It's a darn shame

If I were a gambling man I would bet that the switch was shut off on the pony motor to kill it, instead of shutting the gas off and running the pony out of gas like every Cat operators manual will tell you. The gas shakes down into that little (barely over a quart) oil pan sump and the owner happily runs it along on oil that is mostly gas. You seen the results. Many owners have no clue that the switch is there for emergency shutdown only.

To further add to o-I-h's post, also check the pony oil level at EVERY startup, no exceptions. Doesn't matter if you already checked it this morning and have only shut the machine down once since - check it again before starting. That little 1 quart splash lube system doesn't handle adversity well, and if you've got a leaking main seal on the gear end of the crankshaft you won't see an external leak since the oil migrates down into the starting pinion compartment and you can be low and not suspect it. Another thing I've heard of happening is operators' hooking a stick or tree root with the track, pulling it up and breaking the pony oil drain tube off without knowing it happened. The next startup now has the pony running with a dry crankcase, and will likely be its last. Finally, change that oil often - its only a quart and oil is cheap compared to the cost of metal. If you can get them in good shape and take care of them they'll perform well for a long time.

Suck it up, Buttercup...you could have found this in the pony... 😖mile:

I fully agree with OIH and Sasquatch. I would add that having a maintenance and operation manual in hand and studying it when taking possession of an older Cat is imperative. It's a shame when someone could just do a few minutes of preventative maintenance and save all of the work of rebuilding worn out parts.

When I got the thing home I told my ol' lady that I needed to learn how to properly maintain it before I could do any work with it. It was an operational machine that drove onto and off the trailer so I did take her out for a little test drive (No way could I resist that) but other than that it just sits inside awaiting repairs. The guy I got it from gave me a couple of books for it but they don't cover the day to day maintenance stuff. I just ordered some reprint operation manual from eBay. Hopefully it's got good info. I think I've got a decent handle on how to take care of her tho. Thanks to Sasquatch I now know what the little oil cup is for so I'll be raiding my ladies fabric stash for some felt.

I'm kind of a stickler for maintenance. The only way I can afford to buy stuff is to buy broken junk and repair it. So if I don't maintain my equipment the best I can then costly repairs keep me from acquiring more broken junk to repair. It's the circle of life.