Button Greasing Device for the Caterpillar

Years back I worked at a local landfill where we had an old D8H, circa 1963. It had pony motor start and we could get it running anytime of year, no matter how cold as long as the fuel wasn't gelled. It sat outside most of the time and had no cab, but I loved operating that machine. The newer dozers were easier to run, but there was just something about the old iron that made them special.

Cathead, I forgot to mention, you can get button head fittings through McMaster-Carr for about $20 each, but that's the easy way out. LOL
We also had a D8H with a pony motor and no cab. Of course, this was in Sacramento... That machine ran and ran and ran, rarely needed parts or repair, and was liked by the road crew. That crew also had two Link Belt Speeder drag line cranes with International engines that started on gas and ran on diesel. Not a pony motor, the base engine started on gasoline (distributor, carburetor), warmed things up a bit, then switched to diesel using a Johnson bar creating a bunch of smoke until it really got going. The auxiliary gasoline/air mix combustion chamber extension was closed off which increased the compression for the diesel to catch and run as the injectors started delivering diesel fuel. Those drag lines were dirt simple, heavily built, and bullet proof reliable.
 
With respect to Caterpillar's Alpha series I think they have gone through the "H" letter 3 times. If I recall correctly my neighbor had one of the original series circa 1939. The cranking location for the pony motor was in the lower left corner of the radiator housing. A really tough location if you had to restart with the blade up on a dirt pile. He installed a modified cranking system that came up through the hood.
The steering clutch levers were low and hard to pull, you became physically fit if you operated it for any length of time.
Also the engine was connected to the 6 speed slide bar shifting transmission by fiber links, again memory issues, but it seemed like they had to be installed with the engine pulling the eyes in each one of the links as opposed to pushing the main body. I think these links protected the clutch and transmission mounting assembly.
The engine was a slow revolution high torque 6 cylinder (early D13000?) that would recover from heavy loads that seemed like you could count the cylinders firing.
Have a good day
Ray
 
I'm making some progress on the D4 but it will soon be too cold to do much. I have the engine running fine and the hydraulics
work the blade just fine but have a few other problems to address. The main thing is that the steering clutches are both stuck
so until that is resolved, it will only drive straight forward or backward. :blue: Also the pony motor engagement and clutches are flaky
and there is a large oil leak on the front of the pony. That's probably a spring project as it looks now. The pony motor fuel tank
was rusted through so I welded up a new one using a gas torch using the original fuel cap. It was made from a piece of 1/8 inch
rectangular tubing with some end pieces welded in. No leaks now...:)



P1020009.JPG
 
A little update on the D4... It's too cold up here to do much mechanically so have been working on
building and upholstering the seat. The temperature here this morning Was -32F and right now it's 25 below
and falling like a rock as darkness approaches. Wind chill is brutal up here. I walked to the mail box today
as I didn't want to subject my vehicle to such a cold start. It's 3/4 mile to the mail box and I was well dressed
but still it was COLD, walked backwards part of the way to break the wind. :eek 2: This cold air will be moving
south so expect a cold blast even down as far as Oklahoma & Texas. It might be a good time to invest in
some long handled underwear or even better yet, coveralls or a snowmobile suit.
 
thanks for the update!
i hope you can stay warm!
i look forward to seeing the D4 working again :grin:
 
"It's 3/4 mile to the mail box and I was well dressed
but still it was COLD, walked backwards part of the way to break the wind."

Cathead, I've been known to break wind walking forward and backward.:cat: Mike
 
28F, misting, humidity at 80% and winds at 15 knots here in north Texas... Smooth asphalt roads are glazing up real quick too. Ya'll can keep that deep cold up there, we don't need it! Wind chills to be below 0 tonight and a low of 12F. Got to go back to work all night in this stuff starting Monday night.
 
It finally warmed up to 23 degrees Farenheit so could get a little done on the seat for the Caterpillar. It turned out better
than expected so happy with the results. I recycled some foam padding and also some carpet pad in the project. The
sewing was done with a pre-war vintage standard sewing machine and it went pretty well after I got the threading of
the needle correct and the tension right. Next will be some arm rest pads and it can be considered done.P1020039.JPG
P1020039.JPG
 
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