Less than 4.5 feet wide, the Caterpillar Ten, sometimes seen as the number 10, was a big hit with orchard farmers as it could fit between the rows of fruit trees without causing damage. It was also one of the smallest bulldozers at the time and the smallest ever made by Caterpillar, at just over 8 feet long. This 1929 Caterpillar Ten can be found here on eBay in Fort Lupton, Colorado, and they’re asking $8,500, or you can make an offer. Thanks to T.J. for the tip!
We’ve only seen three bulldozers on Barn Finds over the years, and oddly enough, only three Caterpillars. The earliest one was a 1930s model that we saw back in 2016. That’s hard to believe; it sure seems as if we’ve seen many more than just three dozers and/or three Caterpillars. Holt Manufacturing and Best Tractor Company merged in 1925, and Caterpillar Tractor Company was born. This 4,420-pound bulldozer isn’t just for show; the seller included a video of it operating.
Here’s a screenshot of it in motion, mainly to show the back of it, since they didn’t include a photo of that side. This would be super fun to own, mainly for vintage tractor shows for me, I wouldn’t have any real work for it to do. The Cat Ten was made from 1928 through 1932, so from the loose and fancy-free days before the 1929 stock market crash, to the really bad times after, with soup lines, people losing everything, and just before the Dust Bowl. Fun times! (not)
One of you will know for sure, but there are conflicting reports online (shocking!!) about how agricultural Cat Tens were painted gray, and construction models were yellow. I can see the benefit of high-vis yellow for construction equipment. Some sources say that the early models were gray and the ones after 1931 were “Hi-Way” yellow. Speaking of paint, this one has seen more than its share of paint brushes over the last 100% years. Restoring it back to like-new condition may not be worth it, monetarily, but it would sure look nice.
Powering the 10.5-inch tracks is Caterpillar’s 143-cu.in. (2.3-liter) L-head, water-cooled inline-four, with a claimed 10 horsepower at the drawbar (15 tested horsepower), and it moved via a sliding gear-type transmission with three forward speeds and one reverse. The seller doesn’t give much info on the operating condition, but they say it runs and drives, and they provide a video to prove it. Would any of you have a use for this Caterpillar Ten?
Ok…. Show of hands….. How many of you saw that opening photo and thought that this was a model??? Granted I’m looking at it on my phone, but……
Anyways. This is such a neat Caterpillar, its hard to believe it almost a century old, and still runs. If thats not a testament to the quality of Caterpillar tractors well, I don’t know what is. Thank you for the history lesson Scotty and looking at this in the time period it was built. The Great Depression affected everyone. I know it stuck with my Grandparents for their entire lives, in how they lived and spent or rather saved money. I wonder whether this was built and bought before or after the stock market crash. A huge thank you to T.J. for submitting this too. I love it. And I truly hope its new caretaker will enjoy it for many years to come.
Thanks, Dave! I agree about the Depression; it was the same with my grandparents and a few neighbors of that age. That’s something that doesn’t go away, mentally.
Great stories Scotty and Dave, my grandparents were adults and my parents were both born in the 30’s. All of them worked doing something until the day they passed, and appreciated who and what they had in life.
Thanks Scotty and Cooter. It’s amazing how a major event can literally alter a persons, or really in this case, a generations outlook and way they live, for the rest of their lives. And to have those stories passed to people like us, it’s something else……
Great write up and perspective again Scotty.
I’ve told the story here before about the family that lived in the other half of a double bungalow I rented in my college years. Nick and Jane were in their 90s and their daughter probably in her 60s/70s. They became family in the 2 years I lived there. Nick had lost his hardware store during the depression and moved his family to Minneapolis driving his 1927 Chevy coupe. He had provided for his family for over 40 years as a plumber, working out of a homemade wooden tool box with only a handful of tools. They didn’t have much but I never got the impression they were poor – they were always very upbeat. Both Nick and Jane lived to over 100 years old.
Nick gave me his tool box and had me help him sell his only other car, a 56 Chevy 210 4 door that he bought new, trading the 27 Chevy coupe in. The dealership still had his 27 in their collection!
Alright Scotty! 4.5′ x 8′, 10 HP, you could almost keep it on your keychain!
Easy answer.. put it to work 🙌🌳🍎🍊
Does it come with a blade?
It would take a lot of retrofitting to add a blade but it has been done. These were designed for primarily for drawbar work.
Aw, who cares about another rusty relic machine from our fading past,,,WE DO, WE DO!! I can just see Ms. Rand with folded arms, “that was supposed to be mine”,,just kidding, it doesn’t matter who writes this stuff up, a better show of hands Dave, would be who wants to see this stuff more often? Mmm-hmm, I thought so.
I read, this dozer was on the low end of dozers and still cost a whopping $1100 new. Depending on options. The bigger model 60 was almost $5grand. Remember, a house in 1929 was about $4grand, and with the depression, not many of these were sold. Over the 5 year run, only about 5,000 of these were sold, most before 1929. This was a surprisingly modern unit, and pretty conventional in operation to this very day. Make no mistake, just because it was smaller, it didn’t get it out of even the most grueling jobs, a dozer operator is not for the faint of heart. They were designed to be worked. Got a cushy life now. Pulling “levers” was a good job. More please!
Ha, Howard, there’s more than enough construction and ag equipment for all of us to share the writing chores! Thanks, Scotty, first thing I looked at this morning on the site.
The fact that it’s still here among us tells us that we aren’t the only ones who care about the history of the country’s rolling stock. Cars, trucks, tractors, and anything else with it’s own power that goes back to the ’18 hundreds. Wow!
My grandfather embraced mechanization back in the late teens. His first crawler was a 2-ton Holt. He broke a lot of land with it and with the expansion of his operation, bought a 3-ton and continued breaking with the two units. When Dad started working in the operation they were up to a 20 and a 30, then a D2 and a D4, and eventually grew up to a D4 and a D6.
All I ever saw was HiWay Yellow but Dad said that when he was a kid (born 1925) the Holts were gray. A guy out east of town farmed with a 10-ton Holt which was also gray. Dad told me that Grandpa’s 20 was gray but the 30 was yellow. Dad also said that the county had a pair of 60s, one gray and the other, yellow. He was pretty sure that they were all yellow by ‘32.
Now this is my theory: Up to the early 30s both CAT and International painted everything self-propelled, gray. By’32 they selected something that was less typical and went their own directions; International to Harvester Red and Cat, to HiWay Yellow. Wartime became Drab Green or Navy Gray, and post war, back to the new traditional colors.
It’s not a bulldozer — it’s a tractor.
Correct. It doesn’t have a Dozer blade.
It’s a crawler.
I have 2 crawler loaders and 2 tractors with loaders.
I know where one of those sets on a dry Montana ranch. I tried buying it for a friend several years age, price was $3000. which was more than my friend wanted to pay. There was another in Fort Benton MT. I think my friend might have actually bought that one.
I have a 1949 D-6 cheap if anyone wants it. Backed into a shed years ago on a dry Montana wheat ranch. In real good shape but has a sticky valve on the pony motor. No blade, set up to pull a plow.
If it had a blade or bucket attached to the front I could use it for some work I need to get done around here otherwise I other than to start it up early in the morning to wake up the neighborhood I don’t have a use for it.
Well, it’s no Hoyt-Clagwell,but I do like it.
You DO know that wasn’t a H-C, but a Fordson,,,MR. HANEY!!!
My pop was born in North Dakota in 1916 had to quit school in the 8th grade to work in the fields to help parents,he worked hard and long hours to take care of my mom and 3 boys,but never complained.
“haul only”, well that’s Not what we need froma ‘dozer’.
“…have a use…”
Yes, asa dozer. No ‘pusher’? To us these were made to grade. We use even lill guys like these. Sure a “commoner”, ‘flat lander’, ‘poser’ cant use it as the track is so damn short it’s only those w/lotsa hrs in that can do a nice “to stick’ (surveyors) grade. Excellent @ small plot wrk beginners can slot doze @ mines but here? no. If ya wanna haul this way – round here U use a lill 9N or similar, no trac needed mud, woods, sand barrens, gradients, swamp, etc~