All right, I’m looking for some input; I want to work smarter not harder…. Anyway I have a 1953 CAT 12 8T grader which I’ve made work ready and I’m looking at adding some new accessories. The big one is a straight blade for the front end. I’ve found an 8’ one off a small excavator which is about 2’ tall and should be heavy/strong enough to hold up for another 55 years on the grader for $500. My question is how to raise it? The old grader is all gear driven except, it does have power steering assist; the down side to this old hydraulic system is low pressure. Some of my options. 1) Tee into the current hydraulic system and put a lifting hydraulic cylinder for the blade; install a 3 spool valve mounted in the cab and plum one valve for the front hydraulic cylinder onto the blade. 2) Install an electric over hydraulic pump open center system with a 3 spool valve mounted in the cab and plum one valve for the front hydraulic cylinder onto the blade. “The two systems above I could set up for power in and out, or just power up and then the blade would float.” 3) Use an electric 12 volt winch mounted on the front of the grader to raise and lower the blade with. “This would not have any down pressure available for the blade but would allow for a float option.” Option 2 I’m building a snow gate for the right side of the blade. How do I lift the gate? 1) Use one valve of the cab mounted spool valve and install a hydraulic cylinder to lift the gate. 2) Install an electric jack to lift the gate. Option 3 one day. Install a roller of some kind onto the back with a 4 point mounting system to compact the gravel roads I maintain. 1) About the only way to lift this would be with some type of hydraulics; I would have to install hydraulics if I haven’t done it already. I already have all the hydraulic cylinders that I would need for any or all of the projects. I have an electric jack to use on the gate if I wanted to. I have a good 3 spool hydraulic valve. I have all the electric wire for any project. I have the electric/hydraulic pump, “I’m not sure it would last forever if it was run all the time”. I would have to buy a winch if I wanted to lift the blade with one but I can buy a 3500 lb one for $150. As far as I’m aware, there isn’t anyplace to install a belt driven hydraulic pump on to the grader. So has anyone used a cable blade on the front of a CAT? With an electric winch could it be as smooth, quick, and good as a hydraulic system? Any thought would be great.
Our 99E has hydraulic power steering and side shift. The side shift works fine although slow and I'm almost positive it's all one pump and tank system.
Blade Lift I've looked at this system; it uses a larger/bigger hydraulic cylinder “two to two and one half times as large” because of the low pressure pump, along with an accumulator. My grader has the same pump on it so, this is an option but it would have to use about twice as large of a hydraulic cylinder on the blade, which would have a much slower cycle time.
Front Mount Plow Here's the way the plow works off the scarifier.:usa
My vote: Install a second hydraulic system (would be fairly easy just adding it on especially if you go electric pump) for your blade and snow gate. My first choice would be just upgrade the exsisting system to handle the larger load however this may cause you more trouble then simply adding a second system.
Front Mount Plow Great pics Northart. I'm going to make a mount with this design. If you have the time would you please measure what size the top main frame of the mount is and let me know? Thanks again for the pictures. Paul
Blade lift. Hi, Buggyman. The scarifier blade lift will work and it is quite strong but, in my experience, it is slow, too slow to have much hope of doing any sort of trimming with it. On the other hand, if you fit a second hydraulic system with a fair capacity pump, tank and valve blocks, it would allow you to fit hydraulics to lift the blade and give you the options of power blade side shift and hydraulic blade tilt as well. Both of these attachments are worth having as they give you much more versatility. If you choose to go down the hydraulics road, a frame similar to the scarifier lift frame could give you anchorage points for lift rams. This sounds like an interesting journey. Please keep us posted?
And the editor of a construction equipment magazine acted like I was crazy when I told him that motor grader operators expect their grader to last forever! Any chance this baby had an auxilary drive on the engine? We mount auxillary pumps and valves to run extra implements such as brooms, soil stabilizers, etc. On the Cummins its at the front of the engine and there is a cover plate you take off and then mount an pump drive adaptor. Probably not much help here though considering the thing was built 20 years before I was born.
Snowplow lift attachment Hello Buggeyman, I would search the heavy equipment junkyards 1st before building one. You just might be able to buy one that fits. I've seen them around, at different times. Check around. Weller Tractor Salvage, Great Bend , Ks ? has lotsa grader stuff. That grader pictured was one I went to look at, was for sale, engine shot. 80 miles away, not sure it is there any more.
Blade Lift Thanks I will!!!
Cat 12 snowplow lift Here's another junkyard picture I found . Show a much better view of the front .
Blade Lift Thanks TeS
Blade Lift No auxiliary drives except if I used the same pulley that is driving the Alternator. The disadvantage of this is that the drive belt will only handle about 5-7 hp or torque equivalent; this means a very small hydraulic pump, something like a power steering pump, a two stage pump like used on wood splitters, something like these. These types would be very slow under a load, the two stage pump would move a light load just as fast as many other pumps. Old equipment is kind of fun for me; my favorite tractor is a 1953 TO-30 Ferguson. Dad bought it when I was about 5 or 6 and rebuilt it from the ground up, I became dad’s gofer, “go for this, go for that”. So I’ve used this tractor for more than 40 years, dad would not let me drive it until I could push in the clutch, so I learned by pulling on the steering wheel I had enough weight to push in and hold the clutch, I thing, I was about 6 or 7. Dad passed away almost three years ago and I got the TO-30, it needed updating so I worked on it and got it “field ready” as dad would call it. It has a loader on it, 4 sp Trans and 3 sp aux box; I plumed and installed a CASE three point backhoe onto it. I borrowed a friends 4x4 30 hp Kubota with a loader on it and compared it to the old Ferguson. The Ferguson out worked the almost new Kubota, the only thing really better with the new tractor was the power steering. Years ago I used to race Dune buggies around the northwest and I built a buggy up and kept improving it, 4 out of 5 years I was on the circuit I won the overall championship. For some reason fixing these old pieces of equipment up better than new gives me some of the same great feelings and working on my old buggy So old equipment is GREAT if it is quality! This old CAT 12 is quality and I’m going to make it better than new!!!
Pump drive. Hi, Buggyman. Another option - I have seen a couple of older Cat 12's, 9K, 8T, 99E, with a double belt pulley bolted into one end or the other of the control box drive shaft under the cab floor and a pump driven off that. Worked well too, if my memory serves me right. I seem to remember that one was only driving a pump for a 21F style power steering unit with the ram on the left side of the frame under the steering box but the other was running a hydraulic side shift and blade tilt. And it is constant drive. Hope this helps.
This comment will not sit well with the Cat guys but don't look past an old Austin-Western. I put a Super 300 back in service a couple of years ago and it is kind of a beast but it will really roll the dirt. 6 wheel drive, front blade option, rear roller option, hydraulic wing, these were all factory options available when it was built in 1970. All that said if you are building you might get a few ideas by looking at what the engineers did 38 years ago! Good Luck, DiggerODell
Blade Lift Thanks DiggerODell I have looked for one; I like the Austin-Western graders. Dwan Hall sure has made his look good. I'm sure it will give him many years of good service. I went and looked at a CAT 12 8T like mine at an Richey Bros. auction the other day. It need a lot of work and the tires were shot on it. I thought with the times being the way they are I could get it for parts. It had a hyd side shift on the blade that I was going to use anyway. I purchased mine of E-bay for $1775 and it needed some TLC. Well I thought I would bid up to $1000 for this grader; it sold for $6000! You just never know! Paul
WOW! Was there $5000 cash taped to the windshield? $6000 for an 8T... I wish my dad could sell his 12 8T for that much, he was going to take it to the scrapyard and it still runs and works ok.