 2005 it was renamed the Järva-Jaani Old Machinery Shelter (Vanatehnika Varjupaik), known in English as the Järva-Jaani Old Tech Park. (ed.) The same grader on the website www.kolhoos.pri.ee