The 'Siamese' D8's
Hi, Folks.
The 'Siamese' D8's were a Buster Peterson idea and there were only ever 3 sets made, all based on 2U series D8's. As I understand it, he built the original prototype using 2 Allis Chalmers HD19's, possibly so as not to waste good Cat machines. LOL.
The one in the B+W photo above is the last of the 3 and was the only high-clearance one. It was designed to work with a Holt Funnel blade in front and carry a root plow behind. The funnel dozer cleared mesquite and other scrub, funnelled it back under the tractor and left it in windrows, ready for burning. In the same pass, the rear-mounted root plow (cutter bar) cut the all the roots off about a foot under the surface, reducing re-growth and opening up the ground as well. The blade and ripper were cable controlled. It was built for King Ranch, Taxes, er, ooops, Texas.
See the attached photos.
The SxS D9's and the tandem DD9's would have out-pushed and out-ripped the Siamese D8's by somewhere close to three times. The Dual or 'quad-track' DD9s were mostly used for push-loading bigger scrapers while the SxS D9s were more useful for bulk pushing, reclamation and landscaping.