Minor makeover D-2 5U

After doing some paid equipment moves, I swung by the paint shop and retrieved the D2 that I had purchased through CrawlerAddict.

The most difficult part is trying to remember where I put the rest of the parts so I can button it back up. I always say “one project at a time…”, but when I have to wait for parts, I move on to something else rather than hold the sofa down.

This one might become yard art. It’s too “purty” to get any dirt on it.

The Caterpillar on the radiator, some fine brush work will make it stand out! Looks great, when can your "nephew" come to shine the pads up?

Definitely touching up the lettering. A 2" foam brush seems to work the best. I did the grill on 2 machines and lettering on "Lynda" while I had the 40 year old quart of black paint open. One day I will try my luck with a camel hair pinstriping brush on the badges. Speaking of which, I have some scrapers that I have never bothered to detail either. Good eyesight is a must too! JM

Nice tractor .

JM -- your "nephew(s)" are waiting for the invite to come shine up those pads. "purdy" it may be to those that do not know a Cat is only happy when covered in dust and making that noise only tracks and exhaust can produce. That special "patina" is not found in a can. Sign up list starts Here! CTS and Sparky2001 are signed up! Thanks JM, very nice job, you can be proud of that one. --- cts

That thing is sweet! Can't wait to see it when it's buttoned up. But I really like the look of the hydraulic unit with the almost symmetrical piping coming off of it.

"A 2" foam brush seems to work the best." I had imagined that would be a good approach to paint the raised letters. Thanks for the tip.

I’m almost ready to display as my yard ornament. I forgot where my air cleaner was, so I had to rattle can a spare with some “School bus yellow”. Scrounged up a few loose parts. The only thing left to have painted is the blade.

I want to thank CrawlerAddict again, for talking me into buying this one from his cache of crawlers.JM

JM -- I will find a starting rope, let me know if I need to bring my own gasoline for the "pony"? Don't worry, I will try not to wake the neighbors. Happy to see the protection for the front mounted pump, I remember years ago when the field hands seemed to have a knack for damaging those pumps. Beautiful job, it sure looks like it needs to be in a showroom, reminiscent of the dealerships of yesteryear. That needs to be shown in the Magazine, hope you took lots of pictures detailing the progression of this work. Thanks! - cts

JM I do believe the additional shed would be very useful especially to keep candidates like this in, let me know if you need a hand so I will sort paper work out for travel to help build it or at least give running feedback whilst its getting built 😊

Busso20: Just send 7 figures USD and I gladly send you a video and name the building in your honor! You have to realize that I reside in “Commiefornia “ where everything costs more than it should and things move too slow.

I had to search my entire place looking for the correct air cleaner. I educated myself that some are longer and will not clear the pony flywheel unless you happen to have the heavy cast offset bracket! I walked past it underneath the shelve where my intake parts are (repeatedly). Talk about being blind and forgetful!

I also remembered having a set of outside mud guards purchased from George Rankin at SM 2017? I cleaned them up and fitted them to be sure they were correct. Spot on EXCEPT are my bottom rollers Berco? They are not the same as the CAT on “Lynda”. I also noticed 3 holes in the flanges…I did not write down the part numbers.

This little machine isn’t perfect, but I am having an enjoyable time making it presentable. Aside from having the blade cylinders repacked and painting, everything was on here in hand or gleaned from my parts pile. JM