My grandfather bought his cat 12 in 1950 new. I spent teens riding with him in summers. Front tires are backwards so they wear even and don’t cup out. He saved worn tires to use when he spread asphalt to leave fewer marks. Had no cab just an umbrella. I ended up running graders for 30 years. Loved it.
That is awesome! I just picked up a 1965 12E... Its gonna need some work, but there are a LOT of similarities to that one! You'll see it soon! I really enjoyed and appreciate the walk around of that old girl! Glad to see it still working for a living!
Love it love it love it!!!! You know me and graders. You are correct left gear shift is gear selection right side is high low. The only thing that ya goofed on was the pinion controls haha, unlike the early style where you had two separate control levers for engaging the starting pinion, these later in cab ones had just one control lever for both the pinion brake and the engagement. The other lever next to it is the decompression lever. Don’t know why I have such an addiction to graders and scrapers but I do, great to see this one still getting used everyday, just shows the longevity of Caterpillar. A little dirt never hurt!
I used to play with a Cat 212 which was the little sister of the 12. It had the power steering, scarifier and knuckle buster controls. I say play because I was on 17 and the builder I worked for only used it to grade the driveway as the clutch was worn. It was nice as it had the same engine and pony as the D2s we had. Thanks for the walk around as it brought back memories.
We have had that machine for 30 years. The only nuts and bolts that haven't been out of that blade is the starting engine. New trans, diesel engine, chain cases and front end. She will start at -30 with ease. Got a snow wing for it too.
For decades, the Cheyenne WY airport was plowed with a pair of number 12’s, and was never closed due to snow. After acquiring mega dollar Oshkosh plows, and an administration with the philosophy of not plowing till the snow stopped, that changed. Sigh….. Thanks for the tour of a great old blade.
now if I can remember they had a 8spd 2spd reverse it's been awhile and the way shoulders are screwed up I don't think I can operated those old knuckle buster controls anymore lol
That's Clean well, kept old grader. You don't see many of those anymore. Shame you didn't peek at the engine hours, could have been interesting. TGP Retired IUOE
Cool! Thanks for sharing. An observation on backwards treads. My nephew's 1000 bushel grain cart I operate during harvest has the tractor style tread tires on backwards. I never gave it much thought until my son in law who operates a grain cart also said theirs has knobby tread on it and when they get into wet fields the tires stop turning and start pushing mud ahead of the wheels. I can only surmise that the backwards tractor tread bites into the slimy mud and keeps the wheels turning and as you say helps with cleaning the tire off.
I operated a 120 in the late 70's early 80's. Not only knuckle buster it'll also jar you elbows pretty good. Love the sound of that Cat engine especially when you let off the pedal. Had a deep growling sound. Also ran a Case 580B backhoe. Really miss running and hearing those two. Enjoy the channel especially the detail explanations of how you do things, almost like being in a class.
4:14 common stuff for rail road maintenance. I know a company that services a commercial line between a steel factory and the main rail road and they basically either run tube tires with an inner liner that spaces the tube from the tire or solid tires. And they are all, chewed up to heck and back. On the day i visited, there was a square masonry nail fully embedded into the a solid tire.
Love these old machines built for work with reliability and durability all thrown in and has been shown with regular maintenance will keep on giving 💪💪and no worries of a many thousands of dollars machine grinding to a halt due to a blown fuse 🙄😳🤣🤣great video 👍
I remember when I was a kid the county had a grader really close to that with the ripper in front of the blade and they knew how to use it I watched him rip a bunch of pot holes on our gravel road and it fixed them for years the guys now days just grade it full of loose rock and it blows out in a day or two lol thanks for sharing buddy that’s a sweet machine I’d love to try and learn to use it
I ran an old #12 for our township about 45 years ago. One heck of a machine. My elbows never completely recovered from that “knuckle buster “ gearbox!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
My dad had a heater out of a motor grader that he used to heat a homemade pickup camper. I did not know what brand it was, but it looks just like the one in this model 12. It had two 6 volt fans and put out way too much heat to keep a camper shell warm.
Yep use mine on a every other day basis too. Very reliable and they run great and very smooth. Got a 54’ and a 59’. The 59’ was switched to electric start. The 54’ still has pony motor that works great in cold weather. Glad to see you checking those units out
Looks like your guys chapter needs to reach out to someone like Titan tire for some grader tire donations. A lot of farm channels i watch, Titan has donated tractor tires to; Welker farms, Cole the cornstar, etc.
Man - very cool that it is still in use today. I wonder if it is the original engine or if it has been rebuilt. My guess is it's been rebuilt, but likely everything was well maintained!
Thats a Good looking Old Grader...Someone old School took care of that. Greasing it and just taking good care of her...They were a beast. Great Video...
Thanks Bob for letting us look. That guy sure gets around with those machines. I think that one was grading the township roads near me earlier this Spring.
My grandfather owned a lot of those old Cat 12 graders. Plowed snow with them often, and always had at least one with the cable lift side wing. Him and my uncle would plow the local subdivision.
Man those are definitely my all time favorite road grader! The series 12. I remember as a kid growing up in my neighborhood back in the early to mid 70s playing or pretending that I was driving one of those!👌😂👍they where redoing the roads back then! Ever since then I was hooked! She’s definitely a beauty!
Back in the early 1950's our county road department added "roadway elevator attachments" to two caterpillar motor graders. They were mounted where the blade normally attaches and consisted of a large single disk plow and a conveyor belt. I never knew how the the conveyor was powered but the machines appeared to be very efficient.
I think the CATERPILLAR font still visible under the coating of oil and dust on the D318 is my favorite feature on this machine. Great walk around. Thank you!
very nice looking grader it's nice to see that it is still in service. When I was on the township board a few years ago the grader operator told me that in the heavy clay soil roads the smooth tired machines actually are easier to control the cut depth because of the smooth face it's not digging into the road bed and he said it rides smoother on road trips between townships he used to run the Cat 12 machines until he got hired men now he runs champion graders
Awesome, I bought an older 12 then this one plus a 955 track loader at the same time there 1950 somethings. All the controls are on the side of the motor on the motorgrader. Thank you very much for this very informative video please continue with your video,they have helped me alot in fixing my equipment.
Neat Toby enjoyed that walk around used to operate an identical Cat 12 here in New Zealand it was complete with hydraulic side shift operated it for a time on haul road maintaince and road construction on the Benmore dam project in New Zealand enjoy your videos especially the rebuild of the Cat D2 and your farm projects Regards Les
They sure don’t make ‘‘em like they used too. Operate a Cat mini EX. Only one year and 500 hours. Ignition switch broken twice. Blade control… broken linkage. I don’t even know why the company keeps buying them. We have 6 inoperable at the yard because “operators” keep running them low on oil until they blow up. Modern machine and no sensor… 🤷♂️
Don's Tractor & Equipment Sales in Alpena, Mi has one of these looking for a new home. I think it is an older model and needs some love but, for someone looking for parts or a project it is mostly there.
I had a 70D and the linkage broke in the cab start lever and fell into the clutch. I had to remove the engine and fix clutch forks etc. Caterpillar found me a new linkage even though it didn't show in the parts book. I now have a 71 D which is the direct start version.
Another reason to put tyres on backwards is because they wear better on hard surfaces, not sure if it matters much for a non drive tyres but it makes a big difference for drive tyres on paved roads with chevron tyres.
Speaking of floorboard dimmer switches did you know the state is trying to outlaw the steering column dimmer switch Too many Aggies getting their feet Tangled up in the steering wheel
Question about the final drive, as it appears to be a walking beam type rear end is there only a single diff and drive chains between the front and rear axles
I just bought two 8T cat 12 graders. One runs, the other is complete and has had both exhaust stacks covered. He bought the non runner for parts from a friend who said both motors were good. Ive had a few d4’s and now have a cable D8 that runs. Ive never had this series motor or pony. Other than the fuel rack and making sure everything has oil and checking all sumps for water, is there anything in particular I should look for before trying to start it? Thanks for any advice you can give me! Michael
Them old knuckle busters were made to last a 100 years
My grandfather bought his cat 12 in 1950 new. I spent teens riding with him in summers. Front tires are backwards so they wear even and don’t cup out. He saved worn tires to use when he spread asphalt to leave fewer marks. Had no cab just an umbrella.
I ended up running graders for 30 years. Loved it.
That is awesome! I just picked up a 1965 12E... Its gonna need some work, but there are a LOT of similarities to that one! You'll see it soon! I really enjoyed and appreciate the walk around of that old girl! Glad to see it still working for a living!
Yup😁
Such a pretty old lady... she's got class
Built well. Made to last and made to be serviced. There is a lot to be learned. Thanks Squatch for the walk around.
Love it love it love it!!!! You know me and graders. You are correct left gear shift is gear selection right side is high low. The only thing that ya goofed on was the pinion controls haha, unlike the early style where you had two separate control levers for engaging the starting pinion, these later in cab ones had just one control lever for both the pinion brake and the engagement. The other lever next to it is the decompression lever. Don’t know why I have such an addiction to graders and scrapers but I do, great to see this one still getting used everyday, just shows the longevity of Caterpillar. A little dirt never hurt!
Love the old graders. You need one of those Squatch!
Wow, 60+ years old and still in service. Amazing how well built the old machines were. Great walk around. Thanks
we had a old 48'Cat No#12from what my uncle told me that the power steering was a after thought on that one it originally had standard steering
Squatch. possession being nine tenths of the law so now it belongs to you! 🤗 👍🏴
I used to play with a Cat 212 which was the little sister of the 12. It had the power steering, scarifier and knuckle buster controls. I say play because I was on 17 and the builder I worked for only used it to grade the driveway as the clutch was worn. It was nice as it had the same engine and pony as the D2s we had. Thanks for the walk around as it brought back memories.
Glad you like the grader book, it was a lot of work putting that together and hopefully a pull grader book is not to far behind.
We have had that machine for 30 years. The only nuts and bolts that haven't been out of that blade is the starting engine. New trans, diesel engine, chain cases and front end. She will start at -30 with ease. Got a snow wing for it too.
Super machine. You keep her in good shape.
@@squatch253 Members video?
i would Love to see the snow wing on it, that would be quite the sight!
Sweet piece of equipment Pete
@@squatch253yungen I keep telling you about using time-lapse as as an extra medium.!😅 11:12
For decades, the Cheyenne WY airport was plowed with a pair of number 12’s, and was never closed due to snow.
After acquiring mega dollar Oshkosh plows, and an administration with the philosophy of not plowing till the snow stopped, that changed.
Sigh….. Thanks for the tour of a great old blade.
now if I can remember they had a 8spd 2spd reverse it's been awhile and the way shoulders are screwed up I don't think I can operated those old knuckle buster controls anymore lol
That's Clean well, kept old grader. You don't see many of those anymore.
Shame you didn't peek at the engine hours, could have been interesting.
TGP Retired IUOE
It’s cool to see the General Tractor sticker on the other grader. I bet a lot of viewers don’t even know what that was🤷♂️
Cool! Thanks for sharing. An observation on backwards treads. My nephew's 1000 bushel grain cart I operate during harvest has the tractor style tread tires on backwards. I never gave it much thought until my son in law who operates a grain cart also said theirs has knobby tread on it and when they get into wet fields the tires stop turning and start pushing mud ahead of the wheels. I can only surmise that the backwards tractor tread bites into the slimy mud and keeps the wheels turning and as you say helps with cleaning the tire off.
I operated a 120 in the late 70's early 80's. Not only knuckle buster it'll also jar you elbows pretty good. Love the sound of that Cat engine especially when you let off the pedal. Had a deep growling sound. Also ran a Case 580B backhoe. Really miss running and hearing those two. Enjoy the channel especially the detail explanations of how you do things, almost like being in a class.
This was a great video squatch253. It really is great to see these old machines putting in work still. Cheers
Very nice looking! tell your friend thank you for allowing the walk around.
4:14 common stuff for rail road maintenance. I know a company that services a commercial line between a steel factory and the main rail road and they basically either run tube tires with an inner liner that spaces the tube from the tire or solid tires. And they are all, chewed up to heck and back. On the day i visited, there was a square masonry nail fully embedded into the a solid tire.
I've enjoyed yours and seniors videos..sitting at home with covid watching TH-cam and you popped up .
And I'm glad you did. Thanks !
Neat old machine. I love em. Takes a real dirt man to know how to use em.
Love these old machines built for work with reliability and durability all thrown in and has been shown with regular maintenance will keep on giving 💪💪and no worries of a many thousands of dollars machine grinding to a halt due to a blown fuse 🙄😳🤣🤣great video 👍
I remember when I was a kid the county had a grader really close to that with the ripper in front of the blade and they knew how to use it I watched him rip a bunch of pot holes on our gravel road and it fixed them for years the guys now days just grade it full of loose rock and it blows out in a day or two lol thanks for sharing buddy that’s a sweet machine I’d love to try and learn to use it
It was the equipment walk around videos that first attracted me to the channel, good stuff.
Some of the 70D's has direct start
Nice job. I have a 112 and installing a scarifier this week.
the cat that meow
👍 😂😂😂😂 from the thumbnail thought you was gonna rekindle talk on yours😳 🤷♂️ oops!
I ran an old #12 for our township about 45 years ago. One heck of a machine. My elbows never completely recovered from that “knuckle buster “ gearbox!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
go on we all know you want to restore it
My dad had a heater out of a motor grader that he used to heat a homemade pickup camper. I did not know what brand it was, but it looks just like the one in this model 12. It had two 6 volt fans and put out way too much heat to keep a camper shell warm.
Yep use mine on a every other day basis too. Very reliable and they run great and very smooth. Got a 54’ and a 59’. The 59’ was switched to electric start. The 54’ still has pony motor that works great in cold weather. Glad to see you checking those units out
What year was your '59 switched over to electric start.? An interesting research project. .. 11:12 😊
Looks like your guys chapter needs to reach out to someone like Titan tire for some grader tire donations. A lot of farm channels i watch, Titan has donated tractor tires to; Welker farms, Cole the cornstar, etc.
Nice old Machine the cab door latch looks identical to the cab door latch on my 1957 Deere 820 Must have all come from the same supplier back then.
In reality the old machines won’t see the hard hours anymore but they will be around for many years to come
Man - very cool that it is still in use today. I wonder if it is the original engine or if it has been rebuilt. My guess is it's been rebuilt, but likely everything was well maintained!
@@squatch253 Video or it didn't happen! ;)
I love how the handles are streamlined for speed! And I've never seen one go much faster than a sleepy snail.
Thats a Good looking Old Grader...Someone old School took care of that. Greasing it and just taking good care of her...They were a beast. Great Video...
Thanks Bob for letting us look. That guy sure gets around with those machines. I think that one was grading the township roads near me earlier this Spring.
My grandfather owned a lot of those old Cat 12 graders. Plowed snow with them often, and always had at least one with the cable lift side wing. Him and my uncle would plow the local subdivision.
All I can say is nice... thanks for the tour great as always.
Thank you Squarch. I loved the cat font on the engine block. 👍
This is like national grader day. He welkers and squatch 253 coming out with a grader video!
Man those are definitely my all time favorite road grader! The series 12. I remember as a kid growing up in my neighborhood back in the early to mid 70s playing or pretending that I was driving one of those!👌😂👍they where redoing the roads back then! Ever since then I was hooked! She’s definitely a beauty!
Back in the early 1950's our county road department added "roadway elevator attachments" to two caterpillar motor graders. They were mounted where the blade normally attaches and consisted of a large single disk plow and a conveyor belt. I never knew how the the conveyor was powered but the machines appeared to be very efficient.
I think the CATERPILLAR font still visible under the coating of oil and dust on the D318 is my favorite feature on this machine. Great walk around. Thank you!
very nice looking grader it's nice to see that it is still in service. When I was on the township board a few years ago the grader operator told me that in the heavy clay soil roads the smooth tired machines actually are easier to control the cut depth because of the smooth face it's not digging into the road bed and he said it rides smoother on road trips between townships he used to run the Cat 12 machines until he got hired men now he runs champion graders
Most interesting video of the old grader, it would be nice to know how many old caterpillar machines are still out there earning their keep.
Awesome, I bought an older 12 then this one plus a 955 track loader at the same time there 1950 somethings. All the controls are on the side of the motor on the motorgrader. Thank you very much for this very informative video please continue with your video,they have helped me alot in fixing my equipment.
Neat Toby enjoyed that walk around used to operate an identical Cat 12 here in New Zealand it was complete with hydraulic side shift operated it for a time on haul road maintaince and road construction on the Benmore dam project in New Zealand enjoy your videos especially the rebuild of the Cat D2 and your farm projects
Regards Les
Yep looks like buddy Bob's .
They sure don’t make ‘‘em like they used too. Operate a Cat mini EX. Only one year and 500 hours. Ignition switch broken twice. Blade control… broken linkage. I don’t even know why the company keeps buying them. We have 6 inoperable at the yard because “operators” keep running them low on oil until they blow up. Modern machine and no sensor… 🤷♂️
Thanks for the walk around. Cool stuff!
gear shift with a forward/reverse shift next to it.
Sounds like a kid in a candy store with the way you do your walk around. Love the video. So what was the the other grader
Ahhhh...
A walk around, what a nice treat!
I was missing your walk arounds.
Nice machine thank you for sharing!
It seems you have access to many nice Cats.
🤦😳😂😂😂😂 they’re parked in his yard!!! 👍 ✌️…
Thanks for sharing. Interesting video. Remember when they paved the toads in my little town and watched these doing their work. Good memories
Enjoyed the walk around. I always learn from these.👍🏼
Awesome thank you for the walk around and all the information 🙏👍
Funny that you upload this today. I was running a cat 12 grader for some hours today😂
Don's Tractor & Equipment Sales in Alpena, Mi has one of these looking for a new home. I think it is an older model and needs some love but, for someone looking for parts or a project it is mostly there.
I always thought that the right most lever was fdw-reverse like on the dozers
Great walk around . When first walked thought you had bout a new cat to add to your collection. Lol. Enjoyed it greatly .
Thanks for sharing 👍
That brought old memories back. Thanks for sharing.
There exist tractor tires with text on them saying what way they should be run. Backwards for road use and forwards for field use.
I love these walk arounds.
Thanks for the walk-around!
I enjoyed the tour. Thanks.
Sure did love seeing those cool older units thanks
I saw a wrench today that made me think of you Toby !!!!! I think it is a big cat wrench !!!!
If Rick sends me a text I will send a pic of it
I had a 70D and the linkage broke in the cab start lever and fell into the clutch. I had to remove the engine and fix clutch forks etc. Caterpillar found me a new linkage even though it didn't show in the parts book. I now have a 71 D which is the direct start version.
Cool old equipment! 👍
These ones are grade
Wow still going strong
Great video
Cheers
63 years young and still
Earning.
Another reason to put tyres on backwards is because they wear better on hard surfaces, not sure if it matters much for a non drive tyres but it makes a big difference for drive tyres on paved roads with chevron tyres.
Nice walkaround, only one way to improve on this,. would be to watch it start up for the day, and go to work.
Interesting video 👍👍
enjoyed this video
Speaking of floorboard dimmer switches did you know the state is trying to outlaw the steering column dimmer switch
Too many Aggies getting their feet Tangled up in the steering wheel
Huh I've got 70D2926. 46 off. Bout the same but with hyd front plow group and hyd wing.
Good video
Good video good content 👌 man
cool
It probably would have been rarer if it didn't have snow plowing attachments in Minnesota.
I’m one of those guys that think graders are grater!
nice walk around! maybe the next walk around is the Allis 6G as per the company logo?
Looks like the old girl needs a new pair of boots!
You gonna buy it after they're done with that project? 🙂
Question about the final drive, as it appears to be a walking beam type rear end is there only a single diff and drive chains between the front and rear axles
Can you please get a video of them getting ready to work one morning.
I just bought two 8T cat 12 graders. One runs, the other is complete and has had both exhaust stacks covered. He bought the non runner for parts from a friend who said both motors were good. Ive had a few d4’s and now have a cable D8 that runs.
Ive never had this series motor or pony. Other than the fuel rack and making sure everything has oil and checking all sumps for water, is there anything in particular I should look for before trying to start it?
Thanks for any advice you can give me! Michael
Grader A walk around.
Where will a 2022 CAT road grader be in 63 years? Certainly not working for a living...
👍🏼👍🏼🇦🇺