My grandfather bought his cat 12 in 1950 new. I spent teens riding with him in summers. Front tires are backwards so they wear even and don’t cup out. He saved worn tires to use when he spread asphalt to leave fewer marks. Had no cab just an umbrella. I ended up running graders for 30 years. Loved it.
That is awesome! I just picked up a 1965 12E... Its gonna need some work, but there are a LOT of similarities to that one! You'll see it soon! I really enjoyed and appreciate the walk around of that old girl! Glad to see it still working for a living!
We have had that machine for 30 years. The only nuts and bolts that haven't been out of that blade is the starting engine. New trans, diesel engine, chain cases and front end. She will start at -30 with ease. Got a snow wing for it too.
Love it love it love it!!!! You know me and graders. You are correct left gear shift is gear selection right side is high low. The only thing that ya goofed on was the pinion controls haha, unlike the early style where you had two separate control levers for engaging the starting pinion, these later in cab ones had just one control lever for both the pinion brake and the engagement. The other lever next to it is the decompression lever. Don’t know why I have such an addiction to graders and scrapers but I do, great to see this one still getting used everyday, just shows the longevity of Caterpillar. A little dirt never hurt!
I used to play with a Cat 212 which was the little sister of the 12. It had the power steering, scarifier and knuckle buster controls. I say play because I was on 17 and the builder I worked for only used it to grade the driveway as the clutch was worn. It was nice as it had the same engine and pony as the D2s we had. Thanks for the walk around as it brought back memories.
Thats a Good looking Old Grader...Someone old School took care of that. Greasing it and just taking good care of her...They were a beast. Great Video...
I ran an old #12 for our township about 45 years ago. One heck of a machine. My elbows never completely recovered from that “knuckle buster “ gearbox!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Love these old machines built for work with reliability and durability all thrown in and has been shown with regular maintenance will keep on giving 💪💪and no worries of a many thousands of dollars machine grinding to a halt due to a blown fuse 🙄😳🤣🤣great video 👍
I operated a 120 in the late 70's early 80's. Not only knuckle buster it'll also jar you elbows pretty good. Love the sound of that Cat engine especially when you let off the pedal. Had a deep growling sound. Also ran a Case 580B backhoe. Really miss running and hearing those two. Enjoy the channel especially the detail explanations of how you do things, almost like being in a class.
Man those are definitely my all time favorite road grader! The series 12. I remember as a kid growing up in my neighborhood back in the early to mid 70s playing or pretending that I was driving one of those!👌😂👍they where redoing the roads back then! Ever since then I was hooked! She’s definitely a beauty!
Cool! Thanks for sharing. An observation on backwards treads. My nephew's 1000 bushel grain cart I operate during harvest has the tractor style tread tires on backwards. I never gave it much thought until my son in law who operates a grain cart also said theirs has knobby tread on it and when they get into wet fields the tires stop turning and start pushing mud ahead of the wheels. I can only surmise that the backwards tractor tread bites into the slimy mud and keeps the wheels turning and as you say helps with cleaning the tire off.
That's Clean well, kept old grader. You don't see many of those anymore. Shame you didn't peek at the engine hours, could have been interesting. TGP Retired IUOE
4:14 common stuff for rail road maintenance. I know a company that services a commercial line between a steel factory and the main rail road and they basically either run tube tires with an inner liner that spaces the tube from the tire or solid tires. And they are all, chewed up to heck and back. On the day i visited, there was a square masonry nail fully embedded into the a solid tire.
My grandfather owned a lot of those old Cat 12 graders. Plowed snow with them often, and always had at least one with the cable lift side wing. Him and my uncle would plow the local subdivision.
now if I can remember they had a 8spd 2spd reverse it's been awhile and the way shoulders are screwed up I don't think I can operated those old knuckle buster controls anymore lol
Yep use mine on a every other day basis too. Very reliable and they run great and very smooth. Got a 54’ and a 59’. The 59’ was switched to electric start. The 54’ still has pony motor that works great in cold weather. Glad to see you checking those units out
For decades, the Cheyenne WY airport was plowed with a pair of number 12’s, and was never closed due to snow. After acquiring mega dollar Oshkosh plows, and an administration with the philosophy of not plowing till the snow stopped, that changed. Sigh….. Thanks for the tour of a great old blade.
Man - very cool that it is still in use today. I wonder if it is the original engine or if it has been rebuilt. My guess is it's been rebuilt, but likely everything was well maintained!
Neat Toby enjoyed that walk around used to operate an identical Cat 12 here in New Zealand it was complete with hydraulic side shift operated it for a time on haul road maintaince and road construction on the Benmore dam project in New Zealand enjoy your videos especially the rebuild of the Cat D2 and your farm projects Regards Les
I think the CATERPILLAR font still visible under the coating of oil and dust on the D318 is my favorite feature on this machine. Great walk around. Thank you!
Awesome, I bought an older 12 then this one plus a 955 track loader at the same time there 1950 somethings. All the controls are on the side of the motor on the motorgrader. Thank you very much for this very informative video please continue with your video,they have helped me alot in fixing my equipment.
Back in the early 1950's our county road department added "roadway elevator attachments" to two caterpillar motor graders. They were mounted where the blade normally attaches and consisted of a large single disk plow and a conveyor belt. I never knew how the the conveyor was powered but the machines appeared to be very efficient.
My dad had a heater out of a motor grader that he used to heat a homemade pickup camper. I did not know what brand it was, but it looks just like the one in this model 12. It had two 6 volt fans and put out way too much heat to keep a camper shell warm.
Looks like your guys chapter needs to reach out to someone like Titan tire for some grader tire donations. A lot of farm channels i watch, Titan has donated tractor tires to; Welker farms, Cole the cornstar, etc.
I had a 70D and the linkage broke in the cab start lever and fell into the clutch. I had to remove the engine and fix clutch forks etc. Caterpillar found me a new linkage even though it didn't show in the parts book. I now have a 71 D which is the direct start version.
Another reason to put tyres on backwards is because they wear better on hard surfaces, not sure if it matters much for a non drive tyres but it makes a big difference for drive tyres on paved roads with chevron tyres.
very nice looking grader it's nice to see that it is still in service. When I was on the township board a few years ago the grader operator told me that in the heavy clay soil roads the smooth tired machines actually are easier to control the cut depth because of the smooth face it's not digging into the road bed and he said it rides smoother on road trips between townships he used to run the Cat 12 machines until he got hired men now he runs champion graders
Speaking of floorboard dimmer switches did you know the state is trying to outlaw the steering column dimmer switch Too many Aggies getting their feet Tangled up in the steering wheel
Don's Tractor & Equipment Sales in Alpena, Mi has one of these looking for a new home. I think it is an older model and needs some love but, for someone looking for parts or a project it is mostly there.
They sure don’t make ‘‘em like they used too. Operate a Cat mini EX. Only one year and 500 hours. Ignition switch broken twice. Blade control… broken linkage. I don’t even know why the company keeps buying them. We have 6 inoperable at the yard because “operators” keep running them low on oil until they blow up. Modern machine and no sensor… 🤷♂️
Question about the final drive, as it appears to be a walking beam type rear end is there only a single diff and drive chains between the front and rear axles
I just bought two 8T cat 12 graders. One runs, the other is complete and has had both exhaust stacks covered. He bought the non runner for parts from a friend who said both motors were good. Ive had a few d4’s and now have a cable D8 that runs. Ive never had this series motor or pony. Other than the fuel rack and making sure everything has oil and checking all sumps for water, is there anything in particular I should look for before trying to start it? Thanks for any advice you can give me! Michael
