Nick the new guy.

    My name is Hank I am 66 years old. I joined ACMOC 2 days ago. I am from the Lehigh Valley area in eastern Pennsylvania. I own a 1955 D4 7U Bulldozer. I am a Machinist by trade and have been since 1981. I built a 42' X 60' commercial steel building for my man cave. I served in the United States Marine Corps for 21+ years until I retired from there a Gunnery Sergeant. With 17 of those years were working as a Machinist.  I then worked for Mack trucks on their assembly line for 3 years assembling trucks. After being laid off for a year and a half I got hired as a Department of Defense employee. I worked for the United States Navy for 11 years as a Machinist on Nuclear Submarines until I retired again for good.  During my last 15 years of employment I decide that I wanted a machine shop when I was retired to play in. I started purchasing lathes, milling machines, a boring machine, drill press, and a vast number of tooling to make everything work. As a Marine I years of experience  working on Tanks and Amphibious Assault Vehicles. I know what it is like to replace a track on a tracked vehicle, and I walk with a limp now from where a sledgehammer bounced off a torsion bar housing and grazed my knee. About 3 years ago I got a phone call from a friend asking if I was interested in buying a bulldozer. It was about 3 miles from where I live so I jump into the truck and went to check it out. It was a 1955 D4 7U, and the guy was asking $500.00 for it. It seems the guy had divorced his wife 10 years before that and it had sat where he parked it 10 years ago. After talking to him a little it seemed that the bank was foreclosing on the property where the bulldozer was, and he had 24 hours to get whatever he wanted off the property before foreclosure. I offered him $400.00 to see if he would barter at all, and he immediately excepted my offer.The motor did not turn over and the sifter was frozen in neutral  I now had less then 24 hours to move the Bulldozer. I was lucky that it was in the front yard and there was plenty of flat space around the machine to move it. Once I got it to my place it sat for about 3 years. I had purchased a pony motor for it during that time and toyed with the idea of rebuilding it myself. At 66 years old and after 2 hard physically demanding careers I am not as agile as I used to be. So 6 months ago I put it on a flat bed trailer and sent it to G&R Tractor in Topton, Pa. As of last Friday it is in the their shop and they have it apart doing the voodoo they do so well. Once I get the machine back the drivetrain will be working well and I will  work on track system and sheetmetal to clean it up. I am writing this post for 2 reasons; First, is to let the club know who I am, where I am, and what I am do. Second, is to let club members know that I have a complete machine shop and can machine or repair parts for those who do not enjoy this luxury. I am a very good barterer, and since I am new to the Bulldoze community I am sure there are many things I will need, If we can trade parts for machining work, I can do that. Well that about it for now, and as always Semper Fi.

Hank

Welcome Hank! Or do you prefer Gunny?
Thank you for your service.
Very nice of you to introduce yourself and share your talents. I’m sure you just made a lot of new friends here!
Keep on posting, and as always, photos are encouraged.
Regards, JuiceMan

Welcome Hank , Good luck with your cat
Thanks for sharing your story ,
Best regards from Cheshire U.K. 👍

Welcome Hank, thanks for your service, good luck with that Cat, you will really have some fun with it.

You will find folks here will help where needed, don't be afraid to sing out, and make sure you get copies of the relevant Cat books for your tractor, they should be in the Technical Library.

All the best from Australia
Mike

Welcome aboard Hank. Thanks for the introduction, let us know more about your D4. Also thanks for your offer to help others.
Craig

Sounds like you're living the dream Hank, both before and after retirement! : ) Chapter 8 is based near you in Joisey so there'll be events going on down there and plenty of members to connect with to chew stuff over. Please do post pictures of any components you work on and refurbish because seeing how it's done is golden for a lot of us.

Hi, Hank.
Welkum too ther 4rum. My hat is off to you, both for your MANY years of service and for what has to be the most comprehensive introduction to date here on ACMOC.

It is VERY kind of you to offer your services for machining, etc., as that can be one of the bigger expenses in preserving and restoring old machinery if parts turn out to be made of 'unobtainium'.

Enjoy your retirement. I am enjoying my 'retirement' on the far side of the country, 'remodelling' America.

Just my 0.02.

Welcome Hank. Thank you for your service. You'll find a lot of like minded members here who are passionate about keeping old Cats alive. I'm a few states south of you in Virginia.

Glad to have ya Hank. I'm fairly new year myself. I'm a tool and die maker in Wisconsin if you ever want to bounce ideas off each other, let me know! And thank you for your service.

First I would like to say that it is a pleasure to serve those who appreciate it. My military career was the best thing I could have ever done for myself. I encourage all young men and women to give the military some of their time. As for what to call me most call me Hank , but my Marine friends call me Gunny. Thank you all for the hardy welcome and do not forget that I am here to help. Working together will not only help the individual I help, but it will also help me by learning about these machines. Semper Fi

Hank

Welcome Hank! I'm in the middle of a 1950 D4-7U rebuild myself. Would love to see some pictures of yours if you have any.