Crawler/ dozer

[Blackcanyon]

Picked the crawler up last night after work and it trailers nice. Got there and the old guy started. Ya know the spare tracks are better than I thought blah blah blah. Well what do you want to do then? No complaints when I gave him the cash 2 days before. Long story short I left with the machine and spare tracks in tow but minus the alemite grease gun ( he informed me he was keeping it) whatever! Got what I got but fairly annoyed at him not keeping his word. Oh well people define themselves everyday. Happy with the crawler and search for the proper grease gun continues. 😆

[Frozendozer]

sounds like he was remorseful that he sold the old thing. 

[Blackcanyon]

I get that and understand it and that's why I'm not too bent up about it. Just keeping a grease gun when the only thing you used it for just went down the road seems a little trivial to me.

[Frozendozer]

are you still smiling ?

[Stuart Caruk]

years ago I bought an International 500C for $7500, sitting on the side of a hill with no steering on one side. I figured how much could it cost to fix anyway.... I'll admit I was much younger and dumber then. I got it home and pulled the steering clutch brake assembly for the left and right side. The left side was rusted solid, packed full of mud. I took it to the dealer to see if they could replace it... $8400 at the time. So back to the shop I went and threw the mess in a diesel barrel. I bought new clutch plates, but had the pads waterjet cut. I rebuilt both sides for around $1800. Darned If I didn't drop the linkage from the steering brake when re installing it. that is a royal pain and the reason smart people tie the linkage off with a short hunk of string, so WHEN it comes loose you can find it.

I ended up rebuilding the transmission and replacing a broken track tension spring. Learned how not to get the spring off after blasting it through the shop wall...

All in all it was a great cat, that worked well, but it didn't like to sit. There are little drain plugs in the drive housings that need to be installed when working in the wet, and removed otherwise so moisture can get out of the housing. If not, dirt and mud gets into the steering clutches and brakes and they freeze up. This is a cat that if you use it all the time, runs great. If it sits, you always have steering problems. 

Myself, I sold it, and bought a cat with wet clutches, then switched to other machines as a cat is pretty limited.

[Al_Smith]

Unless you have a lot of money to pay somebody an old crawler becomes a teaching aid all my itself .FWIW I found a couple of Alemite button head grease gun fittings on flea bay last week to the tune of about 20 bucks a pop .I certainly don't need any more because I have two in 3/8 size and one in giant button head for the Caterpillars .Fact I might have more I just can't remember where they are at .
 

[Al_Smith]

Now a story .When I put my shop up in 1995 my dad was 75 years old .To strip the top soil he ran the old Ollie because it was easier to operate and I ran the 1943 Cat D4 which is not easy to operate. Pushing blades almost touching in tandem you can get the combined total capacity of both blades plus about 50 % more .You move a lot of dirt in a hurry if you do it right .
When it came time to lay down the driveway base it took 350 tons of number 1 and 2 stone .They staggered the trucks,5 axles about 15 minutes apart .In a little over 3 hours I leveled all 350 tons with that little gasser .You can't hardly tail gate heavy stone .One of the younger drivers had never seen an Oliver dozer and remarked he'd never seen that small of a machine move that much stone in that length of time .I would make the last pass as the next truck was backing in .So basically about  100 tons per hour .As I reflect back I saved that little gem by a factor of about 1 month from getting cut up for scrape metal .

[krusty]

I have a JD40C with a blade on the front and use it around the house for pushing dirt when needed. It is easy to work on and there are always parts machines when needed if you search high and low.....but that thing moves like a snail. There is no way I would take it to skid anything except in an end of the world situation. Compared to my little TJ200, you will be at least 10x as productive.

I almost sold my little 40C this spring and was about to make a video of it for a buyer and as I was driving it around realized I will only part with that thing when I am dead!

Have no doubt you will enjoy it :D

Some day I should make a video how I get the tracks back on when they come off, usually about 45 minutes a side. Depending how hot it is out. Obviously in a mudhole is a different thing all together.

[Al_Smith]

If I'm not mistaken the model 40 was a refinement of the BO Lindeman (if I got the name correct ) If I got the story correct it was JD B with the track assembly  made  the Lindeman company .That company I think was in Oregon .The ones I'd seen at antique shows had stamped steel tracks not the usual forged steel you see on most tracks .Evidently those little crawlers would hang on the Oregon slopes much better than a wheeled tractor .

[krusty]

There was the early Lindeman models which mine is not, but mine is based off the 40 tractor with the tranny and final drives different of course. The Lindemans seem to be a much more rare machine and have seen only one in a heap once and the guy would not part with it.

[Blackcanyon]

I have a Franklin grapple skidder and know how much more productive it is in comparison to the slowdozer. BUT, I forgot to mention I have a back corner of my property that has a road leading up to it and the way I would describe the road is steep and well, narrower than my tractor and skidder. And it runs the lenght of what I call black canyon. Slow as a snail will suit me fine traveling this 300' piece of trail.

[Al_Smith]

I did a little research on the Lindeman company and found it interesting .It seems they not only had a working relationship with John Deere but also Cletrac and Caterpillar .On the later as late as early designs of the Cat challenger 65 and that when the last surviving Lindeman brother was in his late 80's.
In a way kind of reinforcing the old adage that birds of a feather flock together .