Hope these come through ok. Bought this machine two years ago then deployed to Iraq. Picked up the project last year then closed it down because of winter. Picked it up again this past summer and am nearly finished (barring any breakdown and work that i know i have to do next year. Like remove one of the tandems to fix a leaking seal.) Oh well, hope all goes well this winter.

This machine came from the Town of Brunswick Maine. I have the No.12, 70D that this machine replaced also. The town bought it new in 1969 and my Father took delivery of both the 70D and this 120 14K. So I have a bit of history with these two machines. Saw both of them as kids grading and plowing snow. The 120 has a V-plow also, but the town still has it.

But anyways, the town ran the helll out of this machine, beat it actually and let it sit for 7 years before I bought. I was reluctant to buy it because of the condition but my brother talked me into it. It did have a rebuilt engine in it with (what I can gather) less than 2,000 hrs. on it...maybe even 900. But they just let it go. But everything seemed to run pretty smooth and still does. It had over four inches of dirt and grease on the cab floor in places. Both side windows and rear window bottoms were completely rotted out. The trunk and rear wing post assembly was ripped off the back when they attempted to move and pull it backwards at some point. Of course, that is because the bolts that attached it back there were rotted off because the trunk was full of water and dirt! Nearly packed solid! Lets see, the beam between the arms holding the moldboard was broken off when the operator slammed a curb while plowing snow and the diagnal brace was also ripped off. The only piece replaced was the diagnal brace which when I looked closer, descovered they had welled in a round pipe used for a sign post! No kidding. great repair of tax payer paid for equipment!!

Oh..and the wing plow...that was picked up after I deployed to Iraq. My Brother left a trailer for them to load and the plow was placed on it (face down) with the wing post. When we began work last year, we got around to flipping it over . Well, it was completely rotted thru. Why? Because they had some how over the years, buried it in the sand and salt pile for God knows how many years. Just the back end was sticking out, like Noahs Ark. Further great maintenance of tax payer paid for equipment. This amchine has been a handful to restore because we found so many things wrong that didn't meet the eye. Water in fuel tank rotted one corner out of the tank,.. missing parts to the front wing post,... rotted wing plow,.. radiator rotted out due to being caked with dirt for 7 years,... machine never being cleaned, etc, etc.

I've thought about naming the Public Works Directors name, but have changed my mind. He's the one really responsible for this...the buck stops at his desk. He just collects a pay check and calls it a day. Sorry for the long narrative, I could write more and maybe will later. But that's it for now. Hope these pictures come through.

Wow, looks like you worked miracles. Good job. I have a 71D so I know a little about some of the challenges in these machines. I Hope you can put it to work for fun and profit.

Also thanks for your service in Iraq.

Mark,
Welcome back. Glad you made it back from Iraq and thank you for your service. Boy, I wouldn't even call that maintence what they did. That is a shame to treat a machine like that. We have talked before as I think you were looking for a hood for it. Did you ever get one? Try sizing your pics. for a 800x600 size. These came thru small and I had to enlarge mine. Machine is looking good. catskinner

Maybe you can help me out with the sizing. I tried to do it but I just get a smaller section of the photo. How or what do you use for photo sizing? Oh, and thanks for the compliments. My brother and i keep getting a little better each time we do a grader restoration. We've done a 12, 8T, a 12, 70D, and a 12E and now this one. Lostsa practice. Girlfriend thinks I'm nuts though. Oh..how'd like the broken cab windows. Let the snow and rain into the cab for over a year..they didn't even throw a tarp over it! Ghad..just thinking of how they let it go makes my blood boil. You should see how the town garage looks...well, maybe you shouldn't. That would make you wrench in disgust too.

D4Doug,
I would like to see your Cat D4 7U and i wonder if you can make big picture of ur Cat D4-7U? Thanks:D
FarmerD5

Hi Mark,
A lot of hard work and dedication there....you'd never know the story from looking at your handiwork after you got through with them. Good work:D

First, good job. the grader looks great. Second, thank you for your service to our country. Third, doesn't your town have voters, or a town council that this guy answers to? Sounds like time for a job change...
Ron in CO...

Really nice work on the graders.

I have found that there are other, easier to use photo resizing programs, but if you don't have anything else, use MS Paint. It is on every(?) windows equipped computer in the All programs/accessories/paint.

Open your picture with "file"/open
then click on "image" at the top.
you want to resize/skew
use the same % on both height and width to keep the proportions the same.

It doesn't hurt to crop it first if there's a lot of background that isn't important, that way your picture stays as large as possible.

Check the finished product for size by clicking on image/attributes and adjust as needed by resizing again if necessary. I think 800 pixels is the maximum width for the bulletin board.

Save the resized picture with another name if you don't want to overwrite the original on your computer

I see you have done a 12E before. Do you have an oil pump for the 99E D333 engine sitting around anywhere? I need one to finish the reassembly of our grader.

Lets see..two posts to reply to. First one. Brunswick Maine is a heavily democratic town. Not just democrat, but liberal, socialist, totaletarian town. Better know as the Peoples Republic of Brunswick. The Town Council is made up of mostly women and a couple men who should be women. (and, maybe are). Budgets are of no concern and taxes are through the roof to pay for everything under the sun. Public discourse about how the town does business is not tolerated well, and is almost always disregarded. For instance. Recently the council got an ear full from a couple of conservative residents and now the Town Council is considering abolishing the public comment section of the Town Meetings. If You were to go down our quaint old "Maine" street, you'ld see the following...atleast three coffee shops with menues written on a chalkboards and names of things you've most likely never heard of. You'ld also see a few deli's and restaraunts...with chalkboard menues. Then you'ld see college students from Bowdoin College...mostly female and some male...again, little difference between the two here. The rest are wearing wool sweaters and torn jeans and even though its about thirty degrees out during the day, they still wear flip flops. They all need showers and have greasy hair too. Oh..and there are rainbow stickers on a lot of store windows. The other bureaucrats are mostly from other states (New York, New Jersey, etc.) and have no concern for the future of the town based on a historical perspective. Best I can tell is they're screwing the place up as much or more than the place they left. Ever wish people would just go back to where they came from? So i hope You get the picture of how Brunswick Maine is. Just guess what state our public works director is from? And Town Manager?

The second post. I'm sorry but I don't have an oil pump. Easy enought to get used though. Call Rays Equip. at 1-800-723-7279 or Weller Tractor at 1-800-255-9325. Oh and thanks for the lessen on MS Paint!

Hi Mark,
Gees, and I thought the left coast (Santa Cruz) was bad. Got nothing on your town:) even if it is the lesbian capital of the USA. Makes it tough coming off a service tour, just like us veterans coming off the Viet Nam era. Hang in there and ignore the bastards.
The politicians and two bit lawyers haven't ruined it all yet. there's still a forum of real people out there, Thanks for your service.
Grader looks great:D