Less popular were International TD-6s, TD-9s and large TD-14s. Mid-size farms used one or more D4s bigger operations utilized D6s. Small farmers used gasoline-powered Twenty-Two Cats and the later diesel-powered D2s. The tractor of choice in my part of Idaho was Caterpillar. Large grain-growing areas of the Great Plains and mountain states relied on crawlers almost exclusively for several decades. Track-type tractors were the dominant form of farm motive power in some parts of the country up through the 1960s. However, when it came to getting farm fieldwork done, crawlers excelled. They leave their mark traveling straight ahead and are noted for tearing up the surface when turning. Additionally, track grousers (also known as cleats) damage the ground. (The rubber-tracked tractors of modern times are not crawlers: Crawlers had steel tracks.) Secondly, track-type tractors are heavier, slower and much harder to transport than a tractor on wheels. At their peak, crawlers accounted for just a small part of total tractor production in the U.S. They are rarely displayed at shows, and only occasionally appear in calendars and books and on TV. Crawlers remain relatively scarce in antique iron circles today. But few did that work on a crawler.Īmong that shrinking pool of farm workers, only a small number ever used the track-type tractors commonly known as crawlers or tracklayers. Front-line soldiers, sailors and airmen were unique.Ī similar situation existed in American agriculture, in what might be called the “Early Tractor Generation.” In the first half of the 20th century – before the great migration from the farm to the city first recorded in 1930 – millions of people performed various kinds of farm work. In fact, even in the wartime military of 15 million, only one in every 26 soldiers was in combat. It is well known that the phrase “Greatest Generation” applies to those responsible for victory in World War II.īut relatively few alive during those years were involved in actual combat. The seller says this thing is ready to go to work.For 40 years, author Clell Ballard has used a Struck Mini-Dozer to clear his driveway, using a rotary blower. To change the angle of the shovel, you simply need to remove a pin to reset it. Its shovel is 42 inches wide by 16 inches high and is operated by an electric 600 lb. We’re told the Crawler starts easily and runs smoothly. Both tracks have mechanical disc brakes for stopping and the machine was restored using reinforced supports, holes, bearings, bushings, and more. It has an electric starter with the option to get going via a pull cord. The Crawler has a 15-horsepower motor with a chain drive connected to the pulley system. Two belts are engaged on each side for forward movement of the machine, while one belt on each side engages for reverse motion. The dozer itself is about five feet long and its tracks are nine inches wide and 39 inches long. But the seller’s Crawler has been restored and upgraded (or modified due to the parts situation). Unfortunately, the product hasn’t been built in several years and all that’s available today from Struck is the assembly manual and replacement tracks. This mini dozer found itself on the cover of Popular Science magazine in May 1967. has been known all sorts of building and landscaping equipment, including the Struck Crawler. It’s available here on Barn Finds Classifieds for $8,500.įrom 1959 to now, Cedarburg, Wisconsin’s Struck Corp. Located in Polk City, Florida, this neat little machine is ready to take on a pile of snow, dirt, gravel or sand. The seller’s totally restored 1967 edition looks to be ideal for small projects for homeowners and smaller-scale contractors. If you ordered one from midwestern-based Struck Corporation, they would send you a collection of parts and pieces and the plans to put it all together. Here’s something you don’t see every day on Barn Finds, the Struck Crawler which was a mini-bulldozer available to the public in kit form.
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