A Giant of the Earthmovers

See the old CAT promotional film for the D9. Great footage.
Gerrit
See the D9 at work

Back a few Moons ago we use to play with them TONKA TOYS . From the D 4 on up to the D9 along with the I H line up from the T D 9 up to the T D 25 and the Alliey Cat line up from the H D 6 up to the H D 21 . Then came the spring of 63 and a new Tonka toy arrived , it arrived just as we sat down for lunch , everyday a train came by the shop on it's run to the south with box cars flats and empty coal cars . some days it would stop and break up the train and drop off cars for the several MFG. companys and the Lumber yard and the two feed mills . It had to stop before it crossed the main highway and the conductor and brakeman would set flares out and stop traffic since this was a spur line . As it came by the shop setting on one of the flat cars wasa Brand new D 9 G much larger then the D 9's we had and the one guy setting with us said i wonder what IDIOT would buy something that big , I said well maybe it is going down to one of the Strip mines south of us . The train crept on by up the slight grade and up over the top and we heard it stop . Ya could here them breaking the train up and unhooking cars and making switches . Then came the look on everyones face as they shoved the flat car with the New D 9 G into our siding . Next thing we know the owner of the company comes flying in and slide to a stop jumps out of his pick up and start barking orders , John you do this Willis you do this Jesse you go get this and tells me to help John and OH By the way that is your new dozer i have 9 more just like it coming so best learn how to run that . The first power shift and many more to come as we were gearing up for the next big push in hyway building . She was shipped in DRY ,no fluids in it at all even the batterys were dry as this was another first for the company a Direct start no pony motor and Oh it had a Cab with no less then A/C and a heater along with a hyd blade with tilt and a ripper , No more cable rippers . Then here come three Cat service trucks to get this ready to run , they had to set the cab and make all the hook ups install the blade after they got it put together and same for the ripper All that was put on once it was on the ground I run it off the flat car under the guidance of the one Cat Mechanic and felt vary uncomfortable with this POWER SHIFT and the Declarator after being use to either a hand clutch or foot clutch and a gas PEDAL . Took a few days to get the hang of it and had the paint wore off the blade getting the feel of it , Cat came back about four days maybe five and Old Al put the TWEAK to it that by todays standards did not fall under EPA guide lines and when you took your foot off the WHOA pedal she would roll a huge plume of coal and plum roll dirt and do it in second gear . Put her behind a 641 Scraper and it was nothing to take a two foot cut and have it heaped in a 100 feet and get him moving by pulling her back into third on the push out . Once the push block broke contact with the blade stop down on the Whoa pedal and a flick of the wrist and you were headed back a light tap on the Whoa pedal and another flick of the wrist you were in third reverse . No stopping and changing gears for a fast reverse then change again for the push and feathering the hand clutch to make contact with the pan for the push . She weighed in just under a 100000 lbs fully dressed.

Tractor Vet you LIVED THE LIFE! I so much enjoy your stories I can't even begin to say. I've long had a fascination with heavy equipment but was never an operator. Only once sat at the controls of a D7 and had an experienced operator show me how to use the steering clutches and so on. From what I recall, that machine had a problem with the right clutch so you had to plan your turns in advance. I couldn't keep up with you in a conversation, but I'd enjoy hearing you talk about your days running the big machines. You have a great writing style, thanks for the stories.
Gerrit

I had several ponds dug over the years and a good dozer, with the right blade...some modified from OEM for special applications, some with cleats/steel bars welded onto the tracks for better gripping, and the right operator is a ballet in motion. No movement that isn't moving dirt.

I have spent many hours working on D5's --D8's and D9's . The old D9 G would burn 250 Gal of Fuel a day pulling a ripper. I have put tracks back on them in a rock pile, welded broken ripper shanks, replaced head gaskets, oil coolers and rebuilt hydraulic cylinders on those old beasts. I don't miss those days at all.

Ya had to bring up how much fuel they sucked in a day when fuel trucks were NOT always on a job site or have power for pumps and the only way to feed the beast was hand PUMP it in . Ripping rock was NOT my favort thing as it fell into the same as cleaning tracks when working in mud or when it was mud and freezeing . Favort's were pushing dirt working fills and pushing pans . Learned many BAD habbits working with older men on the away jobs when we had to work a weekend to get back on track as Friday was payday and normally after we got paid all of us that were out of towners would go home for the weekend and during the week there was NO partying BUT if we were going to work a Saturday and sometimes a Sunday Friday was party night and at the ripe old age of 17 i was introduced to Carlings Black label at a little bar and steak house close to the job site .

LOL My Dad worked for Carlings before national bought them out. Frankenmuth was a nice little German town back then. If you didn't speak German you were an outsider.

Saunders Chicken dinner aint bad .
At the corner between the John Deere dealer ship and the outlet mall . There is or was a producing oil well .
Approx 18 years ago we bought a German 8 day Clock with the dancers in Frankenmoutmh. Took the Cuckoo clock for cleaning and lube last week . A big fat spider had wandered into the gears and brought it all to a halt .