Looking for a small farm crawler

I am looking for a small, compact farm crawler. What are some of the smaller, more compact farm crawlers of pre-1960's vintage? Most of the pictures I see on the internet and in books all seem kind of hulking huge to me. Even the medium sized ones seem far too large. They seem more aimed at large construction users or for heavy construction type jobs. It would be nice to have one that was very small, compact and that could maneuver well and that could also accept a small bulldozer blade for the occasional earth moving chore around the homestead and that could drag implements behind as well. You know; something small, versatile and handy!

I bought a JD 420C brand new in '59. Still got it. Always thought it was a leftover '58 but the serial# says it's a '57. Doesn't matter. For most of the 15 years I milked cows it was my only tractor. I grew all silage, no hay. Toward the end I bought a wheel tractor to pack the trench silo. I pulled all kinds of tillage equipment with it. It has a blade run by a remote cylinder that can be used to lift a plow, disc,etc. The blade is held up by a pin while doing this. I used to plant sudan grass after the seedbed was ready pulling an 8' disc loaded with 4 railroad ties for weight, another one dragging crossways to break up clods, an 8' grain drill with the seed and a roller behind the drill. Strangly, because all the wheels were at roughly the midpoint of each unit it didn't take any bigger headland than just the tractor and disc. My Ford 641 will barely pull the disc with no load.

If you are looking for a pre 1960 vintage you will have to be prepared to do lots of repairs and not be able to buy new parts. Better to stay with 1980 or newer as parts will still be avaliable for some.
Don from Canada

The whole reason I was looking at the older pre-1960's farm crawlers was because they are made far more durable and rugged in the first place, so the chances of needing replacement parts are very, very low (non existent really) to begin with.

However you learned that old crawlers never need repair you need to recheck that. They need way more repair/maintenance than wheel tractors. Tires outlast dozer undercarriages by far.

I have a JD with a 6 way dozer and rippers. A oliver OC4 bare dozer And An Ac with a 6 way. All for sale. I am in Az mail me. Curtis

I bought a D2 Cat with blade about 15 years ago. It is a 50's model. Took quite a bit of work to get it up and running. I paid $4350 for it at auction. Had to rework the head $150, cleaned and changed all filters, fluids, etc, $200. Rebuilt the cylinders $300. lots of odds and ends. Used it quite a bit over those years. Had repainted it and it needed little other than routine stuff.

Now I am having trouble getting fuel to the pony motor. It doesn't get used near as much, and that is harder on it than regular use.

It sure is great for pulling logs out of the timber. Small, but powerful for it's size.

I was able to get most any part from CAT, at first. Now I can get about 50% of what I go in for.


Gene

I have a Case 350-1970's, it was one of the smallest of it's time. You might look for something like that.

I don't want to start a brand war here. I was a Deere mechanic for most of my life, but prefer little Cletracs as small dozers. Main reason is part's availability and ease of trailering. If you get a Cletrac HG, OC3, or OC4, you can buy just about any part, new and/or used. Some new parts are new-old-stock, and many more are being made again by Allis Gleaner Company(AGCO). Zimmermans in PA specializes in them and also has some new parts made special.

Cletracs are lighter than a Deere 420, and of course, that is because the Deere is built heavier. But, the Cletrac is a pleasure to move on a small trailer, and also has NO steering clutches to worry about. I'll add that the later small Case crawlers use the same drive-train as the Cletracs. It was made by Clark Coporation for Oliver, Cletrac, Terratrac Case, Bombardier, Avery, etc.

I've got several Cletrac HGs, OC3s, and OC4s. Also have Deere 1010s, 420s, and 350s. They are all good for certain things, but I can find parts easier and cheaper for my Cletracs - except maybe some Hercules engine parts.

I would 2nd what jdmaris said, though I don't know a lot about those, some of those models fit the small size category. Another handy feature would be one of these with a 3 pt. hitch.

I think the important thing about looking at an old crawler is to be able to assess it's condition, it would be desirable to find one with a decent undercarriage, you can get a lot of part time use out of one that is worn, but if the adjustment is all the way out and the wear is starting to accelerate, or it will toss a track off easily, you want to avoid that unless you have the money and resources to rebuild it. I've seen those models JD mentioned, some with 3pt hitch and a wide gauge, but small, just right for little work.

What was mentioned below is true of the older Caterpillars, if you find one of those in decent shape, might serve your purpose, but the smaller ones like a D2, D4 etc. will have a dozer, many were also just drawbar ag work, no dozer tractors further back the older series like a Twenty Two, Fifteen, Ten may also fit the work you want to do, but they usually do not have a dozer kit, you would have to fabricate one, tractors like these were not designed to have them anyway, but I've seen a few with them, just have to take it easy.
It seems there is a lot of nice ag crawlers in CA., pretty reasonable too. You still have to assess the condition of same, there seems to be a fair amount that don't need a total rebuild, still have salvage yards and other resources for parts, so an older caterpillar in decent shape can work well too. You can't beat an old D6 or D7 for farm use, lot of em around, you just have to make sure it's not worn out. A late 50's mid 60's D6 is a great tractor, vegetable farmer/greenhouse guy near me, rebuilt one, spent a fair amount on it, but having gone through it, it will last him a long time. Even a small one can be a real handy tractor to have no matter what you are doing, hopefully you find one to look at and can determine it is in decent enough shape for your use.

I look at this a bit differently....
I think if you want to play with old crawlers, you better have time on your side and money in your pocket, both of which will soon be expended. The color probably doesn't matter so much as I think you'll find most of them challenging.

If you want something to hop on an go quickly, a good sized skidsteer loader would outwork a small old crawler... and probably just plain run circles around it. Both in work done and versatility. You can get them tracked too... and probably for less money than you'll dump into an old crawler. Work or play... that is the question.


Rod

Skid-steer is a great machine for moving dirt with a loader-bucket, but pretty useless for pulling any sort of implements on uneven ground. I've got a Bobcat 753 and it will greatly outwork my Deere 1010 crawler/loader and Allis HD4 as long as the ground is pretty good. But, if the ground get wet, muddy, and rutted - the Bobcat is worthless.
Very little ground clearance.
I'll add that good skid-steers don't come cheap if in decent condition. And if not, they can cost a small fortune to fix.

The guy DID ask about small crawlers, seems the lighter the better going by his description. Nobody in the USA makes one anymore; if new you'd have to buy a Landini from Italy, or something close.

The Cletrac (and Terratrac) both fit the bill perfectly for an occasional light dirt pusher and a farm/field machine. But, many more parts are available for the Cletrac, and not so good for the Terratrac - that later became owned by Case.
Cletrac is also very easy to operate since it has a foot clutch, and also very easy to work on. Is it a HD crawler that will do heavy work? Heck no, but I didn't get the impression that is what the guy was asking about.

I've got Deere 420, 1010, and a 350 crawler and also a Deere 300B backhoe/loader on wheels. Also Allis Chalmers H3, HD4, and HD6 crawlers. Still, I often use my little Cletrac HG. It so small and light, it can get into some really tight places and is a pleasure to use (and work on). But, for heavy dirt pushing? No, I wouldn't consider it.

Yes... he did ask about small crawlers, but I'm more of the line of thinking that they don't exist anymore for a good reason.
A tracked skid steer will fill most of the uses of a small dozer except pulling drawn impliments, and it will do most things a lot better.
Again, I'll say if this is something that's going to get worked daily then a skid steer or MFWD tractor is in order. If it's just a matter of wanting an old crawler to play with and work infrequently, then an old crawler would be fine with me.
I'd vote for Cat, but I like Cat...

Around here beggars can't be choosers in that line of gear. Cat has been here (in this area) since the start with more prominence than any other and I'd hazard to guess that fewer of them by proportion have made it to the melting pot, so there should be more of them and more parts to choose from. No doubt that varies by location...


Rod

Many old hand-clutched Cats and HD Allis crawlers in my area still. They were very popular farm machines - but not for farm row-crop work, although Cat and Allis often advertised them that way. The Cletrac HGs, OC3s,OC4s, on the other hand, were originally designed for just that, especially the wide-track crawlers. The Terractracs were available with three-point hitches. So were several small Deere crawlers.

In regard to the reason why nobody makes a small crawler in the US anymore? Profit. There is still demand. Nobody in the USA even makes a crawler one-class bigger anymore - e.g. a Deere 1010, 2010,350 and 450, IH TD series or 500, AC H3,HD3, H4, or HD4, GT Terratrac, Case 350, etc. The demand was the reason John Deere had a buy-back program for old 350s and 450s - called the "Certified Relife Program." They got factory rebuilt, and resold.

There are many little Cletracs around in running condition for less than $1000. Sometimes a lot less. And, you can tow one on a light trailer and buy just about any part. Light, foot-clutch, no steering clutches to get stuck. That is hard to beat for somebody that wants a small, part-time machine that is cheap and easy to work on. This IS an antique tractor forum, and the guy DID say he wanted a small "farm crawler."

I love my Bobcat 753 (with Kubota diesel). But, it's useless when the ground gets bad. In fact, last year I was trying to move some dirt behind my barn on a side-hill. Then, it rained lightly off-and-on. The ground got rutted and the Bobcat wouldn't move. I had to take out my Deere dozer and keep plowing the mud out of the path, so the Bobcat could travel on it. I'd make 4-5 runs with the Bobcat, and then, the ruts would get so deep it would get stuck again. I'll add that the skid-steer is also useless on sidehills if it's not counter-weighted. I've gotten my stuck many times when it "popped a wheelie" after taking off the front loader attachement and was trying to put the backhoe on. Has to be done on flat ground.

That all being said, if I ever see a good Bobcat for less than $1000, I'll grab it. Never happened yet. I DID just buy a running diesel OC4 for $700.

If it has tracks, it will need parts, period, age is irrelevant. In actuality, the true Ag crawler were built lighter than an industrial, and used in industrial operations suffered much higher failure rates. That is not to say you can't use them, we have many of them, use them all the time, but you are going to have to fix them sooner or later. If the guy you buy one from chose later, you are the guy that has to fix it.
Lavoy
JDCRAWLERS.COM

With all due respect, a wheeled Bobcat is not what I'd suggest. I'm sure they've got their place but traction and stability are not among their strong points.
A mid size tracked Cat with an ASV track system resolves most of those problems and they generally do most of the work of those small older dozers. If you stop and think about it, the power trains in smaller dozers and skid steers are basically the same today for a given power class. They're all hydro's... The biggest difference is that one it a loader and one not.

Again, I'd simply look at this from the perspective of how much work it was going to do. If it was odd use then the old crawler would fit. If it was daily use, something more reliable would be in order, or at least it would here....

Rod

JD- Wish I could find an OC anything running for $700.00!!!! Great little tractors. I'd love a big Cletrac too. I pick up the Oliver magazine at TSC just to look at Cletrac pics.