What dozers did you operate? I have been watching Clint at C&C equipment for about a year. He buys non-operating dozers at auctions and by word of mouth and rebuilds them. He has a Utube channel and posts the progress on his current projects. Back years ago my wife took care of a bunch of horses for a local farmer and his girl friend. One day I noticed 2 large dozers near the horse barn. He told me the Komatsu would do 25% more work on 25% less fuel than the Cat. I was skeptical! then I started looking them over. The Komatsu was new and the Cat was built in 1948.
Now this is a 'Gun' -- 220mm M1 Cannon!
- Thread starter Tesoro
- Start date
Hmm.. the ones I saw felt like they were rock hard. Must be some super hard and tough 'rubber'! Now I know thx!
I grew up logging in 'cat world'. Mainly 7's and 6's. The forest service didnt like 8's for skidding because of the size of the skid roads needed. There were 'better' dozers out there with planetary drives so to turn you would reduce power on one side and add power to the other. The cats of my era would turn by disengaging the clutch on the turn side, thus losing power when you needed it the most. Not so great for dragging a huge pile of logs around a bend back to the landing, or for cutting in roads. But the cats were thick skinned and took the beatings. A case dozer with planetary drive, for instance, would wind up looking like it rolled down a mountain after one season. I did work for one outfit in the late 70's where they used Komatsu dozers and the experienced operators loved them but got ridiculed by the old schoolers. The main reason why we stuck with old tech was the owner/operators knowing how to work on their machines and owning the necessary imperial tools. To switch to 'better' Jap/metric machines meant starting at the bottom of the mechanic learning curve and needed all new tools and spare parts. Most loggers needed to be able to repair their own equipment for economic reasons. I owned a Komatsu track log loader and it would load logs that the next sized up cat loader would handle. It was also more nimble to operate and quicker. I got a great deal on it because it had a decelerator pedal, which everyone used to cats didnt like, even though the decelarator made more sense and was less tiring on the foot after a 12 hr day. ( imagine an accelarator foot pedal where it is in idle when pushed to the floor and then accelerates as you let it up)
My buddy from high school worked for the local cat dealer and sent me pictures of a D10 or D11 they sent to a quarry that is close to my house, Palm Beach Aggregates. They sent 5 tractor trailers from Cat with all the parts to assemble the dozer. The local Cat dealer sent 5 guys and a crane crew of two and a fairly large hydro crane and it took over a week to get it assembled and running. I saw on Utube a story about Cat's new D12, i assume that they had to come out with the D12 because Komatsu had a bigger dozer than the D11.
snert
Silver $$ Contributor
I will never forget the Sunday morning when I saw a semi truck coming toward me in his lane on a state two lane, and a large cloud of dust behind him...
My first indication something wasn't "right" was the look on the driver's eyes...which were about the size of pie plates. he kept looking in the right mirror and he slowed , but not really fast enough, for the light at the intersection. It was then that I saw A VERY large Cat on the side of the road passing him. He was timing his possible right hand juke to stop the Cat that had side slipped off his flatbed onto the berm some 150 yards previous in the 50 MPH zone. Both the semi and the Cat stopped without fanfare just shy of the intersection red light, with only me and the truck driver there to witness it all.
Ya, he got a butt load of tickets for unsafe transport....
I got a memory never to fade.
It was a BIG Cat, blade a little wider than the flatbed semi...
My first indication something wasn't "right" was the look on the driver's eyes...which were about the size of pie plates. he kept looking in the right mirror and he slowed , but not really fast enough, for the light at the intersection. It was then that I saw A VERY large Cat on the side of the road passing him. He was timing his possible right hand juke to stop the Cat that had side slipped off his flatbed onto the berm some 150 yards previous in the 50 MPH zone. Both the semi and the Cat stopped without fanfare just shy of the intersection red light, with only me and the truck driver there to witness it all.
Ya, he got a butt load of tickets for unsafe transport....
I got a memory never to fade.
It was a BIG Cat, blade a little wider than the flatbed semi...
If you like Clint and you like older equipment, check out Scrappy Industries youtube channel. For a young guy, he is very smart in knowledge, the ability to figure out old systems he encounters, and his machining and shop ability. He even has the best video I've seen of how to shift a twin stick Mack transmission.
Back in the early 2000's I had two old Remington's for sale on Gunbroker (an 81, and a 141). This guy in FL bought the 81 and I made a deal with him to take the 141 also. We talked on the phone and he indicated he was retired military and was doing consultant work that involved in devising a way to extend track life on tanks. I mentioned that if he watched each pad as it starts around the drive sprocket, it accelerates. On a dozer in dirt, it makes no difference, on a tank on a hard surface, like asphalt, it will accelerate wear and there is no way to stop that action. He said he never thought of that angle.
I guess this hard rubber was the solution they chose.
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