4T hystaway dragline

Hi, U-joint.
Great catch, M8. Didjya go and rub some salt into the scrap rat's wounds afterwards?

Good stuff.

That problem with the boom not swinging right should had oughta be curable. The next 'kwestyun' is, "How much to cure it?"

u-joint, that's a real nice find. A reasonably rare tractor, and a now-reasonably-rare Hystaway attachment, that is very useful tool. The Hystaway books are worth good money alone, and if you could acquire the Hystaway sales brochures, you could double the value of the tractor! 😛

Good to hear you beat a scrap rat. Scrap is starting to climb again, the Chinese have buckled to the iron ore miners, and they aren't going to get iron ore at the bargain basement prices they thought they could. You'll be pleased about your minimal outlay very soon.

What a great find, for sure a machine like that should not go to the scrap man, we look forward to hearing what the problem (and cure) is with the slewing.

Great find! What size is the Cat? I have a Hystaway for a D6 but no cat yet.
Send me your number I'd like to talk to you.
Thanks
Doug

hello Doug ,the first pic are a d7 4t ,i think that the hystaway you have for the d6 are the same as fitted to the d7 ? .i have a sales book i could post next week if anybody would like to see it ,bruce oz

deas, funny you mentioned salt. 10 minutes after the thing sold i walked up
to the guy i outbid acting dumb and bubbly and asked if he collected cats.
he answered with a real short ''no''. a said oh, then you were going to start
with this one. he said real short again ''i was going to cut it up''. then i got
serious and said ''cut it up, you cant do that''. he walked off and that was
the end of it! i picked up the tractor thursday and the auctioneer was there
to help. i asked if he knew the guy i outbid, it turns out he is the left hand
man of a scrap dude i do know of. years ago the guy pulled a fast one on
me at an auction, i hated him for years. now i do not remember what he did,
i have talked to him since many times, he is ok i guess. looks like i got him
back!

ozdozer, i always enjoy your wisdom. what can you tell me about a 4T. i
have seen them mentioned in books. where do they fall into in the serial
number order, 7M 3T 17A. what features are different from a 3T. this one
has hydraulic steering and a johnson bar, did the 3T? seems like i remember
hearing a 4T was a military machine only? this tractor was, it has all the
military tags and brass plates.

u-joint - Yes, the 4T was a military tractor, built only in 1944 and 1945, to meet a large USACE contract. Caterpillar were overwhelmed at that time, with factory output running at near maximum .. so Pacific Car and Foundry were subcontracted to build the 4T.

The tractor is basically a 3T .. but with attachments that were specified to meet the USACE requirements .. which were mostly improvements designed to meet harsh working conditions, shipping requirements and specific military requirements. The 3T has hydraulic steering and Johnson bar as standard.

You will likely find originally, it was equipped with heavier duty generating system, starting system, lighting system, tie downs, brackets and mountings for military tools (jerry cans, shovels, etc) .. and possibly faster transmission speeds.
You can identify the different models of transmission by any tags that still exist, that show the transmission group number. It may also have changed final drive gearing, found by the stamp "SP-G" on the upper rear housing.

I can't find any figures on 4T production. I have seen a figure of 1000 mentioned, it may be more. The original purchase order identifying the total number on the order, and the attachment specifications, is no doubt buried in Govt Wartime archives. The actual production may not coincide with the purchase order, because everything was in a state of flux during WW2, and orders changed weekly. Often, vast orders were submitted, only to be overturned a month later, as priorities changed, or it was deemed that the amount already produced was adequate.

I'd be interested in seeing a couple of pics of the military tags. I don't believe anyone has posted them anywhere. The military tags are generally quite informative, and often give military contract or purchase order numbers.

The blade should have originally been a LeTourneau .. however, it wasn't uncommon to have military tractors fitted with La Plant Choate blades, too. It appears that La Plant Choate was concentrating on hydraulic blades during WW2, whereas LeTourneau had the military brass bluffed that cable control was the only way to go.

The Tanks fitted with blades such as the Shermans and Matildas, all had La Plant Choate hydraulic blades fitted. It must have been very obvious to the tank designers that a cable control blade was too bulky and unworkable on a tank.

Bruce - Post away with scans of all those great Hystaway brochures we know you stole for a song .. 😛

I've never been able to score any Hystaway brochures, there are people out there who are lots faster than me, who snap them up, the instant they appear .. 😞

Bruce - The Hystaway was produced in 3 models to fit the D6, the D7 and the D8 .. and I understood that the different models weren't interchangeable. However, the Hystaway ad from 1952, seems to indicate that the Hystaway was basically interchangeable between all three tractors.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hyster-Hystaway-dragline-crane-clamshell-hoe-shovel-Ad_W0QQitemZ360151305502