Caterpillar D6A

[maple_leaf_eh]

There's a Youtube channel for everyone and everything. If I can find it again, there is one about a fellow who found a 1950s Caterpillar dozer and got it running (salvage workshop). Everything on it is just really big and really heavy. He needed to replace an awful lot of hoses, gaskets, and seals in addition to unbuilding previous owner repairs. In the end it was as satisfying to see his success as it was for him to get there. One thing to keep in mind is the 24-Hour Overnight Delivery 1940s Caterpillar dozer parts store has been shut since the start of the pandemic, and getting the pieces you need will be quite hard.

[Jakko Westerbeke]

I’m fairly confident they’ll be able to get it running — the chap pointing at the engine in the photo there is the one who bought the dozer

[Matthew P]

Awesome project.

Caterpillar is very proud of their history. The dealer in my area painted up the engine that's on display at the Smithsonian. If the local CAT dealer isn't all over helping out, than go to Corporate. I'm in a class at Caterpillar this week for work and am quite impressed with them as an outfit, overall not just as an engine and equipment maker.

Matt

[John P]

Any update?

[Jakko Westerbeke]

I haven’t been back, but earlier this year I asked about it, and by this photo he sent me, they’ve started rebuilding the armour:

1T3045 bonnet.jpeg

And are doing it by welding pieces into the existing plates, rather than building a new cab from scratch as they originally intended to do.

[tankbarrell]

I thought the 1T serials were all D7s?

[Jakko Westerbeke]

Originally Posted by tankbarrell

I thought the 1T serials were all D7s?

No, 1T is the prefix for all the armoured bulldozers Caterpillar built for the British, both D6(Armored) and D7(Armored).¹ The D6s were 1T3001–1T3045² and the D7s were 1T1001–1T1138.


¹ Which, BTW, appear to be Caterpillar’s actual designations, rather than D6A and D7A that everyone uses nowadays.
² But there is a photo of one marked 1T3060 as well, which has yet to be explained AFAIK.

[Alex van de Wetering]

Originally Posted by Jakko Westerbeke

I haven’t been back, but earlier this year I asked about it, and by this photo he sent me, they’ve started rebuilding the

And are doing it by welding pieces into the existing plates, rather than building a new cab from scratch as they originally intended to do.

That's awesome! I am happy they choose to take this route and restore the original armour in stead of making something new!