Caterpillar 30 (and Schramm) Restoration

Good afternoon. I have performed a search and not located what I am looking for so please forgive my ignorance. Our Museum, the Churchill County Museum in Fallon, Nevada, is looking to restore a Cat 30 dozer as well as a Schramm air compressor. They do not have to run, just be suitable outdoor displays. Any information that you might be able to pass along would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.

What information are you looking for on the Thirty? Please post a picture so we can see which Thirty it is, there are a couple of different ones. I can not help with the compressor.

Ken

I'll try and get photos up but I'm technologically challenged. I received a response as a direct message that I'll try and answer/address as best as I can.

These two pieces of farm equipment are currently languishing outdoors on a patch of gravel. They've likely been sitting there since the 1970s or '80s. We recently had to cut down two ash trees that had borer beetles and I would like to move the pieces to the forefront, where the trees were, so that they can get the attention they deserve. They would still be outdoors, but at least they would be in a location where they could be more readily admired. They would be behind an enclosed chain-link fence at night, keeping down much of the possibility of vandalism. I know that storing these things outdoors is not ideal, but it's the reality we have. Stripping them and repainting them would offer more protection than what they have now, which is a fair amount of rust peeking through the original paint.

These pieces are currently in Northern Nevada, which means that they get little precipitation. The real environmental harm comes from 300 days of total sunshine each year, along with not infrequent wind storms carrying no little amount of sand. I've seen quite a lot of what other individuals and organizations have done to restore these items, up to and including making them fully operational. I don't want that. I only want them restored to the point where they look better. I don't need to restore or replace belts, hoses, or other mechanical bits needed to make them functional. Displaying them indoors is simply not feasible due to square footage restrictions and different priorities.

I understand that the cost of restoration is not inconsiderable. I can seek grants to cover the costs, but first I need to find a restorer that can give me a cost estimate. From there I can intelligently seek grant sources with an educated dollar amount. The 30 was a common tractor and I can say with some authority that it was popular all along places that were watered by the Newlands Reclamation/Irrigation Project. Alfalfa mostly, but also many other fruits, vegetables, and livestock. As such, it will make for a wonderful display, but I'd like to make it pretty first, a little like what we used to call "sentry pieces" outside of military bases. Just one more thing to try and dress up our "curb appeal" and entice visitors to experience everything else we have inside.

To sum up. I need to be able to get a reasonable estimate on restoration so that I may pursue grants. I hope this adds a little light.

Sincerely, Mel Glover, Churchill County Museum, Fallon, NV

I hope this helps everyone - One of the apparent issues is the file extension - .heic I used Photoshop to read the file and then saved as .jpg before uploading to the ACMOC website here. The website may be unable to read .heic file extensions and I could only do so with Photoshop. There are programs available to convert extensions so that may be something to consider if you are having issues with uploading photos to ACMOC.

The Thirty pictured here, for an outside display does not look bad to me. I personally would leave it alone. Many parts are still intact which is amazing. Track shoes show extensive wear, this machine has done a lot of work. Rear appears to have some attachment, another feature to be appreciated. Patina is as important as bright shiny new paint in my opinion. --- cts

Thank you for posting those for me. And for a couple of implements that are over 100 years old, I think that they're in pretty good shape too. Especially for things that have been sitting out in the weather their whole lives.

I think that you guys would agree that these should be up front, where folks can appreciate them, rather than sitting in a virtual junkyard.

Hi Mel, if you'd like to retain the patina (vs. sandblasting and repainting), then I'd recommend getting a quotation to have the units sprayed with lanolin (brand name - Woolwax). It would probably cost between 50-100 dollars for the lanolin (1-1.5gals would probably do the job based on the cars that I've had sprayed) and then maybe an hour's labor for spray-painting. If you do want them painted, then call a sandblaster in the area and have him price the job to blast, prime, and paint. Sandblasters typically can do all three so it would be just one price. Ideally he'd do it on his premises but might be able to do it in situ.

Cheers,

Neil.

Thanks, Neil. I'll look into the lanolin. Are you talking the lotion-like stuff you get when you pet a sheep?

I've got a place here in town who can do the stripping but not the priming and painting. He doesn't have the license for those.

Is the Schramm compressor powered by a Cat engine? It looks like it might be.

Hi, yes lanolin is produced by sheep to protect the wool. I doubt a license is needed to apply it since homeowners can do so but I don't know the regulations in your area. You can even buy rattle cans of the stuff although that's a more expensive way of applying if you're talking larger surface area and you have access to a compressor

Cat man little hard to get ahold of, have some of his 30 manifolds here on the shelf, new reproduction, perfectly done, keep trying and if no luck maybe I can help, not cheap