"Old wrote:

No, I will not do that but in keeping the open dialogue format, here is what I sent. Does edb know anything about being conscripted?

This was not in letter form. It was an email sent direct to GWH. At the time, no serious consideration was given to the BB not alone the archives.

Outlines (4/10/06)

Hi GWH,
As you know, or will soon find out, it is a pretty monumental task to organize all the material related to the Caterpillar hobby into an archive format and to be able to sustain it.
In that light I offer the following suggestions:

As soon as possible it would be best to solicit volunteers to act as “advisors” to handle the various logical sections of the hobby. Eg. Gas cats, diesel cats, earth moving equipment, motor graders, attachments, etc…
This seems to work very well in the automotive collector hobby and distributes the work among a number of participants. I’m thinking maybe six to ten categories here.

On the topic of archiving information I have done a fair amount of thinking and organizing of my own material in preparation for such a need, either club based or personal.

I believe the bulk of the archive material can be accumulated into eight categories of which I have attached example file outlines.

Let me know what you think.
OM

Section No. 1 - Purchasing & Owning an Old Tractor
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The “Walk Around”
3. Assessment
a. Undercarriage
b. Engines
c. Main Clutch
d. Transmission
e. Steering Clutches & Brakes
f. Finals
4. Value
5. Research
6. Identification
a. Tag Locations
b. Model, Serial Numbers and year/s of production
1.) Crawler Tractors
2.) Motor Graders
3.) Stationary Engines
7. Specifications
1.) Crawler Tractors
2.) Motor Graders

Section No. 2 - Reviving a “Resting” Unit
Contents
1. Where to start
2. What to check
3. Assessing condition
4. Undercarriage
5. Main Engines
6. Pony Engine
7. Cooling System
8. Fuel System
9. Transmission
10. Main Engine Clutches
a. Dry
b. Wet (Oil)
11. Steering Clutches
12. Brakes
13. Bevel Gear & Pinion
14. Finals

Section No. 3 - Maintenance
Contents
1. Cooling System
2. Lubrication
a. Track Rollers (Grease Type)
b. Track Rollers (Lifetime Lubrication Type)
c. Main Engine
d. Pony Engine
e. Clutch (Oil Type)
f. Clutch (Dry Type)
g. Transmission
h. Bevel Gear & Pinion
i. Finals
3. Water/condensation removal.
4. Adjustments:
a. Engine
b. Main Clutch
c. Steering Clutch
d. Pony Clutch
e. Brakes
f. Tracks
5. Compartment Washing

Section No. 4 - Service & Operation
Contents
1. Bleeding the Fuel System
a. Fuel Filters
2. Starting the Engine
3. Timing
4. Injection Pumps
5. Rack Settings
6. Governors
7. Pony Motors
a. Engine
b. Governor
c. Carburetor
d. Magneto
8. Steering Clutch Boosters
9. Main Engine Clutch Replacement
10. Steering Clutch Replacement
11. Brake Replacement
12. Setting Bevel Gear and Pinion Mesh
13. Transmission
14. Finals
15. Undercarriage

Section No. 5 - Restoration
Contents
1. Surface Preparation
a. Dry blasting
b. Wet Blasting
c. Chemical
d. Cleaning
2. Prep for Painting
3. Primers
4. Additives
5. Finish Coat
6. Upholstery
7. Assembly
8. Fuel Tank Rust Removal and Sealing

Section No. 6 - Attachments
Contents
1. Power Take Offs
2. Winches
3. Three-Point Hitches
4. Dozers
5. Hydraulics
6. Generators
7. Starters
8. Cages & Canopies
9. Pony Electric Starters
10. Gauges
11. BeGe Pumps

Section No. 7 - Trouble Shooting
Contents
1. Pony Motors
2. Fuel Injection
3. Magneto’s
4. Carburetors
5. Slobbering
6. Smoke
7. Cooling System
8. Fuel system
9. Steering
10. Braking
11. Clutch Slippage
12. Mysterious Sounds

Section No. 8 - Sources
Contents
1. Bushings
2. Bearings
3. Seals
4. Filters
5. Gaskets
6. Generators/Alternators/Starters
7. Magneto’s
8. Ground Engaging Tools
9. Hardware
10. Hydraulics
11. Metal Fabrication
12. Engine Parts
13. Pony Motor
14. Prelube
15. Block Heaters
16. Manuals
17. Salvage Yards
18. Undercarraige
19. Upholstery
20. Paint
21. Winch
22. Fuel Injection
23. Part Numbers and Interchanges

"edb" wrote:

Hi Team,
thank you all for your kind thoughts, prayers and wishes, they are much appeciated.
I am doing OK now. Had an old farts rebore some 10 weeks ago and my stupid body decided to heal over the bladder to urethra opening.
Went and had an op to reopen said tube. Surgeon said only happens in 5% of cases ! Hopefully all is well now for the future.

Further To OM's wonderful suggested list of titles/headings/folders for the Tech Library I submit, for interest sake, what Cat used back in the 50's and 60's for a Master Index to Service Publications.
This was the forerunner to Cat's SIS ( Service Information retrieval System) currently used, or was when I retired some 9 years ago.
Master Index 1 is the first style of front page and 2 is the later expanded second style front page.
Not as detailed as OM's submission for sure, just submitted for interest now. I intended to do it yesterday but the time difference to Downunder is sometimes a problem--it seems at times OM does not sleep

Another thought is that most of the commonly posted literature and photos I have posted in answer to requests is stored on my Attachments file or, what ever it is called, on this BB and only gets added to as needed when something else comes up.
I guess that means that the most commonly asked questions have some form of answer data stored in this File.

It would surely be accessable to moderators or whom ever is compiling the Tech Library etc. for selection and download to appropriate sections of the said Tech. Library.
I have no objection to my data on here being used and will add as time goes on as needed. This stuff needs to be stored and shared in other than my book shelves or brain while it is available.

I have PTSD issues and do not really want to be involved in any of this short of supplying data as needed.
Part of what I see as therapy for me is to be here reading what others are up to in the restoration scene, flings, and the like as well as supplying data or advice if I think I have something from my past experience that may be of benefit to the enquirer.
I was forced onto committies in past life and do not want to be part of it.

Enough for now.
Cheers,
Eddie B.

"janmeermans" wrote:

I might not be the person to listen to if you feel the global economy is moving along quite nicely. I do not share that view and believe a major setback is coming. If I am right, CASH will be king and stocks are not where to be. Caterpillar is in a very poor position and our holding their stock I feel is not where we should be. I believe Mike suggested divesting a portion and dedicating those funds for a Technical Library. I think we should take our losses and cut bait for the whole amount. I can't understand why a "stop loss" was not included in that move. We would have been out a long time ago had that been employed. Yes we will show a huge loss, but nothing like what we will see if we hold on indefinitely. Admittedly, at the time I heard about the fire, I thought wow, how good is that. Now we don't have the advantage that we once had of lowering inventory and raising cash. We've squandered a lot of it.

I think the input from Trucker95 on the toy/model world is something we should give more thought to. The last thing we want to do is put too many eggs in the wrong basket. Will there really be a market for an HT 4? I question that.

An idea was suggested to canvass the membership. Last year our Chapter 16 did just that so that we could get feedback on what the chapter wanted out of their chapter. I think that should be done as a starting point.

Pulling in more expertise from our membership is a great idea. Thanks Greg for offering financial guidance. Lord knows we need it.

I greatly appreciate the time others have taken on this thread to do their best to figure out what is best for the club. I agree with most that more direct information should be shared by the BOD. I appreciate their efforts also but for them to struggle without help is not right.

Well, I started by saying these were random comments.

Jan Meermans, ACMOC Chapter 16 Secretary