I took the blade off to do all off the finish welding on the mounts. Got all the welding done and was really happy that the blade mounted right back up without any persuasion. Cutting edge installation was pretty straightforward, just some holes to drill.
Steel for the cylinder mounts will be in tomorrow

Finally got the cylinder mounts fabricated. Took a lot of measurements and used the shop hoist to raise and lower the blade to try and get the travel right. Seems like the travel will give about a 50/50 up and down.
I used the d4 for a guide to build the rear mount and just copied the d2 front mount and brace.
The mounts seem super strong and I dont think there is going to be any problems

Looks good, well done. That should work good.

Hi Team,
only thing I see that you may wish to improve if the mounts keep moving on the track frame side faces would be the above mentioned bolts.
Cat use a tapered seat special head bolt to try and keep the blade cylinder mount from moving on the track frame side face.
Alas I do not have any Parts Books to give you the numbers. I cannot recall if there were any dowels fitted as well--there may have been stop plates welded to the T/F to help stop forward and some for rearward movement of the mounts too.

Great job of fabricating you have done just the same, time may tell if you need to upgrade to add the retention stops etc. or not, but at least now you are aware of some mods to help if needed.

Cheers,
Eddie B.

keep up the good work ,looks grate ! She will be in top shape when it leaves your shop .

Thanks for the compliments and the tips on the bolts. I was aware of the tapered bolts and did check into using them but for what I'm doing I feel like it will work ok. All the bolt holes are tight fit so hopefully that will keep everything from moving. The problem with the system before wasn't the mounts moving so much but the way the mounting points were a pivot point that was cracking and breaking the frames. If I was working on a D9 I would definitely be going a different route. The longer I work on this little tractor the less I want to take it out in the dirt.

Hydraulic system next!!!

Got some work done on the hydraulic tank. Was able to use the valve off the old system and redesign a tank with a little more capacity. Salvaged a Holt cap and vent set up off of another parts tractor. Took some fancy grinding with the dremel to bring those Holt letters back

"ctsnowfighter" wrote:

That tired old machine has seen it better days! Good Luck with the restoration! Only going to take lots of love and money.
Cat salesman here in days gone by, "Pick up the radiator cap and run a new one under it"

Radiator cap needed for repair then I am in need of a new 955 to drive underneath it. LOL
Cabin fever

The weather has been a bit blustery the last couple of days so the honey do list got slid to the back burner. Got the hydraulic system all plumbed in, the top on the canopy and welded some temporary plates on the blade arms . My welder friend is going to bring his mag drill over and drill the holes for the cylinder pins.
I dont know how the purists are going to like it but I put a little exhaust stack on the starter motor exhaust. I've seen a couple done like this and really like the look.
I have a little finish welding to do but I think all of the major fabrication is done.
I made a trade deal to have sandblasting done so I will be disassembling everything and it will go to the sandblasted. I plan to coat everything with a yellowish epoxy primer and will be using the single stage urethane paint. Should be some kind of yellow by summers end!!