Hi, Haus.
The Cat 941 track loaders, virtually a D4 back end, had a triangular shaped plate that was pinned in the drawbar pull point under the machine and bolted to the ripper mounting plate. This arrangement took all of the pull from the ripper and transferred it to the drawbar pull point which was designed to take it instead of it being left solely to the drawbar carry frame mountings on the back of the steering clutch case which were not designed to take it.

Here izza link to a collection of info on the topic.

www.acmoc.org/bb/search?query=941%20ripp...te=all&childforums=1

Just my 0.02.

Yes, the 941 and 951 rippers are similar but only the 58Dxxxx series has the "U" model and 12Axxxx mounting group.
The draw bar pin and bracket  was not used with the ripper attachments. Front connection was directly bolted to the case bottom where the drawbar pin bracket would be. Shims were used to give some leeway to the fit.

Hi, edb.
I never saw the ripper mounting brace that you have described onna small dozer but I saw a good few of them on Cat 941 track loaders, seemed to work well too.

Just my 0.02.

Hi, DPete.
Regardless of whether your 40A has the correct mounting holes for that plate or not, as I understand it, the D4D was the first D4 model to be offered with a back end designed to cope with the stresses of a rear mounted ripper. I would suggest looking at the load transfer bracket that Old Magnet mentioned. These were designed to transfer the real loading of pulling a rear mounted ripper through hard material to the drawbar pull point under the tractor where the swinging drawbar attached. I useta did had a sketch of the brace wunsa ponna time but I cain;t find it now. Maybe somebody who pas a parts book for a 941 or 951 will be so kind as to post the appropriate page(s)

Just my 0.02.

Hi, Case on a Cat.
The Torque Plate, a couple of forms of which are shown in photos from Glum and Keloz earlier in this thread, transfers to load from an ATTACHED implement, a ripper or a 3-pt linkage unit, direct to the drawbar pull point under the tractor. It does this through bolts which attach the torque plate to the bottom of the ripper towers or 3-pt mounting plate. The Torque Plate is always a fraction of an inch shorter than the actual distance between the drawbar pull point and the ripper towers or 3-pt mounting plate. This gap is almost completely taken up with shims and then the attaching bolts are tightened so that both the bolts and Torque Plate are under tension. this effectively transfers the pulled load from the bottom of the towers or mounting plate straight to the drawbar pull point.

Got it now? If not, don't panic. We'll just put out a call to all the good-hearted folks out there to ask if anybody can supply photos of this arrangement from either a 941 or a 951 fitted with rippers.

There may have been a 3-pt linkage mounting plate manufactured for D2s but I suspect that they would now be almost as common as hen's teeth and rocking horse manure. OR, to quote the immortal OzDozer, from whom we haven't heard in years, they would be made of 'unobtainium'. To the best of my knowledge, Cat never was 'optimistic' enough to make a ripper for a D2. If I am right, they would alos never have made a ripper mounting plate for same. For a lad with your fabricating skills, I doubt that would be an issue.

Just my 0.02.

Hi, Oil Slick.
Those triangle braces that I mentioned on the rippers for the 941s and 951s had shims between the back end of the brace and the front face on the ripper frame so that you could adjust for any wear in the pin at the drawbar attachment point under the tractor by removing shims and re-tensioning the bolts - similar idea to what you are talking about with the U bolts.

It really wasn't until the 'H' series that D8 back ends were seriously engineered to take rear-mounted rippers. Anything before that and you are taking a chance on tearing the back of the steering clutch case out UNLESS you do a REALLY good job of strengthening and bracing. It CAN be done and I think you are one guy who could do it but you do need to be aware of the stresses and strains involved. Rear-mounted rippers are a LOTTTT harder on the back ends of tractors than a towed ripper ever was 'cos all the shock AND all the lifting force comes directly into the back end of the tractor.

Also, with your idea for the cable lift, I would suggest building the ripper mounting towers high enough that you can put a beam across the top of them to carry your top sheaves and then brace that to your canopy so that the load is shared between the two. Even with only 2-part sheaves each end, you would be able to wind up enough pull on the 4-part reeving to give that canopy a 'headache' if you got the ripper stuck under sumpin'.

Just my 0.02.

From the info I have apparently the 955, 951, 941B all use variations of the #4 ripper. The mountings do change for various models but the attachment bolt pattern is the same although some models have a different bolt count from what I can make out from the manuals.

Hi, JSClampit.
I agree with Ozdozer's recipe above except that I'd add an extra wrinkle. If you make the draught triangle that attaches to the swinging drawbar pivot point a fraction shorter than the actual length required, you can add some shims between the triangle and the rear mounting plate to allow for future wear of the drawbar pin. This sort of set-up was used on some of the earlier Cat track loaders, 941, 951, etc., to reduce stress on the back end of the steering clutch case.

Havattitt!