are/ were rippers for the older dozers common?  specifically D6c's ?  or D6d...or something to easily adapt?

-when did the first rear-mounted rippers as we know them first appear?

-realizing how hard the subsoil and clay are....

Hi, kittylover123.
The smaller Cat crawlers before the D6C era were not designed and built strong enough in the back end casing to carry a mounted ripper for any serious work, From D4D/D6C/D7E onwards, they were designed and built strong enough for that sort of work. Try looking around the dismantlers for a ripper for a D6C/D. There were a lot of them fitted with rear mounted rippers.

There were a good few after-market brands also available for them. In fact, one of the best rippers I ever saw on a D6C was an Australian built CABLE controlled BHB ripper that just seemed to SUCK itself into the ground when lowered. Even without down ,it was a joy yo use.

Just my 0.02.

It seems they are uncommon for a D6 and smaller in North America and Europe.
Rippers were pretty standard here in Southern Africa on any machines from the early sixties onwards.
many of the older U series D4's had fabricated rippers of some sort.
Looks to be similar in Australia. 
 

Deas wrote:

Hi, kittylover123.
The smaller Cat crawlers before the D6C era were not designed and built strong enough in the back end casing to carry a mounted ripper for any serious work,

Just my 0.02.
 

Hello Deas
Do rippers put more load on the back end than a winch? My father and brother used to tell me stories about wedging the old D6 5R up against a tree or stump to get more pulling power.

Regards

Phil

shock loads from rippers would probably be more likely to cause damage than a winch as it would be a little more gentle and more continuous.
these old girls tended to have drag rippers.
remember thier main purpose was as farm tractors for soft and boggy conditions flotation tires didnt exist at the time.

trainzkid88 wrote:

shock loads from rippers would probably be more likely to cause damage than a winch as it would be a little more gentle and more continuous.
these old girls tended to have drag rippers.
remember thier main purpose was as farm tractors for soft and boggy conditions flotation tires didnt exist at the time
 

I take you have never dragged logs with a dozer through the bush before. Shock loads are a very common occurrence. Very easy to break snig chains that you could not break with two D8's pulling against each other normally. We used to use 1/2" high tensile chains and if you hit a stump with the log you had two chains
Your final comment is not true at all. Cat tractors were promoted as being a multi use machine. D6's in the 5R/4R era could be fitted out at the factory with a blade so I don't see how their main purpose could be farm tractors and I don't know what relevance flotation tires are.

crawler tractors were primarily used in soft and boggy country. most farms now dont use them and use wheeled tractors instead as the technology has moved on.

they were initially and primarily designed as farm tractors yes they then designed attachments (letourneau being one of the first to make the attachments) for them to do all the other work which is today and since the 30s the bread and butter of caterpillar.
when sam holt designed his first tractor they were steam powered and to bloody heavy to use wheels his prototype just sank in the soft ground so he went back to the drawing board. pnuematic tyres didnt exist yet as tech moved on crawler tractors weren't needed on the farm as much but still had a place in war and civil construction.

and yes i have snug timber out of the scrub. the point i was making is rippers would be harder on the machine than winching and like you say you would back it up to a tree or stump to give a anchor point which would be taking a lot of that load

Allot of farmers in my area still use crawler/rubber tracked tractors. Less compaction is key to root growth and bigger yields and better water drainage.

Hi, PhilC.
Trainzkid88 is right. Rear mounted rippers do put more shock load on the back end of a tractor than snigging logs and it is at a different angle too. With a winch, if you hit a stump, there would be some slight cushioning of the impact by the dirt in front of the log and around the base of the stump and a small amount of 'stretch in the cable. When a ripper tooth encounters a hard rock, there is NO 'give'.

He is also right about rear mounted rippers not being common many years ago. In the 4R/5R D6 era and even into the U series era, rippers were towed behind the tractor and were usually cable controlled. This placed the load on the drawbar which was, back then, a whole different proposition from pulling directly off the back end of the tractor as it was mounted underneath the tractor in such a way that it was pulling ALONG the line of the surrounding metal rather than pulling AWAY from it as is the case with a rear mounted ripper.

Just my 0.02.

Hello Deas
I can see your point now. The rippers would give quite a shock. However I have seen many 8u/9u's with rear mounted rippers. As far as I am aware the only difference between an 8u/9u and a 4r/5r is the engine and maybe the clutch. I suspect there was another reason the earlier D6's never had rear mounted rippers. Possibly something to do with hydraulics only being in their infancy?

tranizkid88
Thanks for the history lesson however the history you are talking about happened some thirty years before the 4r/5r series were built. Also pneumatic rubber tires were invented in 1848.

Thinking about the winching again I remember they used a big bar mounted to the back of the winch that they used for wedging up against a tree thus there should be no load on the machine itself. Having said that though I have seen a winch ripped off the back of a dozer before. Luckily the studs either broke or the nut pulled of the stud and no damage was done to the casting.