auction site

[Dave T]

If anyone is looking for more projects then this web site and auction might be the place to look. www.polkmcgrew.com This is an auction Sept. 2, 3, 4th at New Paris, IN. There is a big add in the Indiana Agrinews, lots of old green stuff.

[Lavoy]

I have gone to their auctions for almost 20 years. You never know what you will see there, a real blast to go. They will do 2000 lots of parts, and then 300-500 tractors.
Lavoy

[Pat]

I've heard there will be over 600 tractors this year. Can't hardly get anymore stuff on the yard!

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Hmmm. Sounds like we ought to have a Board meet-up at the auction.

I have some time to actually go, but no money to buy any new toys with.

Lately, I've been getting my 'new toy fix' by wandering around with neighbors looking at iron and then spending their money!

later!

Stan

[Pat]

The sale bill has a bunch of BO Lindemans, MC"s, and 420C's on it.

[Draco]

9hrs away....dang. Looks like a good one.

[pop pop]

this auction talk got me to thinkin if there was ever a model A ,B crawler conversion or if anyone ever put one of the bigger popper motors in a crawler?

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

There were lots based on the 'B'. That is what Lindeman used: The model 'B' Orchard chassis, aka 'BO'.

I also recall crawlers based on the 'D', also by Lindeman, but not in the quantities they used the 'B' for.

I dimly recall that there were also some based on the 'G' as well.

I never heard of any based on the 'A', but there probably were a few.

Lindeman was into making whatever someone wanted to buy, and the recipe would have been pretty much the same for whatever tractor core they started with. They had the connection with Deere to put a tractor core onto a flatbed rail car, so it would pretty much have been the same to stick any other core onto a car as it was a 'BO'....

later!

Stan

[JD440ICD2006]

Stan,

That is great info about how things were done back then.
I have wondered why a 730 D or 830 D was not used as the "core" of a crawler. It would have been an absolute beast of a rock and dirt mover. Not sure if it would have practical, maybe why we never saw one in production from JD?

Chuck W.

[Lavoy]

The D never went into actual production. They tried 3 of them, found out that they would not pull any more than a wheel tractor so that was abandoned. They then made about 2 dozen GPO crawlers which were more successful. After GPO tractor production ceased, they made their largest production run based on the BO tractor, about 1675 units. There were also about 30 BR's, and 1 BI made. The BI will be auctioned at this sale in a couple weeks, not sure if any of the BR's are on there or not.
The Lindemans on the sale came from the Bob Smythe collection out of OR. I forgot what figure Jeff told me, but about 85 or 95 Lindemans total came from Bob, including the BI, a GPO, a replica D which also sells at this sale, a couple BR's and flatbacks, the rest BO's. If you are so inclined to go, it is definitely worth going. If I had the time, trust me, I would be there. This might be the last chance many of us would have to see the BI.
Lavoy

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Wow. Sounds like I ought to make the trip, and bring the good digital SLR and lenses.

I might have seen reference to the 'GPO' and mis-remembered that as a 'G', which would make for quite a difference in the crawler! A 'G' Lindeman would have been quite a sight!

Later!

Stan

[Tigerhaze]

If you get there, take plenty of pics and post up

It's too bad that the various business and environmental laws today would prevent an entrepenuer from cobbling together a new generation of small crawlers from current tractor engines and transmissions. JD and the other crawler makes (except Komatsu) are ignoring the potential small crawler market, and Struck crawlers are not much more than a sand box toy.

I know they make the compact track loaders, but they just don't have the weight of a small crawler and the tracks wear out too quickly in abrasive materials.

[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

My issue with a tracked skid-steer loader is that, well, it *is* a loader. No bulldozer options. Oh, they have blades one can put onto the loader arms, but those are mounted all wrong to work as a proper bulldozer.

What gets me is that none of the makers think of this and offer up a bulldozer-equipped variant with a low-mounted frame. Some of the larger skid-steers weigh in about the same as a 420c, so it could be done and they'd work just like what we're used to around here.

As far as track wear goes, once someone thinks to offer a dozer model, maybe they'd then offer up a steel track option.

It's probably a case where no one has given this any thought, much less come to the conclusion that there hasn't been anything on the market for 60 years and -hey!- there might well be a fairly large untapped market out there.

They have to perceive the market before anyone will do anything.

Of course, once one outfit does hit onto this secret, then it'll be a short time before they *all* do it, and then they'll saturate the market *again*, like what happened in the 1950's, and the small crawler/dozer will go away once more.

I mean once I buy one, I'm not buying another one for a while.

So, once someone does this, we all need to go out and buy one before the opportunity wanders away again.....

Personally, I'd like nothing better than to be able to buy a brand-new small crawler/dozer along the lines of my 420c.

later!

Stan

[Lavoy]

SAME makes a nice line of small crawlers. I have also seen some smaller New Holland ag crawlers online. Neither are imported here for the most part, but neat rigs nonetheless. Seems to me the New Holland's were getting up in the 60 horse range or so.
Here is a pic of a Deere crawler from Spain, maybe we can get a volume buy on a container or two of them.
Lavoy
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[Stan Disbrow]

Hi,

Yes, I recall that one from a while back. I seem to also recall having found an outfit in Italy that makes a PAT blade for it. It would certainly seem like something they would have figured out to import here, doesn't it?

In the meantime, I keep on using the old 420c.

later!

Stan