Tractor Work

When we bought our new property in North Monterey County a few years ago, we already had the perfect tractor for working the sandy slopes with—our 1953 D4 Caterpillar Crawler. Crawlers, which have tank-like treads instead of rubber tires, are commonly used in our area for the purpose of primary tillage (disking, chiseling and ripping). They have much more tractive power for their size than wheel tractors do, and because they have such a large “footprint”, they cause less soil compaction.  Where wheel tractors commonly get bogged down and experience what is called “power-hop” on sandy ground, our wide track D4 virtually skates over it.

It’s a great old tractor and I’ve become quite fond of it, but it isn’t what you would call user friendly. To get it started, you first start a small gas “pony” motor, which has its exhaust system routed across the big main diesel engine to pre-heat it. Using a couple of levers, you then use the pony motor to engage, and turn over the main engine. It isn’t an overly complex procedure, but it does require some finesse. Steering the tractor also requires a somewhat skilled hand. Instead of a steering wheel, you use clutch levers, and brake pedals. That probable explains why, when the track rollers wore out four or five years ago, we weren’t in a huge hurry to get them fixed. Here at our home site and at the Redman House fields, with their heavy clay and silt soils, our newer wheel tractors have definitely earned their place. They have keyed ignitions, and steering wheels just like a car and they are user friendly in just about every other way too. When we grew to the point where employees would be doing a significant portion of the tractor work, it was much easier to train them on wheel tractors than the good old D4.

So the old Caterpillar sat in our shed for a number of years, until we purchased our Lewis Road property. Because it is too far away from our home farm (seven miles) to drive a tractor to on a regular basis, we really needed something we could leave there on a permanent basis. For that reason and the fact that it does so well on sand, the D4 made perfect sense. And as it turned out, my friend Vince, one of the more capable farmers I know, bought two old D4 “parts” tractors at about that same time–one of which had an excellent track assembly or “undercarraige”. We paid Vince to swap out the good rollers and so forth from his parts tractor for the worn out ones on ours, and we were back in business.

The tractor had been working great until last month when the clutch throwout bearing went. On most tractors, this repair is a big job, requiring the tractor to literally be split in two where the transmission and engine meet. The D4, however, has a separate compartment for the clutch assembly, which means that you simply have to remove a bolted on cover, uncouple the engine from the transmission and the clutch assemble comes out in one piece–ingenious. Vince had the foresight to save the clutch assembly from one of his tractors, and following the directions in my owner’s manual I was able to install it without a hitch.

The D4 is again working great and with each repair I get to know the tractor a little better. Within the economy of a small farm like ours it is necessary to get to know our equipment and to do as much of the maintenance and repair ourselves as possible. Beyond the economics of it, however, there is something satisfying and somewhat empowering in knowing that, whatever problems may come, we’ll be able to deal with them.