Hi
i was moving some dirt with my D2 today.it seems nearly impossible to grade flat with this machine.one hump leads to abigger one .im not a catskinner by profesion,but i can usually make things flat with out resorting to the backblade.are these machines notoriously front heavy?this machine has a straight blade with hyd. tilt.seems like the blade is mounted quite far forward.do these machines need rear counterweight or a winch to improve balance or are they just not grading machines?
regards
Dave

i'm no cat expert but i keep hearing things about severe balancing issues with the d2, not the greatest for dozing/leveling...but like i said i'm no expert.

One thing I have found that most of us can improve on, is to carry the blade-not try to cut a lot at once. Keep tension on cable control blade, don't push down with hyd blade and things will go a lot smoother.

The D2 is about the worst tractor you could ever put a blade on, and doze with. A short track frame, a blade that is way out front, and hydraulics that are less-than-stellar performance, means that even a skilled Catskinner has trouble with levelling with a D2.

The 5 roller trackframe and a counterweight in the form of a winch, improves them a great deal .. but they are still a tractor prone to severe and rapid pitching, which is the basic problem.

You can mollify the problems somewhat by always commencing dozing on a fairly level patch of ground, and by ensuring that there's a reasonable amount of dirt in the blade. A blade full of dirt is the best stabiliser against washboarding.
You need to develop rapid responses on the blade lever, to any tractor pitching - to the extent that you end up counter-acting any tractor pitching, rapidly, with the blade control, just as it happens.

Tugger,
Been there done that.
Having said that,there are two things that come to mind .
#1 do you have the larger front idler????? Alot of times people end up with d2 that's been retrofitted with a blade,but never had the front idle changed.
This happened to me.Your right, when you back up your little cat stands up on it's toes.And as far as grading,bottom line i don't care how good of skinner you are it's not going to happen.
#2 you did'nt mention the model of d2 that you have .Is it the later model, or earlier one .There is 6 or so inches difference between the two .This isn't much however the difference that it makes is great.
So, if you have a later model d2 with a large front idler.and can't grade, practice.
If you have a earlier model with a small front idler.you can knock it down,but you'll never make it smooth with a front push.
I have both those tractors.My newer one with the large idler is very easy to grade with .The older one with the small idler is impossible,but still fun to operate although can get so flustrating at times.
Anyway,this is a clear cut case where size really does matter.
JUST A THOUGHT COMPRESSOR

I have a D2 with the shorter track frame and small idlers. It has the Cat 2S blade. It is difficult to grade with. With that being said, a load of dirt on the blade helps greatly, also starting from a level position helps to control how you start your cut. When I start to get a wash-board, I usually stop, move over a little and try to continue. Back bladeing is a must for a reasonably smooth result. Lastly, it takes some practice, but you will get a feel for the tractor and almost have to anticapate what the tractor is going to do and counteract with the hydrolics before it happens, it is a nice challenge. I also find that after a long day, when I'm tired it get a whole lot harder, so I try to run the tractor for a little bit, do finish grading if possible before I'm tired. Hange with it, it does get better.

Tim

With a small dozer in some soils no matter what you do will not work here in Nor Cal we have areas with adobe that when dry you can cut it at all and when wet the minute the blade hits the ground it just keeps diggin deeper They have built adjustable skids behind the blades and such, but none seems to work. Ripping or discing it first will help. Later on the D4 blades came with tilting setup like the big dozers,you can turn both tilt turnbuckles tipping blade back so it rides on the moleboard. But in many cases a Ford 8N and box scraper or 2 wetbacks with shovles will do better then a D2 with Cat 2S blade. And any dozer opperator who has to make his work look good by back dragiing is no dozer opperator at all just a wannabe.

I've got both,a D4 with a 4A blade, another with a straight blade plus a D2 5J with a straight blade. It's quite a difference getting off a D4 and getting into the D2. Where with a D4 I can do a passable job, that D2 just about makes me tear out what little hair I have left. Even with a winch on the back, it's a real champ at making whoop de doos.

Any slack or wear in the linkages on these older critters can really make a decent job of blading a lot harder.

thanks for all the responces.the machine sn. is 5j9260.would adding another roller and the larger diameter idler be as simple as extending the track frames,or are there other hidden considerations?Does anyone know where there might be a winch for a D2.I do have a gearmatic winch,but it dosnt seem like the proper winch .I also have another D2 sn. 4u1605,its a narrow guage drawbar only,no blade.Ive thought of building a c frame and angle blade for it.Any thoughts on blades on narrow D2 s?

My D2 5u is also a challenge to grade with but I have a lot better results when the blade is angled.
Packrat