Hello everyone. Myself and some lunch buddies are having a debate regarding the HOLT blade on my recent D4. It is what I would consider a “6 way” blade, as one is able to move the braces various angles. One feller insists they were made by the HOLT folks from Stockton, CA; for some reason I keep thinking there is a HOLT manufacturing company from Oregon or Washington state, that also made forklifts....
Am I mistaken? Perhaps wrong about the 6 way functionality as well? Oh, and I’m curious as to the cutting edge dimensions. I want to replace the existing one. TIA, JM.

up down is 2, you have
angle is 2, you have
tilt is 2, does it tilt?

Here is some literature I’ve got. Looks like they were built in Portland Oregon.

BP.

Hi, nomorejohndeere.
It appears to me that it does have tilt. There is an extra lug below where the angle brace is currently pinned on the left that I suspect the angle brace could be pinned to if the other side could be pinned to a corresponding lug above the 'level' one on the other side front angle point.

Buttt, what would I know? I'm just a 'pore dumb bulldozer operator'. LOL.

Just my 0.02.

I've seen Baker blades with a similar pin step

that's a cool setup

"nomorejohndeere" wrote:

I've seen Baker blades with a similar pin step

that's a cool setup

Some of the LeTourneau blades tilt the same way

holt blades were made in Independence Oregon witch is outside of Salem Oregon ,
tacomatug.com/holt%20tractor.htm

Surly you believe that a Holt bulldozer is a forerunner of the Caterpillar, but this one is not. Sorry it isn't a Cat, but it is, in a way, related.
The tractor is a 1961 HOLT and the first answer is no, it was not made by Caterpillar or the original Holt that combined with Best prior to forming Caterpillar. I've been answering that question since I bought it in 1967. It was built by Holt Manufacturing Company in Independence, Oregon.
(And it's Not For Sale.)

The name Holt appears on many Cat blades and winches built between about 1946 and 1964. (Also for John Deere/Linderman, International Harvesters and Allis Chalmers.) In the early '70's I packed up the family and drove to Independence to look for answers and I met and spent some great hours with Francis Holt, the owner and founder of the company. At the time, he had sold his holdings, which, after another sale/merger, became the Franklin Sweed Division of Franklin Equipment Company. (To learn about Franklin Treefarmer go to www.franklin-treefarmer.com and click on "Foundry.") Mr. Holt was still working in the shop for them and this is what he told me: It seems that Caterpillar and others deemed it less expensive to have their blades and external attachments farmed out to private contractors across the US rather than building and shipping them from their factory (there was a small fabrication shop in downtown Tacoma, WA doing just that until the 1990's.) Holt became one of those contractors and built blades and winches, with the Holt name on them, from the mid 1940's up until he retired and sold his holdings to Swede Mills, the foundry across the street that did his steel casting (which, it seems, he also originally owned.) As stated above, Swede Mills has since merged with Franklin, which is still in business, building logging equipment. During world War II Holt had a contract to build winches and hydraulic blades for the US military and then thousands of them afterward through Independent Distributors, Portland OR. That's why many dozers had the name Holt on the blade and the winch during that time and that's why the perpetuation of the name and the confusion with Caterpillar.. Holt blades are easily recognized by the sturdy design of the outside track arm and the shape of the blade itself. Many also had a placket welded to the top of the blade with "HOLT" on it, but most have either been ripped off or removed to mount an accessory.
This crawler has a 134 CID Ford "600" gas engine (some had the 144cid diesel,) a Ford tractor "Sherman" reversing transmission and a Clark transmission integral with the differential and steering brakes (no clutches.) This transmission is also found in Oliver OC4's and in Case 310's and 350's. Case bought the Clark gearbox in the 1980's and it can still be found in their machines. I can still buy Case and Oliver parts that will fit in my gearbox (if I ever need too.) The frame, final drives, all the track parts and the body parts were built by Holt.
I'm always looking for other Holt owners. If you have one, let me know!
My tractors and others:

Thanks for the replies everyone. It does tilt, but with a bit of slop in the braces, it isn’t much. I was wondering if there was anyone out there that had new braces. One had been previously repaired, but not to my liking; the other has a chunk missing off of the top ear. It works good, but I can make it better. Looks like my lunch buddies get to buy the next round! JM