Parts Orphans ?

Do you relize how much room it would take to save all the patterns for all the diff.castings that Cat has made for the last 85yrs and how many diff foundries made parts for them. You would thinkj if that was the case they would just whip out a bunch of Cat 10 manifolds that they could sell now for more then the tractor sold for 80 yrs ago. Im sure Kent could tell us what they can still make

The "no parts orphans" policy, that was touted so loudly by Cat in the 1930's, 1940's and early 1950's, was quietly abandoned without any announcement, around 1956 or 1957. The written decision is likely to be buried deep in the Cat archives of BOD decisions, and they probably aren't interested in finding it, any time soon.
I believe that blueprints for most parts are still available, and Cat can supply them .. but I never knew that Cat would still cast items such as a final drive housing for a 2H series RD6.
This would have necessitated a new mold, I would imagine .. and it would have been a very expensive exercise.
I'd take an educated guess, that it was cast for someone with serious "pull", inside the Cat dealer organisation, or even for someone in the upper echelons of Cat management.

The "no parts orphans" policy, that was touted so loudly by Cat in the 1930's, 1940's and early 1950's, was quietly abandoned without any announcement, around 1956 or 1957. The written decision is likely to be buried deep in the Cat archives of BOD decisions, and they probably aren't interested in finding it, any time soon.
I believe that blueprints for most parts are still available, and Cat can supply them .. but I never knew that Cat would still cast items such as a final drive housing for a 2H series RD6.
This would have necessitated a new mold, I would imagine .. and it would have been a very expensive exercise.
I'd take an educated guess, that it was cast for someone with serious "pull", inside the Cat dealer organisation, or even for someone in the upper echelons of Cat management.

I was wondering why whoever didnt just aquire a good used D6 housing??, i could find a few good useable housings for a reasonable cheap price ,,, even from here in OZ. there are plenty in CA and WA state . my 2 cents worth. Regards and BEST new year wishes to you all ! pete😊

I can see the business logic behind why Cat does not want to make parts for a 1930's or 1940's vintage machine. AS jwwelty posted it would be nice to get the drawings from these obsolete and antique tractors they do not care to support.

I remember during a tour of the factory a few years ago that the guide told us all the blueprints are available for all the models ever made. If there are a couple of requests for a certain part, Caterpillar would resurect the blueprint and make a new part. Personally, I had 2 thoughts. 1) You have got to be joking! 2) If you're not joking me, then just how much would that one part cost me? 😕

Hi Team,
from my experience you need to find a Partsman at The Dealer who is interested in helping you.
For obsolete parts no longer on the NPR (Numerical Parts Record) or Discontinued, he can request the relevant Drawing/s from Cat.
I did see an explaination once of how many parts need to be ordered in a given time frame to keep that part "alive" before it got to be discontinued, then how many requests for that discontinued part to drop out of the system and not appear on the NPR.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

I got a few drawings through my dealer around 10 years ago. the last one was for the D2 bell housing. What I got was size reduced drawing from a fax that was largely illegible. It was said to be the best they could do. I next time I asked for a drawing they said they could only get one if they were going to have a part made. I said, well then suppose I buy a part and you sub the making out to me?. They said NO.

Hi Team,
from my experience you need to find a Partsman at The Dealer who is interested in helping you.
For obsolete parts no longer on the NPR (Numerical Parts Record) or Discontinued, he can request the relevant Drawing/s from Cat.
I did see an explaination once of how many parts need to be ordered in a given time frame to keep that part "alive" before it got to be discontinued, then how many requests for that discontinued part to drop out of the system and not appear on the NPR.
Cheers,
Eddie B.