Tractor [Caterpillar RD-7]
Maker and role
Caterpillar Tractor Company, Manufacturer
Production date
1937
See full details
Object detail
Accession number
2014.159
Production period
Description
Large Caterpillar RD-7 Diesel crawler tractor. Yellow with black padded seat.
Brief History
During the 1930s tractors changed from petrol to diesel engines, due to the rising cost of petrol and because diesel engines had better torque (a turning or twisting force) for pulling heavy loads. Caterpillar started producing their first diesel tractors in 1931 and by 1941 almost no petrol tractors were being produced.
In 1937 the Minister of Public Works, Bob Semple, drove a Caterpillar tractor over a wheelbarrow and shovel. He did this to symbolise the end of old methods and the beginning of a new era of earthmoving in New Zealand. The tractor he drove that day was an RD-8 which is similar to this tractor.
It is known that this tractor was the last RD-7 ever used by the Ministry of Works, who donated it to MOTAT in the early 1970s.
Type: Crawler tractor
Engine type: 4-cylinder diesel operating engine and a 2-cylinder petrol starter engine.
Model: RD-7
RPM: 850 rpm
Manufacturer: Caterpillar Tractor Company
HP: 69 HP
Country manufactured: United States
Gearbox: 4 forward gears, 1 reverse
Date: 1937
In 1937 the Minister of Public Works, Bob Semple, drove a Caterpillar tractor over a wheelbarrow and shovel. He did this to symbolise the end of old methods and the beginning of a new era of earthmoving in New Zealand. The tractor he drove that day was an RD-8 which is similar to this tractor.
It is known that this tractor was the last RD-7 ever used by the Ministry of Works, who donated it to MOTAT in the early 1970s.
Type: Crawler tractor
Engine type: 4-cylinder diesel operating engine and a 2-cylinder petrol starter engine.
Model: RD-7
RPM: 850 rpm
Manufacturer: Caterpillar Tractor Company
HP: 69 HP
Country manufactured: United States
Gearbox: 4 forward gears, 1 reverse
Date: 1937
Marks
Caterpillar / Diesel Painted
CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO. / PEORIA, ILLISOIS, U.S.A. Painted
RD.7 / CATERPILLAR / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. Embossed
CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO. / PEORIA, ILLISOIS, U.S.A. Painted
RD.7 / CATERPILLAR / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF. Embossed
Media/Materials
Collection
Credit Line
Caterpillar Tractor Company. 1937. Tractor [Caterpillar RD-7], 2014.159. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
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