Hello all, I'm about to buy a D4D dozer and am not sure of the year the serial # is 83J484 could someone please tell me what year it is? and roughly what it's worth? It's in pretty good condition, no leaks, pins/tracks/pads etc all look to be in very good shape it has a 3 speed I guess hydrostatick trans because there is no clutch just a lever on the left side that say forward/reverse 1,2,3 thanks so much for any help
My book says 83J started in 1969 with sn.00556 ?
Mine too shopguy, it might be a 1968. That is a powershift transmission, w/ a torque convertor, it's about 25 or 30 years before hydrostatics. A hydrostatic transmission consists of a hydraulic pump driving a hydraulic motor. It's value depends a lot on what kind of dozer is on it, straight, powertilt, angle, etc. I don't think these were offered w/ a 6 way.
thanks for the year info the blade does angle left and right do u know rougly what it's worth? also were the powershift trans any good?
Dapperdan, your D4D was built in 1968. Production of your model D4D tractor in 1968 was 83J00359 to 83J553. It has a 4.5" bore model D330 engine, and the transmission is the 3 speed, Cat planetary "powershift" transmission. This driveline contains a Cat "torque divider", with a transmission containing 5 multi-plate clutch packs mounted around planetary gearsets behind the torque divider. The torque divider is a patented Cat torque converter attached to a planetary gearset, that reduces power losses through the torque converter. There are 3 speed clutch packs and 2 directional clutch packs in the transmission, and they're engaged in selected sequence by the gear lever. Positioning the gear lever directs oil pressure from a engine-driven pump, into an annular piston in the clutch pack, which clamps the clutch plates together in each appropriate speed and directional clutch pack, to engage them. They're a very good transmission, but expensive to overhaul when old. The value of the tractor is highly dependent on the number and type of attachments and the condition of the undercarriage. If you have no experience in examining crawler tractor undercarriage, then you need to source someone with that experience to give you a critical assessment of the undercarriage. Undercarriage can "look good", but can have hidden, costly problems if you have little to no experience with crawler tractors. There are two types of undercarriage - "Dry" and "Sealed & Lubricated" ("SALT" tracks). Most older tractors still run dry undercarriage. The SALT undercarriage can be ID'ed by the large recessed rubber plug in the center of the pin. One of the major factors with dry undercarriage is ensuring you understand pin and bushing wear and exactly when a pin and bushing turn is needed. Too many owners drive crawlers for too long without checking pin and bushing wear levels - and if you wear the pins and bushing excessively on the first side, it is then uneconomic to turn them, and you seriously increase your undercarriage operating costs. There is a problem, of course, that nowadays, track shops that can do dry pin and bushing turns are becoming hard to find - with the result that many people do not turn pins and bushings. This is usually false economy with the older-style dry undercarriage. The newer SALT undercarriage rarely requires a pin and bushing turn, and they are usually run to destruction without turning the pins and bushings. Check the Machinery Trader and Rock and Dirt sites for asking prices for your model of tractor to get a feel for asking prices.
wow great info OZdozer, thanks so much, I am aware of checking the undercarriage on a dozer and this one has had the pin's and bushings turned it has the dry type not sure what you meant about the number and type of attachments I'm guessing you meant winch/ripper etc it has neither it just has a a power tilt blade and the dozer is in very good condition for it's age I can pick it up for $4,000 which is a hell of a deal even if it needed work, it's a long story how I am getting it at this price. I have checked on prices but they are all over the place ranging from $8,000 up to $16,500 thats why I was asking on here what the machine is worth
The one i had (78A) was the manual angle blade but not for long i changed it to a st. with tilt, big job but worth the trouble.
Shopguy did you like the D4d you had? was it a strong machine?
Yea it was a good old cat,
Dapperdan, if you can acquire a D4D in reasonable condition for the kind of money you're talking, I'd be busting my gut to get the greenbacks pressed into the sellers hand, before he changed his mind! You couldn't possibly go wrong at that amount of $$'s. These are a very good, reliable tractor. The D4D was the first small Cat to be re-designed and classified as a "Construction" Cat, rather than an "Agricultural" Cat, as all the smaller Cats were, previously. The D4D has twin chassis rails supporting the tractor driveline, as compared to its predecessor, the D4C, which was "unit construction" - with one huge casting comprising the clutch housing, the transmission housing, the steering clutch housing, and the final drive housings. Yes, by "attachments", I meant whether the tractor had hydraulics, a blade, ripper, winch, canopy, or any other useful device fitted, that improves a tractors versatility. A bare tractor is only good for hauling. You can get one, two or three valve hydraulic systems on Cats of this era - so you could operate up to three separate hyd items - typically, blade, tilt ram, and ripper. A tractor with a 3-valve hyd system is worth more than a tractor with a single or 2-valve hyd system.
thanks so much for the info guys espically OZdozer for going into detail about the tractor
OZdozer one more question, sorry. what did you mean by A bare tractor is only good for hauling?? because this D4D I'm gonna get is bare, no ROPS, no ripper, no winch,. it just has a power angle blade I'm not complaining for that kind of money though, I still think $4k is an incredible deal for this machine. thanks again for your wealth of knowledge, I'm guessing you are a heavey equipment mechanic
A bare tractor has no blade. I agree, if it runs and you can get it for $4000, jump!
A bare tractor is just that - a crawler tractor with no blade, no attachments of any kind, just a drawbar. All of the real early Cats were just used for hauling - scrapers, towed graders, ag equipment. Then a few guys got the idea of mounting attachments such as hydraulics, blades & rippers to make the tractor much more versatile. I left school at 16 to join my brother in the family earthmoving business, where we owned just one tractor - a beat-up old Allis Chalmers HD11. From that start, we went on to own 5 Cats, doing agricultural and local Govt earthmoving, before we moved over into mining. I learned how to fix Cats hands-on - plus a 100 other different items of equipment, because good mechanics were hard to find. I spent a large amount of time working with some of the best Cat field servicemen around. The brother, his wife and I, became the States biggest privately-owned mining contractors by 1995, with 55 machines, all mostly between about 20 and 100 tonnes in operating weight. We employed around 65 people on average. By that time, I couldn't spend much time hands-on - but I sure did oversee a vast amount of repairs, and had to make a lot of judgement calls. We didn't buy a lot of new equipment, we mostly bought good used and looked after it. The brother and his wife and I parted company in the mid 1990's, and I went on to buy and sell and repair a lot of smaller items of equipment. I retired in 2003 with Vietnam war-related injuries stopping me from working full time any more. I spend my time nowadays doing some restoration work on old forklifts, an old loader - and I also have a couple of 1930's Chevy's that I am slowly restoring. When I don't feel like working, I spend some time helping other guys with problems, on forums! I've always believed that we are here to help other people, encourage them, and make their lives easier with knowledge-sharing, if we can. If you spend all your time being bitter or angry, or trying to drag other people down - you're wasting your life, and you'll end up with nothing to show for your lifes efforts when you get to the other side - as we all must surely do.
Hi OzDozer, I haven't got the Chevy's but I have aquired an old forklift & thinking about buying my neighbours old clark loader & with my 3 fiat ad7 to resto - I guess somehow I have been bitten by the old machinery bug! Thanks for sharing your knowledge - too much of it gets forgotten & not enough people care to want to know it these days. Jimbob
Hey Oz it was interesting to get the biographical info. I always wonder about the guys here who seem to know which end of the dozer the blade's on. Just interesting to see the different routes people take to get their knowledge.
Ozdozer, I can't thank you enough for all of your knowledge about the D4D and also thank you for your service in the military, it just proves that there are still good people in this world.
D4D is an exellent little dozer. Spent plenty of time on inside and outside of them. Capable of alot of work. 4K is a steal in any ones currency, especially if its a runner. s/n is the first of them alright. And being that early probably still has the lighter final drive gears. Thats ok, they just don,t like extreme loading. When you get it. Drain final drives to check for toothache. Hopefully won,t be any. Give whole machine a full service. And adjust final drive preloads. Will pay to look for a lubrication and maintence guide for it. Have got the model before it called a 78A, which is geardrive. And has been a good tool. As well as a long trackframe ps D4E.
D6 Merv, thanks for your imput the machine will for sure be getting a full service. I am looking into getting a service/repair manual for it, did the newer model's have different final drive gears? and are you saying check for metal in the final drives? I wish I kne how to post pics on here I could put some up of the dozer
yes when you pull the drain plugs check for bits of metal. Bit of paste/fur on plugs is normal. You just don,t want any big lumps of steel to come out. By big i mean finger nail size etc. Yes there was 3 updates to final drive gears. Early D4D. later D4D, and D4E use bigger coarser gears again. All the gears are still available, you don,t have to update. On my 78A [early D4D] i just fitted new pirate pinion gears and reused the original bullgears. Cat now have what they call classic parts for these machines too. pic of my 2.
WOW!!!!!! what nice looking dozer's, did you fabercate the rops for the d4d or is that factory??
Canopys are just locally nz built ones by previous owners. D4E one is certified. D4d isn,t but is a fairly solid canopy.