Caterpillar has had a long tradition for being Yellow but........ that was not always the case.

As you know Caterpillar was formed on April 15th 1925 by the merger of Best Mfg and Holt Mfg. Best was primarily black in color with red accents and Holt was Gray with red accents. So when Caterpillar started they went to gray with red accents but in December 7th of 1931 they went to Caterpillar "Highway" Yellow.

Paint Codes:

Gray Federal Standard # 595B-26134

Red Federal Standard # 595B-11120

1/7/31 to 6/1/79 Old Caterpillar Yellow: Cat # 4C-4185, PPG# 80453 Dupont # 421A

7/1/79 to current year New Caterpillar Yellow: Cat # 4C-4184,

For more information please take a look at the ACMOC Archives page www.acmoc.org/archives

For those of you interested, I bought three different Rustoleum Caterpillar Yellow rattle cans and painted some parts. Each can had a different label and stock number (or whatever it is) and the words Caterpillar Yellow on the can next to the bar code. One can had a stick-on label that says "Matches Old Caterpillar Yellow" on the lid. I painted areas of the engine with all three of the cans shown and could not see any difference in the color. It seems that the stock number refers to the different can labels, not the paint formula. None of them match the the ACMOC paint chip. I could not find any Krylon that day to try.

See for yourself:



I can't remember for sure, but I believe that I painted the wrench with a spray can from Caterpillar a few years ago.



Pete

"bequest66@yahoo.com" wrote:

I work for a walker mower dealer. Walker zero turn mowers are painted caterpillar hi-way yellow. I am not sure what sizes it is available in, i just kmow we use regular aerosol cans at the shop. I can get more info for you if you would like.

Sounds good, let us know what is available.