Thanks for the memories. My Dad bought one of these when I was in high school so my brother and I could learn to operate on the same type of machine he learned on. I was 17 years old and clearing land with one of these. I miss those old machines.
I have cut many roads in Southern California and moved some huge boulders with one just like that. I owned two of them, a 7-M and a 3-T both exceptionally good machines. I subsequently ran many newer models as well. But for cutting dirt roads, that cable blade was hard to beat. It is far quicker than hydraulic blades in making exceptionally fine adjustments on the fly and you could finish dirt roads almost as well as a motor grader blade could. I loved these two old machines. An interesting point here, I rebuilt the engine on the 7-M and the tolerances on the pistons are in the hundredths instead of thousandths. You can install the pistons with the rings on them without a ring compressor. That is why I think they lasted so long. You could establish oil pressure with the pony motor before you put the start load on the engine, and if correctly done you never experienced a dry start of the diesel motor, thus extending its life.
I just love the sound of a CAT engine! What an improvement from the time, I just started off as an apprentice operator in the mid 70's until my retirement in 2011. CAT technology and innovations has unbelievably changed the easy operations of their products and different work applications. I always make sure to plan my time for the next ConExpo in Las Vegas, just to keep up with the new & improved equipments from all of the construction manufacturing companies.
Wow , one of the few people that can start an old Cat properly, as in run it on full compression to warm the cylinders up before opening up the fuel. Seen one guy on here give his some start fluid and has always done so to get it going. Interesting seeing a lot of old Cats starting on here with great clouds of smoke and misfiring and all, only because they haven't been warmed up properly, they all should go and read the manual properly in starting procedures.
What a great video. Just loved it. I do have a 1947 cable blade d7 dozer. Engine rebuilt in 1978, but I've only used it for 50 hours. Thinging about rebuilding it again. Every thing is there. Loved your video, perhaps I can get it going again at age 66. It just sits on the property with sticker bushes growing around it. Very sad.
Brilliant film. I tried to buy D7 about 20 years ago it was similar to this machine but the deal fell through, and it would have been a great to have picked your brain for information!
Operated a D7 very much like that back early 60s Same size blade areal bear hauling down the road ,had to angle blade for decent clearance. Shure was fun ,I was in my early 21s wild and crazy.
Nice pony motor! The one on the D7 I ran 50 years ago was a real challenge to get started. If not careful it would backfire and knock you off the track head over heels...
Beautifull machine if you don't have the blade at the precise height it can be a real challenge to get the trunyons in when you angle the dozer blade almost a two man job ! If you are a real cat Skinner it's no trouble 10 minutes and you are chunking out road again. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and your beautifull machine
He’s very stubborn and hardheaded he doesn’t want to fail in front of the camera. He is very proud of that machine you can tell he wants everything to go right even if it leads to pulled back muscle
Well I dont know much at all Unca Pete, but I'd say tightening up your tracks tight enough to play dixie on them is gonna lead you to either broken chains or a track off an idler.....
I agree, tracks too tight. Get either broke pins or bent one's and throw a track. I used to run one on the Erie Canal in the 70's to dig out spill areas for the HD 1 hydraulic dredge between Buffalo and Syracuse. Lots of rough work in Summer heat, but good pay!
That is what I learned to operate with 1952 3T 20560 ex USAF with a 5speed instead of a 3speed. The tracks would try to come off the idlers if you ran it that fast. I was told that it was built to patch bomb craters in runways. That is why it was so fast
Come on guys, nobody is perfect. All in all he has a nice old Cat, and didn't tear the pinion up like so many do. It must have a bad set of catches on the sliding pinion because he is holding it in all the while. I hope he got it sold, and some new buyer on the road to using old Cats.
No wonder he is selling it. Get a little age on you, and climbing up and down, bending over, standing on your head and man handling a blade adjustment, can put you in traction. Been there, done that. The rails appear thin and the sprocket tips are kind of sharp. As others have commented, the extra tight tracks look good, for the video, but not a good idea for working.
Aí é que você precisa de ver aonde começa a experiência do Mecânico operador Eu já cansei de colocar isso aí você tem que mexer na regulagem superior do braço diagonal da lâmina kkk
we had a 1962 d8h-46a the exhaust from the pony motor would blow thru the intake of the diesel engine which would cycle thru the diesel engine and heat it up... but yes on a cold day id just let her spin for awhile with the compression lever off... a truely genius design!
This guy knows what he is doing. So many on here show how to start. And not know a Fart about doing it . Like the Man said. Watch the Oil Pressure ! ! ! . It never will start. Unless there's Oil Pressure.
Tired of seeing people screw of the starting procedure on these pony motor diesel engines. For a cold engine, start pony motor and let it run all by itself until it warms the head up. Then engage the pony motor to start turning diesel over until it has oil pressure. Once it has oil pressure, give it some diesel, once you see it start smoking close the compression release. Shut pony motor off along with gas supply. Everyone seems to be in a hurry to start turning the diesel engine over, it does not do either engine any good to sit there and turn over waiting on it to warm up. If you try to start it too soon, it runs like shit. For engines that run on gas first, let the engine warm up prior to giving it diesel, if you don't wait on it to warm up your just making things hard on it and you.
