I'm new to this website but have researched much info on the CAT D2 prior to buying one. It is a D2 4U model w/dozer blade, elec start pony, 3500 hrs, great undercarriage and virtually no smoke from the smooth running engine.

It had been sitting the last few years and PO said it would not turn right. I found all kinds of info on steering clutches on this website. So, I paid $3300 and figured in maybe another $2000 to fix the steering. Boy was that a mis-calculation!

Paid for it, had tow truck move it to Wagner's CAT dealer here in Denver. I wanted them to give it a thorough checkup. It first received a power wash to meet with their "environment standards" so they said, $287 out of my pocket. Their inspection told me basically the brakes needed work and they'd have go into the final drive to assess the steering clutches. They estimated $6K for that piece of work, a bunch of little items added up to $11K. I started to feel I'd
made a big mistake. So, I called them, told them to do no further work and brought it home to give time to schedule the work with one of known heavy equipment mechanics around here. After talking another dozer guy he was old enough to remember about the problems with D2 steering clutches freezing up with rust from sitting. So I decided to try and spread the dirt piles I had waiting with it only having left steering. First time on a dozer so I had read the operation manual.

I live in the mountains so most of my property is sloped. First time trying make a path up the hill, then accidentally rolled all the way back and into my Ford Bronco plow truck - CRUNCH!! Oops, it was a better than avg bronco but luckily I only crushed L Front Fender which can be replaced. After getting used to operating I tried to use the R steering clutch. IT WORKED! Granted, the R brake was weak but soon I was driving back and forth with full working steering.

$500 had gone to the dealer and now I wonder how far they actually got into this D2. I didn't need clutches replaced, and they never mentioned the citric acid treatments or methods to break them loose. I don't think they even knew. I'm so excited that I don't have to shell out any more cash to make it work. I'll finish my immediate dirt work and then focus on the costmetics/lube everything. Glad I have you guys on this site as a resource.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your firsts. 1st post, 1st D2, firsthand experience with old iron and many more to come. Don't be too hard on the Caterpillar guys, they are dealing with "new" technology (to them) by being challenged by your 60-something year old machine. So sorry about your bronco, but it could have been much worse. Feel free to ask questions at will here, including those about safely operating your machine. Most modern tractors have ROPS on them, yours does not. Keep that in mind working on your mountainous terrain. Glad to hear you had some successful seat time. Have fun.

Welcome and thanks for posting

Is the D2 seat tank smashed?

I would lube the entire machine before using it. You wouldn't want to run it with a dry roller or water in the transmission.

Thanks for the welcome. True, the CAT guys would have been unfamiliar with a D2. I walked through the shop and they had many huge dozers, machines torn apart, probably fifteen active repairs going on. My little D2 looked tiny parked at the end of row of large new machines. I've got a picture of that I'll post later.

Luckily the seat tank was only scratched, and that fender which got crunched had already been dented only now its beyond repair. Ha! you just have to laugh at these things. I'll be looking into ROPS for this D2, would probably be good upgrade besides safer equipment. And the transmission/water - dealer had mentioned that. I've got manuals and I'll search posts here.

Hi Weekend Dozr,
welcome to the BB and Old Machines.
Believe it or not at The Dealer I worked at for 43 years from 1962 we did have one complete D2 thru the shop. We sure had lots of clutches, tracks, final drives,fuel injection pumps and a couple of engines etc. bought in by clients for repair.
A customer saw the restorations I was doing for The Boss and wanted us to PAINT his D2 !! He did not know how to start his machine so I was sent out with the tilt-bed driver to pick it up and, you guessed, it the Pony pinion fell off just as the Main started. I did my best to convince him to try some contacts I gave him of people who could do the job cheaper than we ever could but he would not be swayed. So, we got the job of splitting the early machine to fix that fiasco in the clutch area. We also got to service and adjust the unit.
Just trying to say that most of the cow cockies/farmers did their own basic work or got their own mechanics to do it and used us for the techo stuff, this resulted in us not really doing a D2. Also a lot of these machines never did enough hours of work to ever wear out beyond the basic undercarrige repairs also done by the owners etc.
By the same token we did lots of repairs and overhauls on rotten 933's (basically a D2 with a bucket) By the time I retired there was no one left at The Dealer who would have seen or let alone known what a D2 looked like.
Glad you saw fit to try your own fixes. The prices quoted were designed to make you take it away as that Dealer did not want the job either because of their lack of experienced personnel and literature. Despite my protests all the old literature got sold off as a big box lot when I went on Long Service Leave just before retirement, Bah Humbug !!!!
Sorry for the rant.
Have fun and enjoy the accomplishments you have won with thus far on your new toy.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

Weekenddozer, Welcome to the club, the folks on this site are a great wealth of info. I to have a D2 5U that I've received countless hours of guidance on and I'll give all the folks here the credit for helping me get it running. I skinned the knuckles, they told me how! Remember, its supposed to be fun, when it gets frustrating walk away for a bit. It may be a small machine but you can get hurt with it in a heartbeat
Have fun

"64farmboy" wrote:

Weekenddozer,..... Remember, its supposed to be fun, when it gets frustrating walk away for a bit. It may be a small machine but you can get hurt with it in a heartbeat
Have fun

Weekend Dzr A lot of good points in this thread, take heart. Experience wise I not far from you I think with my D42T. When I read your post I invisioned a roll over while going down that hill.

At any rate read carefully what is posted. It helps to have Operations, parts and Servicemens Reference. You can find them on EBAY. Not sure about your set up, but the biggest thing to get used to is the size and weight of everything. Take your time with everything. If you are like me, you won't be earning a living with it, so if you can't safely and correctly fix what's broke today, give it another day and come back to it. This equipment is a lot different than the everyday rubber tired farm tractor.

Post pictures of what you are doing while fixing. It will help you when others give suggestions. If the pics survive it will also help others later when dealing with similar issues. I use "picture trail" at times. Others use "photobucket" or others. The SEARCH is a powerful tool. Many questions have been asked before in similar or identical fashion. So the SEARCH is a good start as reading prior posts will help you hone your questions, or maybe eliminate one or two.

One last suggestion is to post the result-success or failure of what you are working on. I probably over do it sometimes, but If you include a good topic line and focus on descriptive keywords it will assist others later maybe to solve a problem.

Good job on pulling her away from the dealer before you spent all that $$$ ! Also, post the serial number of your tractor. You will find it will help the guy's offering their assistance.

www.picturetrail.com/uid6748227

Nice looking critter there Weekend:thumb:. Those D2's can be a lot of fun. Just go slow and easy 'til you get more familiar with it, and watch the side hill stuff.

You might want to go to your parts store and get a seatbelt for it and use it. The shortness of the D2 can make for some real rides in rough country. .and the last thing you'd want is to get tossed forward when you go over a big bump or log. Trust me, a flying lesson like that isn't a lot of fun. . kind of like getting launched out of a catapult

looks tobe a dakota blade setup on that machine. good luck.

Thanks for the warm welcome and advice from everyone. Special thanks to 'Mike Mc' for reminding me about the transmission/water. I checked this morning before getting to spreading about 60 yards of fill dirt down where it's pretty FLAT. I didn't care to climb far under the thing but I had already seen it was way over the full mark with a creamy chocolate milk color. From my cars interest I knew that was oil/water mixed. Next, I was able to do a quick search here to find the D2 took 8 quarts of transmission oil, 90W or so. I'll fill it tomorrow.

ol' Grump - thanks for mentioning the catapult danger. I did move over low trench area which yesterday had the front/blade dropping down and operator (me) almost left the drivers seat. The bronco incident was within the first 30 minutes of operating this new machine to me. I'll just admit that I got careless and once I neglected to respect the machine's weight and my inexperience I surely got into trouble. One replier said "it could have been worse" and that's saying it lightly. From that point I have been very very careful and focused on my dirt spreading. It is a D2 serial no. 4U2345.