I mentioned the post about the military Cats up for sale with extremely low hours to a guy at work. I said one was a 1987 with only 30 hours on it but he figures there's no way Cat would have any parts for it so it's not worth much. I said Cat still supplies some parts for machines built in the 50's but would have lots of parts for an 87. He said call up Finning and I bet they wouldn't have anything for an 87 machine because Cat couldn't make any money having parts in stock for older machines. I tried to explain that's one the best benefits of buying older cat machines over some other brands. I know some parts have been discontinued but I'd bet for a D7G most parts would be readily available. Cat makes billions selling parts. Curious what some of you guys with older machines have to say regarding cat parts availability for machines built in the 80's and older. I think for some companies it doesn't pay to have big inventories but Cat didn't get their reputation by not having parts.
I agree Cat supplies older machines very well not only do they have all the parts for our 1979 d8k usually next day at latest if I want to save money on a classic part which they offer a lot for on that machine sometimes its an extra day also several other pieces of 80s vintage extremely good parts support
I'd bet money you can get any thing you want even at a cheaper price thru Cat classic.
1987 Cat D7G ? Heck .... At that age the tractor is just getting broke in That tractor was very popular . Only decision you may have to make is what brand name of parts you want . Cat supports it well as do other manufacturers . It's the small block chevy of dozers .... What color would you like the replacement part painted . Mid 1970's Fiat - Allis & International tractors are somewhat of a challenge finding parts .
According to my Cat Performance Handbook, they made d7G's up until 1986. They were (are) a very popular tractor worldwide. I sure enjoyed both that I ran, and the 3306 engine was one of the most reliable, and is also used in many other pieces of equipment. 140G, 966F, 627s just to name a few (if memory serves).
I just thought it strange he thought Cat wouldn't have parts. A lot of places selling parts don't keep them in stock but it's like comparing apples to oranges when it comes to heavy equipment parts and Cat usually delivers although the parts can be pricey. Pricey is still better than not available though.
The local CAT shop in Conroe has been able to get everything I've needed through CAT Houston, 1979 D3, I've bought engine parts, lift cylinder rebuild kits, all the filters, mechanical linkage parts for throttle/shifter, starter rebuild kit, seat, duo cone seals, armrest, they also had sprockets and chains which I should have bought instead of aftermarket, the only thing they couldn't get so far was the battery tray box, I ended up making a heavy duty version myself with 0.125 steel sheet, These old machines may be low tech but they sure are tough, seems I'm slowly working my through the whole machine.
I got a short tightly bent hyd. line for the hoe on my 931B a few years ago and the hoes weren't very common. The only thing I haven't been able to get is a new flip over seat cushion for the backhoe but an upholstery shop made a new wood base for me. It cost a couple hundred bucks but I'm sure a new Cat seat would have been at least double. LoL
I have bought new parts last year for a CAT 60 from the Dealers, nothing to fancy but its from around the 1930 spot so a D7G series is not going to be a drama. tctractors
1987 isn't that old when it comes to Cat parts.
Shouldnt be a problem, I can get parts for the D318 engine on my crusher that was built in the 40s, the next day if I need it that quick. They might have to get the book out cause its not in the computer system lol. Now on the other hand the komatsu dealer tells me that this or that is no longer avalable for my loader that is an 01 and I should buy a new one, so I tell them that if I did buy a new one, it wouldnt be a komatsu.
I have worked on several older cat ex military machines. If the serial number identifies it as former military, the machine can be some what odd. parts are available but hard identify just what is needed joe
All basic drive train parts are the same. The military has some add on differences and the newer ones have less pollution controls but the drive trains are identical. There is a current post on the ACMOC site about these low hour machines and in that post there is a attachment consisting of a factory service bulletin that shows the civilian number match for the military machines to use for ordering parts, repair manuals, etc.
You could try www. http://www.equipmentparts.com or just get the phone number off the website and call Abe he know quite a bit about older CAT machines.
www.offroadeq.com/ is also a good source. Off-road Equipment can get pretty much anything in the way if parts for non-current Cat models
Cat are the best parts availability in the world in my opinion.
I ordered an air conditioning vent for my 311 cu, took 6 days to get to me via Australia (air freight) If the stars align right and you break down in the morning (Mon to Wed) then you can get it in 2 days. Now John Deere (ag)can get parts air freight ex Australia next day to same location. I do like the ability to send a part number for a hydraulic hose and get it the next day and it fits! no twisting or bending!
If it was a Cat hose it would be no more than a couple of hours because if they were given the Part Number the dealer would make it in their shop for collection.....
That works 99% of the time with Cat. I had one hose for the transmission on a 769C that when made up by the part number it was just a hair off and it was either a -16 or -20 hose that was only about 18 inches long with elbow on both ends! When I "encouraged" it to fit it was kinked almost half collapsed! They insisted it was made to spec`s. Good thing I had a good reputation with them and they agreed to assemble the hose leaving one end un-crimped. I then installed it temp. and adjusted the un-crimped end so hose fit right then used paint stick to mark hose to fitting. Hose then returned to Cat to be crimped. A bit of a pain but as the dealer is a half hour ride away not that bad. Would hate to have to deal with that with the lead times Coastiebro has to deal with! That's assuming they have the ends, seems like when you really need the hose right away they have everything except the one odd angled fitting for one end. But again in our case that only means waiting for an over night delivery from York PA warehouse. Like I've said before I was spoiled rotten as far as Cat goes with the availability of parts. And the company had it good as they did not have to stock hardly any spare parts other than a few of the real common hoses and a change or two of filters. Every so often someone would start talking about how we should get our own hose crimping machine to make up hoses when we need them. I just could not see where it would make sense in our case. With the amount of stock we would need in hose and fittings to be able to make up even 80% of the hoses we would have thousands of dollars tied up. Not to mention the shop space for the machine and tools. The only thing we would be saving would be the down time of running to Cat or the Aeroquip dealer both of which were within a 40 minute drive away.
The cat dealer here is more of "resident mechanic " status than branch so things like hoses and parts are on a as needed basis. I did work for them a few years back as I am also a qualified diesel mechanic. Was a bit of a one man band pulling a loader trans in the morning, in between numerous phone calls and the odd customer, then into the bush/forest or quarry. Being one of the more remote areas 3 hrs from next Cat branch where I would get extra guys to assist with workload we were on our own. The tooling was there to make hoses but no staff. The directive from head office was not to compete with hose repair businesses, but keep core customers going. That was over 3 years ago, still like the Cat product (have a 311cu)