Kenny Walker feels lucky to have found his 1930 Caterpillar Thirty tract-type tractor.
The Ohio Cat field technician had been working on a deal for about seven years to buy one out in California, but the deal fell through.
The owner felt bad and let Walker know he had recently gotten a call from someone in Minnesota who had one to sell. That’s how Walker ended up with a rare, all-original Thirty that had been well maintained over its 95 years – and still in top running condition.
“Everything on that tractor is original,” Walker says. “It is the most original Thirty I've ever seen.”
The Power of the Belt
Kenny Walker's 1930 Caterpillar Thirty runs a Baker fan in September at the HCEA show, where he also ran a vintage rock-crushing operation. Check out our video at the end of this story to watch it in action.Equipment World
The Thirty’s engine easily chugged along, proving its strength while running an old-time rock-crushing operation. Its belt pulley powering the 1930s era Allis-Chalmers 10-inch Superior McCully Crusher is the same one added by the dealer when the original owner bought the Thirty. You can still see the “San Leandro, California,” etching denoting where the tractor was built, before Caterpillar moved its headquarters to Peoria, Illinois.
(To watch the Thirty power the rock crusher and a Baker fan at the show, check out the video at the end of this story.)
“Amazing Care”
Equipment World
Walker’s Thirty runs on a 4-cylinder gasoline engine, which produces 36 belt horsepower and 30 drawbar horsepower.
He learned that the tractor had been owned by a farming family in California. The owner grew up with it and took good care of it.
“He still had all the original things on it that were bought at the factory,” Walker says.
That includes components very difficult to find today, like the fan guard on the right side of the engine, the radiator cap, fuel cap. He even still had the brass key for the magneto.
“The family that owned it out in California did such an amazing job taking care of that machine its entire life,” he says.
Two for the Show
Kenny Walker also hooked up his 1930 Caterpillar Sixty's belt pulley to a 1930s era Allis-Chalmers 10-inch Superior McCully Crusher at the HCEA show in September.Kenny Walker
Walker, who bought the Thirty in March, plans to carry on that mission. He is a member of the HCEA and will serve on its board of directors starting in January.
His goal was to have it and his other Cats running at the October show, including a 1930 Caterpillar Sixty he also bought earlier this year. The Sixty took about 500 hours to get ready for the show. The Thirty, however, needed no work.
“I was really wanting to get that (Sixty) and that Thirty there,” he says. “My whole goal was to run that crusher and that Baker fan at the show with those two machines.”
“It’s a survivor.”
The 1930 Caterpillar Thirty running the old-time rock crushing demonstration at the HCEA show.Kenny Walker
But what really makes Walker’s Thirty rare is all the original parts and additions.
“When it comes down to having a belt pulley on it original from the dealer,” he says, “all the gadgetry and everything on it to still be all intact in its original state – that's what really makes it rare and special.”
And Walker plans to keep it that way.
“The Thirty will stay just as it is as long as I own it, because I think it is so unique to have something that's already 95 years old and be in its original state,” he says. “It's just testament of its survival and the strength of the brand. And to me, it says a lot.
“… It’s a survivor.”
Watch It Go
Check out the video below, to watch the Thirty in action at the HCEA show:
This video below we published earlier from the HCEA shows a longer look at the Thirty running a Baker fan, along with a variety of other vintage Caterpillar, Holt and Best track-type tractors at the event in September:
