Bookend 9U

Hi all. Some of you may know I have a pretty early 9U, #17. I’ve always thought it would be cool to have a really late 9U to have both ends of the spectrum. I’ve found a few, but not close enough to the end to suit me.

Well lo and behold bookface marketplace came through. Just a bit to the north of me in the heart of the Palouse country, a 9U popped up. This example, # 29,714 is 50 tractors from the end of the line. As you’ll see in the pictures, it’s had some modifications. These were done at Norm Wilson tractor in Colfax, Wa. It’s got a 44A dash, fabed up hood, and turbo. They also added armrests to the optional 9U seat tank that hold fuel to add capacity. It’s a factory Direct electric tractor. 24” pads with hydraulic track adjusters. They parked it 30 years ago when they put the place into CRP. Enjoy some pictures.

BP.

Hi, Bruce P.

Nice. And 'Jesus boots' too. Thanks for sharing.

Just my 0.02.

Glad you got it Bruce. Did they make a hood for it or use a 44A hood?

Hi Mike, I think the hood has been built, looks like they did a pretty nice job though. I thought I’d put it all back to stock, but I like the dash and hood. I’ll need to find a 44A cowl surround. It was a 44a with a starting engine. The instruction plate for the starting engine is still on the dash.

Another very nice catch by BP! Now you have me kicking myself, because Mr. D4E sold me a late 9U w/60 pan that had the belt driven water pump; Chase W., aka Berks18? convinced me to sell it to him and it ended up in the Dakotas. From there, I am not sure what he did with it. I will look up my serial number list and see what I used to own. (insert sad imoji)

Did that machine come equipped with a "grader kit" or were the mods done in-house by the previous owner? JM

Thanks JM. I’m not sure if it’s got grader pumps or not. It’s got a stock NA exhaust manifold so no grader stuff there. I think it was all done at Wilson tractor. They were a pretty large Cat shop back in the day. They did all sorts of Cat repair and hot rodding. I think they had a pretty big wrecking yard too. Here’s a picture of the blower.