This is my first post here, I came looking for some info on a Motor Grader I recently purchased for snow removal. It is a 12E The Serial # Being 12E797 E From the production numbers the best I can tell it is a 1959. I would like to find out more on the engine as well, by the looks of it it is a D333 and not a D318. I would love to get some specs and experiences/ words of advise from those of you who have put in many hours getting your knuckles busted on one of these gear drive graders.

If thats a US machine there should be a 99Exxxx serial number.
#797 would be a 1960 machine with D333 engine.

99E is the prefix, I pulled the number outta thin air sitting at home this morning and I got that part wrong.

Welcome Dude. . I've got 99E1035 so yours is a bit older'n mine. Good machine overall except for the "Buzz Bomb" pony (I converted mine to direct start and junked the pony). One thing I can tell ya is that they're useless in snow and ice without chains. I chain up all four rear tires and the right front tire as well.

With the knuckle duster controls you can't "float" the blade like many hydraulic graders so you'll spend some quality time getting your knuckles rattled About the only hint I can give you is to start slow and get used to it and how it handles. I generally set the blade to about a 30 degree angle or somewhere thereabouts and tilt the front wheels away from the side the snow winds up on. Speed will come with practice. On level road I can usually use 5th and sometimes 6th, depending on how deep and wet the snow is. .

I drilled and tapped a 1/4" pipe thread in the bottom of the tilt gearbox for a plug to drain water. .it'll freeze and then you won't be able to tilt the front wheels. That's about the only thing I feel Cat missed when they built 'em.

Happy plowing

Dude-see my reply in the "8B" thread?

Thanks for the reply 'Ol Grump! Do you have any idea how water gets into the tire lean gear box? I cant remember off the top of my head if that is one that is greased or is filled w/ gear oil. Mine has been converted to electric start, I am in the process of getting some 4U I think they are called batteries put on there. It came with two pickup batterys @660 CCA each I wasn't real confident what would want to warm plugs and get that thing to light when its cold out. Can you operate your compression release from the cab still? There are 5 rotating linkage things that go through the back of the cab but none of them are hooked up, which doesn't bother me, although I would like to be able to get it up to speed w/ the compression release if need be should the batts be giving me issues.

About the only way water gets into the leaning wheel box is past the input shaft. .there's no seal on it to prevent it. As far as lube, I fill it with 80W 90 and loosen the plug I put in to check for water. I've sen only a few drops since I installed it so it may have been the result of many years of sitting outside.

Regarding the comp release, I removed the control box and all the linkages that were not going to be used w/o the pony but left the comp release and linkage, then built a handle for it. I usually release comp and crank it for 5-10 seconds before starting. Also I built a "quick shot" ether setup next to the seat. .when I go to start it, I hit the start button, kick the foot throttle and give it about a half second shot and it rumbles to life. Just a bit of "Okie Engineering" When temps go much below about 40F, it starts a lot easier and when temps drop below freezing it's the only way I can get it going. It was either do it that way or change the precomps and add glow plugs. This was a lot cheaper.

I hope this helps,
Paul

Yours didn't come equipped with glow plugs? I guess I will hafta play with mine in the colder temps to see how it does, though I imagine letting it hear then getting it up to speed w/ the compression release outta light her up! How far do your wheels lean over? Someone had put a chain and some other things on there evidently to keep the tires from leaning over too far, or to keep the axle from going too far down, I cannot figure out the reasoning for this and I think im going to grind all that crap off.

That does help Paul, good first hand experience on a machine that's over 50 years old is hard to come by!

Chain to keep the wheels from leaning too far or keeping the axle from pivoting too much???? That's a new one on me I wonder what the reasoning was there? I could maybe see it with an articulated all wheel drive grader when you might have one front wheel hanging over the edge of the road while cleaning up a steep shoulder but that's it.

I've never measured the lean but I'd guess they might lean as much as 25 degrees or more either way. If they didn't want 'em to lean, there's a place for a locking bolt in the front of the box so that that driveline could be detached and used to drive something else. I think I remember reading that the bolt was also used for shipping but removed once it got to it's new home.

I'm no authority on these critters, by trade I'm a retired machinist/fabricator but I've been around equipment most of my life. I guess a lot of what I've learned was the hard way. .plus listening to and watching some good operators over the years

Thats an interesting tidbit on the lean system, I thought maybe the gear stop was worn out and would possibly let go and have the wheels lean WAYY over but that doesn't look to be the case, I think I am going to remove the chain and see what happens while I mess w/ it some.Sounds like you have a fair deal of at least general knowledge, which I don't have a whole lot of at age 20, but I try to soak up knowledge from you old codgers the best I can.