I had a friend tell me about a D4 that his friend had. I was under the impression it was one of the 46 or so D5s. I was wrong. I didn’t think this was possible. JM

See if this helps.Can you tell us some more about the tractor

there was a military version like that. not sure about the toolbar blade though. something to do with air transportable or being able to fit in a cargo hold. I think

Yes, that's a Military Airborne Unit or somebody's modification of a D4 although I don't believe they ever came with a too bar dozer. Non the less they are a pretty rare unit if it is the Military version.

So this is a 7U with a 318 motor? And why did the military use such a unit? They wanted the power minus the weight? And they had the standard 7U drivetrain behind the 318? Did this seriously compromise the lifespan? Very interesting.

Hi Team,
the D318 would be setup to a Reduced Horsepower setting for that application, for example the 9M D5 was set for 56 HP.

From my Rack setting Book, Early U tractors were set to 51 HP and still later units ran at 58 and the last of them at 60.5 HP.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

That’s quite a tractor, I’d bet it would work pretty good farming on a wet year with those long tracks. Thanks for the picture Juiceman.

BP.

This tractor (as I was told) was home built. It still exists somewhere south of me, I notice a HOLT decal.
I’d love to see it in person, just to see what had been done. A couple more fuzzy photos for you. JM

I knew a mechanic who put a U series engine. in a 7U D4 he had to Put in an. I beam in place of the spring was a real hot rod, if I remember right it sure was tough on the cross shaft and bearings. 17afarmer

That's looking more like a modified tractor than a genuine airborne model. I don't see the lifting eyes on the track frames or the unique front engine structure that mounts the #44 and radiator to the engine. A closer picture of the detail in that area would help identify. In the airborne version the D318 was rated at 68.9 hp. Serial number of the tractor would also help identify. My airborne manual was published in 1959 so if the s/n shows to be an earlier model it would further identify it as a counterfeit.