Good morning, gentlemen. I have driven by this machine for years and finally decided to stop and have a look. She's pretty big. Maybe a D-8? It is parked at a heavy truck repair shop and I didn't really want to stick around too long with nobody around, so I snapped some quick pics and was on my way. So, anyone care to take a stab at the year and model? Hmmmm.... don't know why I can't upload pics directly here. I don't have a problem on other sites. I just noticed it says D-8 on the winch. D'oh!
Appears to be a D8E 14A model (1954-58) Has added hydraulic tilt on blade.
I think it looks like a D8-14A the floor boards don't look long enough to be a D8-15A and it has to have a front end unit. Mike Nebergall
If you can get a picture of the serial number plate or just get the serial number off the machine then I'm sure someone on here will be able to get you exact information on that machine.
Good morning ACcrazy are you close enough to go back and get a photo of the serial number like 95zIV suggested? I sorta remember, and it's been a long time for me, there was as serial number on the bottom of the dash down next to the floor boards beside the compression release, I dont remember a serial number on that vintage D8 on the back left side of the winch like the 46A's had through the present model tractors of today, the serial numbers there usually stamped there if the serial number tag is missing, look foe the head of the rivets there usually there. Enjoy today. Go look at my question I asked the other day maybe you might be able to answer my question. Mike Nebergall
Definately a 14A, the 15A would have two more gauges for torque converter temperature and pressure. Also the shift pattern is different. S/N locations are on the rear of the steering clutch case (hidden by winch) and the left rear of the main engine behind the pony transmission.
Thanks for all the responses; you guys are great! I have no real reason for wanting this info. other than just curiosity sake. X Quad, yes, I'm close enough to go have another snoop around. Maybe I'll do that and get a couple more pics. On a related note, a riding buddy of mine is gonna show me another old Cat sitting for years out in the woods. We're going for a ride today and that's one of the stops we're making. I'll grab some pics of it as well and post them here.
Have fun hope the other cats in as good shape as the 14A is. Mike Nwbergall
No question that old girl is a 14A. as OM said is correct on the gauges. Also look a little lower on the dash and you’ll see the shifting diagram showing a 5 speed transmission. Kelly
Okay, went by the other old girl yesterday and here she is. Unfortunately, pretty used up and neglected.
Looks like it got left where it died at.
The one in the second set of pics looks like a D8 2U or 13A.
Good morning Buckethead, thats defenately a 13A with that front end unit, and the engine calouing, what a neat find it's a shame that there's not more people in the United States restoring older equiptment when you find something that looks as good as this 13A. Mike Nebergall
Wow, so the second one is a D-8 as well? I thought it might be a 7 because it is quite a bit smaller than the first one. Ya know, it wouldn't be too hard to salvage this old girl; it's only about 50 yards off a 2 lane paved county road. There's a residence not far as well. Some dogs were barking a little way off-- I'm sure because they could hear us crunching around on the dried out leaves and sticks and whatnot. It's unfortunate the exhaust pipe had rotted off and the manifold left uncovered. So there's no doubt the engine's full of water.
Not a Cat but still a cool old dozer left to die of rust. They pulled it off the main logging road after it quit steering. Been there since the '70s. Allis-Chalmers HD-21. My uncle and I tried to buy it in the early '90s but they weren't selling.
That second set of pictures is a regular D8-2U model. 13A's had a different gauge pod arrangement and single seat with wrap around fuel tank. The engine side covers are an optional attachment.
Wish I was close to the Cat in the woods.About a week I would be pushing trees with it.
Always sad when old equipment is left to rot away.
I wish you were too. I'd love to see it animated again. Yes it is, I hate it. It just seems like such a friggin' waste to me.
ACcrazy what a fantastic find it's either a Allis-Chalmers AC21, or AC16, I'm leaning towards the AC21 dozer in the late 50's was the hot push cat, I remember a company in california by the name of Riley & sons, construction they teamed the AC21 with the D8-15A and they were pushing fools pushing DW20, and DW21's, both tractors were torque converters models, I think the AC21 it was a far supperior tractor than the D8-15A or the D8-14A dozers, if you had two new tractors one an AC21, and the other a D8-15A, sitting side by side and you told me to pick one I'm positive I'd walk over to the D8-15A dozer. Those pictures of the AC21, it looks like it has a Caterpillar angle dozer on it? Any body know of a equiptment muesium around ACcrazys area that could be contacted, its a shame to let these three tractors sit where nobody can enjoy them and tell stories of the past. Good luck. Mike Nebergall
Hi Mike. Yeah, it's definately an HD-21. It's a big son-of-a-gun. We used to have an HD-16 cable blade machine. My uncle was the one who ran it and he said he preferred it to the comparable Cats of the time. He said he liked the power and the side-hilling ability over other machines. It had the Buda 6 cylinder. I think the 21 that's sitting has the Buda as well but it was running a turbo. We would still have the 16 if my uncle hadn't passed away in '99. He was only 50--lymphatic cancer. It needed bearings in the right idler but other than that, it was a great running machine. My cousin (his son) decided to sell it without the rest of us knowing, for the pricely sum of $1000.00.......I coulda killed him......especially since he had nothing to do with it----my mom and grandmother owned it. Well, enough of that. lol. I never thought about looking into a museum or historical society. That's a good idea.
ACcrazy I worked around a lot of Allis-Chalmers, the twin scraper 562's and the AC21 dozers, and I even had the privelage to run a brand new Allis-Chalmers 555 rubber tire dozer and the sound of the Allis -Chalmer's engines that Buda was a healthy sounding motor, it had it's own healthy sounding bark I could listen to it all day. The other engine that had it's special bark for me was the first 657's front engine that V8 sounded great. When Caterpillar came out withe the B model front motor that was a sick sounding motor to me, it didn't bark it it pured, it sounded awful and I have the same feeling about the front motors on the newer 657's today the V12's don't do it for me, especially scence the inveriamentalst got hold of the Caterpillar motors. I hope I haven't affended anybody, but give me the first 657's made. Mike Nebergall
Mike, I completely agree with you regarding the way the Buda engines sound. Healthy is a good way to describe them. I love the way they sound. I don't know if it was the firing order or what but they sounded like they were turning considerably more RPM than their competition. And smoother sounding. Our old 16 was an animal. That thing could really push some dirt and pull a turn. I wish I would have had the forsight to take some pictures when we logged our property the last time in '93. I was the choker setter and my uncle the faller and cat skinner. The turns we were pulling out with that machine were really something. The property isn't flat either, it's very steep. It was pure joy watching that thing walk out of the "canyon" pulling a monster load at full song with an orange glow visable out of the stack when the sun was going down. Man, I miss that... My uncle was a killer operator as well. It was fun just to stand back and watch him run that thing.
ACcrazy, your statement, Our old 16? was that a skidder, or were you talking about the stiffneck 16 motorgrader? I had a 824 rubber tire dozer in the early 80's, I had lost the engine in, and I had a rear engine sitting out of one of my 657B's thats 460 horse power, where the motor out of the 824 I think was 225 horse power, so I switched engines, the pumps, the starter, the aftercoolers, everything, but the way the turbo sits on the exhaust we put it into the 824 just the way it would go back into the 657, what a difference the 460 horse power made, pulling a 5X5 tamper fully loaded with water that 824 we could actually pull that tamper in third gear mixing and that dozer blade pushing dirt and it was actually coming over the top of the dozer, don't get the wrong idea here we didn't use third gear, we always used second gear working, we tried third gear one time testing the power it was scary, the good part about the story is the turbo sitting out on top of the hood, not like the regular 824's motor where the turbo sits in front of the motor under the hood, it cured all the heating problems that 824 the tempture never was any higher than the 1/4 mark in the green on the tempture gage. Mike Nebergall
Mike That sounds like a fun 824 to run. Whose was it? Do you know how long it lasted?
I had 22 rigs of my own 657's, 637's, 824's, 966 loader, 980 loader, 8L's, D8H's 33000 serial number, that was my 824 I was talking about and it ran a good five years, what a runner. Mike Nebergall
Sounds like a nice sized operation.
Mike, when I said "our old 16" I meant an HD-16 dozer. It was a mid to late '50s model we guessed. The vin tag was missing when we bought it. It was a cable blade with manual tilt and a nice Carco winch in the back.
More pics of forgotten and neglected Cats. These are only a few miles from my house in a private subdivision, which seems to have stalled according to a gentleman who lives next door to these machines.
I like the custom canopy /sweeps on the D-7. Looks like they have been sitting a while. I would like to have a D-8 winch cat like the first one. It would come in handy a few times a year. Too bad that here in Kalifornia, we are not allowed to buy a used machine like that legally any longer.
Looks like the first dozer I ever ran back in the day. This one looks like the blade in front has difficulty going up and down, but, hey, I've got some issues there, too. There's a winch on the back end, unlike my old dozer. But in all fairness, I've got some hemmohoids in my rear end that sometimes feel like a winch line is attached. And I'm down with that fabulous round canopy, having been something of a rounder myself back in the day. Something, or somebody, hits you, it tends to bounce off easier than being square. I know everybody has identified this dozer as CAT, but, really, it looks more like a Humdinger Model 101 made in the late forties by Oldpharts Manufacturing of Outback, AU. G'day. :drinkup