Dozers and Rollers

I’ve been meaning to share with you the two pieces of equipment found below for about..oh…seven months! The time has come to enjoy more treasures from the Dobbins Auction from early spring. As I dig through my photos and videos from the event I realize there are still many more interesting vehicles to share. Time to get busy.

We start with a 1953 International TD18-A track dozer. It had an auction number but I couldn’t find it in the official listing. The number was there but the information was blank. Regardless, it gathered plenty attention from myself and many other people. This first owner of this dozer was the United States Navy. Multiple placards found around the vehicle attested to this fact none more so than the one below.

Some of the information has faded with age but we can see that TD18-A was shipped in September of 1953 with a one year warranty on the engine. The total weight of the dozer comes in around 18 tons. The serial number looks to be 31519 which falls in the middle of the nearly 3000 produced by International Harvester that year. Everything about this dozer is heavy. Hydraulics are not to be found as the blade is raised and lowered with a series of cables. A large winch is mounted at back with this interesting sticker found near the blade.

I wonder what would happen if used for non airport purposes?

Below is a walk around video that starts of with me tripping over some sheet metal. You get a good look at the D-691 diesel engine that powers this dozer, it’s huge. I also take a look at the winch and spend a moment inspecting the Navy Department information tag.

Elsewhere on the sprawling Dobbins property was a Ferguson rubber wheel roller. I remember the local DPW crew having a similar setup for years that was used to compact the stone of chip seal paving operations. I never thought it did that great of job. It left ruts and most of the material stuck to the rubber but hey, it looked like fun.

I suppose the arrow at the front lets you know where the front of the vehicle is? The power of this unit comes from an Oliver tractor that sits in a large metal tub containing ballast for weight. Over the years this material has sprouted a birch tree or two. Clearly, this machine does not see regular use.

More to come in the coming days including footage of Trojan loader hell, and International Loadstar dump truck and more pickups than you can shake a stick at.