This rugged-looking thing is a 1930s Caterpillar Twenty-Two and it’s in Columbus, Montana, about 45 miles west of Billings. It’s on Craigslist with an asking price of $1,100.
The Twenty-Two was made from 1934 to 1939 and it replaced the model Twenty, which had a 20-gallon fuel tank. Guess how many gallons the Twenty-Two has on board? Yep, 22. If you don’t want one of these after watching this YouTube video of a restored Twenty-Two, well then I don’t know what to say. It sure would be fun to restore this machine. Of course, if you live in a downtown condo somewhere it may not be for you, but I’m sure that a lot of Barn Finds readers would love to have one of these.
The model Twenty-Two came in two models, the 2F or 1J but the seller doesn’t give much info on this one. They don’t even give the year, but if it’s a Twenty-Two than it’s somewhere in-between 1934 and 1939. Coincidentally, those are my two favorite World’s Fairs; not that it has anything to do with this Cat. These “crawlers” weigh a little over three tons so you’ll need to find a hauler who can handle this one for the trip back to your shop.
Cat made 15,156 of the Twenty-Twos so they aren’t super rare, or, they weren’t a few decades ago. This crawler has three forward speeds and reverse, but Jay Leno won’t be doing a burn out with one of these any time soon. I still love driving through Peoria, Illinois where Caterpillar is based and thinking about the history of this company. The first crawler was patented in Great Britain in 1825, but the Caterpillar company was an offshoot of the Northern Holt Company which started manufacturing Caterpillar tractors in Minneapolis, MN in early-1909. They ended up buying out another manufacturer in Peoria, Illinois and the rest is history. I have no clue what I would use this Caterpillar Twenty-Two for, but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t love to restore it and bring it to antique tractor shows. Have you ever driven or owned a Caterpillar or other crawler?
The wrong brand for me. I would consider an Oliver.
Oliver’s are light duty little spindly thing compared with this old girl.
Hi Dave, sorry to disagree ( again) but Oliver had tractors comparable to Caterpillar. Cletrac (Cleveland Tractor Co.) merged with Oliver in the 40’s, but it was Caterpillar, I read, who copied Cletrac for the earlier models.
Oliver’s were not even in the same class as a Cat. They were mostly wheel tractors with tracks added……..there were even old Fords that people did that with………not the same as a purpose built from the ground up machine. I have a very nice Oliver wheel tractor I bought last year at the junk yard, it is a lovely thing……sort of a Ferrari of the tractor world……but not as strong as other makes. They were popular in orchard use, lovely curved sheet metal but just a small step above a more common Ford.
The OC’s are much better looking, no doubt.
They are purdy………..
Hi Gary, Oliver made a cool unit too. Cletrac, I believe they called them. I picked up a load of potatoes once at a “tater” farm, and they had a bunch of these pulling stuff, and they still ran great. https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a1/0c/7f/a10c7f9a59c6550f19d07ac1a589ac59.jpg
Cletracs were heavily used in WW2 by the military for many jobs including moving aircraft. They are pretty ugly to operate, they use a brake system as opposed to a clutch system to steer as I remember………(off course, I could google it if I wanted to sound really smart!) . I was looking for a small crawler for the ranch a couple of years ago and like the idea of an old military machine but everyone said to stay away from the cletracks. I would up with an early hydraulic John Deere, simple clean operation. My dad drove a Cat in the harvest in the late 30’s, they were and are the Cadaliac of crawlers, clean simple operation. They were the status symbol of the farms at the time.
Be prepared to pay $100.00 an hour to transport one of these. I know from experience.
$100 and hour would be a deal where I’m at.
I like it, but could could cost a whole lot more to transport to England where I live!
Here’s one I saw earlier this year in the UK..
Great find. Love tractors of all kinds. Working on them is another matter. These were incredibly simple, but everything is heavy. No hydraulics, so this must have just been a “pull” tractor. They were fitted with a dozer blade, that had a cable lift, which I don’t see here. There’s a big following for tractors, ton of stuff on the internet. Make no mistake, these were a bear to operate, ( all day) but this was as good as it got in the 30’s. Sure beat “ol Dobbin” or the hand shovel.
Actually, when working properly and serviced, they are very easy to operate. Granted, they are all manual control, (not like modern hydraulic pilot control systems) and you will get a workout from pulling levers all day, put when properly serviced and set up, the effort to run these is not that great. Since they work in harsh conditions and often don’t get serviced or adjusted properly, they can become cumbersome and tiring to operate after they get a bit worn down.
Well, gee, is it gas or diesel? I’m not sure you could hand crank a diesel, nor would I want to hand crank it if it’s gasoline either – I’m sure it’s a long stroke motor and ready to rip your hand apart if you do it wrong! Anybody know anything about these?
We hand start diesels all the time…….it’s called a compression release.
These came in gasoline or kerosene powered versions. This looks like a K1 powered unit judging by the injection pump on the right side of the motor. I think this is a narrow gauge 2f model. Yes, it’s hand crank start. Many were converted over to electric start. This is a good deal for the money. These are very easy to repair if your handy. Parts are a bit hard to come by, but they are several tons of fun to work on.
Hi rustowner, IDK, I believe this is a gas job. It looks like spark plugs and wires on the motor. I think that’s the magneto you are referring to.
Here you go, brakeservo, these were pretty low compression, but still, not for the “girly men”. ( note hydraulics on this one) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b1V-lAmja0
Dad did a lot of farming with crawlers, from an R-2 to a D-4 and a D-6, and a couple of red ones to round things out. I kind of like them, plodding dusty things that they were. If I were about to take on another project I might seriously consider this one. It isn’t that far away. This looks like a good deal for someone.
Hi geomechs, Many farmers in the 30’s were still using those steam traction engines,( or horses) and hadn’t quite made the jump to regular tractors. Generally, this is what these were used for. http://www.imcdb.org/i462840.jpg
We had a small Cat with a pony motor that started the main.
Sure thing. I believe the pony motors star with the “D” series machines. My 52 D2 uses a pony motor.
I’m trying to talk my son into going after this. This would be priceless fixed up.
Ours had a pony gas motor that you started with a rope wound around a spool. Then you engaged the pony motor to start the Diesel engine. It had a hydraulic system for the blade probably retrofitted.
How many ‘ponies’ was the pony?
Hi Rosso, I think the “pony” motor was about 10 hp. Usually a twin gas motor. Check this out. This was how it was done years ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcz7qPz8QTE
I got an email from my brother who informed me that our CAT was a 1929 model either a 22 or a 21. As far as I know we still have it in the ranch.
I doubt many people have “favourite World’s Fair” picks. I got a chuckle from that.
I also love the ’64/’65 NY World’s Fair, I’ll have to look for a ’64/’65 Cat to feature next week (kidding).
I like these but this one looks like it has been raced. 😀
Seriously, thanks for all the great comments so far from BF community.
Outlaw Caterpiller
Had one, loved it, pulled logs out of my woods for firewood, being a smaller crawler it would go where a big one couldn’t.. Could leave it sit for months, turn on the gas, wait a few minutes, pull the choke out and give it 1 pull of the welded up crank and away it would go.. work the choke a little for a minute and she was ready to work…I did build a exhaust system as I couldn’t stand that short straight pipe, welded up a few pieces of old HD Sportster pipes and a Turnout Supertrap from a Dresser mounted on the fender, WOW what a wonderful sound!!! Mine was not as nice as this one looks to be and I sold it last year for a lot more money!
My Father, now 88 years old, worked with Service, Repair and Modifications of Caterpillar Tractors from the early 1950´s until his retirement. A couple of years before his retirement he was tasked with the mission of restoring a model Twenty-Two for the Company (then Engström & Nilson Maskin AB, today PON Caterpillar). Sadly, the engine was beyond economic repair due to frost damage so the desicion was to make it a “static” restoration and use it as a statue outside the entrance to the Company´s main offices. Since my Family today lives only 200 yards from said entrance we see it almost every day
Another Picture of the Caterpillar Twenty-Two, both pictures were taken today
And at the Company´s premises in Kiruna, this model Twenty-Five is displayed outside the entrance, I took this picture in June this year when my work (as a Truckdriver) brought me there.
Something happened with the last picture so here it is Re-posted
Wtf is it with this pic ??