Question on cat D4

My Cat SNID says it is a D4 made in AU in 1958 so that was a year before the 40A & 39A came out here in USA a totally different tractor in many respects.If it is the same as the 7U yes the starting engine needs to be raised up out of the way of the gear to get the pinion assem. out.

Cat D2 - The Australian Caterpillar factory at Tullamarine was opened in 1957 and produced a wide range of Australian-built Cats, parts and attachments .. with many smaller parts, castings, and fabricated components built in this factory .. but with major components such as engines and transmissions, being shipped in from the U.S.

The 30A was a product of this factory, and despite being similar to the 7U in many ways, it is a peculiarly Aussie machine, with no equivalent machine listed in the Cat S/N books.

Often, Cat machines were built in various countries with different S/No's, but were totally identical. When this is the case, Cat supply "equivalent S/No's" cross-reference.
In the case of the 30A, it was a machine that fell in between the 7U and D4C, and used parts from both, and as such, is a rare beast in the Cat line-up.
Only 205, 30A's were built at Tullamarine, all of them in 1959, according to my S/N book.

Would the 30a have been the D4B that is missing from the line up, or is it just the doun under version of the U series D4?

CR - The D4B designation was never used by Cat, AFAIK .. and the 30A was essentially a 7U, with a down-under flavor ..

The actual D4C release date is a little murky to me, with 1959 quoted in the S/N index book .. but the Product Bulletin announcing the "new" D4C, is dated 23 March 1960 .. thus indicating that the D4C was possibly released in late 1959 or early 1960.

It's entirely possible, that because the 7U was planned to be phased out in 1959 .. that when construction of the 30A was planned and commenced .. it happened, that, rather than give blueprints for all of the 7U D4 parts, to Cat Australia, that were going to become rapidly obsolete .. it was decided to give Cat Australia blueprints for numerous parts that had been designed for the D4C .. but which could be used in the construction of the 30A ..

That way, Cat Australia could move rapidly to production of the D4C (which it did) .. and Cat would not have wasted $$ sending over blueprints, and building patterns and jigs, for numerous parts that were to become obsolete in the near future.

Just my .02c worth of musing, without concrete proof .. if anyone can offer another idea, or knows more factual detail .. I, and no doubt others, would be interested to hear it.

There is no doubt that its a 7U. The ser no book has many mistakes on production yrs. Dont think for a short second that Cat corp. wouldnt take all the molds , dies and blue prints out of factory that was gearing for new D4C and ship it to another country and set up shop, No cost to them was being paid by the U.S, Govt to do it.
As far as 1/2 breed thing I would say not so because there are very few parts that are same on the 2 machine they are totaly diff machine in ever sense,
Check the casting no. aginst the 2 parts books you will see!! Just as the 31A&32A are U models and the 57A& 58A are B models
Another thing did the new Aus. factory start with a foundry or was it started as assembly plant use the oldstock 7U parts being ship from USA?

Willie - It has been noted previously that the 30A despite basically being a 7U, has numerous parts fitted to it, that weren't fitted to the U.S. built 7U, and that are possibly the same as the D4C. I know that the D4C was basically, an all-new tractor as compared to the 7U design, but it's quite likely that a number of bolted-on parts on the 30A were the same as on the D4C.

The Tullamarine factory was a new factory from the ground up, and contained a foundry, heat-treating equipment, sizeable forging presses, and big fabrication facilities. Caterpillar also utilised already-established Australian manufacturing facilities, owned by other companies, to supply castings and forgings to precise Cat specs.
The initial plan, after Caterpillar purchased 110 acres at Tullamarine, was for the construction of a new 100,000 sq ft factory .. but before that was half-built, another 100,000 sq ft factory was initiated .. then, immediately after, another 40,000 sq ft parts warehouse was built. By the time Tullamarine was officially opened in 1959, the factory building comprised 291,000 sq ft.
Tullamarine built 30A D4's, D4C's, D4D's, D5's, D6B's & D6C's, 12E's, 933's, 955's, hydraulic systems, cable controls, blades, rippers, toolbars, and a myriad of other small components. The only items brought in from the U.S. were engines and some transmissions. I doubt whether old stock 7U parts were dumped on the Australian factory. I dunno about the U.S. Govt paying Cat, never heard that before.

The move to manufacture in Australia, by Cat, was designed to increase sales by avoiding the high tariffs on equipment built in, and imported from the U.S. to Australia, and to penetrate other British Commonwealth countries markets in the SE Asian Pacific region.

At that time, British Commonwealth countries had "favored trading partner" status with other Commonwealth member countries, and tariffs were high on U.S. built equipment, to prevent a huge trade imbalance between those Commonwealth countries, and the U.S. .. as the U.S. bought very little off them.

The Cat SNID says that the D4C made in Au were a 54A & 55A and they came out in 1960 according to the Cat SN book.

Hi CatD2,
your mates 30A 98 is the equivelnt of S/No 7U42537.
These units were imported as "part machines" by that I mean that they came to OZ as a unit without undercarriage--IE--no track frames etc. They had the sprocket complete to the outer Brg. Hsg. and equalizer spring fitted.
All undercarriage--track frames, tracks, rollers, and idlers. Also blades, rippers etc were built here.
The 7U No's were for owners to be able to use the USA Equiv. Parts Books etc for ordering bits.
Sorry for short answer but have other things to do today after 'nam black hole struck again recently.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

g'day Eddie B,

what would the equivilant s/n of my 30a 146 be?