[AT] Best of ATIS? ---The D8 story Karl's fourth post

[Bill Bruer]

Thank you for posting these, Mark.  Karl's adventures and his write-up's 
were always good and this was one of the best.  He never found out which D8 
version it was, did he?

Bill Bruer
Murfreesboro, TN
bill_bru at bellsouth.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Sargent" <bucksargent at embarqmail.com>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2012 6:14 AM
Subject: [AT] Best of ATIS? ---The D8 story Karl's fourth post





Karl's fourth post
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Tractor Weekend (part 3)

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To: "atis" <antique-tractor at atis.net>
Subject: Tractor Weekend (part 3)
From: "Karl Olmstead" <olmstead at ridgenet.net>
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 20:59:54 -0800
Cc: "Monika" <m.lenz at rrh.org>
Posted-Date: Mon, 20 Dec 1999 21:06:29 -0800 (PST)

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At this point, I was at a loss.  I knew that the tractor would start, it was
about noon on Sunday, and the trucker wasn't due until some time Tuesday.
Should I leave?  I'd taken the motel room for two nights, and probably
couldn't get a refund.  I was feeling a bit down.  Challenge was all gone.
Decided to figure out what kind of D8 this really was.  The engine had two
ID tags, a small one one that said 'Unit Number 3R 9972 SP', and a data
plate below that was heavily painted over.  I tried to find a plate or a
stamping on the rear of the tractor where the owner's manual said there
should be one, but there was absolutely nothing.  There's no such thing as a
3R D8 Cat, so I was confused.

So I tried various chemicals and finally wound up using a knife to gently
scrape the enamel off the data plate.  Took about 45 minutes.  What was
revealed was this:

Model 13000
132 horsepower
970 rpm
Material Stocking Request (or something like that)  4B 8694

Fine, but there was no 4B  or 3R D8 Cat.  And this was definitely not an 8R
Cat; they were only rated at 113 horsepower.

Besides being confused about what model Cat this was, I was getting very
concerned about its weight.  The trucker I was using didn't want to handle
anything over 50,000 pounds.  I had assured him that an 8R cat, even with
winch, was only about 40K.  The 8R shipping weight was about 34,000 pounds,
and I figured that the Hyster double drum winch was 5K to 8K more.  Later
model D8 Cats were much heavier, some of them going over 50K pounds bare.
Looking over the winch, I saw that someone had added a spool, maybe a
thousand or so extra pounds.  And the Cat had a shop made belly pan, lots of
structure plus a full-length 3/8" thick steel plate.  Good protection for a
logging Cat.  Another ton or two.  The winch for 1" cable was empty, the
1/2" spool nearly full.  Maybe 1000 pounds of cable.  Two truck weight
stations between here and home....

While I was lying on my side scraping the data plate, a fellow in a Ford
pickup stopped and started asking questions.  Nice guy; his parents own an
orchard about four miles away.  They have a Cat D6 raised up 5 feet in the
air with a U-shaped plow which they use for cutting their almond and walnut
orchard stock out of the ground and balling the roots or harvesting bare
root stock.  He's interested in the D8.  We talk for a while, and he wants
to hear it run.  I start it for him.  He drives my Cat around for a while.
He asks if it's for sale, and I tell him that everything is for sale.  He
asks what I want for it, and I tell him that I'll have $2K in it by the time
I get it home.  He thinks for a while, and asks if I'll take $2K for it.

I usually know what I'll take for a tractor.  I know what I've spent, how
many hours I've worked on it... but this time I stood there for about five
minutes just looking at my D8 and thinking about the offer.  I paid $950 for
it and spent $50 on oil this morning.  The trip cost me $60 for fuel, almost
$200 for the motel room.  So if I say 'yes', I'll gross $2000 on a $1000
investment; net about $700.  But it is a GREAT old tractor, runs and drives
perfectly.  But there's the weight thing.

I told him that I'd take $2000, and we completed the transaction this
morning.  Mark's a great guy; knows Ira Matheny, collects tractors, old
trucks and gas engines.  He showed me a couple of D2 orchard Cats that a
friend of his is selling.  $1800 for a complete 5U and a 5J with some parts
missing.

But, you know, as I drove home with an envelope containing $2000 cash lying
on the seat beside me, I thought about that D8 Cat.  What an awesome
machine!

But hey, you know what?  I spotted two more on the way home.  Much closer,
and these two have blades!  On the other hand, having discovered that a D8
drives just like a smaller Cat, maybe I could find a D2 to love.  The only
difference is how much dirt they can push.

Have a merry Christmas, and a great (and safe!) New Year's Eve!

Karl Olmstead   <olmstead at ridgenet.net>

K&F Engineering     Ridgecrest, CA
Karl's Old Tractor Page:  <http://members.xoom.com/kolmstead>

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