Any modern compact CRAWLER tractors made?

[Dozernut]

Try this site if you haven't already.
http://www.ytmag.com/crawlers/wwwboard1.html

 

[theonlybull]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Bull, thanks for the reality check, but I kinda figured the old ones are a mechanical nightmare. The first brush I had with restoring a tractor was an Oliver that was UNDER a barn, that sort of opened my eyes to things. And when I say UNDER, I mean that the barn pretty much fell on the tractor and stayed there for a few years. Nothing like tracking down parts that haven't been made in 50 years! I got to be good friends with a machine shop owner because of that tractor.

bob, i haven't really found any good forums, that are laid out in an easy to read format, that delt with old crawlers.
one thing we've found with john deere, they were a common tractor, and parts interchang between many years/models. 10 years ago, the only part we couldn't buy from the dealer, was the proper "john deere" decal for the hood of our MT.... but they are starting to run out of stock on many parts.

my father and i run a machine shop as the family business, and it really helps.
we've got a 45 IH "a", 45 chev 2 1/2 ton woods truck, 52' JD MT-W, 56 JD 420 crawler, '70 580 case backhoe, and a bunch of homebuilt equipment... so fixing old junk is second nature to us. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Does anyone know of any CLUBS for people who own/restore old crawler tractors? The Hart-Parr Oliver's Collectors Association has information about Cletrac, and there is a separate Cletrac Association, but what about the other brands (Cat, Bristol, JD, International, etc)? Is there a crawler club?



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[RyanL]

It would be nice if one of the big 3, would make a compact crawler with PTO,Cat. 1 3-pt,16-30HP.
I think we should contact some manufactors about making one of these. I'm sure there would be alot of interst.
Ryan

 

[frank_f15]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Most people think crawler tractor and think bulldozer, but crawler tractors are definately not dozers. They are simply tractors with tracks instead of wheels )</font>

RIGHT AGAIN: our cletrac(from what i can rememer) did not hav 3 pt, and as u say it was quite small but it was fun to drive and made a neat sound as u drove it, now my uncle across the road had a much bigger cat(well big to me at that time) now that thing could move a lot of anything, we used to pick ou baled hay with it, just 2 of us. i would be on the wangon and uncle would be on the ground , lifiting the bales onto the wagon, and the cat was driving itself. every once in awhile he woud jump on and straighten it out and jsut let her go(remember guys this was 50 years ago) and saftey was not a major concern. getting the hay or crops in was the big concern.

 

[johnsonauto]

As others said same, landini, mccormick, here is a link to mccormick t series. http://www.mccormick-intl.com/us/products.htm?product_code=T_GC
also magnatrack made in the US

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Frank, I have a lead on a completely restored '47 Cletrac that is just amazing looking. The price is high but worth it. The problem is I want something that I can occasionally play with. The little Cletrac only has a drawbar, no PTO or 3pt. I would settle for one of the other, both would be ideal.

 

[theonlybull]

i belive the 430 and 440 john deere 2cyl's both had 3pt's, and pto's. i think you could get one for the 420, but i'm not sure.. ours has neither.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Bull. . . near as I can tell, I can pony up some BIG bucks for a 55+HP brand new track-tractor. Or I can get a little old one that is not capable of much because of the lack of PTO and/or 3pt hitch. The exception seems to be Ferrari tractor, but that is only 16hp. It is a small modern machine, and almost what I am looking for. The New Holland, McCormick, SAME, etc all seem to be what I want, but all are too big. Everything else I can find is simply a piece of construciton equipment, which is not what I am looking for.

My ideal would be a Class 1 or Class 2 size tractor but with a track undercarriage. A standard 540pto and a standard 3pt. Rubber tracks would be great too.

 

[theonlybull]

there's one other option, but i know it wouldn't be cheap. buy and not so new tractor, in the size you want, then addapt a set of rubber tracks, or skidsteer tires/tracks to it. you'd need some type of steering clutch for each side, but it would be do-able

 

[Slamfire]

I had an Oliver OC-3/68, the last number indicating the track width, widest of the 4 offered. The tracks were also used by the Ingersol rock drills that ran on compressed air. You can find them, but the junk men know about the tractor and price the crawler parts accordingly. Drove over a hidden stump once, and can testify you don't want to do that without seat belts. Another issue is sidehilling, DO NOT drive over a pole! That Chinese tractor looks like a deal to me. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif