Been looking at dozers and found a couple I like. The cleaner one does not have blade tilt on a straight blade but the price may be right (depending on costs to add tilt). I did a cursory search on the interwebs for a used tilt cylinder but surprisingly didn't see a bunch for D6's. The bare cylinders I did see online were about 1/5 of the price of the asking price for the dozer without any hardware! Maybe I'm not just looking in right spot? So just curious if adding a tilt cylinder to an older Cat was straightforward and common or just not worth the $$.
I think the D6c I have originally didn't have a tilt cylinder. Unless yours has a two valve hyd tank you'll have to replace it and find all the associated linkage and hydraulic lines. On a D6c to the tilt is on a pedal...D6D has a joy stick for lift and tilt. If you swap hyd tanks be sure to get one for your s/n. Mine has an older incorrect model and the filler neck is in a different position than the right one and they cut out the hood to fit. My lines are a bit of a cobbled job too. Best to get a parts book so you can tell exactly what's correct. Incidentally, I converted my pedal tilt to D6D joy stick.... not an easy job but I like it.
Some of the 6c's did have tilt blades, they were controlled by peddles under the left foot, mounted where the left foot rest is. On the 6d's the tilt is on the blade control lever
on craigslist portland oregon he wreaks equipment has d6c that has tilt on it https://images.craigslist.org/01717_g0ClWn1snr9_0CI0t2_600x450.jpg phone # 503 781 3725 / shannon
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I figured there were boneyards out there full of these things but have no idea how to look for them. If I go the route of adding tilt to a dozer, I'd do it in the most economical way, mainly because it'll be a ranch dozer and not used to make a living. Was hoping that most Cats were built with a standard pump/manifold layout that you could easily tie into for adding a single cylinder operation But it sounds like Cat used specific parts for tilt and non-tilt dozers so maybe it's not as straightforward or simple as I hoped. I'm assuming there is a constant high pressure port or line I can tap into and just add my own valve- is that possible? D6c10k- I passed up on a clean 10K a couple years ago and I'm kicking myself for letting it go. It was going at a premium but I passed on it because it didn't have the turbo (minor gripe) and an angle blade (no tilt which was the real reason I passed). From my research, it's not possible to make an angle blade into a tilt, even it's for light work so I passed. That 10K was one of the first ones I looked at it and didn't realize most other D6's for sale would be either worn out or had a major trans or engine issue. Looking back I should have bought it and been happy pushing cedar and making roads in the Texas Hill country. I think I 'need' tilt more than I 'want' tilt as I'd be cutting roads with ditches, cutting/clearing drainage lines to the stock tank, etc. I wouldn't be pushing hardwoods, popping stumps, or ripping so maybe I'm just being too picky.
If the machine has the required ports on the control block its very easy to convert an angle blade to power tilt. Remove the 2 turn buckles and fit 2 rams, Only adding 1 ram won't work.
Tones- I'm gonna show my ignorance but I thought you couldn't tilt angle blades due to their 5 points of contact. A straight blade will tilt when you extended one of it's 4 points of contact but that's only because those 4 points of contact are on the outside corners of the blade. On an angle blade, the center trunnion (the fifth point of contact) won't allow that. In essence, you'd have to change the length of all 4 outer contact points of an angle blade to tilt it or run the risk of breaking a trunnion or such.
Either it wasn't a 10k or someone had removed the turbo. Pretty sure all 10ks had turbos.
The early 10K didn't have turbos unless they were set up as real high altitude machines. Bob
LA; You may find this interesting. HeavyEquipmentForums
Wasn't aware of that, being used to my late 10k
There are turnbuckels that attach to the top end of the blade, some may have a steel bar going through them. When you manually angle the blade the back, end of is lower than the forward end is higher so turning them out or in levels the blade. As I wrote above leveling is then done fron the seat. The 2 rams need to be plumbed so they work opposite to each other.
That thread is mostly a load of crap. Bob
I have had several D6C's. All 10ks.Some were naturally aspirated and some were turbo. I'm guessing It was ordered by the customer at that point for a particular application. And I currently have one with an angle blade with tilt on it as well. But I do believe mine was an addition. I have read the caterpillar offered a kit to do such At that time.
I'm familiar with the turnbuckles but I thought those were just for tipping the blade forward/backward to adjust the cutting angle. I heard you could use them to add a slight tilt to an angle blade but they weren't designed for that. Obviously I'm learning and have a long ways to go so thanks for the patience. On a side note, I did find this video on a dealer's website showing tilt in action. Makes sense now that I see it working.
No wuckin furries. Kind of figured you're a newbie.
Why is that Bluox ? I only read it to post #3. If there is bad/wrong information anyone reading it especially LCA078 should know.
Turbos came on at # 10K 5984 up , early machines could have a field add on normalizing turbo for high altitude operation. Bob
I burned my fair share of diesel and busted my knuckles wrenching more than I care to remember but I'm a newbie to dozers for sure. So...how much tilt can I get in typical D6C/D angle blade just using the turn buckles?
Enough tilt to work , its an extravagance to have two tilt rams , I've seen plenty of single tilt rams fitted on angle blades , works no different than a hand turned turnbuckle arm . If your dozer does not have the right number of outlets for the ram consider a diversion valve . Using a inline valve would shut off your lift/drop while you are changing tilt but its luxury to be able to move tilt in the seat compared to getting off to move tilt .
Well, I wish I would known all this when I looked at the 10K I mentioned earlier. I heard Cat made more than a handful of D6's so I'm sure another one will show up sometime.
It will always work better with two , but well with one side when a single ram is fitted . I've seen a few D4's and a D5 retrofitted , fella with the D5 broke his at least once . One local changed a D47U , head start as diverter valve's was already on it , that may have been standard as both of mine had them .
There is nothing more frustrating when pushing dirt, especially topsoil up a steep slope and not be able to shake the dirt off the blade. More times than I care to think about, I backed down slopes with half the dirt I pushed up came back down with me. Double tilt cylinders on the blade would have to increase production in that situation immensely.
I see. Thanks