Getting my D4 7U home....

[D46UClint]

I've search and read ton of threads on the topic including my state and Fed. regs. When I bought my 6U with Cat blade and Hyster winch 8 yrs ago or so I moved it with a 1 ton dodge and 30' tandem with duels on a 6 hour haul from Topeka KS to OKC. I guess I was lucky as we had zero DOT issues even when the Highway Patrol asked me about the age of the machine at a fuel stop. The gross vehicle combine weight for that truck and trailer was over the 26,000 lbs. limit that the regs state require a CDL for being over the 26,000 lbs. GCWR. The rig had no issues stopping, being stable or lack of power but the trip was on flat land, very minimal highway traffic. Looking back now and adding it all up I see the rig was undersized for the load.
Dozer and blade - 12500 lbs.
Truck - 7500 lbs.
Trailer - 8500 lbs
Hyster Winch - 1200 lbs.

Looks like I've bought a D4 7U near North Platte Nebraska and need to get it to OKC. I was luck once not sure I want to push it again.
Question: where do I go to find a hauler to move this old girl to her new home?

I could remove the blade, toolbar arms, radiator gaurd, battery, drain all the fluids, and take a second truck but would that lighten up the crawler enough?

[7upuller]

Hey D46uClint,

Anything over 10,000 trailer gross requires a Class A license. Don't try it, if it goes bad, it will cost more than just shipping it. Try Whitewood transport, I've used them a few times. On time, fair prices, no BS. Let them know you can wait until the find a combo load to cut costs for you.-glen http://whitewoodtransport.com/index.htm

[D46UClint]

Good advice. Im reading the regs and am going to take the Class A CDL test but that won't all be in place for this haul. Looks like local Hot Shots want $2.40 round trip, that's $2500.00 to transport. I have a bid request out there on www.uship.com and I'll see where that goes. I'm having thoughts about pulling the blade, both tracks (I split them on my 6U years ago), fluids, battery, radiator guard, etc. and moving that to a second truck/trailer. I'm guessing that would get it down enough to haul on my GN with 2 7k axles. I've confirmed with the Fed DOT office I'm legal with it. But man this would be a lot of work!

[Mike Walsh]

Have you looked around OKC for a lighter trailer you can rent. You should be able to get the trailer weight down to 5500 which will go a long ways towards reducing your GVW.

[D4 Larry]

Clint
I have a Road Boss gooseneck that is 8'6" wide, and 24' bed. Its on two 7000# axles, and has an empty wt of 4500#. With my 1995 Chev dually (gas) my mt weight is 11500#. I can haul my D4 7U on it with dozer, belly pan , radiator guard, and some fuel, and just be under 26,000#. Wouldn't want to do it for a living, but its do-able. LE

[Soapy]

I've search and read ton of threads on the topic including my state and Fed. regs. When I bought my 6U with Cat blade and Hyster winch 8 yrs ago or so I moved it with a 1 ton dodge and 30' tandem with duels on a 6 hour haul from Topeka KS to OKC. I guess I was lucky as we had zero DOT issues even when the Highway Patrol asked me about the age of the machine at a fuel stop. The gross vehicle combine weight for that truck and trailer was over the 26,000 lbs. limit that the regs state require a CDL for being over the 26,000 lbs. GCWR. The rig had no issues stopping, being stable or lack of power but the trip was on flat land, very minimal highway traffic. Looking back now and adding it all up I see the rig was undersized for the load.
Dozer and blade - 12500 lbs.
Truck - 7500 lbs.
Trailer - 8500 lbs
Hyster Winch - 1200 lbs.

Looks like I've bought a D4 7U near North Platte Nebraska and need to get it to OKC. I was luck once not sure I want to push it again.
Question: where do I go to find a hauler to move this old girl to her new home?

I could remove the blade, toolbar arms, radiator gaurd, battery, drain all the fluids, and take a second truck but would that lighten up the crawler enough?

Have you had the trailer on a scale? I own a 30' 20,000 gross trailer also, and the curb weight is 5800lbs

[D46UClint]

I have acces to 3 trailers:
1-30' GN with tandum duels 10ks rated at 20K
2-20' Belshe Backhoe GN with triple 6ks rated at 18k
3-20' +5' dove tail GN with duel 7ks rated at 14k

My '05 GMC 2500HD dielse has a GVW at 9200. If Truck GVW + Trailer GVW is more than 26K a class A CDL is required. Only the 14K trailer keeps me under that limit.

My wonderment is removing the blade, tool bar, radiator gaurd, pony bat., and removing both tracks will I be light enough to haul the machine on the 14k trailer.

Anybody know what tracks weigh?

[Old Magnet]

Rails about 500 lbs ea. side.
Shoes about 20 lbs ea.

[D46UClint]

Thanks for the info OM. I think I recall there are 31 pads per side so looks like tracks are about 1100 lbs per side. So here is the list of putting the Cat on a diet:
Blade, cylinders, tool bar
air cleaner
hydrualic pump gaurd
draw bar
all fluids (these all get changed anyway)
bat. for pony starter
both tracks

Not that any of this is easy, especially the tracks, but anyone else have an idea of what else is worth pulling off.



When I get this old girl home and recover from stripping it down and putting it back together I'm sure the 1st thing to be done is converting to direct electric start. I did my '52 6U with Old Mag's help. Built my drill location jig out of 3/4" plywood locating off the fender bolts. Wish I'd saved the jig.....but at least I think I saved all the measurements and the two hole saws that were resharpended 3 or 4 times each.

[7upuller]

Hey D46uClint,

Laws change from state to state, but most states require to go to a commercial license once the GCVW gets to 26,000 GCVW. I can see that you are on track with this requirement. Going from a class "C" license to a class"B" is that requirement. A "C" and "B" license will only let you tow a trailer of 10,000 GVW on the trailer weight. Once there trailer goes over 10,000 lbs GVW, then a commercial class "A" is required. Don't think that you can load up a 13,700 tractor on a 5000-8000 lb trailer and be ok because you stayed under the 26,000 lb GCVW. Once the trailer goes over 10,000 lbs, no matter what the GVCW is the Class "A" is required.

The cheapest thing to do in your situation, if you have the truck and trailer, is to hire a driver for a day or two and get 'er done. That would be a lot cheaper and less work than making two trips after tearing the tracks off and putting them back on.-glen