Let’s see some action photos!

Trail camera shot

Hey Spud, nice one. Will you be able to burn the slash/brush? I realize every county has its burn rules etc.

Is the D2 going to build anything such as a pad, or meant for clean up? Not trying to be nosey, just curious what each person does with their machine(s). Glad you found a belly pan and the idlers. JM

JM, I burn huge piles every year. For a while they were pretty strict with burn days based on air quality. But since the huge devastating wildfires, there’s a higher awareness of the need for proactive fuel reduction, and they’ve relaxed a lot. A rare commonsense.

I’m using the little D2 mostly for cleanup so far and it works great! In fact I haven’t even pulled the brush rake off of it yet. Our property was masticated through a grant program this year, a huge benefit to us. So the D2 is great for piling slash and ripping out the smaller stumps. I am also wanting to create more tractor trails along the contours, so I’m anxious to start polishing the blade. It’s going to be a task the next several years to prevent rapid re-growth of the brush, so I’m taking a multi-method approach that includes some spraying with the rubber tired tractor. I need safe trails for that with our hilly terrain. We also have a couple restored antique rubber tired tractors that are simply fun to putt around on trails.

The belly pan is really a necessity working in the woods right? So I’m really glad to have found that and anxious to install it. And I really would like to someday swap to the large idlers, I think it’ll make a real noticeable difference for dozing. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for some extra track links, or maybe a full set that have more life left than my current ones. I ordered a track gauge from chapter 19, but it’s hung up in halted shipping due to the tariff thing. My rails, pins, and bushings are pretty worn, with the adjusters all the way out. It’s probably fine for the hours I’ll put on it, but doesn’t hurt to keep my eyes out for a better set.

I’ve been around heavy equipment all my life. I’m a fair backhoe operator, and not too bad on an excavator. But this is my first dozer, and my first Caterpillar, and I’m having a blast!

I like your thinking Potato - some trails to run your antiques around on is a great idea, as well as the practical aspect of it. If you get a chance to put a gopro on your tractor, we love videos. You can post them to youtube and link them here.