Subsistence Bulldozer Pond Excavation in Africa

Marsh Mutt, Thank you for your reply, interesting reading!
We are on the same continent... I am on the north western tip for a few more months and then not sure where, you look to be well south of me.
I hope you are safe from this planets worst predator in your chossen location, you sound content so I guess you must be.
When I was younger, I would go anywhere pretty much but with the way the world is nowadays and me being the wrong side of 60 my woder lust is more controled.
Lifes twists and turns interest me ...... right place right time etc.
I was once asked to run a prawn farm in Thailand. I had no experience what so ever but the guy putting the money in didn't care, he just wanted someone he could trust. I didn't do it but I often wonder what or where I would be now if I had taken that turn.

Did you buy your dozers locally or import them, I would like to know the story behind your D6.
Those D4D LGP's where a good little tractor.

Hello LDK, all three of my old Cat dozers were bought locally, after the previous owners had " got their money's worth" out of them, before putting them out to pasture in what can best be described as "mint junkyard condition". The D4D had no engine when I bought it, and one of the enclosed archive pictures shows the man I hired to hack away at the bush that had completely swallowed up the tractor, using the machete that he proudly displays in the picture. When I acquired the D7G LGP, the transmission had been dismantled and thoughtfully stored in a number of oil stained gunny sacks piled on the ground beside the mothballed tractor.

The D4D LGP had been rusting away in a scrapyard crammed with partially dismantled earth-moving equipment, that was owned by a retired policeman, whose acquaintance I first made when I sought to rent a dozer for my initial early fishpond digging experiments down by the swamp. Over a decade ago now, that chance encounter marked the start of my obsession with LGP dozers, that in turn led me to acquire the D6D LGP and D7G LGP from a couple dredging outfits operating along the coast, where LGP machines are used exclusively in land reclamation projects, where they pile and level sand pumped to shore from dredging barges moored in the lagoons.

The fire-engine red paint-job I applied to the D4D when I finally got it running, has long since faded, but the tractor still fires up, runs smoothly and rolls under its own power, leaving its steering problems as the lingering issues that need to be addressed by the mechanics at some point.

The final photograph showing a (Non LGP) D4D and D7G at work, dates back several years, to the time I first rented dozers for pond digging, which led inexorably to my owning my own Cat LGP machines, that sometimes I regard as my costliest, and only vice. Noting the need for non-lgp dozers to steer clear of the swamp fringes in order to avoid getting mired, that early experimental project clearly illustrated to me that for my line of work in muddy soil along the swamp edges, an LGP dozer is the way to go.

Hello Marsh Mutt, Your D4D looks like it resurrected from the grave!
I have got myself intrigued by the front end of that D6 of yours. I searched through a bunch of pictures on the net last night and could find nothing like it, has it baeen modified?

LDK there have been no modifications done to the D6D LGP since I took ownership of it, other than replacing the worn out LGP tracks with narrower, standard-width tracks, while also replacing all the worn and missing track rollers on both sides. Because this tractor was found on the street of a coastal town close to areas where lagoon sand dredging is ongoing, my initial assumption was that this D6D was engaged in piling up sand for land reclamation, but when I tested the tractor pushing dirt, the very limited upward travel of the blade suggested that perhaps this machine was not used along the coast, but rather devoted to finish grading work on roads under construction, though this is obviously speculation on my part.

I did not realize until you pointed it out, that the nose of this machine is non-standard, and I now need to further my research to determine if that entire nose assembly, the blade and the hydraulic blade lift rams, might have to be replaced in due course, so that this machine can be adapted for fish pond excavation, which requires much higher blade travel for the job of piling that sand and mud. I would be extremely grateful for any pointers that can be offered regarding this blade conversion project that I will need to have done, before this D6D LGP can finally be put to work.

Oddly, the D4D is also equipped with a blade that does not tilt, which is of similar in design to that of the D6D, however, the D4D blade can be raised considerably higher than that of the D6D, enabling me to use that D4D for quite a few productive hours of pond digging, before steering and track problems temporarily put the D4D out of action. That old D4D did give good account of itself, in the few months it was put to work down at the swamps, so I do intend to resolve its imperfections, rather than dispose of this trusty old work-horse.

I would love to have the knowledge to give you but I just operate, I don't fix. There are several on here that could help you.
I will try and attach some pictures, notice where the lift rams attach to the blade, where they connect to the yoke on the nose. Also that blade is an LGP blade, yours is an angle blade so the rams attach a lot lower down

These pictures are very much appreciated, LDK. The hydraulic tilt ram shown in the left picture above is identical to the one on my D7G-LGP, other than it replacing the left, rather than the right side blade-support bracket, so this is the type of blade I will need to look for, taking care of course to check and be sure the blade arms will fit their mounting brackets on the wider-than-standard track roller frame of an LGP machine.

With the introduction of metal recycling smelting factories in Africa, generally owned by the ever-resourceful Chinese, old non-working earth-moving equipment does not lay around for quite as long as it did in past years, but nonetheless, I have been pleasantly surprised more than a few times, by the local mechanics' knack for locating salvaged parts still in reasonable shape, from the innards of cannibalized machinery scattered about the countryside.

The four gear cog-wheels needed to fix my D7G-LGP after its recent breakdown while digging ponds, were all removed from a D7G with standard tracks. It remains to be seen how the fix holds up, and during the coming dry months as excavation resumes down at the swamp, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, hoping there will be no losses of power in the deep mud layer then needs to be scraped in light passes, to hit the sand below.

An honorable mention is due to AMS Undercarriage, a heavy equipment parts marketing outfit located in Middletown Ohio. Shopping for my D7G undercarriage online, I picked the name of this company pretty much at random, after running into payment complications with the first undercarriage vendor I found earlier. AMS accepts remittances made with the globally respected and secure PayPal method, for undercarriage purchases, unlike another un-named company I initially contacted regarding this track purchase, but which insisted on a dicey bank transfer as the ONLY payment option.

http://amsundercarriage.com/about

Despite the mention in the AMS website that new track assemblies are made to order in South Korea, I was delighted to see confirmation that the tracks for my D7G were en-route aboard a truck bound for my sea-freight shipper's warehouse, literally days subsequent to the approval of my online payment. I must hasten to add that I am not in any way affiliated with AMS Undercarriage, but felt that a positive customer review may be of value to any members of this forum who might be in the market for a new undercarriage in the near future.

I included a picture taken with the old worn out tracks, to show the dramatic height difference between the track-segment grousers on the old track, and the new one shown in the final photograph. These brand new LGP SALT tracks, delivered with matching new sprocket teeth segments, transmit the torque of the tractor to the ground with far more authority than did the clanking old tracks I made do with for far too long. The difference in dirt-pushing capacity of this machine, due this timely track replacement alone, is far more pronounced than I expected, so I would recommend AMS undercarriage products without hesitation.

Marsh Mutt said:

My understanding is that all hydraulic hoses need to be replaced with new ones every 3 years, out here in the tropics, which seems to me like a really short service life, but again this may be unique to tropical environments where the steel braiding in those high pressure hydraulic hoses could be more susceptible to rust, than is the case where the ambient humidity is lower.

Click to expand...

What brand of hydraulic hose are you using that lasts 3 years? I have 50 year old hoses that have been out in the weather for at least half their lives that haven't blown yet. Not that I'd do that on a dozer that works in the bottom of a hole where you don't want breakdowns. The humidity shouldn't bother the rubber, and the steel should be fine until the rubber cracks. Sunlight is the enemy of rubber. Maybe you need some plastic sun shields for your exposed hoses if you can't get better quality hoses.

Even hoses that get exposed to fertilizer do fine until the ends rust off of them.

Growing up on a farm, I hardly knew hydraulic hoses were supposed to have a rubber covering on the outside, or be round.

I don't remember a broken one.

Delmer I suspect the high humidity in the tropical air might, over time, seep through the rubber outer sheath protecting woven steel braid hydraulic hoses, perhaps even when the rubber of the hoses appears on visual inspection to be free of obvious cracks, resulting in accelerated rusting of the steel braid sooner than is seen with machinery used in dryer climates. Prior to hurriedly replacing all my D7G's hydraulic hoses exposed to the elements, there were a couple of hoses that ruptured under load, despite having no visible cracks in the rubber.

On the D7G the mechanic replaced all the hoses that are exposed to the sun, but in the plumbing network crammed around the hydraulic tank, there are several shorter hoses that are not exposed to the elements, but which I have now decided to replace as well, as insurance to eliminate a burst hose from the list of faults that could stop the tractor in its tracks while in a mud hole. Knock on wood, I have not yet had a major breakdown while wading through deep mud, but the stories I have heard about tractors getting mired up to the operator's seat after a few days of sitting immobilized while working in soft mud, have given me good reason to err on the side of caution, whenever possible.

Birken Vogt said:

Growing up on a farm, I hardly knew hydraulic hoses were supposed to have a rubber covering on the outside, or be round.

I don't remember a broken one.

Click to expand...

I sure remember some broken ones. The humidity is not the problem, hoses work in salt or fertilizer all the time, that traps moisture and radically accelerates rust. I still say it's low quality hoses. Maybe sticking relief valves? or maybe your mechanic "doesn't have the latest version of SIS"?

Delmer I would be inclined to agree with your suggestion that substandard hydraulic hoses might be the reason local mechanics here only expect 3 years of use out of them. Counterfeit vehicle parts and equipment are a global reality, but are very prevalent here in the Third World, where patent enforcement and quality control scrutiny are not regarded as priorities. Your recollection of seeing hydraulic hoses last a half-century is amazing to hear, because my previous estimate for the life of factory-issue heavy equipment hoses would have been a decade at most. With the concerns about poor quality hoses now factored in, I need to ponder over whether to replace the intact hoses surrounding the hydraulic tank, or just watch them closely and replace them individually, when leakages are spotted.

Another factor I considered with my particular kind of work is that the tractor spends an easy 50% of its working hours pushing a full blade of mud up the steep incline of pond excavations, which is considerably more demanding on the tractor's engine, hydraulics and drive-train than is the case where the work site is primarily on level ground. The added stresses of almost exclusively pushing uphill would put all systems to the test every day, exposing weaknesses far sooner than would occur were the D7G used for light grading over a comparable number of hours.

I thank you sir for the timely reminder to have the pressure relief valves looked over as well, before I put this tractor back to work when the dry months roll around. Had a couple of unusually ferocious tropical rain storms tear through here over the last few days. Lots of uprooted trees about. The rainy season arrived with a bang this year for sure.

Marsh Mutt said:

Delmer I would be inclined to agree with your suggestion that substandard hydraulic hoses might be the reason local mechanics here only expect 3 years of use out of them. Counterfeit vehicle parts and equipment are a global reality, but are very prevalent here in the Third World, where patent enforcement and quality control scrutiny are not regarded as priorities. Your recollection of seeing hydraulic hoses last a half-century is amazing to hear, because my previous estimate for the life of factory-issue heavy equipment hoses would have been a decade at most. With the concerns about poor quality hoses now factored in, I need to ponder over whether to replace the intact hoses surrounding the hydraulic tank, or just watch them closely and replace them individually, when leakages are spotted.

Another factor I considered with my particular kind of work is that the tractor spends an easy 50% of its working hours pushing a full blade of mud up the steep incline of pond excavations, which is considerably more demanding on the tractor's engine, hydraulics and drive-train than is the case where the work site is primarily on level ground. The added stresses of almost exclusively pushing uphill would put all systems to the test every day, exposing weaknesses far sooner than would occur were the D7G used for light grading over a comparable number of hours.

I thank you sir for the timely reminder to have the pressure relief valves looked over as well, before I put this tractor back to work when the dry months roll around. Had a couple of unusually ferocious tropical rain storms tear through here over the last few days. Lots of uprooted trees about. The rainy season arrived with a bang this year for sure.

Click to expand...

In my humble opinion it makes no difference as to how the machine is working hard wither pushing uphill or pushing a perhaps larger load on flat ground. The most productive push is carrying all the material the machine has traction for. I might add that the Caterpillar brand is designed and built for the traction to be the limiting factor. This is why you still see these old machine still working, unlike a few other brands whom overpowered the rest of the machines drivetrain and rendered them to be useless relics on the scrapheap with no parts available. Unless someone has added vast amounts of weights to enhance traction pushing as much as possible either uphill or flat should not cause undo stress the machine.

I'll leave that to OIH, he has far more experience than I do. I will definitely agree that the hydraulics especially don't get "abused" by anything you're doing. Guessing that your relief pressure is around 2,000 PSI, you should never blow a hose unless it gets pinched, scrubbed off by a log, or the rubber's gone and the steel braid is rusted away. That's two layers of steel braid, and you mostly only need one.

Old Iron it sure is good to hear from an old hand with long years of experience, that using a tractor primarily for excavation work won't age it any quicker than would equal time spent pushing the same full blades of dirt on level ground. Also your observations about the comparatively long service life of Caterpillar's older tractors, help assure me that my bargain-basement 1970's vintage Caterpillar bulldozers have a lot of productive work left in them, provided I keep up the maintenance.

The advice and insights I have been able to read in this forum have been of enormous benefit to me as I stumble along learning as best I can how to maintain and operate these landscape-altering mechanical marvels called bulldozers, and once again I must express my gratitude for the privilege of being allowed to participate in this forum that is frequented by highly experienced operators and mechanics who so generously share their wisdom with novices like me.

This is the closest thing I could find I bet it was retro fitted from another older machine to work. Looks like a bush fix lol. But it's pretty cool to see your keeping them going.

JWest your mention of a possible bush fix reminds me of a comment often heard among shade-tree mechanics here in Africa, whenever they are confronted with the spectacle of a totally dilapidated vehicle that is well past its useful years. Such barely-rolling scrapyard escapee vehicles are described here with a phrase which translates to an observation that such jalopies "no longer bear any white man's fingerprints". I always get a chuckle from that comment, despite feeling that it is an unfair description of my 1985 Mercedes that runs when it wants to, and no sooner.

Looks like you've trained these guys to keep an eye on your hoses Marsh Mutt.

They are indeed the Guardians of the Caterpillar, Queenslander, though my efforts to cross-train them for duties checking visitors IDs at the gate have so far been unsuccessful

You , Sir, are a hero . Is this your project or are you helping out or both . I am impressed ! By the way them critters are eating a hose .Carry on . Kevin .