Thats some good news! Thanks Toby

Thank you for sharing Toby: Several of us heard about the “rumor” and did not wish to spread an alarm.
You have validated their anticipated closure.
In the few short years of hoarding, cough cough I mean collecting, FTP and Dana have provided myself and my outside wrench people with likely 99 percent of whatever we needed, in a quick and reasonable cost at that! Some parts I have received via ground service in less than 24 hours to my doorstep!
I wish Dana and Dennis a happy retirement, and we are very appreciative that they kept at it as long as they have. One may wonder if parts sales for old iron was a huge factor, or high real estate prices were a factor.
Nevertheless, it would be great if the remaining inventory got sold to dealers willing to stock them.
I think my own secret parts stash has become off limits to many now!!! (Just kidding) JM

juiceman, in the official press release Dana described business as "brisk" and I haven't witnessed or heard anything that would indicate otherwise - matter of fact they've even been acquiring more new stock until fairly recently. From what I've gathered through various conversations, I think the main issue is that everyone is at or near retirement age and there isn't anyone left to step in and carry on, so a decision had to be made.

Toby: Thank you for you input. I was not trying to imply that sales were "off" or anything negative, I should have re-worded things. Someone mentioned awhile back that the property garnered a hefty sum, I did not know if that was the primary reason, or due to age/retirement, etc. It isn't any of my business what he does, all we can do is wish him a happy retirement and maybe he will start his own CAT collection! I do feel compelled to drive over there and thank Dana personally for the parts and service that he has provided myself, as well as many of my friends that are not just hobby collectors, but in farming, ranching and construction trades as well. I always enjoyed wondering into his office, with him quietly on the phone or computer assisting customers from all over. The parts room is like a time capsule! I wish that someone can fill the large void when he retires...
Since I plan on visiting his place, I may as well email him a "want" list beforehand! Thanks, JM

Thanks for the info Toby, very understandable. JM take lots of pics of his place [time capsule] for memories down the road.

Thanks all. Now I've got to put together a list for ye old 9K and 955's 🥺. I'll call and see if my ship came in .... Yeah my ship came in but it's at the airport.😉

Thanks Deebo for your photo's, back in 2011 I visited Florin Tractor to meet Dana, Dennis and Judy, and got the full tour not just of the old shop on Florin Road, but also a large warehouse at a Army base about 15 minutes drive away, where they stored a lot of their parts, it was an eye opener!

What Dennis told me is that a few years earlier, like 2007 or 2008, Dana had purchased all the Cat parts from a large Cat Dealer down in Los Angeles who had closed down, and all the parts from that business, had simply been pushed off the shelves, in no particular order or system, into large cardboard bins, from memory about 975 bins, and it was all a jumbled mess in those bins.

Dennis said that every Sat morning, for the previous few years since Dana had bought those parts, he and Dana would meet at the Army base warehouse, and slowly pull the parts out of the bins, one at a time, and try and identify and sort them out. I remember seeing lots of Cat part number books laid out on tables, and as a part was pulled out, a guess was made as to what machine it was from, and the guess was cross checked using the part number books, a slow and painstaking job.

So to put it in perspective, when I visited in 2011, they had been doing this every Saturday for about 3 years, and I reckon Dennis said they had only gone through about 1/3 of the bins!!! There were hundreds of thousands of parts, I remember seeing a steel skip with hundreds of new steering clutch plates in it, and these were parts destined for scrap, because Dana knew he already had too many of them on the shelf, and would have trouble selling the extra stock!

As I walked up and down the rows of high shelves my head was spinning looking at all the parts, knowing there were still over 600 more bins for Dennis and Dana to sort through, just mind boggling.

I'm not sure if this story is right, hopefully someone can clarify it, but I heard that Florin Tractor started after WW2 when there were liberty ships full of new Cats and parts returned to the USA, and a guy, or guys, bought the Cat contents of several of these ships, maybe not the tractors, but maybe the parts. Has anyone else heard this story?

Anyway, I thought folks might enjoy seeing some other pics from a visit to Florin from 2011, who I've found have been great folks to deal with, I wish them all the best for the future.
Mike

A few more pics....