Cat 12 grader info?

Yes, I'm still trying to get a decent grader for marginal money. I've found a 1957 or 58 Cat model 12 for sale. It needs rear tires, and the seller has no clue what they are. I'm thinking 13.00 x 24?

It's close enough to my lot that I am planning to go over the road with it. What kind of SAFE road speed can I expect? I'm guessing 20MPH. Hoping for more, but don't want to push it hard.

The blade/rotate table and tilt clutches are working well according to them, but it hasn't been moved in > 6 years. I"m guessing I'll need to do significant work on the pony motor to get it running right. Thinking of taking a mag with me, but not sure which mag it has? Will have a carb rebuild kit, plugs, wires, oil, gas, batt, diesel, and some hydro for the chain boxes when I go, and will find out the tire condition.

Any knowledge xfer is appreciated

I ran one for awhile building logging roads.
We called it the knuckle buster. It had a FEL and I loaded trucks with it in the pit, what fun! at the end I would grade the road.
Good old machine, 20mph is doable but your whipping the chains pretty good at that speed, stopping could be a issue also.

Sounds like you are talking about 2 different machines. First time for everything. I just never saw a loader on the front of a grader before. I have seen blades on them. If that has the same mag as our D-4 it has an Eiseman mag on it. I would worry more about it being stuck than anything.

Here ya go CG. Ran one back I the 80s. Was not impressed.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cha...0#imgrc=sB7ym4U5crC0DM:&spf=1522875138949

Doc Do yourself a favor and try and find a 500 gallon. Lots cheaper, all hydraulic controls, will be cheaper to buy if you can find it. Direct start either a Detroit or international engine. Usually can find one 10 years newer than the cat you are looking at for about the same money. Keeping that old cat starting is a major problem. Most 25 year old graders will have very limited brakes , so be carful roading one home.

(quoted from post at 14:28:24 04/04/18) Doc Do yourself a favor and try and find a 500 gallon. Lots cheaper, all hydraulic controls, will be cheaper to buy if you can find it. Direct start either a Detroit or international engine. Usually can find one 10 years newer than the cat you are looking at for about the same money. Keeping that old cat starting is a major problem. Most 25 year old graders will have very limited brakes , so be carful roading one home.

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Yeah, I would rather have a direct start medium size grader, and I do like the early Gallion units. However, I'm also dealing with not having to move it by truck too far, because the prices I get for moving a 'road grader' from the trucking co are just plain outrageous. Which means my two options are finding an old Allis model D which I can haul on a gooseneck, or finding a grader within road distance of my place. I had a line on a Gallion in W TX for a while, but it sold before I could get there.

The price I'm quoted for the Cat 12 is $1000 which makes it less than any OTR trucking cost when the words 'road grader' are mentioned. Figure I"m going to spend $1000 in back tires, and another $600 in bits to make it start and stop, and I'm going to have a known quantity for under $3k. I almost bought a model D grader in TX but when I went to look at it, the engine was seized. Once he got it unseized, another buyer came the next day and loaded it up. I was not happy about that, after spending 2 hours driving, 2 hours fiddling with, and 2 hours home that he sold it out from under, but that's life. I'm hoping the new buyer has a bunch of broken rings in there just to make things fair.

The Allis model D plan would be just the bare minimum for the work I need to do. The Cat 12, or the Gallion 500 or the Austin/Western AWD type would be ideal, but getting them to my remote location is $$$$.

If anyone has a definitive idea on the tires, I know for a fact that needs to be sorted before it goes anywhere. Dealing with the starting, stopping comes after it's able to sit on tires. Even if I had to pay some OTR cost, it's still the closest one in my budget so worth spending some time and energy. It also has the scarifier which is a nice feature as I'll need to do some deeper work in a few spots.

SIR, POST ON ACMOC.ORG...THEY WILL ENCOURAGE, & ANSWER YOU...PUT A LAWN MOWER CARB ON PONY W/ 90O ELBO...U WILL ALWAYS ST ART...BE BLESSED, GRATEFUL, PREPARED...

X 2 on the lawnmower carb if yours is a problem.If your carb is good,keep it clean and it will be fine.If you keep after those pony engines they will stay in tune for years.If you want to get fancy there is an adapter made to mount a Delco MT 40 starter in place of the pony engine(at least there was in the early 90's)The 12 will stroll down the road at 27 MPH. Cat 12 grader takes 14X24 tires.Serial number should be stamped in the neck of the frame,on the left side,somewhere near where the frame angles down to the front.Might start with,99E,but yours might pre-date that.There is also a metal tag in the cab.Just to move it tow it to start.I towed one many times with a Ford Pinto to start it.I was a mechanic for a man that had one,I served a lot of time in it plowing snow.

Guys, thank you. That's great info. I will plan to take a mower carb and 90deg with me. I'll find some tires too. May not buy them yet but good to know which I need.

You'll have to swing pretty wide to make some turns off the road. It may do about 20 but I doubt it would stop when you wanted it to.

A road grader with a loader on the front? I immediately went to Webster?s to see if that was shown
to help define the word..inconvenient. Lol. My dad ran the township grader as a side job to
farming. When they had an old cat he complained a lot about the mechanical lift levers kicking
back and hurting his arms and wrists. I?m sure it had a lot to do with wear which I would bet the
machine your looking at has plenty of. Just a word of warning. Later they got a hydraulic Kamatsu,
then Deeres.

$1,000 sounds like close to the salvage value. If it has been parked for over six years try to find the reason why. $1,600 to get it in operating condition including four 12 ply tires sounds optimistic. Budget two to four times that amount to be safe.

What would it cost to hire someone local to do most of the work?

I ran one many years ago doc, the knuckle buster comment is accurate, the levers will kick back in your hands if your ham fisted with it, smooth soft touch is the way to avoid that. I would NOT road it at 20 mph, more like 10 as they can get to bouncing and walk you right off the road! the starting motor issue is not a big deal you can convert to direct start, talk to your local cat guy, lots of those vintage graders and dozers have been converted. just take your time take it easy plan your turns ahead, they do not turn on a dime :lol: