D6D Serial Number Plate Partially Missing

[Marsh Mutt]

I am contemplating the purchase of new, after market LGP tracks for my D6D 'dozer, but, unlike my D7G whose full serial number is still easily readable on its plate, the D6D serial number plate's right end is broken off.


The only numbers I can read off the serial number plate on the dashboard are as follows : D6D 20X789 Engine 3306 49V 13295.


My question to Nige or anyone else who can offer advice, is whether the partial serial number that I have been able to copy out here, would be sufficient to identify my D6D's year of manufacture adequately, for the purpose of placing an order for an after-market LGP track, from RFE Distributors in Indiana.

Any advice that can be offered regarding this partial serial number would be much appreciated.

 

[Nige]

This is a UK-built machine. The D6D 20X-prefix build ended in 1987 with machine 20X6005. Originally I was thinking that maybe the number could be 20X789x with a missing digit at the end. It was normal back in those days not to include the extra zeros at the start of the S/N.

However considering the production run of Serial numbers this appears not to be the case. Therefore IMO the complete Serial Number in the system used today is 20X00789 and your machine was built towards the end of 1977.

Edit: Also when I put your engine Serial Number into the system it sends me to a range D6D Serial Numbers between 20X1 and 20X3041, so 20X789 would appear to be your Serial Number.

 

[Marsh Mutt]

Much thanks as always Nige. Now I can accurately quote 1977 as the year of manufacture, and also I can rest assured that the serial number plate is intact, despite being moderately rusted along the edges. I have with the help of shade-tree mechanics refurbished this D6D by modest installment, from the point of being barely running at the time of purchase, until now when all systems are working as designed. For upland use I went ahead and installed a pair of 70%-unused standard-width tracks that I intend to keep.

Fish pond excavation is the primary use I had in mind when I bought this "project 'dozer" a few years back, and with used LGP tracks a rarity in these parts, I always intended to buy new after-market LGP tracks for this tractor from RFE Distributors, located in Indiana. With all the minor repairs wrapped up, the track is all that is left to complete the D6D to the point of testing it in deep mud along the river valley forest fringes near here. This I really look forward to.

Once again I am very grateful for this affirmation that I do have the full and correct serial number for this D6D. Also, learning that this remarkably rust-free machine is British-made is confidence inspiring. Aged nine, way back when mammoths lumbered across the plains, I learned to drive on a Massey Ferguson 135 farm tractor, and that old British-made workhorse is still in use to this day in 2016, hence my high regard for British-manufactured machinery.