Random dozer picture

looks like it was a pretty tough machine in its day

So much better than a Cat in their day!

Im not gonna touch that,,because I really dont know,,just saw this one the other day and it looked tough,,but,,,you might get in trouble with your reply? lol

Can't get in to trouble for telling the truth. They had controlled differential steering,meaning that both tracks pulled all the time. Just pull the lever all the way back and you didn't have to step on a brake pedal. With a Cat,when you pulled back on one lever,it stopped power to one track and you had to use a brake pedal to turn.

Kinda like saying John Deere's were better than Farmalls..lol

Larry, It sure doesn't look that tough to me. In fact it looks real good for being 60 some years old.
Loren

were they as good as rr lund says they were? lol

Second thought. Larry did you mean "tough" as in like a big bull???
Loren

Certainly!!! Early Case dozers used the same Clark trans/finals.
Loren

your not gonna say a case dozer was better than cat,,are you?(lol)

Larry, Great pic! My big mistake was when I sold my OC 15. That beast had a 529 cubic inch diesel and air brakes. In my pic from 1988 its keeping the chain tight behind the Cat. lol

it kinda reminds me of you larry tough as nails lol.
RICK

Im 61 and not so tough anymore,,,lol

But did they do pivot turns?

that is big,,sorry you sold it,,weve all sold stuff we are sorry for,,

Larry, I just hope its still out there! Last time I saw it was around 1994 in Treadwell New York.

When scrap was high my nephew was at the scrapyard,,a guy pulled up with a big old dozer chained on a lowboy..It was running ,he unchained it and drove it off the lowboy ,then down to the scrap pile

If he compares it to an '88 D4H, it is. Not one of Cat's better efforts. Thankfully, all the major failures were under warranty.

Reminds me of you Larry,
With the Smiley face!

WHAT ????

(quoted from post at 16:57:20 03/03/17)

looks like it was a pretty tough machine in its day

Click to expand...

Looks like it has hydraulics. Would a CAT from that era be using cables and pulleys for the blade? Sorry, don't know much sbout these.

Originally most attachments on dozers were outsourced, so various companies
built blades for Cat, IH ect. I have a 1948 D7 Cat with a hydrualic
Laplant-Choate blade. But many had cable operated blades. Winches were also
used to operate scraper pans of that era so they often had multiple winches
on the back.

A local farm family built a big lake on their place some years ago, they bought all old large dozers (D8s ect) and haul trucks. They sat after the lake was done, then when scrap was high they hired a guy with a truck and trailer to haul them to the scrapyard. Drove them on and off the trailer. I heard about it after the fact or might have triied to buy something as I know them fairly well. The local scrapyard would not sell anything once it came in. Some of those old machines are sold overseas to developing countries.

Most of the dozers from that era that used cables were military spec'd dozers?

The later ones with Spot Turn did. They steered just like a skid steer. One track would turn backwards to bring them right around in their own tracks.

The hydraulic D7 I mentioned below was a military dozer.

I have a 1947 7U D4m serial number 18. It has a factory original Cat blade and hydraulic unit.

Rick

My Dad was Army Engineer, Pacific, in WWII. He liked the Cletracs and told me their drive system made them the best for getting out of mud.

I don't think Roland White was moving money off shore. LOL

In the beginning, track type tractors/crawlers etc. were made for agricultural purposes.
R.G. LeTourneau was a pioneer in developing earthmoving equipment. Much of it was cable controlled or as LeTourneau (LeT for short) LeT Power Control Units (PCU) were used for many applications in cable controlled equipment. Caterpillar for instance, did not offer these kinds of attachments for their tractors in the early years up to and at the end of World War II. LaPlante-Choate, Bucyrus-Erie and others were competitors of LeT, and you'll see this variety on these old tractors, especially other brands besides Caterpillar. There are old photos of staging areas/depots, as well as landings where you'll see mostly Caterpillar, but also Allis Chalmers and some others together. The government bought quite a bit for the war efforts needed to build what was needed to get the job done. It's quite interesting history given the times and the way things were built in those days. Caterpillar recognized the market and right after the war they offered their Cable Control Units with cable operated attachments such as dozer kits for track type tractors. They also operated tow behind scrapers, and LeT had all kinds of other cable controlled equipment in their line up. Track type agriculture tractors had smaller track idlers for more nimble turns. Caterpillar also introduced hydraulic controls as well just after the war, but CCU's were offered well into the 60's, and maybe the 70's as some operators preferred them. You could still get these tractors with starting engines until the 70's as well. Ag tractors were also direct drive and not powershift as the latter was not the best for heavy drawbar work.

CCU/PCU units are winches but with higher speed, these are not suited for winching operations, though you will see photos of them being used that way in the war. There is a specific type of wire rope used for these applications and the operators often carried spare reels on their tractors to rotate the wire rope through to avoid it wearing in the same area on the "sheave blocks" - they're really not pulleys if one wants to be technical about it LOL !

I believe there are some books about RG LeTourneau that you may find very interesting to read. Also another innovator with Caterpillar was Buster Peterson, really something what these guys did in those days.

I have an old LaPlante-Choate manual in my collection that was for their dozer kits on caterpillar tractors, lot of interesting information in it, and instructions for operators on how to use a dozer blade, much of it still applicable today.

Thanks, sms and Billy NY--I appreciate the info re: cables and hydraulics. When I'm at my computer I'll post a pic of old tracked shovel made by Unit. Some local guys here maintain and run these machines as part of their antique farm machinery assn. They have a Bucyrus Shovel and another Unit I believe. Great to see them moving dirt with these old machines.

This is the little UNIT shovel one of they younger guys in the historic farm machines assn is running. They keep these at a local farm museum close where I live. Great talking to the operators on the days they are doing demonstrations.