64 years old TD14 dozer still pulling the Giant logs. Unbelievable......

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jkim13

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plymouth CA
Several giant digger pine trees that I needed to cut down due to the tilt.
It could fall down very soon and be dangerous to our family.

I have had this dozer for more than 15 years and cleared my 80 acres property.
This is a 1958 International Harvester TD 14 142 Series. It is 64 years old and made in the USA.

This is probably my last mission with this dozer in my life.

Jkim13
 
That is a "modern" machine. It looks like a direct start. The older TD series started on gas then you switched it to diesel when it was warmed up. I grew up running a 1949 TD9. Next week I should be on a new Deere dozer. What a difference.....
Please upload some pictures for new dozer when you have chance..
Here is YouTube I uploaded that how to start with gasoline then change to diesel.
Jkk
 
@jkim13 , that old iron is awesome and sounds really nice, good job on getting it done.
I'll add that your first tree was a PRIME candidate for a bore cut or plunge cut to keep from barber chairing on you. Look up that type of cut to add to your knowledge base, it's easy and potentially lifesaving.
 
You ever let go of one the of steering clutch levers and have it bounce back and hit you on the finger tips? That will get your attention. It is generally the right hand lever as you let go of it to grab the hydraulic lever. Those old machines are fun to run. There is a local earthmoving contractor that mostly runs der TD-20 machines. They are 1970 to early 80's pre- Dresser dozers. He has a high track D6 but likes his TD20's
 
A good ole red one. Do you know what type/brand of blade was on it? A lot of guys liked the bucyrus erie ones but they were sure a odd looking thing. Ours had a convential style blade
 
Several years ago my father, brothers and I and a friend cleared a hillside for a cemetery expansion. The friend had a 1935 Cat (don't know the model, not real big) with crank-start gas engine. Pulled big trees up hill just fine. I was using my 70 Jeep cj5 w/posi and V6. It also did well.
 
Many of the old Cats were pony start but the IH were not. Think about how far we have come. I went to look at a old D8 years back. The guy was going to start it but I told him not to. The thought of hand cranking a pony engine did not appeal to me. As for cable they were the standard for years. We never had a cable dozer though.
 
The old machines last so long because they were over engineered and didn't have such close tolerances.
I agree to a point. If you look at the very early crawlers they were not really built all that stout although they did not have a lot of power either. As power increased they were beefed up structurally to meet it.
 
At around 9 years old I remember pulling the rope on the donkey motor while my uncle fiddled with the choke and throttle, wind the rope manually around the big pulley and pull with all my might over and over. They used to run them out of gas to shut them off and it seemed it took 5 - 10 pulls on the pull rope to flash up the donkey, then let it warm up before engaging the big diesel. Many cold winter mornings we would build a wood fire in a big steel pan, then push it in under the oil pan on the diesel to warm the oil while we made tea.
 
My oldest machine was a 1924 Fordson 4 cylinder high compression with a crank start, magneto and no battery. They could be a challenge to start.
A Fordson was my grandfather's first tractor. Then he got a Titan or McCormick 10-20 I am not sure which. Next was a Ford 2N which is still around
 

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