I recently discovered this 60+ year old Caterpillar Traxcavator at an old chicken farm, and the owners have honored me with the privilege of bringing it back to life, and then putting it BACK TO WORK!

The journey to save & resurrect Red's 1950's Caterpillar 955 Traxcavator has begun! Join me as I take you along on my journey through the many ups and downs of this project! I feel honored to be taking on this project, and I truly hope you enjoy the process and progress as we get this OLD CAT to ROAR once again!

In this video we will:
0:00 Discovering a Caterpillar 955 TraxCavator / Track Loader
1:04 Cleaning the Area Around the Machine
2:28 First GOOD Look at the Machine
2:53 Initial Walk Around Evaluation
3:18 Figuring out the Wiring / Battery Situation
5:11 The Pony Motor
5:48 Pony Motor Oil & Fuel
6:45 First Time Trying the Pony Motor Starter
8:11 Pony Motor's FIRST Fire! We HAVE Spark!
9:27 Removing the Diesel Engine's Air Cleaner
10:53 Removing the Pony Motor's Gas Tank, Oil Fill, & Dash Panel
12:27 Removing the Pony Motor's Carburetor
13:22 Cleaning the Carburetor
17:10 Setting up for Compressed Air in the Backwoods Barn!
17:49 Finding a HIDDEN Tool Box!
19:52 Cleaning the Pony Motor's Fuel Shutoff
21:48 Cleaning all the Engine Parts on & off the Machine
22:35 Removing a Broken Bolt
25:21 Wild Turkeys!
25:38 Reassembling the Pony Motor Carburetor, Fuel System, & Oil Covers
27:52 Adjusting the Dash Panel to Install EASIER
28:55 New Pony Motor Fuel Line
29:27 Re Installing the Diesel Air Cleaner
31:01 Trying to START the Pony Motor
31:39 New Oil, Fresh Gasoline, & New Spark Plugs for the Pony Motor
32:50 The Pony Motors FIRST START in 20+ Years!!!
34:00 It EVEN IDLES Well!!

If you enjoyed this video and want to see what happens NEXT, part 2 is up & ready for you to enjoy!

PART 2
1950's Caterpillar TraxCavator ~ Will the DIESEL Start & will it DRIVE? ~ P2
   • Will the DIESEL Start & DRIVE? ~ Part...  

Are you interested in seeing were I DISCOVERED this Old Beast? Check out:

DISCOVERY

Rescuing Old Iron Episode 4 ~ Red's Farm:
   • 1950's CATERPILLAR 955 TraxCavator ~ ...  

In this video series we'll pay tribute to it's previous owner Red & those before him that truly knew how to maintain and operate such a cool old machine like this!

I'll show you that OLD machines CAN be a LOT of work, EXTREMELY frustrating at times, but once running properly, an INCREDIBLE amount of fun!!

Today we're going to start by uncovering the OLD Cat, figuring out it's electrical system, & then HOPEFULLY getting the Pony Motor to start and run properly!

If you aren't familiar with a machines that have Pony Motors, many OLD machines like this didn't have powerful enough starters to start the large diesel engines that run these machines. So to compensate for that, they had what are called a Pony Motors. This is a second small motor, a gasoline engine in this case, that is started up and then acts like a starter to jump start the larger diesel motor. Once the larger diesel is running and operating the machine, the smaller Pony Motor is shut off until the next tie it's needed to start the larger motor! It's a pretty cool system, but it can also be a HUGE inconvenience and frustration when they aren't running properly! ESPECIALLY since most ALL of them are now older machines!

Many times this motor can be EXTREMELY problematic and in some cases impossible to fix at all! Let's hope that's not the case here! Other than that and the additional maintenance it requires, I love the COOL factor of the pony motor on this old beast!

If you want to see the full story on the discovery of this Old Cat Traxcavator, go watch Rescuing Old Iron Episode 4 here on the Salvage Workshop YouTube Channel! You'll be able to see exactly where this old beast has been living for all these years!

Please enjoy! I know I did!

~

If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please leave them below!

Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate your support!

#RedsCaterpillarTraxcavator #WillitStart #60YearOldCATTrackLoader