1925 Cat crawler

[Squizzy246B]

Here is another OROPS project for Jeff. The engine still runs.

[Jeff D.]

Wow. That one has a leaf spring running across the front, underneith. That radiator cap is definately different, as is the "Cat" lettering on the front.

Why don't those old crawlers have any blades though?

[Squizzy246B]

Wow. That one has a leaf spring running across the front, underneith. That radiator cap is definately different, as is the "Cat" lettering on the front.

Why don't those old crawlers have any blades though?

Old Cat documentation lists these machines as tractive and stationary (PTO) power plants. So I suppose you could say they were built for pulling not pushing, however alot of the later models had blades fitted and you could see the design change accordingly. A lot of land clearing was done out in our wheatbelt with these little crawlers.

[Dwan Hall]

Looks like the first piece of equipment I got to run. A Cat R2 back in 1968. it was from the late 40's or early 50's and ran on gas. Used it on a ranch in eastern Montana.

[RonG]

Caterpillar had a "live" suspension even on their small crawlers back then unlike the smaller dozers of today which made them much nicer to run.The larger Cats of today still have a live suspension.Of course IH and Allis Chalmers had it too.I am not sure if the larger John Deeres have it even today,the older ones didn't.
There were several companies back then who built blades and accessories for the crawlers,some of whom Cat bought out in later years.LeTourneau and Bucyrus Erie where a couple who made blades etc. for the various different crawlers,there were others as well.The ACMOC guys would love to see these pics.Ron G

[Squizzy246B]

ACMOC???

More info please Ron

This forum requires that you wait 300 seconds between posts. Please try again in 24 seconds.:Banghead

[RonG]

http://acmoc.phpwebhosting.com/
Most of the members here know about this board.Anything related to the old Cats can be answered here and they love pics of anything Caterpillar.Ron G

[B4D2]

You can also go to Antique caterpillar Machinery Enthusiaist (ACME)
http://www.antiquecaterpillar.org/ Alot of good guys there and some that are on both sites.

[Dusty]

they manily pulled things with the first machines for farming

[Dozerboy]

X2 I have a friend that is a collector mainly JD crawlers a few Cats he still runs a few of them around his place.

[CatSkinner77V]

I believe those old 2tons were originally painted Grey. I had one of those fancy caterpillar decals made up for the front of our D8K haha.

[Deas Plant]

Hi, Folks.
The wavy Caterpillar logo is a carry-over from Holt from just about the first crawlers Holt ever built and derived from a comment made by a photographer who reckoned the upper track undulating over the carrier rollers looked like a caterpillar. When Holt and Best merged to form Caterpillar in August, 1925, they kep that logo for a while.

That model started as the Holt 2-Ton several years before the merger and was one of only 3 Holt models continued after the merger. The other two, the 5-Ton and the 10-Ton were dis-continued quite quickly and replaced with newer models but the 2-Ton continued for, I think, about 3 years after the merger.

To the best of my knowledge, ALL Cat crawlers except the track loaders had a live equaliser spring or bar right up until they started fitting inside mounted dozer blades to the smaller models. As far as I know, any Cat crawlers that still have an outside mounted blade still also have an equaliser bar too. They definitely ride smoother that way.

Jeff D, Cat kept that style of radiator cap for many years. They were still using it with the last of the Cat 22's in 1938 and I seem to remember that the early D2's and D4's also had it.

As for why it didn't have a blade, crawlers, just like wheeled tractors were originally designed for farm work, pulling various implements. Blades and other attachments came later. If my memory serves me right, R. G. LeTourneau built the first successful power cable control in about 1929 and this made dozer blades much more practical and useful.

Hope this helps.