OK, I've not been that active on here, as I don't have a old Cat sitting under the 'ole gum tree here in South Africa.

This BB has been very informative for me and my 2 brothers as we grew up with the bark of Cats in our ears, and the smell of Cat diesels at full bore.

I have been retired since Dec 2018, and now on a fixed income, so I have to take care the cents big time. I'm enjoying all the information re Cats, the good will and banter on here.

As it stands with our local South African economy, and linked to a very costly for foreign currency exchange rate, I'm afraid I'll to call it a day, and do a shutdown.

At the current exchange rate, I'll have to substantiate investing something like just under ZA Rand 1000.00, which I just cannot justify under these conditions.


This is a sad for me, but I also DO understand that ACMOC needs to be able to cover costs to provide the service. I've been in IT for 35 years, and have seen just how quickly money disappears down the 'new technology' holes, and that it is necessary to be able to justify covering costs from users of a service.

Until such time as I'm not in 'lockdown' with ACMOC, I'll be looking in from time to time.

Regards from Cape Town, South Africa.

"dewets" wrote:

OK, I've not been that active on here, as I don't have a old Cat sitting under the 'ole gum tree here in South Africa.

This BB has been very informative for me and my 2 brothers as we grew up with the bark of Cats in our ears, and the smell of Cat diesels at full bore.

I have been retired since Dec 2018, and now on a fixed income, so I have to take care the cents big time. I'm enjoying all the information re Cats, the good will and banter on here.

As it stands with our local South African economy, and linked to a very costly for foreign currency exchange rate, I'm afraid I'll to call it a day, and do a shutdown.

At the current exchange rate, I'll have to substantiate investing something like just under ZA Rand 1000.00, which I just cannot justify under these conditions.


This is a sad for me, but I also DO understand that ACMOC needs to be able to cover costs to provide the service. I've been in IT for 35 years, and have seen just how quickly money disappears down the 'new technology' holes, and that it is necessary to be able to justify covering costs from users of a service.

Until such time as I'm not in 'lockdown' with ACMOC, I'll be looking in from time to time.

Regards from Cape Town, South Africa.

this is why a read only function could be good. maybe a special members only section that requires a login that allows for full function and search,for sale sections. a paid subscription to sell isn't much different than paying an auction commission. ???

I haven't read through the previous responses but will toss in my opinion.

I was a paid member for awhile, but didn't renew when it was my understanding that most of the membership dues went towards the magazine production, not supporting the website/BB. The BB went to incorporating ad's to fund the BB and that means ALL traffic helps fund this site, guest's and members, that's how ad's work.

I really had/have no interest in getting the magazines, I still have several I never took out of the envelope so I let my membership laps.

I consider myself a contributing guest member, just because I'm currently a "guest" doesn't mean I'm only hear to take information, many of my posts are to help others, guests or members. I don't have the wealth of knowledge that others do but help where I can.

If there is a future option for a BB only membership let me know but I lost interest in paying to have a magazine subscription that I don't read.

Locking down the website is going to reduce traffic i.e. reduce ad revenue. I'm not sure if that makes a meaningful impact but something to consider.

Thanks,
Jordan

I can see some nice folks feeling “outed”, I don’t believe it is the intent of the club (IMO) to that so much; Dewets from SA and others have chimed in from time to time with nice and welcome commentary. I like seeing people getting involved. A “Visitor” status would be nice, but sounds like the BB need$ $$$ to create a website that can do certain “things”.
As others said, if you can afford a tractor, you can’t afford to not own a service/parts book, or at least contribute a small amount to pay for a service.
I consider D a friend from SA, even though I have never met him.
If someone does use this place for their benefit, I would think it would only be appropriate to join, not just to use and abuse.
I have too much time on my hands this morning. Forgive me for my comments. JM

I'm working on a response
This is a hard one please give me a few days to mull it over in my head.
Was headed to get a membership then I saw this thread.

The cost of a membership is the best money I have ever spent while working on one of these old machines. The local Cat dealers have no one employed that has the knowledge of some of the members on this site when it comes to the older units. They do not even have the service manuals any more. I have saved the cost of a membership many times over because of the help from people here. I knew nothing at all about my D4 when I bought it and have had to learn from scratch. I do not know what a CAT dealer charges now per hour for labor But I am sure it is much more than a membership cost here. I am one of those that does not really care about the magazine. I am not saying anything here that has not already been said but I would just like to encourage anyone who is on the fence concerning whether to become a member or not to do it before it is too late and this site has to be closed down and lost to all of us that benefit from it. You don't know what you have lost until it is gone.

Bruce

So I wondered whether or not to comment, but here goes..

I’m in the UK, in my early 30’s and own an 5J D2... I’ve barely laid a spanner on my tractor since the day I collected it, mainly because believe it or not I can’t afford to. I’ve wanted a vintage Cat for years, but unfortunately for the time being it has to sit gathering dust. So I don’t entirely agree with the comments that if you’ve got a tractor you can afford the membership argument. Everyone is in a different boat, with different financial commitments and decisions to make.

I’ve slowly collected manuals off eBay and from Finnings UK as and when they’ve come up. I think to an extent the technical information provided in the board can, in most cases, be found in the operators or parts manuals. Which I guess is why I’ve not quite got round to becoming a full member. I think some guests, use the board as a quick, convenient way of accessing this information, either because they don’t have the manuals or they’re too lazy to to use them. I fully understand that this can lead to some guests being viewed as freeloaders, particularly if they then disappear to never be seen again. Perhaps I’m a hypocrite, but i know I’ve found myself rolling my eyes at some posts lately.

I’ll also admit to rarely joining in the discussions, mainly because I feel my knowledge on old Cats is minuscule compared the vast majority of contributors. On the few occasions I’ve asked a question, I like to think I’ve throughly thanked any contributors. If others feel differently then I apologise. That said, on my visits here I like to think that I am gaining knowledge on these old Cats, way beyond what’s applicable to me and my little D2. Knowledge that one day, I might be able to pay forward to another younger member. Which surely is the ultimate aim?

Being in the UK, I also have the option of joining The Link Club, I would like to join and support a club, but to be honest I’ve been torn. I feel there’s more camaraderie here, but at the same time that The Link Club is probably more applicable to me, based purely on location. I’m more likely to meet fellow members and any parts for sale etc will be far more accessible.

I guess what I’m trying to say is life isn’t always black and white, it’s many shades of grey. But it looks like the decision might be about to be made for me.. If that’s to be the case, then no bad feelings. I fully understand there is no such thing as a free meal. Thank you all again.

James

Hello James,
In my mind it’s less “freeloader” and more so that membership just doesn’t come to mind for several reasons, a few of which you’ve hit on. I fell into the category where I was a member a few years ago and expired as I didn’t do much on my machine and just fell away from it except for occasional stalking just to read interesting tidbits. I got back to my machine with interest and a post about membership caught my eye a month or so ago and that reminded me to “member up”. The resources afforded users cost somebody something.

Anyway, as I understand things from outside looking in, it’s largely economics and the need for funding the benefits of the BB. It pays dividends in my opinion so the investment is seed money for future returns. Specifics to what level of payment is paid for various users is apparently being discussed.

Best to you with your machine and hopefully your finances can meet its needs. Believe me, this BB will save you ten fold of your dues on your first project with it and that’s not including the time you’ll save. No lectures just perspectives.

Have Fun!
Bernie

I would really like to hear the opinions of the very active guest members--IE: ccjersey, rome k/g, drujinin,etc

I have corresponded with Jan earlier today, but will put the same thing here and perhaps a bit of opinion that I usually wouldn’t since I’m not a member.

I’ve never been a member though I’ve half heartedly tried a couple times to purchase a membership online. Never got it to accept my log in info either new or that I use here all the time....I should have called up and gotten it done.

My experience here is that guests on ACMOC have been welcomed and accepted as long as they were cordial and appreciative of the efforts of others to help them. The ones that get their knickers in a twist and go on off never to be heard from again usually get way more consideration and help than they probably should. I’ve tried to be a contributor of knowledge and time here within my somewhat limited range of knowledge of Caterpillar equipment. I guess I have become somewhat of a regular though not even in the class with some others.

I don’t know the financial aspect of keeping the bulletin board operating much less the club as a whole, but I can say that the board is a recruiting tool to build membership that works worldwide 24 hours a day and 7days a week, so keeping it a welcoming place has to be a good thing.

One aspect of the day to day exchange here that I think needs serious examination and a comprehensive overhaul is posting of attachments. As several others have mentioned, those members and visitors that do use the search function to try to find information on their own frequently run into posts without the original pictures. As we all have seen a big majority of the attachments here are posted by OldMagnet and edb and they are always out of room to post more. There have been temporary fixes to allow them unlimited space but it has not been done successfully for long enough to make unnecessary the wholesale removal of attachments in order to post more in response to the most recent posts.

Personally I liked the short lived version of the software that gave you the option to select an attachment you had already uploaded on a previous thread to attach to another one. That alone could reduce the pressure on storage limits but the limit on posting pictures and files needs to be fixed. I would say it would be best to just remove the limits altogether since most people never post anywhere close to their allotment anyway.

With the attachment problem fixed, the archived threads of the bulletin board will one day be a priceless resource to the community of Caterpillar collectors and enthusiasts. And I will say, well worth a membership to access. The same goes for the technical resources page, Doesn’t do anyone any good if the threads and posts that need to be there are missing the attachments.

With all that said, if the board decides that visitors should be restricted somehow, that’s fine. I still think the bulletin board should be as useful and attractive as possible. I’m very sorry that the problem of limited attachment space has been going on so long already that I feel we have lost a huge amount of knowledge that could have been preserved. Hopefully, there is time to change course and build the reference knowledge base before it’s lost for good. None of us knows whether we will be here tomorrow! I was injured last June and spent a month in hospital and rehab. That event and the current epidemic have reminded me I may not have time tomorrow to do the things I am planning today.

Thanks for listening,

Jim

James R Rankin, DVM