TUGGER,
As everyone out there has there own opinion on what will work and what will not.I have both tractors
#1 5u10850 short track frame and small idler.a cat 2a angle blade.
#2 5u17959 longer track frame and larger solid front idler with toolbar dozer.
The difference between the two is huge.
The older model ( such as your's) is almost impossible to grade with.Yes you can go 10' before it start's to get ugly,but them the flustration set's in and well you know what happens.
Then you climb on the newer one with the longer track frame and the larger front idler it's all together different.Is it the larger front idler or the longer track frame or both?
There is no way a d2 is going to compare with say a D6 just like a D6 prob would'nt compare to a patrol.As with everything,every piece of equipment large or small has it's place.
I promise you this ,if you change those idlers to the larger ones you will notice a hugggggge difference.Again,she won't be no D6,but you will be able to manage your frustrations alot better.
As far as adding a 5 roller I'm sure there are guy's out there have done just that.I thought of doing that very thing.I have an extra track frame and alot of rollers.Prob a big pain probably look like *&(%. So I never did.
One last thought. All the little d2's 3j 5j 4u 5u from the beginning to the lasts one made are great little tractors,but the later model in my humble opinion is alot more of a tractor which is very easily realize the moment you operate one.
Just a thought. COMPRESSOR

I always remember a man stopping to look at some of my dozer work and then saying, " Just make it level, none of this fancy up and down stuff". It takes quite a while to learn how to anticipate what the dozer is going to do, and then factor in the reaction time of the hydraulic system, the speed of the tractor and the changing terrain. I have had to back up a lot with the dozer down to erase my mistakes. It just takes time.

Hi, Tugger.
If you're pretty handy in a well-equipped workshop, lengthening the track frames, adding another bottom roller and installing the larger front idlers would not be out of the question. How-wevver, bear in mind that you will also need to lengthen the connecting rod from the idler yoke to the recoil spring - and probably beef it up a bit - and add about 3 extra links to the track chain - on each side.

The cheapest way to alleviate the probelm would be to fit the large front idlers - if you don't already have them. If you can measure the current front idler diameter rim-to-rim and post it here, somebody will eventually tell if you have the small or large idlers - maybe even politely. LOL.

Adding a winch, or a rear-mounted ripper, would also help. If your hydraulics are at all sluggish, that is also going to make it more difficult to control, as will any slack in the hydraulic control linkage or in the blade lift rams, mounts and conections.

There is absolutely no reason why you can't put a dozer blade on a narrow-gauge crawler. It's track length on the ground and front idler size that affects fore-and-aft stability. The track gauge only really affects sideways stability.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the input guys.probably time to look for a grader and keep the D2 for parades and fire wood skidding.
Regards Dave

Hi, Tugger.
That idea has a lot of merit, especially if it is a Cat grader. LOL.

"Deas wrote:

Hi, Tugger.
If you're pretty handy in a well-equipped workshop, lengthening the track frames, adding another bottom roller and installing the larger front idlers would not be out of the question. How-wevver, bear in mind that you will also need to lengthen the connecting rod from the idler yoke to the recoil spring - and probably beef it up a bit - and add about 3 extra links to the track chain - on each side.

The cheapest way to alleviate the probelm would be to fit the large front idlers - if you don't already have them. If you can measure the current front idler diameter rim-to-rim and post it here, somebody will eventually tell if you have the small or large idlers - maybe even politely. LOL.

Adding a winch, or a rear-mounted ripper, would also help. If your hydraulics are at all sluggish, that is also going to make it more difficult to control, as will any slack in the hydraulic control linkage or in the blade lift rams, mounts and conections.

There is absolutely no reason why you can't put a dozer blade on a narrow-gauge crawler. It's track length on the ground and front idler size that affects fore-and-aft stability. The track gauge only really affects sideways stability.

Hope this helps.

Deas Plant,
I too, ran across a D6C/B with an angle dozer and two tilt cylinders and it was a product of Caterpillar . I also, at a later date (years), saw the engineering plans for the installation of the cyl‘s and other related items. As I recall, there was a great deal of modifications to both cyl’s and it was required to use the No.6S blade tilt hydraulic hose arrangement and etc. But, I only saw the one.
Kelly

Hi, Kelly.
As mentioned, these machines LOOKED very Cat-like from the rams to the plumbing, what I could see of it as I worked within some 20 - 40 yards of the two machines that I saw fitted out like this. We were on adjoining sites with a - supposedly - man-proof fence between us and I was on hourly hire so could not stop and do a detailed inspection but they were doing much the same work with those angle blade D6C-D's that I was doing with a wide gauge D5B, rough-cutting house blocks in a new sub-division, leaving them with fall two ways so that they drained toward the street.