ACMOC is a very unique group of people from around the world all engaged in some form of pursuing CATERPILLAR; be it the machines, information, history or providing valuable insight and information on repair, maintenance, operations, parts sources, and friendships.
As the methods and equipment have evolved over the development of the Caterpillar (we know or knew), so are the changes in "our" "club".  The "club"  provides a huge resource of materials and knowledge.  Combined, the dedication and knowledge of the group is un-matched in my opinion.

There have been some tumultuous events in the recent past and some that continue to loom ominously as the club and membership move forward
 with the changes.  

No club exists without the membership and dedication of the officers, and staff as necessary for operation, all aimed toward a common goal.  The "chapter" hurdle is being overcome by some groups and they prove it is not insurmountable.  This "club" is enitrely based on VOLUNTEERS and a Board of Directors working tirelessly to keep it functioning.  Individual Chapters having their required staff are no exception, VOLUNTEERS donating knowledge, time and effort, all the while balancing family, work, business and other obligations.
Glitches, problems and errors are to be expected, along with the unforseen "breakdowns".   The recognition for that dedication and support of those persons; is in my opinion, un-recognized or at least unstated in many cases.  

The "Forum" provides a resource for all to participate in, sharing information, knowledge, and in many cases experience not found anywhere else.
The "Library" contains multiple listings of materials not readily available anywhere else or at least not easily found.

Recently, it seems there is a decline in the forum participation and other venues.  Is this an ominous sign or have those posting grown disenchanted by lack of interest?
Some of the postings show numerous views, yet few Thank You's, or further comments.  
Others seem to just "die on the vine" withering away without resolution posted?

How do we show our interest and appreciation to those persons (to numerous to name) that have been so dedicated to the well being of the club?
Maybe simple actions, Thank You, some participation, some comment geared toward helping each other?  

Club Survival depends upon continuous participation, and by those contributions, interest is maintained and others see the club and want to participate.
It has often been stated in one way or another - you do not miss what you have until it is no longer there.  

We all speak of the "ANTIQUE", and to define that as a machine that was state of the art when many of us were kids, it is tough to look back and call that an antique.
How many of us remember the days of ropes, cranks to just begin our days work?  (I remember when the electric starter on the "pony" was a treat and then Direct Electric - wow!)
What does that say about the knowledge base we so treasure from those persons?   It is too fading away to be forever lost?  

My personal message to each and all for everything you have done and continue to do for the love of this CLUB &  Caterpillar and the enthusiasts/owners/operators/interested parties.
THANK YOU!  You are appreciated!

CTS








 

Well stated CTS.

I agree with that CTS. Since you have put philosophy into that post, I have a question on others thought process.

Any machine that I have been around when new/good condition used ALWAYS SEEMS rather new. Yes when I really start looking at something to use I can see the faults of much use or even misuse. But the first thought is that is newer must be ok, until I really look it over. Anyone else admit to that faulty logic. Hard admit all my machinery is antique now days.

CTS It has hit me just this week that there has been little activity on this board, why? I have not followed a lot of the politics going on with the club as close as I should have but it would be SHAME if all of this were lost! This is a great group of people and a lot of years of knowledge that is irreplaceable, I get a lot of enjoyment watching all of this activity and trading posts with like minded people. I have been a member of this cub since 1991 or 92 when it was still an Oregon club, I am not really an antique tractor collector but a guy that has always like CAT tractors and wants to keep farming with them as long as my body holds out! I hope what ever problems the members have with the club can get patched up. What an awful thing it would be to let 32 or 33 years worth of work and history go down the drain. 17afarmer

To me as a rancher I see this group as a bunch of rich people collecting dozers as a hobby and making sure everything is restored to as how it was supposed to look like when it was new. I bought my dozer to put it to work not to admire it as a museum piece. The idea that dozers should be collected and admired like old statues is an aberration to me because bulldozers are just game changers for ranchers especially where there is a lot of spiny brush and also if you need deep tilling for water conservation and so on and I think this discussion board sort of "mistifies" bulldozers in general.

But there is something else, I am weary of discussion boards these days because for example it is common in farming discussion boards to have users "pushing" aggresively ideas that old machines are too much work and that everybody in their right minds should just get into debt to get the 100k to buy a brand new machine and save themselves dealing with all the obstacles, hurdles and even life threatning risks involved in fixing old machines. This is ridiculous, imagine asking for advice on a welding discussion board and have people telling you that you are going to go blind or that you are going to burn down your garage. Coincidentally, the biggest winners of this are of course tractor dealers and the biggest losers are us ranchers, farmers, small landscape company owners, etc.

In any case it is ridiculous that in this day and age with the internet and all the resources available to us we just decide that we are not capable of fixing our own machines, and the cherry on top is that new machines brake all the time because everything is now made in china, mexico or because we still havent figure out how to deal with emissions regulations and diesel engines. A good example related to this, I bought a new diesel truck in 2017 only to find out two years that the EGR valve was causing the engine to run like a 1960 volkswagen beetle from day 1 so after some reasearch I of course deleted the egr valve now the truck runs like it was supposed to and of course there were dozens of people on discussion boards telling me and others that egr deletes are dangerous, illegal, unethical, forbidden, and so on.

So that is my opinion, sorry for being too blunt or even disrespectful considering i am a new member but that's the reason why I am not posting anything. I will fix my machine myself record some videos and prove you guys wrong.

Regards,

José

Hi, Captain Beans.
First up, welcome to the forum and the club.

Now and with that said, I would like to suggest that you wait a while before passing judgement on this club and its members or this forum and the people who post here.

I have been posting here since about 2001 although it did take me a little longer to join as a member. I am an Australian but have 'jumped the puddle' 12 times now, to attend shows, to help put on shows, to meet some of the people and to work for four years in California. With very few exceptions, I have been made to feel VERY welcome and accepted as an equal.

I don't own any machines but have a FAR BIGGER 'collection' than most of the members here by virtue of collected photos, videos, history information and tech data, ALL of it in digital form and ALL shared happily with fellow members and enthusiasts.

MANY of the members and guests here do restore their machines to factory original or as close to it as they can, and that is THEIR choice. I commend them for it as it helps to preserve the history of the brand. There are probably even more people who do leave their machines 'in their working clothes' or 'barn fresh', the way they found them. Then there are still others who collect machines in various stages of disrepair and restore them to running/working condition without worrying about the 'factory finish'.

MANY of these latter two groups DO USE their machines for various things, farming, clearing, earth moving, any or all of the above and other things as well.

Each of these groups of people are important to the club, the hobby and the history and deserve recognition for what they do. Pretty much everybody who posts on this forum is willing to share whatever information they might have with others and that too deserves recognition.

Even though I don't own any machines, I do have some limited experience with heavy equipment, mostly Caterpillar. I have a mere 58 years of seat time on many different types of machines in many different kinds of work. I like to kid myself that my apprenticeship is progressing fairly well but I still have a way to go.

I hope you both enjoy and benefit from your time here. Maybe you'll even manage to contribute a bit.

Just my 0.02.

i sense a bit of criticism form captain beans about some advice he was given in fixing the track gear on his crawler the reason it was given is we dont want to see anyone get hurt or killed.

those recoil springs contain tonnes of force and if they aren't released in the proper and safe manner it can and has killed people. inexperience makes this risk much higher.
the drive sprockets also need vast forces to remove and install them. same with track pins done wrong the tooling can become a bullet.
ive seen tooling come free suddenly from a hydraulic shop press. luckily the only damage was the need to change a pair of jocks.

all we are saying is get some with the right expertise to help you so 1 you dont get hurt and 2 your less likely to break something that cant be repaired or replaced.

safety advice isnt ridiculous often it come from hard learned lessons where people were maimed or killed. caterpillar put out a video back in the 70s called shake hands with danger if memory serves deas shared it here on the forum. in that video a bloke lost his arm becuase he didnt work safely and had reached in to pin boss and the machine moved cutting off his arm.

oh and by the way deleting or stopping emissions systems from working on vehicles voids warranties, and makes vehicles un-roadworthy and thus un-registrable and uninsurable and thus illeagal to use on the road in many jurisdictions around the world. and yes some of it doesnt work properly and never did.

plenty of also put our old girls to work occasionally

It’s a little disheartening to hear the above as newcomers see this organization.

Over the past couple of decades I would say that the vast majority of the posts on this forum were someone purchased some land that needed some cleaning. So they pickup a D2 or possibly a D4 with a blade or whatever tool they use in their area to clear the vegetation they desire to remove. Then the next phase is you get hooked and drag home another piece of Caterpillar equipment and depending on how bad you get infected you have a whole collection. All limited by space, time or money. I would easily say that people posting pictures in the past of them using their equipment is easily 250 to every picture of a perfectly restored museum piece.

Captain Beans, there are many of us that keep old Cats running to do work on our small farms or ranches. Mostly because we cant afford $100K + for a new machine but also because it represents a simpler way of life, free of the control computers have over everything. I understand how people (the ones that can afford it) like to restore old equipment for show or parades but many of us here do it for practical reasons. Dont give up on the club.

Thank you for your kind posting CTS. We really appreciate you listing the advantages of becoming a paying "member." 
Hmm... you need to be a "member" to have access to the ACMOC library. You are listed as a "user" so you shouldn't have use of the library.
How can this be?
Anyway, Thanks Again,
Craig