Casual observations and questions

Why are there so few comments (replies)  to posts yet the views are so vast? 

Does this question  make you wonder about how much "YOU"  value the efforts of those that freely share their knowledge, experience and other insights?

How far and wide would you have to look to find the expertise and knowledge that is so readily available and offered without any compensation?   And all done from your comfortable home, no matter where you are in this world. 

Many of the contributors here are in the advanced stages of life, yet the knowledge they possess is not found in any manuscript.  Even their libraries of manuals and parts books will be gone - their heirs will have no use for those "OLD BOOKS".  

We discuss parts - how difficult it is to find the many "obsolete" items.  We discuss methods of repair, techniques and tooling.  Safety issues follow with many of these discussions too, probably saving many from serious or life threatening injury.

I know from a personal view and my own experiences - many of the "practices-procedures-tooling and equipment" are nearly extinct.  My "instructors and mentors" are mostly gone, my workmates, when I worked in a Caterpillar Dealership, gone with only a couple of exceptions, even the dealership is gone.
The memories of operating a track press on a daily basis, and having one of the 8" cylinders EXPLODE are very vivid!   So are the expressions of disbelief from all surrounding me, no one was hurt!  (and before you ask - NO - I did not adjust the relief valve - and NO - it happened again at a later date with a different operator and the same side with a new replaced cylinder!) I cringe at the thought of those "wishing" they could "break" the tracks down in their own shop with home made equipment!  Pulling sprockets is another fine example of massive amounts of pressures and extreme danger without proper knowledge and tooling.  The dangers of "bullets of sharp shrapnel" with you as the target should always be in your thoughts when striking or pulling parts, especially those that are hard and brittle!  Memories - built on a lifetime in the farm country of Northern California's Sacramento Valley -  and Caterpillar has always been here!

A personal THANK YOU to each and all that contribute and provide the wealth of information to the multitudes - without YOU this site would not exist or survive.
The same THANK YOU to all that contribute and go to the great efforts to promote the insight of this labor of love, to those producing the various shows and events, working tirelessly for the enjoyment and education of others. 

"keep 'em crawlin"
CTS

Thanks for posting this CTS. You are absolutely correct. Thanks to all that contribute to help us to keep these old Cats going.

Thanks CTS. Many days I wonder myself how long the hobby will last or who I can go to for advice/help. Myself I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to dive into this hobby a few short years ago, and learn so much along the way. I cannot put a price on the friendships and camaraderie that has grown among not only Caterpillar fans, but different brands of iron and big trucks too! Until someone tells me to stop , I will continue on to encourage others to enjoy the hobby.
I am waiting on you to provide us the proper starting procedure for a rope start D2 btw. I will have a "swear" jar handy. JM

yes ive seen 20 tonnes of pressure applied by a shop press release suddenly. it went straight down as intended. but it can go wrong. and it did draw attention from next door.

and yes a sad point is the number of knowledgeable people is dropping when it comes to these old girls. im lucky i have had exposure to this old gear from a young age and caught oldmachineryitis when i was a young child and its never gone away.

ive heard the pilot engines referred to as wishcussin engines wishing it would go and cussing cause it wont. we found ours would start readily if the throttle and choke was left alone! and not moved from position it was when last started. touch em and your there for ages. it was a challange to convince dad to bloody well leave em alone.

"wishcussin' "engine? hah ! that's a good one. I wonder what CTS used to call their beloved 3J D2. Maybe when one only has the rope, there is little hope.........??? Hahaha.
I always say most tractors have a soul, and they tend to get stage fright as well. It seems certain that when there is an audience, they decide to get temperamental.
It is always a good thing to learn, especially from others. I don't know as much as I want to on these old gals; I am never opposed to someone showing me how to make one run better or easier ways to repair one. I am very fortunate that I have access to a very competent old school CAT mechanic here, as many of them have retired or passed on. JM

Never to old to learn, and I now have new word in my vocabulary. wishcussin But sound like it is for Wisconsin engine rather than a Cat.

But learned long ago a pony will act up when it causes the most grief. So always give yourself extra time start it if have somebody coming to haul it for you.

Ray54 wrote:

Never to old to learn, and I now have new word in my vocabulary. wishcussin But sound like it is for Wisconsin engine rather than a Cat.

But learned long ago a pony will act up when it causes the most grief. So always give yourself extra time start it if have somebody coming to haul it for you.

***Have it ready if someone is coming to haul it? I have had 2 instances whereby they chose me to "haul" their tractors, because nobody could figure out what was wrong with them; as soon as they found out they were running, they wanted to divert me to another ranch instead of the mechanics shop. Nope, my orders were to haul ass to the Cat man to be fixed, and NO, I won't say how I managed to get them running! And yes, my hourly rate will reflect the amount of time I spent making them run...thank you for the opportunity to haul your JUNK! 
The most successful truckers in these parts always had a darn good mechanic in-house or the drivers had a darn good mechanical aptitude!
Ray: I wish everyone I hauled for was considerate such as yourself! JM
 

yes its always the way when you want it to work perfectly and right now old machinery has other ideas. Ive had engines that ran fine at home. but wont run while on display, make you swear it was on purpose.

and yes it always draws a crowd and often that makes things worse as you get self conscious and nervous which helps nothing.

and then you get the "helpful" suggestions and chuck off from other exhibitors too especially when your younger like me, who does get self conscious and get the shits and walk away and cop the smartarse "have you got that going yet?'' which makes you want to tell em where to stick thier comments & as far as im concerned the bloody thing can sit there and rot.

end rant.

dad and others often chucked off at brian one of our now deceased members who would spend a day and a half of a 3 day event getting something working but he often drew a crowd. a brilliant machinist he made some interesting gear like his own MT No3 drill press will swing 3 inch drills with ease(we bought it from the family). or a 300 tonne hydraulic press to make commemorative medallions club logo on one side and enjoy your day on the back out of 4mm aluminium sheet, the rod for the ram was 10 inch dia he drove it with a 6hp lister antique stationary engine he spent a small fortune just on the dies.

yes ray that does more apply to Wisconsin engines. but it works for many other too. when we had our d4 in the doctor, dave and merve the 2 mechanics that worked on her would start the pilot with a electric motor while dave held the motor in position merve would turn on the power. stuff starting it with a rope. time is money.

That bit about the brain trust getting smaller is no joke. I regret to say that I am somewhat knowledgeable on the two Cats that I own and on the D2 5U engine that serves as a power unit, but I know nothing about Cats from later manufacture. When I see a call for help on the machines I know, you bet I'll pitch in if I have anything to add, but it's not all that common.

I had the privilege of learning about steam threshing/plowing engines from an old time threshing hand, now long gone. His engine is now on display at the WAAAM museum in Hood River, Oregon, and I am the only one left within the crew who ever got any first-hand knowledge benefit 0n these machines when it was available. I am trying to pass along some of that knowledge, but people are so divorced from steam power in this day, that it is an uphill slog. I am sure you can see where this is going. Still, we try. It's the same story with the old pony-start Cats. And I am now on the far side of 80 and am forced to slow down just a little bit.

I had the benefit of a great trove of knowledge within this Discussion Board when I was running Cats on the farm seriously. There's going to be abstract problems come up sooner or later. Even if you get it figured out, it's a great comfort to get the OK from someone who has seen it and fixed it before you, or correct your solution before you screw it up right!

And I believe that just once, I came up with a well known problem that hadn't been discussed according to anyone's recent memory. I got it figured out to my satisfaction and offered my solution, and found that it solved a hard starting problem on a LOT of pony motors in the past. Well, I was a little late inventing the wheel too!

So, hang in there, members, and offer help when you can, and don't hesitate to ask for it when you need it. You will be contributing to the knowledge of others and that's seldom a bad thing.