W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
WW&F Railway Museum Discussion => Work and Events => Topic started by: Brendan Barry on July 24, 2015, 06:40:15 PM
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The excavating and grading crew has wanted a dozer for awhile and asked the board of directors for money for a dozer. Funds were appropriated and the search was on for a machine. After a month and half of looking the museum purchased a Case 450 dozer this week. We bought a dozer small enough to load on a flat car so we can use the dozer for grading right of way as the main line progresses.
Stopped at the Kennebunk rest area to check the chains.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0870.jpg)
The dozer was put to work clearing next to the garage and the end of the future woods track.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0880.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0890.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0892.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0903.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0907.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0911.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_0909.jpg)
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Great pictures!
A few years ago one of our visitors was a fan of ancient tractors and was very interested in our TerraLoader. If the TerraLoader is a CASE product, maybe this new addition will cause us to become a stop on tours by CASE enthusiasts. ;)
-John
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The BOD did a fine job of buying a right sized bulldozer. Now they will have to build a dozer barn with a rock floor. Mike is really good at putting in the frost heave post. Fred L. Kuhns
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Is this our Case?
http://murphyused.com/images/specs/666.pdf
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What these 40 and 50 year old young people have done is wear us old people out and now making it easier for themselves.
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Well Fred, we helped wear you out, all the while thinling how we could do as much as you with less effort. We are never going to last as long as you did if we work as hard as you have. ;D
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Ira, very similar to ours. We have all the books for it.
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Dwight, thanks for the pm.
New name for the dozer:
Case-cee.
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This will definitely help with the washout/landslide construction, not too big for the trackbed. Also this would be great for getting rid of all those stumps along the ROW which prevents mowers from doing a lot of the grass cutting.
Great acquisition guys!
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Stumps would be better handled by the excavator, with the idea of not disturbing too much of the original landscape.
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A major point in this acquisition is that we can control the manner in which the right of way down the mountain is restored. It's a beautiful stretch and its existence is a testament to the people (and horses) who built it by hand (hoof). As a two-foot gauge hand built right of way carved along the side of a steep valley wall, it has a decidedly different look than it would have had it been built with modern equipment.
See ya
Jason
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Congrats on finding this WW&F-sized dozer, just right for track sub-grading, ROW extensions and road-building.
And somebody built it a safety cage/sun shade/rain roof.
Don't forget to stencil "WW&F Rwy" on it. I'm big on branding everything with the company ID, cuz ya never know when any advertising just might get noticed.
Yes Ira, it needs a name.
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Don't worry about the name just yet, I was on the Case before we bought it. ;D
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what year was the Case built?
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You know, when I ride up the line, I look all the stumps and roughness along the ROW and think how much neater and cleaner it could be made and how much easier it would be to maintain but then it would lose its character. As the stumps rot away they could be kicked out but let's keep the rough ROW I am sure it was pretty rough in its original state. That is what adds to its allure!
Win Nowell
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Right now there are a lot more pressing needs for the dozer then doing the whole ROW. We do toss the stumps out of the way as they rot out. With building the new car barn I don't think there's going to be much cutting on the ROW this year unless we get a lot more people to cut it.
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what year was the Case built?
1973
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Dwight, thanks for the pm.
New name for the dozer:
Case-cee.
Now all we have to do is find the rest of the Sunshine Band........... ;D
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Win, you are exactly right. Last year while moving material at Top of the Mountain, I was trying so hard to toss the material in the woods to hide it. What I was unable to hide, I tried to level it out, keeping with the contour. As we procede down the mountain, I am going to have to be selective where the overburden is placed. With the dozer, I can push quite a ways to a location, leaving most of the terrain outside of the ditches untouched. I would like to get started on that this fall, but other areas have become a higher priority. Hoping for a couple Saturdays up there before work weekend but we will see.
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Fred, we may be able to interest some of the SVCA people in coming down and cutting with us north from Top of Mountain to Head Tide as the would like to see a trail go in between ToM and the Trout Brook Preserve.
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That would be great.
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(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_1004.jpg)
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Don't they look puuuuurrrrrdy? :)
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I can see it now..."WW&F Contractors--what's your project?" ;D
Nice to see more helpful equipment...#9, Big Joe, the Kubota, Case dozer.
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Notice the dozer carries its own mast-mounted lamp for night work. ;D
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It also has ROPS which the Kubota needs.
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"Casey 'Dozer!" ;D
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Part for Dozer landed at ROWMOW MFG. today. Dozer reassembly as time permits Saturday as well.
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Bulldozer two weekends ago with the track broken and front idler removed to pull out the broken track adjuster.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_1073.jpg)
The track adjuster is a small hydraulic cylinder you pump up with a grease gun to maintain track tension. The adjuster is the part circled in white sitting on the track frame.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/0bde9143-e092-439d-81dd-dbdbd84e0f45.jpg)
Bulldozer back together today.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s5/bbarry74/IMG_1114.jpg)
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Last Saturday we took that apart. We should be good enough when we do the other side that we can do it in a morning.
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It has been a few years, but time to move this thread up to the top. Casey has been toiling away since its arrival with only some minor repairs. In order to continue using the machine, we need to invest in its future. We are doing that this year.
The most wear items on a dozer is the blade and under carriage. While the track pads are ok, the chains they bolt to are worn out. The bushings are gone around the pins and there is sideward play in the chain allowing it to fall off easily. I had been passively looking for new chains but kept coming up empty. That is until I was handed a magazine that had used equipment in it. There was a parts broker that had an ad that was in NH I contacted, and found us what is possibly the last 2 chains in the country. They arrived at my work yesterday.
(https://i.postimg.cc/jjxRqBQm/1013211733.jpg)
We plan on replacing the bottom rollers, and he is getting a price for me for those.
Some may ask why repair instead of replace. Simple. This dozer fits our equipment car, and can be put almost anywhere along the railroad. Plus replacing it with something similar would be expensive. Money better spent on other projects or equipment.
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I would say something about a "chain letter," but that would start a chain of posts about bad puns.
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Some may ask why repair instead of replace. Simple. This dozer fits our equipment car, and can be put almost anywhere along the railroad. Plus replacing it with something similar would be expensive. Money better spent on other projects or equipment.
Also, while the machinery we own and maintain is not "period appropriate" to 1894-1933, there is a certain charm to seeing older construction equipment toiling away at a museum.
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It is antique, built in 1966, give or take a few years... And the smaller size does not dwarf our railroad equipment.
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Not to get too far off-topic, but our wheel loader is a real gem too. Once customers experienced the agility of an articulated loader in the 1960's, the rigid-frame concept was not long for this world.
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That one we believe is a 1968. It received a lot of attention over about a year ago, getting finished up over the winter with new brakes and a few other parts to keep it going.
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Back in 2015 (bottom of page 1 & top of page 2) Brendan said . . .
what year was the Case built?
1973
:)
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That is what we were told, but the serial number has since revealed it is older. And looking it up again just now, it is actually a 1965.
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How about a few pictures to move Casey along.. Today, 4/1/23, after finally getting to the point that I could, we intalled a chain on the dozer. The chain was almost on when my shadow Cody showed up, and he helped me get it together. And since he was there and likes to stay busy, we put some pads on..
(https://i.postimg.cc/gcKwNcQY/0401230903.jpg)
(https://i.postimg.cc/PxWLGdqQ/0401230927.jpg)
Success!!
(https://i.postimg.cc/gJFwBxG0/0401231042.jpg)
Here I had Cody going back over the bolts making sure they were tight.
(https://i.postimg.cc/XqxpJxdZ/0401231249.jpg)
Fired up Casey long enough to run the track completely around and put the pads we just installed on the bottom. Some pads need some welding before they go on, and have been set aside as we find them.
(https://i.postimg.cc/HnTrdFcD/0401231258.jpg)
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You've got quite a helper there, Mike.
Jeff
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He is a pusher. Likes to stay busy. Which for most of the time is fine with me.
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Mike,
What was the process you used to link the chain together?
Jeff
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Pulled them together with a ratchet binder, then drove the pin in with a sledge. They make presses to push the pin in, but the sledge did the trick, once we braced the chain off of the dozer.
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Rachet and maul/sledge - field expedient way of repairing tracks whether a Dozer, Tank, or APC.
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The Case 450 dozer sounds like a solid choice for your project. Its ability to fit on a flat car is a huge plus for transporting it along the main line. Smaller dozers strike a nice balance - they're powerful enough for serious grading but not too bulky, making them easier to handle.
I had a similar experience when I was on the lookout for a dozer. I stumbled upon a 2017 John Deere 450K. It was in top-notch condition and the price tag was under $55k, which honestly blew my mind. At first, I was pretty skeptical. I mean, it seemed almost too good to be true. But after digging a little deeper, it turned out to be a fantastic deal.
If you ever need to look for more equipment, I've had some good experiences with https://www.boomandbucket.com/equipment/bulldozers (https://www.boomandbucket.com/equipment/bulldozers). I've picked up a few things from there over the years, and they've all been reliable and in great working condition.
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Casey is all spruced up. Just needs the blade installed and check the fluids again and will be ready to go.
(https://i.postimg.cc/qBQp6nWz/20240302-094942.jpg)
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Wow !!! Casey sure cleaned up nice .............. such a handsome dude :D
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Looking good Mike
No "Casey" name on board?
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All the time and effort you put into getting Casey back in running order certainly shows, Mike.
Jeff
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You're relentless, Mike. Bravo!
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Casey got hitched today. Looks like a Bulldozer again
(https://i.postimg.cc/htrxw1ML/20240608-131603.jpg)
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"Here comes the blade...short, fat and wide."
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For some reason, I've always had this urge to make a happy face out of the front grill of Casey. I must have watched too many Thomas the Tank Engine episodes with my kids/grandkids. ;D