its gonna be in a local fellows auction sale the first of Nov. old farmer retiring and just cleaning his whole farmyard out. Said I could buy it from him tomorrow if I wanted for $1000 if i wanted it bad enough. I was thinking about buying it, painting it and putting infront of the office/shop on a rock pad or something. maybe put christmas lights on it for the holiday season! what do you think?
I drive by sperling every day to go to work on pipeline in morden. If you get it I will at least cheer you on. Come on whats a thousand dollars anyway.
Get it, they arent going to be making any more any time soon... besides its a cool piece of history directly related to your business.
BUY IT!! looks to be in quite decent shape!
LOOKS like a second generation Caterpillar '60'. The '60' was produced after the Best and Holt merger from 1921 until 1931, the first of which was produced with gasoline powered engine. It appears as though yours lost its gasoline engine when it was replaced with a diesel that would hopfully put out anything better than the torque lacking 50 bhp the original motor claimed. All of this is mostly useless information if you are going to use it as a lawn ornament. Nonetheless... looks like a good bit of sandblasting and painting could bring it back to life asthetically. BTW... Most of this era Cat crawlers were 'CAT Grey' instead of the expected 'CAT Yellow'. Happy fixin:drinkup
Just a stab in the dark Hi, CatSkinner77V. Just as a stab in the dark I'd have to say Cat D8 8R series, about 1939 - 1945. It doesn't look to be in bad nick either. Those are not the original front idlers so it's had some work done there at some time. The originals were spoked. As has already been said, they aren't going to make any more of them in the near future. Hi,F-1.08-F.G. The BEST Sixty was produced from 1919 to 1925, when Best and Holt merged to form Caterpillar. The Best Sixty then became the Caterpillar Sixty and was produced by Caterpillar from 1925 until 1932. The first Diesel Sixty's were built in 1931 and on into 1932 when the entire Sixty model was dropped from the range. Only 157 diesel Sixty's were made. That jigger is NOT a Sixty. I'm backing my stab in the dark. LOL.
rd8 hello CatSkinner77V, my guess is a rd8 ih model ,the motor has been changed ,looks like it is a industrial engine .bruce oz
Damn! You guys are good!!!:notworthy
If you can get it before the sale, I say buy it. You never know what someone is going to decide it's worth and bid on it at the last minute. $1000 is a pretty good price. Brian
I would say the engine is a D8 13a engine! scrappers give over 1000$ for that, so be fast before some brutal bearded guy with a torch ends this piece of history! a serial number would help a lot
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heres a few more shots, dunno if you can read the serial number tag.... not likely.
all i could find was the engine serial number, i have no idea where the number would be on the carcass.... these machines are about 40 years before my time! this old work horse ran like a top I am told, untill the big flood of 1997 it sat underwater for about a week. The old boy tells me he drained the water out of it that summer, but never tried to start it again.... old fool. My question to him is, why would you let it sit where it would be underwater... if it ran so great?!? haha. Perhaps this is a restoration project! i have sunk so much money in K's and H's in the past few years. I just can't see myself buying anything more than a few gallons of paint and christmas lights for now!
iwantitiwantitiwantitiwantitiwantit
If you dont buy that thing, I will be there with a lowboy, and truck to take it with me, even if it is a 24 hour drive.
This is a CAT 60
d8 hello CatSkinner77V ,the number 4s2176sp is a d13000 industrial engine ,built maybe 1949, the tractor serial number will be on the back left hand side about the draw bar , the old d8 could be a 1h-8r -2u serial number 1h built from 1935-41 8r built from 1941-45 2u built from 1945- 53 bruce oz
I agree with Bruce Oz, think it to be a 2U D8. Note the electric-start on the pony motor. My brother and I had four of these beasts at one time. Two had babbit bearings and one of those had a leather belt bearing for a couple of days. Saw one pulling a disc recently in the Grand Valley north of Sacramento.
Serial # tag-stamp Hi, CatSkinner77V. That machine serial # should be a tag up towards the top left side on the back of the steering clutch case, up above the drawbar support bracket. If the tag is missing, there should be a serial # stamped into the metal in the same position.
Dozer Identity ? Well it is definetly not a Cat D8-2U . The hardnose or front on the Cat D8-2U and the Cat D8-R are different. Looks like to me the engine has been replaced with a later Genset model engine. The paint seems, to give clues to that idea. The 1st picture is of a Cat D8-R The second picture is of a Cat D8-2U The Cat Power Units chart don't list a Cat 4S2178SP , but looking at the chart it would be prior to 1947.
What Is This. Hi, Northart. I agree that that D8 8R is most likely a D8 8R but unless somebody has switched fuel tanks, that 2U D8 is a 13A. Check the forward extension of the fuel tank on the off side, a 13A modification. This was done to feed the extra horses living under the hood.
You mentioned Christmas lights and it got me thinking that Halloween is just around the corner. Well before you paint it , stick a skeleton in the seat and a fog machine with a red light underneath. Sorry I don't have any technical input for your thread other than its big and old. :drinkup Anyways good luck in getting that beast.
Identity ? Hello Deas Plant, That D8-2U picture was described as a Cat D8-2U on ACMOC long ago. Hard to see if it is the slide bar or Johnson bar transmission gear shifter. Here is a picture I took this fall of a Cat D8-13A , as I looked at the serial number. It has the Johnson bar shifter. Another picture of a Cat D8-8R, as it is called by the owner. With the slidebar shifter. And with the modern style grill. Doing some more research, Eric Orlemann's book , "Caterpillar Chronicle " page 56 says the new style radiator grill came out in early 1950. And in GT Barnard's book "Caterpillar, Illustrated Product Guide" page 143 says " In 1945 a new constant mesh transmission with 5 forward and 3 reverse speeds, featuring a forward-rerverse lever was introduced. Serial numbers started at 2U1. I always thought the 2U was a slide bar. ?????
More Identity ? Ha,some more confounding material I'm finding. In Eric Orlemanns' book, "The Caterpillar Century " page 174 there is this picture of a Cat 1946 D8-2U, that does not have the new style radiator. Note it has the front through grill, crank for the pony motor. Next page, there is a text, "These 2U series tractors were produced with slide-bar shifters up to serial number 2U5306. After this they were produced with a convential stick shift."
Confoundng information. Hi, Northart. It was my understanding that early 2U tractors had the slide bar transmission and the 1H/8R style radiator. I have seen some photos of 8R D8's with a hard nose that looked very late 2U-ish but it bolted on ahead of the existing radiator making the front some 8" or so longer overall and didn't actually house the radiator. Whether this was a Cat attachment, some other manufacturer's product or maybe borrowed from a later 2U/13A D8 and modified, I have no way of knowing. Early 2U's also still had the rivetted-together angle iron chassis rails of the earlier 1H and 8R models. I think the welded box-section chassis was introduced somewhere later in the 2U's production run, probably at the same time as the styled hardnose, in early 1950. From this, it is entirely possible that you could have a 2U D8 that looked almost exactly like an 8R D8. Are you confused enough yet? I am. I suspect that the second photo in your first might well be an early 2U as it appears to me to have a slide bar shifter How-wevver, I am fairly sure that all of the high-power variants of the 2U D8 were based on the later models with boxed chassis, styled hardnose and later transmission with F/R lever, that is to say 1950 or later machines. Assuming that they still ahve the original motors, 1H's and 8R's are fairly easy to tell apart 'cos the 1H series motor had a HUGE injector pump, nearly the same size as the pony motor and a sheet metal cover over the flywheel. The 8R's had a smaller injector pump and a cast flywheel housing. BTW, I have all but given up on using Randy Leffingwell's books as reference sources. There appear to be some inconsistencies in his text when compared with Orlemann's books but it is his photos that are really in question. A LOT of the short headline captions are totally out of whack with the machines in the photos. Then the text under the headline caption will often contradict the actual headline. If you're going to put together a reference book of a company's production history, wouldn't you want to make sure it was as RIGHT as you could make it. I would. Catchyalater.
Adam, Not unless I can get there first with my lowboy.
What are you waiting for go & buy it ! The tracks look in good shape & it does not look abused. I owned a 1948 d6n that was seized also & ressurected it for maximum of 500.00 dollars & lots of elbow grease. If you are going to try to drag it on a lowbed I would check to make sure the brakes ( friction's) are not stuck to the drums. I like the modified hand crank for the pup motor.
Well, wish I had the time and was all quit and retired. Got a couple more years to go yet. So, have at this one. I will get the next one.
Catskinner77v Last message was directed to catskinner, my mistake. Goodbye The rookie
See if this helps
Cat 60 with a real Australian Canopy .... On edit: Whoops wrong pic! Try this
Shame on you, Sir! Hi, Squizzy246B. Shame on you, Sir. Posting photos like those in a thread like this WITHOUT serial numbers and proper model identification. Nice machines and GOOD photos BUT. . . . . . . . . . . . What about the serial numbers?
G,day Deas...well, its Like This . When you get orffa that ample rear end of yours and book yourself a Ticket West to God's Country you can come down to the Heritage Park with me and we will get those Serial Numbers personally. I will be there primarily to make sure you get those numbers correct and tell me more about the 8 in the pics I posted
That 8. Hi, Squizzy246B. I'm flying my ample rump North-east - AWAY from you - before I fly towards you and I'm doing that North-east bit mid-December, for 15 days, to 'horrible, wintery' Southern California. Don't you just cry tears of blood for me? LOL. I suspect that 8 is an early 2U series, vertical crank for the pony motor, slide bar transmission, rivetted chassis, braced radiator instead of the later hard nose (from late 1950 on) and solid front idlers (although they could have been changed). BUT, it could also be a late 8R which has had some mods done to it. The radiator bottom tank has the pilot motor crank opening through it by the look of that second photo and spoked front idlers are easily changed for solid ones. The 'dope' on the ID tags or stamped into the metal on the upper back left of the steering clutch case and on the engine block just inboard of the pilot motor clutch is the only halfway reliable ID information. You COULD, if you were just a little bit more dedicated, take photos of those locations on the various machines and post them along with the other photos. BTW, many Best and Cat Sixty's had an ID tag rivetted to the chassis rail, left side, just behind the radiator - and many of them are missing in action - or inaction. Many Best and Cat Thirty's had the ID information on the transmission case, right side, just inboard of the rear carrier roller, either on a tag or stamped into the case metal - or both. Kee pure I's opin.
Deas, an old timer at the Park told me the 60 was "old and cranky"....I was going to ask him if they had named it Digger but I'm not sure they would have got it. On the day I was there I had whippersnappers and "er indoors" in tow and there was just way too many serial numbers to get through. I hope to get back later in November. December I will be headed due north where the fishin is bettera and the crays tastier.....but will also be heading out the Murchison to inspect my "recovery project". Thank You for the information.
THAT 8 - part 2. Hi, Squizzy246B. I'd reckon that at some stage of its life, that D8 had a blade, separately mounted tree pusher and a rear-mounted double-drum PCU, quite probably with an overhead 'headache bar' lift arrangement for both. If you can get the serial number, it might be interesting to take it into Westrac and see if they have any history on it. Ditto with the Diesel Forty. I wouldn't be too surprised to find that the Sixty would be a more recent import, but I could be wrong about that. Again, the serial number might provide some history. Happy fishing. Have a cray or 6 for me, please. And happy recovering.