Hello. I'm trying to do some research for my Father, who is 89. He has a Cat dozer and the only serial number he can find is 5U811. It's an old dozer. He would like to find more information on it, such as the weight and how old it is. Everything I've seen requires a 7 or 8 digit serial number. Any help you could offer would be appreciated. Thank you ~
5U prefix means D2, from '57-'58. 5870 lbs. 38 HP. Direct Drive transmission.
That could be all the serial number there is. 5U is the major prefix, tells what it is, and then the rest is actually the "serial" part of it. So it would be #811 of them built.
That Serial Number would have been true back when the machine was originally built, because the number of machines produced was so small. Today it would be written as 5U00811, or more correctly 05U00811. For a machine from that time frame it may pay you to register on the ACMOC (Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club) web site. https://www.acmoc.org/ I'm sure there will be someone on that site who would be able to supply detailed information and answer any questions your father may have.
That is quite impressive, thank you ~
Thank you for your reply as well ~
D2-5U811 Built in 1948