# I got sidetracked, again... mangling a resin dozer



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I WAS going to save this until I finished it, but I could use a few ideerz. Like everybody else, I was seriously drooling over those South Fork Timber Cat 60's of Mr Marty's... unfortunately, I don't have the patience for that kind of work.

Then I found this reasonably accurate 5-1/2" long resin model of a John Deere MT crawler.... available for a princely sum of $5! (Made in China for a company called Popular Imports around 1995)..... 
















Now nothing agains JD's in general, but IMO the MT is just a fugly little beast, so this model was gonna HAVE to get a facelift, of some sort. Anyway, I was looking for something else on evilbay, and came across this Wiseman (sp?) o-scale 'Bates' crawler model with a funky cable blade.


















Hmmm, NOW, we're getting somewhere, I liked the angle iron lift frame (the pulley blocks are impractically wrong, but meh...), And the cool cross mounted fuel tank, soooooo....... What about a good old '30's era Cletrac?


















First order of business was to get rid of the MT superstructure.... I used a cut off disc in a dremel (If you EVER try this, do it outside.... I thought Kim was gonna shoot me. The whole house had that sweet resin smell, and the damned dust went EVERYWHERE!) I still need to remove more from underneath... later










Best guess, the small Cletracs had a Hercules, Continental, or similar type gas motor.









I didn't have a Herc, but I had part of a junker Hubley Model A floating around -- which promptly donated it's engine to the cause (anybody want the rest? All that's left is the body, frame and seat). Some plastruct, some pvc, and some pine, and about 45 minutes, and I hade this:










I even found a decent pic of a WWII era Cletrac's controls (Early ones had a steering wheel to operate the turning brakes, rather odd)









I decided that I didn't want to hide the motor under a hood, so I didn't have to MAKE one (convenient, that...yes?) so I salvaged the air cleaner, and some other bits off the MT engine part before it went in the trash. At the moment it looks like this:









Which leads me to the "help" part.... I haven't found a winch I like yet. MOST of the pictures of Cletracs with winches show these honking HUGE logging/oil field winches. Anyone got a scan of a more compact unit of simple design????? I've managed to built this thing fast cheap n easy so far, I don't wanna screw it up now, lol.

When it's done the firewood guys on my layout will be happy to get an upgrade from the Fordson they're using now


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi MIK,
Cool project, the old Cletrac's were neat machines. 
Just as a bit of information your project had a prototype, more or less.
Back in the late 40's, to early 50's my Uncle cobbled a 216 Chevy engine into a Cletrac crawler 
and used it for a couple of seasons to skid logs. I can remember riding on the tractor
but don't really remember much about it, all the information I have came from Pop.

As for your winch search; good luck, you will need it. I had a long search to find the ones
I used on the 60's.

Have you looked here? May be something you could use.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=caterpillar+winches&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

How are the Flour City's coming along?
Later
Rick Marty


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By R.W. Marty on 05/21/2009 10:48 PM
Hi MIK,
Cool project, the old Cletrac's were neat machines. 
Just as a bit of information your project had a prototype, more or less.
Back in the late 40's, to early 50's my Uncle cobbled a 216 Chevy engine into a Cletrac crawler 
and used it for a couple of seasons to skid logs. I can remember riding on the tractor
but don't really remember much about it, all the information I have came from Pop.

As for your winch search; good luck, you will need it. I had a long search to find the ones
I used on the 60's.

Have you looked here? May be something you could use.

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=caterpillar+winches&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

How are the Flour City's coming along?
Later
Rick Marty


First, thanks, Second, the stories (like that) are the BEST part of the old rusty junque hobby. Third, I figured, Fourth, Thanks again, and I already thought of "Endless Tracks in the Woods", as well, but YIKES!! (used even), unless you REALLY like crawlers. Last, the Flour City project is on temporary hold until after next Wednesday -- negative cash flow, plus 'annual inspection' (ie. some poor fool got drafted into repairing and repainting (10 years of 'deferred maintenance' worth) the ENTIRE station in a WHOLE 9 DAYS) at work.... ICK! YUCK! and WHY *ME *?????


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi MIK,
Endless Tracks is a great text resource but the pictures are of pretty poor quality. I looked through it in search of clear" winch shots" and there just aren't 
any, no wench shots either, which was expected but still a little disappointing.
Good luck
Rick Marty


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

found these winches on evilbay. 


Hyster for a D-7 too big, too modern for me. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/HYSTER-D7E-WINCH-FOR-CATERPILLAR-D7G-E-TRACTORS_W0QQitemZ220405275239QQihZ012QQcategoryZ61567QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem











Tulsa winch... about the right size, kind of cool, but how to build the gearbox?
http://cgi.ebay.com/tulsa-pto-winch-dozer-tractor-logging-winch_W0QQitemZ300314817930QQihZ020QQcategoryZ61567QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Nice project! Looking forward to the end result!


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I decided that the Tulsa winch looked like the perfect candidate -- kinda homebrewed.... A spool, an axle cap, some plastruct, spot putty and about a half hour later: 









Installed - looks like it belongs there..... need to add some bracing, the hitch, and the cable to the blade, yet 









3/4 view, the winch balances out the blade nicely: 









front view, still need a radiator guard, and of course, the cable: 









I also have to mill out a bunch of resin on the undercarriage and the old inboard blade brackets - dust city, again. Kim says I gotta do it outside, or sleep there... women have such funny priorities, lol


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

one in the bag... well mostly. It still needs a radiator guard. Kim tried to claim it, she says it's "sooo cute!!!"


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## Russell G (Jun 7, 2009)

Boy, does this generate a big smile! I'm a big crawler fan too. Cool job! That things got a lot of character! I know just what you mean too, about the dust the cut off wheels make. My shop shares the end of the basement with the washer and dryer. I don't complain about dryer lint but boy, cut or sand a little wood and it shows on her black sweater hangin to dry?


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