Saving some Thirtys'

Get Bruce on a wire brush and a lick of paint you will be half way done. Seriously good projects I doubt our USA friends realise how hard it is to find those things here, there were not many Cats in Aus before WW2 and those that were here were worked to death long ago. cheers Colin

Ha ha, you are right Colin, though now that Bruce has retired he's not interested in getting his hands dirty helping friends save old Cats, interferes with coffee and cake eating......😆

Yes, sadly good parts are almost impossible to find here in Oz, still, if it was easy everyone would want to do it wouldn't they!! I would love to know the history of these old girls, one apparently sat on a dirt pile out the front of a scrap yard in Port Augusta for many years, teasing everyone who drove past.
All the best
Mike

I'm not very familiar with the thirty but it looks like a good score to me. I can see lots of good parts there and as we all know they ain't making them anymore
Good luck with your project

You're a top man Mike! Don't listen to what those other guys say ; )
What can you tell us about those grousers on the tractor closest to the shed? They look like spindly little things. Also, that brazing job looks special. Any interesting provenance on them?

You're a top man Mike! Don't listen to what those other guys say ; )
What can you tell us about those grousers on the tractor closest to the shed? They look like spindly little things. Also, that brazing job looks special. Any interesting provenance on them?

[quote="Neil"]You're a top man Mike! Don't listen to what those other guys say ; )
What can you tell us about those grousers on the tractor closest to the shed? They look like spindly little things. Also, that brazing job looks special. Any interesting provenance on them?[/quote]

Hello Neil, the tracks closest to the shed are off rice harvesters, they are Berco D4D size chain, I dragged them home last week and hope to use them on the D4 2T restoration, but I thought they would be handy to drop a Thirty onto temporarily as they were craned off the truck.

Sadly I have no historical information on these tractors at all, but that is typical for the rubbish I drag home, other guys drag barn fresh tractors home with the original Bill of Sale and the full set of tools sitting in the tool box, all I know is they all came from the State of South Australia about 5 years ago when they were bought by a retired Vet.

I'd suggest they have done a million hours, and been thoroughly abused by a whole congo line of ratbags and hooligans, as you noticed, 2 of the poor old girls have thrown #4 conrod at some stage and been repaired, so it will be interesting to see what the internals are like under those man hole side covers........
All the best
Mike

Congrats on the new arrivals, Mike, looks to be a lot of pickings in amongst that lot. I’d fill my yard with waifs and strays too given the choice.. keep us posted, more photos the better!

Regards,

Tony

I think Anna might be right. I have been told that the affliction can be cured by taping a rusty washer to your shoulder, but I haven't tried it as of yet myself.

I've been busy squirting loose juice everywhere, trying to get a better idea of what I have ahead of me, on one of the girls, many of the head stud nuts are badly rotted away, as were the old spark plugs, I've never seen that before.

Also found a interesting spark plug, looks like someone repaired one to get another 10,000 hours, truth be known, sparks plugs, like used oil, when money was tight, probably went from the house car to the truck to the old Cat.

No broken cranks or conrods found yet, the old girl missing her head has only 7 blades on the fan, and the missing blade was cut off right down by the base, so I can only assume they kept driving the poor old thing.

Russell Turner, that's a funny one, better not let Anna the Saint hear that, she will start stitching rusty washers into all my shirts.......