Just purchased a D6-9U with low hours, looking for suggestions

I just purchased my first Cat, a D6-9U serial number 9U27224. This dozer was purchased new to clear fence rows by a well off farmer. Long story short the dozer was used to clear the needed fence rows and then parked in the barn. In the mid 80's the farm was sold with the equipment and the new owners used the dozer again to do a little fence row clearing before parking the dozer outside. I just purchased the dozer in hopes that I can get it running and use it to clear fence rows myself. What I have noticed so far is that the hour meter on the injection pump reads 0079, the track adjusters are all the way in (track not very loose), grousers are more then 2 inches deep, and the undercarriage shows very little wear to the untrained eye. Now I don't believe that the hours are accurate, but all accounts suggest that the dozer has less then 500 original hours. My questions are as follows:

It has been 7 years since the dozer was last used, should the track be lubed prior to attempting to move it? Is there anything else about the power train I need to be looking at prior to attempting to move the machine?

The pony motor is free but I'm sure the carburetor is going to need attention, any idea where I can look for a carb kit?

Does this machine call for a 6 volt or 12 volt battery?

If I am able to get the machine running and moving properly do the low hours make it more valuable as a collectors piece or do I go ahead and put it back to work? I really have no idea what the machine is worth if functional.

Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I know a picture is worth a thousand words so if this works perhaps you will have a better idea of what I am working with.

AgTech4020

AgTech4020 said:

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I know a picture is worth a thousand words so if this works perhaps you will have a better idea of what I am working with.

AgTech4020

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Nice looking 9U. I have one also. They are a good old machine.
Best advice I can give you is to go the ACMOC site and search the archives of the Bulletin Board, A number of the members here post there also. There is a search function in the upper right hand corner. There are hundreds of posts there dealing with getting these old girls started again after setting and much advice there that can save you much time and money. If taking the pony carburator apart there is a needle about 3 inches long that is very east to break and hard to find replacements. Best to know how to go about it before you start.

Overall, it looks like a nice tidy critter that hasn't been beat to death.
One of the first things to do is crawl under it and loosen drain plugs on the tranny, steering clutches, finals, engine pan and clutch housing and drain whatever water there is in 'em before you even attempt to start it. Check the main engine air cleaner pan, dump the water and oil and refill it. Next step would be to change oil in the pony motor. When you shut the pony motor off, don't mess with the kill switch, turn the gas off and let it run out of gas.
I don't know for sure if the pony carb is the same as on the D2 and D4 ponies, Zenith TU4C but if it is, John Deere used the same carb on their 720 and 730 pony motors and parts are interchangeable. That long jet (needle) OIH mentioned is also available from JD.
Try to get the books on it, the OMM (operation and maintenance manual), SRB (serviceman's repair book) for the tractor at the minimum. Then the appropriate parts book for that s/n, another one on the engine itself, another for the hydraulics and one for the blade itself.

what a absolute treasure of a find; lucky man to have it; and its within the last 500 9Us ever made too :drinkup

Do the brake pedals show any wear on them ?
If it has many hours there should be wear , if not it is a low hour machine.
Good find.

catman13 said:

Do the brake pedals show any wear on them ?
If it has many hours there should be wear , if not it is a low hour machine.
Good find.

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Lookin at the pics I would almost say that the 79 hrs on the hour meter are the original hrs and maybe thats all it has ever done, would tidy up real nice with a coat of paint as all it has is a few scratches here and there which has gone rusty.

Congrats AgTech, you've struck gold with that one, it looks like it's never seen a hard day's work in it's life.

First class find.almost never happens

Looking at the paint work around tracks and frame the hours could well be original, great machine.

What a treasure. A coat of paint and it would look like it just rolled out the door at cat. I would tend to think it is a bit of a collectors piece but there again price definitely reflects condition. If it runs and drives I wouldn't be surprised to see a 20,000 price tag on it. Maybe more once fully restored especially if a guy could prove the hours on it. In a way it would be a shame to put it to work in the bush or anything like that. Little dirt work would do it goo though. Keep everything moving that way. Would be the perfect piece to take to shows and move some dirt with.

What an excellent find! Another place to look for wear is the dozer push arm trunions. If there are still shims and you can see no space around the trunion I would not be surprised if the hours are correct.

By the way, after following what the others have said in regard to getting it running and if you are not too familiar with this era of machine, always put in neutral and engage the clutch if you are going to let it idle for any period of time. It is a good habit to get into anytime you get off the tractor when it is running.

Thank You all for the great suggestions. I work as an Ag Tech but have absolutely no experience with Cat's so this is all new to me. I will stop by the machine tomorrow and take pictures of the brake pedals and post those. I welcome any input as to if the hours might be at least close to what the hour meter shows.

Kind Regards,
AgTech4020

The biggest hazard to this machine is to have a novice start it up. Would strongly advise you to make contact with someone familiar with the 8U/9U series to help you get it going.

When a machine is parked for long periods of time. Do all the seals perish and need replacement or not necessarily?

I lot of the seals will be leather. And its a gamble as to if they leak or not.

I stopped and took another look at the machine today. I am not sure what is normal but it sure looks like a lot more than 79 hours worth of wear on the brake pedals.

After looking at the running gear again, I'd suggest that it might have been replaced sometime in the past. Those pedal have WAY more than 79 hours on 'em.

It was just pointed out to me that the drive sprockets have been re-welded to the inner spokes indicating that they have been replaced. It is a safe bet that the farm was not the original owners but rather purchased it in the mid to late 60's with the new undercarriage. To me this just means I can put it back to work with out feeling bad about it. This dozer will make a fantastic addition to my own small farm regardless.

AgTech4020 said:

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I stopped and took another look at the machine today. I am not sure what is normal but it sure looks like a lot more than 79 hours worth of wear on the brake pedals.

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yup, more like 3-7000 hours depending on preferred turning direction