I decided to start a new thread so I wouldn't hijack the other one.
You ask. "D2Cat,, I have a question for you,,, Do you have a D2? Does anyone make anything that small any more, and does anybody really use a tracked critter like that around the farm?"
Skeets, I do have a D2Cat. It has electric start, runs great and spends most of it's life in the lean-to at my farm! I've got a D4 with a Traxcavator loader also. It was a project I stalled on, so it's pretty much a land mark now.
I use my D2 to push up a manure pile, push out trees, dig a hole in the creek, landscape a washed out draw....
Early Caterpillar tractors were gas powered. Only in about 1931 was the diesel introduced.
There were actually a few models that were smaller then the D2. They were gas powered.
The D2 was dropped by parachute during WW2 to build runways in places the enemy couldn't imagine. It's a popular machine today by collectors because it can be trailered with a 3/4 or 1 ton PU to parades.
Many have the opinion that a crawler tractor will compact the soil when building pond dams, etc. It is quite the opposite. That was a big promotion feature of the small crawlers when introduced to farmers. Geting into fields when wheeled tractors couldn't.
And fuel economy. Farmers were not familiar with diesel fuel and had to be educated on cost and use.
The Cat salesman would remove his Timex watch, lay it down and instruct the farmer to run the machine over it. He'd then pick up his watch and show the farmer it's still ticking!
Here's some information from the Antique Caterpillar Forum.
https://www.acmoc.org/about-caterpillar?showall=1
You ask. "D2Cat,, I have a question for you,,, Do you have a D2? Does anyone make anything that small any more, and does anybody really use a tracked critter like that around the farm?"
Skeets, I do have a D2Cat. It has electric start, runs great and spends most of it's life in the lean-to at my farm! I've got a D4 with a Traxcavator loader also. It was a project I stalled on, so it's pretty much a land mark now.
I use my D2 to push up a manure pile, push out trees, dig a hole in the creek, landscape a washed out draw....
Early Caterpillar tractors were gas powered. Only in about 1931 was the diesel introduced.
There were actually a few models that were smaller then the D2. They were gas powered.
The D2 was dropped by parachute during WW2 to build runways in places the enemy couldn't imagine. It's a popular machine today by collectors because it can be trailered with a 3/4 or 1 ton PU to parades.
Many have the opinion that a crawler tractor will compact the soil when building pond dams, etc. It is quite the opposite. That was a big promotion feature of the small crawlers when introduced to farmers. Geting into fields when wheeled tractors couldn't.
And fuel economy. Farmers were not familiar with diesel fuel and had to be educated on cost and use.
The Cat salesman would remove his Timex watch, lay it down and instruct the farmer to run the machine over it. He'd then pick up his watch and show the farmer it's still ticking!
Here's some information from the Antique Caterpillar Forum.
https://www.acmoc.org/about-caterpillar?showall=1