Cat D7 3T First start in 6 Years. Old Start and Operate!

The old D7 is finally put back together and we get it fired up to move it back down to its rightful spot in the pole barn. This dozer is a D7 3T. Rated at approximately 84 HP at 1,200 RPM. After getting it started we use it to pull down a huge white oak branch that fell into one of our fields from the neighbors woods. This is my first time getting to start and run this dozer. My hat is off to all of the old school cat skinners that built this country running these rugged machines all day. It may not look hard, but it will make a man out of you for sure. If you enjoy the video please don't hesitate to give it a like and remember to hit the subscribe button to follow along with all of the goings on around the farm. Enjoy the video. Thanks for watching, And have a great day.

[@BigAmp]

Sounds sweet, beautiful machine only one year younger than me!

[@RomeKG471]

Always leave the throttle shut off until ready to start, turn it over on compression to build up heat then open throttle other wise its just filling the cylinders up with fuel. Have fun!

[@asthehatturns]

Love the old iron. I have a hydraulic D7 3T. One thing to be mindful of with these old dozers is make sure to grease the idle bearing in the clutch. The zirk is located on the perimeter of the clutch, you can spin it by hand if its in neutral. What happens is that bearing gets hot and can seize if its left idling with the clutch disengaged. Always put the tranny in neutral or the johnson bar in neutral and engage the clutch when idling that will stop the bearing. I learned this hard way. Mine seized and took off on its own headed straight for my shop. Lucky thing that me or anyone else wasn't near it when it took off. I was able to run it down and get it stopped but I had to replace the clutch as it was toast. When I was a kid we had a cable D4 I was taught to keep the clutch pulled in, I just didn't think to transfer it over to the D7.

[@oilfarmer706]

Wow that's crazy! Glad no one got hurt in that incident. Good to know about the idle bearing. We grease this machine often, especially since it sits for so long between uses. Not that we don't want to use it but in most cases it's just too darn big with a 12 foot blade.

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

Had that happen on an old d8

[@arnenelson4495]

Now THAT is a good thing to know!

[@lttl858]

That's a beautiful piece of property and a neat old dozer.

[@oilfarmer706]

Thank you!

[@THEBULLETPROOFGARAGE]

That's an awesome machine! Love the pony motor start up!

[@oilfarmer706]

Thank you! Hope to get it back out in the summer.

[@cleveanderson3364]

4 t that I just ran 1 week ago. Out of all my heavy equipment it is my favorite one to run!

[@jaredclawson1813]

That's a beauty. Was doing a project just the other day with my D-4 cable machine, nothing like them.

[@oilfarmer706]

I don't think I've ever seen a D4 cable dozer, very interesting. Hopefully this coming summer the D7 will get pulled out again to remove some stumps and make some modifications on our road to the back of the farm. If so I'll be sure to bring the camera! Thanks for watching!

[@HaroldJackson-b6p]

What a great old Cat.

[@oilfarmer706]

@@HaroldJackson-b6p thanks! I love that thing.

[@arnenelson4495]

3T's Rock! Best Cat ever.

[@oilfarmer706]

Agreed! Love how they bark when under a load.

[@arnenelson4495]

@@oilfarmer706 It's pure music!

[@salvadordali2084]

Love old machinery

[@belowfray5251]

Nice of u to do your channel

[@keepontruckinoutlawlife1248]

Way way way kool man appreciate this

[@oilfarmer706]

Thanks!

[@alexmaclean1]

The shingled roof image in my head has me laughing. My Grampa had an old deere with the exact thing rigged up to keep the sun off ya. A 1966 710 I think it was, not completely positive though.

[@oilfarmer706]

Lol whatever works I guess. Eventually I'd like to build a protective roof over it that wod stand up to a falling limb or something.

[@roberthammond2637]

When shifting gears: Release main clutch, then pull up on Blade Control, (It will stop trans rotation). This allows "no grind" gear change -- saving gear teeth...! (D8, 8T series in AK Range).

[@oilfarmer706]

Thanks for the tip! I actually stumbled upon that trick after running it for a little while. This was my first time starting/ running this dozer, used to always be dads job.

[@cleveanderson3364]

Also if you push forward on the clutch lever there's a brake that stops everything from spinning.

[@oilfarmer706]

@@cleveanderson3364 don't know if you could see in the video, I was pushing on the clutch with my foot while trying to get it in gear. The clutch brake is either out of adjustment or completely gone. Yet another thing that needs to get fixed before it comes back out.

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

@@oilfarmer706 usally gone lol

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

I did the motor on my d7 last summer got parts out of interstate mcbee

[@oilfarmer706]

That's good to know. I've been hesitant to do much to this dozer because of lack of parts. Thanks for watching!

[@lorenblanchard4348]

Thanks for the video. I own a d73t as well. Lots of fun and a hard worker. Mine is still hand crank on the pony. Any idea where to look to find the starter and gearbox like yours has? Thx

[@oilfarmer706]

Very cool! I love these old machines. Our pony motor has the hand crank as well. Someone commented and said that (general gear) in Boise Idaho was a good place to get parts. I checked out they're website and they may have what you are looking for. Good luck and thanks for watching!

[@saeedroshan1489]

Nice

[@cleveanderson3364]

Awesome. I have a 1945

[@indianoladave]

Yeet Yeet nice kitty

[@BDOutdoorsCanada]

Great video but I have to say this... I've run a few Cats with putt motors (including 3T) and I would never sit with my legs between the track and frame while someone else is on the operators platform. If something happens and the machine jumps ahead or back you don't have a hope in hell of getting out of there, I always just squat down on top of the track to work the controls so I can jump off if need be.The newer D7's with putt motors can be started from the operator platform and are much better. I knew a D7 owner operator many years ago that got run over by his own machine and left 7 kids without a father, not pretty!

[@oilfarmer706]

Sorry to hear that. I'll admit it's not the safest thing to be doing. There was a lot cut out of this video as far as the start up process was concerned. I'm nur none one wants to watch 15 minutes of rolling the engine over with the pony. My dad was just there to run the compression release because it's very stiff. We had already rolled the engine over while I was standing on the U frame for the blade so we knew nothing was still in gear or was stuck.

[@BDOutdoorsCanada]

@@oilfarmer706 I appreciate the reply and I get it. Just thought I'd mention it, keep up the great video work!

[@megadeuz6148]

If you need parts,check with diesel power tv. They have a lot of old cat equipment.

[@oilfarmer706]

I've been watching his channel for a long time. Didn't think they sold any of their equipment.

[@megadeuz6148]

You never know.

[@samseale2071]

It has a oil clutch.

[@cleveanderson3364]

I think your 3T might be late thirties or early forties bulldozer because of the spoke of the spoke drive wheels and the call out on the hard nose...

[@oilfarmer706]

It very well could be older. 1957 is just what I was always told. The older the cooler!

[@cadewey6181]

@@oilfarmer706 If its an oil clutch its after serial 15000 and in the 1950s. The serial is stamped on body iron in front of the CCU.

[@rivervalleyfarm482]

Look up costex tractor parts. They have new parts for old machines in stock and very reasonably priced.

[@oilfarmer706]

I'll check it out. Thanks!

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

The last year for 3T was 1954

[@dougshadrick9776]

That bulldozer used to push scrapers. You can see the welded on steel on the blade.

[@oilfarmer706]

@dougshadrick9776 That was my assumption as well. From what I've been told, this dozer came from a mine near Masontown PA in the mid 80's. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

I have. A 17A the next seiries mine is a 1956

[@rudycarlson8245]

For the pony motor try non-ethanol gas better for small engines I run it in and all my small engines from the chainsaw to the lawnmower it might work in the pony motor for your D8

[@oilfarmer706]

That's all we use for small gas engines. Its good stuff. Thanks for watching !

[@rudycarlson8245]

@@oilfarmer706 thanks for putting up the video it’s always good to see an old cat come to life!

[@andrealeixes]

minuto 12, embreagem mal regulada, mas parabens a todos

[@richardbarnard247]

Why does everyone want to rush the starting of these old machines?

[@oilfarmer706]

What do you mean?

[@richardbarnard247]

No one gives the starting engine enough time to warm up the diesel engine. They throw fuel to it while the compression release is engaged, washing down the cylinders, and hanging on for dear life to the pinion shift lever to keep it from kicking out. If you let the coolant temperature get up to 100 degrees, when you open the throttle, it will fire right off. the last couple of minutes move the compression release to run. By holding the pinion shift lever, you risk breaking the T bolt that pulls the pinion into the flywheel. That is a road you don't want to go down. By the way, both engines share the cooling system.

[@oilfarmer706]

@@richardbarnard247 I'm not disagreeing. Rest assured the diesel engine did get up to atleast 100 degrees before we moved forward with starting it. I don't know if you could tell, but a good portion of cranking the engine on low was cut out of the video. It just gets redundant after a while. The reason we put the fuel to it early is to build prime. It tends to lose it after sitting more than a year or so. Once we see the white smoke coming out of the stack we know we have fuel. On our dozer, you have to hang on to the pinion lever in low and high. Otherwise the engine makes 1 revolution and it kicks out. Lastly, we don't spend much time rolling the engine over in high because the pony motor clutch slips something fierce. The rear seal on the pony leaks and gets oil on the clutch. Are these things that can be fixed? Yes. But for a machine that might get 40 hours on it per decade, does it really make alot of sense to put that kind of time and money into it. I know the way we start this dozer is not the correct procedure, but, it's what works for the machine that's infront of us. Thank you for watching and for commenting

[@richardbarnard247]

@@oilfarmer706 The pinion kicking out, to soon, is a easy fix, and would only take a few minutes. If you break that T bolt, you will be down to pulling it for starting. Thank you for clarifying how long you took to start it. I grew up with an old 3T. I'm 69 now and it's sad that it won't be long and these old girls will be so much scrap iron.

[@oilfarmer706]

@@richardbarnard247 I'd like to fix the pinion issue. It's an arm breaker. No problem, I'm always more than happy to elaborate. I'm sure no one wants to watch that thing crank over for that long before it starts. We try to take care of our equipment the best that we can and what is practical. Hopefully the old d7 will be around for many years to come. I'll look into getting that pinion fixed. Thank you. Have a good one!

[@fusileer7281]

Maybe when you are using a make-shift gas tank to start the pony motor, the guy behind you should not be smoking…

[@peterturnbull4629]

I wish you would speak into the mic its bloody hard to hear what your saying

[@oilfarmer706]

I apologise. I've noticed when I use the gimble camera mount the audio is muffled. Thanks for letting me know. Have a good one.

[@marcellebaudry5786]

d 7 en algeris pierrot 85 ans merci de paris

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

Not a 57 if its a 3t

[@RomeKG471]

Its a 1953

[@ornaldolopez4952]

M

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

If you have a seiral number i can tell u the exact year

[@oilfarmer706]

My apologies. I was just always told it was a 1957 and never questioned it. I know the serial number begins with 3T though. I will absolutely get the number off of it and let you know. Thank you!

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

Not a problem

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

So its probably made between 51 and 54

[@wilmamcdermott3065]

You do know that its worth more if its older

[@oilfarmer706]

@@wilmamcdermott3065 it's with more to us on the farm than anyone would be willing to pay for it. Don't need it all the time but when we do, we really need it.