Hi Scott,
Thanks for the video and update, it's great to see the progress you made with the D7. Again, you did a great job of conveying the information, some of which you've picked up here on the forum, to the viewers of your channel.

Compliments to Craig also. I don't know the man, but it's fantastic to see the generous and kind nature of some of the people in this club who go above and beyond to help out a fellow member and enthusiast.

theres always room for one more.no matter what she who must be obeyed thinks. ans getting the me working properly agian is half the fun.

and a machine with worn out tracks is fine if your only moving it on and off the trailer.

D8Dude wrote:

Hi Scott,
Thanks for the video and update, it's great to see the progress you made with the D7. Again, you did a great job of conveying the information, some of which you've picked up here on the forum, to the viewers of your channel.

Compliments to Craig also. I don't know the man, but it's fantastic to see the generous and kind nature of some of the people in this club who go above and beyond to help out a fellow member and enthusiast.

Mr. Dude - Thanks, I really enjoyed wrenching on the old girl, and it's always rewarding to get something operational again after it's been sitting for a while.  

Craig was a huge help on-site, but he was also very helpful via pm, e mail, and phone calls.  Sure is nice to have someone like that guiding you when you're working on something that you're not familiar with.

thanks,

Scott

trainzkid88 wrote:

theres always room for one more.no matter what she who must be obeyed thinks. ans getting the me working properly agian is half the fun.

and a machine with worn out tracks is fine if your only moving it on and off the trailer.

Well, my concern is that this tractor hasn't been well cared for over the years and it really needs a LOT of attention and $$$.  If/when I do buy a vintage Cat tractor, I think I'd want a better starting point.

Which brings me to my next question -- since it looks like I'm done with this one, what should I look for if I wanted to buy one to tinker with?  I'm thinking another Cat, something old (1960's vintage?) but in decent shape, pony motor would be great, and something that could be moved on an equipment trailer behind an F450 or something similar would be nice, too.  

Any ideas? 

for something that you can tow around behind a regular vehicle you cant go past a d2. small fairly lightweight and very common. a u series machine is around late 40 early 50s for most of them.
d4's are a little bigger and 6/7u machines weigh around 5 tonnes wet. so you need a reasonable body truck to shift them. we personally have a d46u, (one day i will get it running again, must finish the conversion first.)

the bigger machines need a large body truck or a prime mover with drop deck trailer or low loader to shift them

paying to shift them gets expensive quickly but so does owning your own truck. what some blokes do is get a classic truck of similar or slightly newer vintage to the crawler to cart em round and they display the truck too.(in australia you can have the truck on the cheaper special interest registration(club rego) and use it to cart your antique machines to organised display events.)

or if your like juiceman who has his own business carting machinery and contract farming well the truck can be put to work on the weekends and during the off season.

trainzkid88 wrote:

for something that you can tow around behind a regular vehicle you cant go past a d2. small fairly lightweight and very common. a u series machine is around late 40 early 50s for most of them.
d4's are a little bigger and 6/7u machines weigh around 5 tonnes wet. so you need a reasonable body truck to shift them. we personally have a d46u, (one day i will get it running again, must finish the conversion first.)

the bigger machines need a large body truck or a prime mover with drop deck trailer or low loader to shift them

paying to shift them gets expensive quickly but so does owning your own truck. what some blokes do is get a classic truck of similar or slightly newer vintage to the crawler to cart em round and they display the truck too.(in australia you can have the truck on the cheaper special interest registration(club rego) and use it to cart your antique machines to organised display events.)

or if your like juiceman who has his own business carting machinery and contract farming well the truck can be put to work on the weekends and during the off season.

Thanks for the explanation.  I appreciate it.

Scott

Contacted the owner today to let him know that I wouldn't be buying the D7. I suspect he's going to be ok with that, especially since he can now ask more $ for it and let prospective buyers know that it runs and moves.

Bulletpruf can test drive my used iron anytime LOL. Yes, seller should be very happy that you did your own "due diligence" . I have learned the hard way NOT to drive some stuff onto the trailer. The value changes quick when they see its making noise and moving on its own. It can be relatively easy and fun sometimes, but doing the dirty work for someone else at your own expense and then the balking about price can be a real turn off. I suspect you got a lot of enjoyment from your adventure, so its not always about the dollar.
I fondly recall a friend flailing his arms and running in circles when we pull started a D6 in less than 10 feet. At that point, he became very attached to it. Good grief, hahaha. JM

juiceman wrote:

Bulletpruf can test drive my used iron anytime LOL. Yes, seller should be very happy that you did your own "due diligence" . I have learned the hard way NOT to drive some stuff onto the trailer. The value changes quick when they see its making noise and moving on its own. It can be relatively easy and fun sometimes, but doing the dirty work for someone else at your own expense and then the balking about price can be a real turn off. I suspect you got a lot of enjoyment from your adventure, so its not always about the dollar.
I fondly recall a friend flailing his arms and running in circles when we pull started a D6 in less than 10 feet. At that point, he became very attached to it. Good grief, hahaha. JM

JM - I'd gladly test drive some of your equipment, but you're nowhere near me, right?  I'm in south central Texas.

Anyway, I was kind of worried that the seller would jack up the price once it was running and moving again, but we didn't get to that point.  

You are correct that I got a lot of enjoyment out of getting the old girl running and moving again.  On a related note, between the price of fluids, fuel back and forth and a few other items, I spent about $500 and three short days for Will and I turning wrenches on it, but I'm ok with that -- I had a lot of fun, learned a lot, and made some new friends.  Hard to put a dollar value on that, and I'm happy with how it all turned out.  Plus, my YouTube revenue will eventually cover my cash outlay.

Thanks

Scott

Well, it's back up for sale, this time for $8k. It was originally listed non-running for $5k, so $8k running/moving/steering doesn't sound unreasonable. www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/923125...story_type=top_picks