G-day
I have a caterpillar d7 model 4t5039
original colour was naval gray from post war.
does anyone know how to get history on these old machines and where i would be able to source parts
I have had the dozer running
the electric start pony motor and deisel engine all work great but having trouble trying to use the controls and engage the plow.

cheers from australia

Gday Adam

Welcome to ACMOC.

9999 D7 4T's were produced from 1944 - 1945. They were all built for military use - being sold off as army surplus once the war was over. These machines are quite common down under. Quite a few were bought into the country to clear soldier settler blocks after WW2.

These machines are almost identical to the D7 3T which were produced from 1944 to 1955 with some 28000 units built. This series of D7's are about as bomb proof as tractors come - they are massively over engineered and are one of my favourite cats of all time. They are fitted with a D8800 4cylinder [5 3/4" bore x 8inch stroke] engine producing 93 belt hp @ 1000rpm. These motors are well known for their unbeatable lugging power due to their massive 8inch stroke!

Your machine S/N 4T5039 was built in 1944.

As for parts, Caterpillar are great for basic parts like nuts, bolts, filters, gaskets, seals but can be expensive on things like bearings and engine parts. Always worth quoting through your local Cat dealer. Florin tractor [see details below] in America are your best bet for parts. Judy and Dana are great to deal with and sell NOS genuine cat parts at very good prices. Tillys in QLD also have parts for these ol D7's.

Florin Tractor Parts
SACRAMENTO
8345 Florin Rd.
Sacramento, CA 95828
(916) 383-0317
Toll Free: (800) 223-9916
Fax: (916) 383-6911
E-mail: <a href="This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." target="_blank">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Best way to start off is to find yourself a set of manuals for the machine. Parts, Operators and Service manuals for your machine all pop up on ebay from time to time. Manuals for a D7 3T will be fine for your tractor.

A good place to start with these old girls is to change all the oils, put some coolant in them, lube and adjust everything up. All this info is well outlined in an operators manual.

Feel free to ask any further questions on the BB, people are always happy to help, there are some great guys on here who know these ol girls from one end to the other.

Where abouts in Australia are you located???

Cheers
Billy
South Australia

Thanks for saying hi, and welcome to ACMOC, young Billy has given you a good introduction on your old Cat., well done Billy. I'm guessing you are in northern NSW looking at that scrub in the background but am probably wrong, but is that top track chain carrier shot at the back, from the photo it looks like there's not much left of it, and that your tracks might need looking at if the front idler (wheel) is right at the end of the track frame and there's still a sag in your tracks.

Let us know your nearest major town, because there are nice folks scattered all over Oz who are a lot smarter than me, who can help get you started on getting her A1 again, but a Operators Instruction Book, and Parts Number Book are two essential items to have and can be bought on Fleabay pretty cheap, or even if you ask on here in the Wanted to Buy section some nice person should have spares at a fair price.
Good luck, you have passed the first and second intelligence tests with flying colors here on ACMOC, (1) You bought a Cat and not a Inter:lol: (2) You learnt how to post a photo straight away without asking for help, it took me about 2 years!!
regards
Mike

You need to be on the look out for one of these original War Department Manuals.....they show up on ebay every now and then.
Contains Maintenance Manual section, Parts Book and section on the Parts, Maintenance and Operation of the Letourneau Cable Control Unit and blade.
Looks like this:

Hi Adam , Welcome to the Forum . The PCU is a Letourneau one , We have same looking model on our D68U . What Problems are you having with it ?.I got a Manual from a top bloke here in OZ,I can pass on details for him if you want a copy .

Adam

As has been said, one of the best built and toughest machines around, the D7 was updated during the war whilst the D8's were still the pre war models and only got the updates later. A lot of those D7 mods can be traced right forward into much later machines and they are still capable of a good hard days work alongside much newer machines. I have 4T 2855 and 3877, both converted to hydraulic with a later hard nose. I am intrigued by the navy paint on yours, my understanding was that the 3T was the commercial version, the 4T was the Army and that a 6T was made for the Navy. Both of mine have US army green underneath the later yellow, they would have come over here for the building of all the airfields during the war, a handful also went across to France after D day. They made a huge number of these things and shipped them to Europe and the Pacific, they also shipped vast quantities to Russia for hauling howitzers. I think almost twice as many went to Russia as to Europe. There was some sort of deal done with Cat and all the other manufacturers that none of this stuff was to come back to america after the war, returning equipment after the first war badly depressed new sales and they werent having that again. Hence the tales of fleets of kit being buried or tipped at sea, not sure how much of this actually happened but in England the government quietly sold the stuff off and many a contractor and farmer ran these D7's for decades to come. Not sure where the proceeds went, I guess it depended on whether it was from a US unit or kit that had come over on lease lend.

Nick

I have recently acquired a 1945 D7 model 6T cable dozer. It has a crank start pony engine. I am interested in converting it to an electric start pony engine. It sounds like your machine is an electric start pony engine. Did you do the conversion yourself? Where did you get the parts? Do you have any photos of the final assembly?
Ron A.

G'day ron I have a D73t/4t, it has an electric starter on the pony and is original cat equipment but I don't think the spare motor I have was equipped with a starter cheers rowey NSW

Rowey:
OK. Thanks for the response. Are there any part numbers on the electric start that you could give me? I can't seem to find any information that would assist me in doing a conversion. Do you have the capability of posting some pictures?
Ron A.

These starters are a bit like rocking horse dung to buy here in the land of red dust.
I have considered making one. Would need an appropriate idler gear that can slide along a shaft and a elec, starter with suitable pinion and
correct rotation....
We need pictures of your machine.
If I am here tomorrow will post pages from parts book....
Andrew..K...