The old 40 earning her keep

Got out a good sized standing dead red oak last weekend. The pics don't really give a good sense of the size. The old girl did some grunting on some of the hills!

Brought back fond memories.. I had a 40 for backfilling around basements.. Nice light machine, and I didn't fold over any basement walls like many did..

I'll bet it did, that's a nice little turn, a prize too, being oak. You can tell they are decent size logs and I'll bet heavy too. What I don't have in oak here, I make up in hard maple, or I think I do, LOL ! I save that for the cold snaps.

Hopefully no sliding sideways, is the snow granular up there yet? The last round that came through dumped more up your way than here.

Did you have any trouble with packing on the sprockets and the tracks tightening ? Its been a long time since I've run a crawler in deep snow, but I remember how that would happen in a short distance, if I did not drop the blade and clear as I go. It would exercise the big recoil springs on the track frames if you did not clear what packed.

We got the granular stuff Billy, "sugar snow" some call it, looked more like hail to me. That's down under the wind beaten stiff surface crust. You can drive a tractor across it, or you could till it warmed up, and stay pretty much on top of it. But as soon as a wheel spun or you tried backing up to a bale or something it would drop out from under you and then you spent some QT with a shovel. The crawler is aces in this type of weather. That particular machine doesn't have too much packing issues, it's only a 3 roll and the side plates keep some snow out. Ice does build up in there though and that can be a bear.

Old girl needs clutch bad. I had the money set aside and then I got the power bill from NiMo/National Grid- almost $900.00!!!!! Seems they didn't "hedge" any too well so the consumer is paying for it. :twisted: Clutch is gonna have to wait, along with a lot of other stuff.

A few weeks back it was still too deep even with double ring chains, with the hills you have to plan your route or it may end up in a spot till some snow melts.

I've seen a few of these around over the years, friend I have not seen in awhile, has one, looks like it tows a decent size load, always wondered how the 2 cylinders were in those when worked moderately or better. Small is nice in the woods, and that the snow does not pack saves some work and worry about track tension. I believe pads meant for snow have cut outs, to disperse it so it won't pack, same with landfill machines, I ran a Fiat Allis, FD 30 that had big holes in the pads, was a landfill tractor, I guess it lets debris clear.

I remember the last time I used the D7 in the heavy or deep snow, would hardly make it bark with a big pile pushing up, almost like it was not there. Sprockets did pack snow and it did not take long, had to stop and clear it. The fun part was pushing some big piles of snow, it just peels off the blade keeps building up, no shortage of traction with these. I'm hoping to get the clutch back into it before it gets warm out and see if I can get started working on it again, change a bunch of fluids odds and ends from sitting, and be able to use it a little. Funny how that works, bills will come first, the old iron, somewhere down the list LOL ! Same thing here,the bills, keeps some my old junk from being useful, but I'm gaining on it.

The engine isn't the limiting factor in the 40. It's about the right size at 100 ci. The rear ends are a little tender and people often run the tracks a little tighter than they should. You know how chain wears and how expensive it is to replace. I just did both finals on this one, not a terrible job but I wish I'd had the bucks to do the steering clutches. The main clutch is a breeze to chainge, just swing the engine away on a shear and pop it back in, maybe a 4 hour job on a good day.

I'd love a nice little D2 with a winch. Great for the woods, but still not as handy as a horse!

Impressive for its size, I've run a 1010 JD before, not a lot of power when pushing dirt, but like yours, a good size for the woods and towing

I've contemplated a smaller one, but I've got enough "junk" to work on, LOL ! but nice to transport, and great in the woods, lighter and smaller. D2 or D4 with a tool bar blade set up, would be a very useful tractor, and I think you can have a winch with that, I forget where the hydraulic pump is, don't recall it needing the rear pto if the tractor has one. I've seen a variety of smaller ones that caught my interest at times over the years, its good to see what you posted, the traction really makes it possible.

There is a neighbor at the other place with a team of draft horses, big black ones, I think they are percheron's, I have to say it was really cool to watch them in action, though they were not towing logs, he was pulling a wagon. There are place where I am sure there is no subsitute, and its low impact, in a short time you'll never know anyone was in there. Thats hard to do with a machine.

In the woods I like tracks betters than tires. But even tracks have their limits. So do horses, but horses don't get stuck, they don't tear up trees or land, they repair themselves many times and I've never had a horse slip a track off in a mud hole! But they aren't for everyone. I just wish people who've never worked them would stop making judgements based on ignorance.

Your post brings back a lot of memories for me. My father bought a Cat 30 dozer. It was a handy little machine and other than changing oil we never had to do much do it. Cleared a lot of land and pushed hedgerows with it. It was a gas and was very economical. It was not the fastest machine, but it did the job. I sold it when I bought my D6, but now for what it sold for I wish I would have kept it.
I used to go to the Alexander steam show every year. It was there, but last several years it has not showed up. If anybody sees one for sale please email me.