Modern Use of Old Machines

By Clell Ballard
Published on March 10, 2014
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Hauling the 1938 Caterpillar Twenty-Two into the Sawtooth Mountains to do dozer work at a cabin. The truck is a World War II armored half-track that was converted to a cargo truck after the war.
Hauling the 1938 Caterpillar Twenty-Two into the Sawtooth Mountains to do dozer work at a cabin. The truck is a World War II armored half-track that was converted to a cargo truck after the war.
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Walking the tractor off the truck on to a high dirt bank.
Walking the tractor off the truck on to a high dirt bank.
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Starting the engine with a hand crank.
Starting the engine with a hand crank.
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Using the old Caterpillar the way it was designed to be used.
Using the old Caterpillar the way it was designed to be used.
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Old equipment is useful year ’round for all kinds of hard work.
Old equipment is useful year ’round for all kinds of hard work.

Even though old machines are still capable of performing jobs just like they did when they were new or almost so, rarely are they utilized. Readily available modern equipment comes to mind when heavy work is contemplated. If a business is involved, time is money — so rapid completion of work is essential. Even if the project is only a personal one, getting something done quickly is desirable.

There are two scenarios where using old machinery is seriously contemplated in today’s world. One is a situation where only old equipment is available. The other is a person’s desire to experience the use of old machines and time expended is not a major consideration.

In rural areas, earth-moving is not an unusual requirement on farms and ranches. “Earth” in this connotation can encompass many substances: soil, gravel, mud, manure, etc. In recent decades, wheeled skid-steer (and now tracked skid-steer) machines have become the standard for smaller jobs. Prior to their development, small tractors of various kinds were utilized. The ubiquitous wheel tractors were pressed into service but the really successful tractors for doing dozer work were tracked.

Beauty of the small crawler

One of my favorite little crawlers was the 2-cylinder John Deere. Not only were they handy, we always considered them cute. Because of their small size, they were used by the U.S. Forest Service to clear trails and clean areas where logging had occurred. An oft-repeated story about their use in that context was how they sometimes proved frustrating when trying to climb over a good-size log. Since the gasoline supply was gravity-fed, the tractor would climb up the front side of the log and just before it could tip down to the other side, the engine would quit. No matter how many times that was tried, there was never enough gas in the carburetor to carry it over. Some other way to the other side had to be followed.

Some time before John Deere built crawlers, small Caterpillars were common on farms. Designations such as “Ten,” “Fifteen” and “Twenty” indicated the smallest models. In the 1930s, a common Caterpillar on small farms was the “Twenty-Two.” I’m not sure if Caterpillar ever made factory dozers to fit on those tractors but individuals often created their own. A Twenty-Two my brother bought from a retired farmer had a homemade dozer attached. Obviously it was built from various components, the only identifiable ones being John Deere plow beams used as lift arms.

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