Tech
Casey’s Rare Case: Teen Restores 1958 Terratrac 320 Dozer
For his second vintage equipment restoration project, 15-year-old Casey Havemann made a rare find.
He didn’t realize how rare it was until he started trying to find parts for the 1958 Case Terratrac 320.
“Once I got it home and I started looking for parts, I couldn’t find anything,” Casey, now 18, recalls. “I could barely find pictures of it. And I’m like, ‘Oh, geez, this might be a little harder than I thought.’”
[To watch a video of him operating the Terratrac, see the end of this story.]
Casey was given the tractor by JB Dewar, a fuel service company in San Luis Obispo, California, which sponsors a local competition for high school students to restore antique tractors. Casey intended to enter the competition, just as his older brother, Taylor, did three years before. Taylor had restored a 1951 Oliver OC-3 crawler dozer and had won.
“It was super rusty,” says Casey of the Terratrac. He learned that the owner had left it on a neighbor’s property to avoid repossession, and it was never picked back up. After many years, the neighbor later donated it to JB Dewar, which collects antique tractors to give to the students to restore for the competition.
“This might be a little harder than I thought,” was going through Casey Havemann’s mind when he started to try to find parts for this 1958 Case Terratrac 320.Submitted by Casey HavemannCasey, who was a student at Atascadero High School in California at the time, and his family are known for restoring old machinery and their standout mechanical skills. Casey’s father, Tim, was a mechanic for United Rentals before later rising to a sales position there. He instilled in his sons his love for working with machines. Taylor went on to graduate from the diesel technician program at Reedley College in Fresno, where Casey will start next month.
“They knew what our outcome is of our tractors and how well we go into it, and they know that we’re going to finish the project,” Casey explains of how he ended up with the Terratrac. “They were saying they would rather have me do it and watch me rebuild it rather than watch someone do it and not finish it, just leave it all apart. Because it’s kind of part of San Luis Obispo County history in a sense.”
During his parts search, he learned of the Terratrac’s rarity. Only 496 were produced, according to Case Construction Equipment. The dozer runs on a 2.4-liter, 4-cylinder Case gas engine and weighs 6,405 pounds.
Between his school work, a welding class he was taking and a job, Casey tried to squeeze in time to restore the dozer. He did a lot of the work himself, along with help from his dad, who has a fully equipped shop with a plasma cutter, forklift, lathe and welding stations.
When summer came, he began to devote 12-hour days to his project.
“It was super rusty,” said Casey Havemann in describing his 1958 Case Terratrac 320 before he restored it.Submitted by Casey HavemannOne of his first tasks was to fabricate replacements for the fenders, which were rusted through and covered in pits. “I made them all look like from the factory,” he says.
The transmission and the tracks were in pretty good shape, but the motor had to be rebuilt, he says. The same engine model had been used in other tractors during that period, but it was still a tough find. He found a rebuild kit online. “He said it was the last one that he had,” Casey says of the owner. “So I kind of lucked out in getting it.”
He fabricated a new generator mount and toolboxes that attached to the seat. He found some Case gauges on eBay.
He hit a snag in trying to find replacement decals. After hours of online searching and calling shops, he decided they’d have to be made from scratch. So before he could sandblast the dozer, he took the parts with decals to a local shop that could reproduce their original look.
“I used about three and a half gallons on that tractor,” says Casey Havemann of the paint job for his 1958 Case Terratrac.Submitted by Casey HavemannCasey actually took apart and reassembled the Terratrac twice.
The first time, he sandblasted all the parts. He rebuilt the motor and left it all sandblasted for the first reassembly. About nine months after getting the tractor, he now had it running. His dad brought home some asphalt grindings. Casey and his brother Taylor rolled out their antique dozers to have some fun.
“We were running them back and forth tracking all the asphalt chunks down,” Casey says. “We were trying to break it all up. It was super fun.”
After putting about 5 hours of runtime on it, Casey took the Terratrac apart again, this time to do the body work and paint it.
When asked what he likes most about the Terratrac, he jokes and says, “So my name is Casey, and it’s a Case – it’s just missing the “Y.”
On a more serious note, he adds, “The paint came out super nice. I used about three and a half gallons on that tractor. I sprayed everything myself, and I kind of impressed myself.”
He also enjoyed the fabrication, and welding on cast iron for the first time. “That was cool to learn about, how to preheat and then post-heat,” he says of the cast-iron work.
All in all, it was a top-to-bottom restoration to make it look like new. “That’s how we like to do it,” he says. “We just go through everything, triple-check.”
In all, the restoration took about a year and a half and about 600 hours of work.
Casey Havemann’s restored 1958 Case Terratrac 320.Submitted by Casey HavemannWhen the competition day arrived for the 2020 JB Dewar’s Tractor Restoration Educational Program, Casey’s Case won. The honor came with a $4,000 prize. He had spent $3,000 on the restoration. He then advanced to the national Delo Tractor Restoration Competition, where he was named a finalist and won honorable mention for best photograph.
He now keeps his 1958 Case Terratrac as a showpiece. After he painted it, he decided not to use it as a working machine. He plans to enter it in nearby antique equipment shows.
He says he has no plans to do another restoration project on antique equipment.
“This was my last one,” he says. The Case project had followed the restoration of a 1951 Farmall Super C tractor. “So I’m a little worn out from that,” he says of the two restorations.
Now he has his sights set on working as a diesel technician after graduating from Reedley College’s diesel technician training program. From there, he wants to start his own mechanic’s business.
And even though he’s turning his sights away from antique equipment restoration, he’s glad he found the old Terratrac 320.
“For how rare it is,” he says, “it’s kind of cool just to have something you normally don’t see.”
Watch Casey operate his rare Case in this video below:
The Havemann family’s restored antique tractors: From left, 1951 Oliver OC-3 crawler dozer restored by Taylor Havemann; a 1951 Farmall Super C tractor restored by Casey Havemann; and Casey’s Case Terratrac 320.Submitted by Casey Havemann
Caterpillar is bidding farewell to its 259D3, 279D3 and 289D3 compact track loaders with the introduction of its new, next-generation 255 and 266 models.
The completely redesigned models debuted at media and customer events at Caterpillar’s Edwards, Illinois, Demonstration and Learning Center last week. The 255 and 265 offer improved engine performance, more lift height, a roomier cab and more standard technology than their predecessors.
“We kept the DNA of the D3 series while reimagining the possibilities of loader performance using voice of customer feedback to lead the way,” says Trevor Chase, product application specialist for Caterpillar. “Both next-generation models leverage the many benefits offered by the vertical lift design. The new Cat 255 replaces the 259D3, while the 265 replaces both the 279D3 and 289D3 machines.”
The CTLs are the last of Cat’s building and construction products to get the next-generation treatment and simplified nomenclature. The first number (2) represents the skid steer loader and compact track loader machine family; the middle number (5 or 6) designates the machine size; and the ending number (5) is the compact track loader identifier. Skid steers will be identified by a 0 end number. Additional new models will roll out in the coming months, the company says.
CaterpillarMore power and torque
Cat equipped the 255 with a C2.8T engine and the 265 with a C2.8TA engine, both at 74 horsepower. This gives the new machines a significant boost in torque – 13% for the 255 and 43% for the 256 – over their D3-Series predecessors. The engine and cooling package are mounted lower in the frame for added visibility out the rear window and stability while lifting heavy loads.
Customers attest that the added lift height makes truck loading easier. The 255 offers 10 feet 4 inches of lift height, while the 265 can reach 11 feet high.
“The lift height has made a big difference when loading trucks,” said Derrick Roger, owner of Coast to Coast Lawnscapes, who spent several months testing the 255. “You can get on top of that truck now and empty the bucket; whereas, before you would have to shake the bucket to try to get the material to fall out.”
The 255 delivers 36% more tilt breakout, 26% higher lift breakout force and a 24% increase in rated operating capacity (ROC). The 265 also delivers 19% higher tilt breakout force and 22% higher lift breakout force.
Standard hydraulic pressure has been increased to 3,500 psi, allowing the 255 and 265 to operate all Cat Smart Attachments with the standard auxiliary hydraulics provided.
If demanding attachments require additional hydraulic flow, customers can have their Cat dealer activate the high flow functionality on the machine or remotely via software update. This makes it possible for the CTLs to hit 30 gallons per minute of flow at the standard system pressure.
A High Flow XPS factory option increases auxiliary hydraulic system pressure to 4,061 psi for both models, while also increasing the hydraulic flow to 30 gallons per minute for the 255 and 34 gallons per minute for the 265.
The torsion suspension undercarriage delivers better operator comfort, track wear and material retention, plus the stiffer design results in smoother graded surfaces, Cat says. A new 12.6-inch bar-tread narrow track option is available on the 255.
A more spacious cab
Cat says it has increased the cab width by 2.75 inches without making the machines wider and the footwell-to-ceiling height by 1.8 inches. The larger cab gives operators an additional 1.5 inches of hip room and 1.1 inches more width between the joysticks.
A range of new mechanical and air-ride suspension seat options are available, including a ventilated and heated seat. A new automatic temperature control allows operators to set a specific temperature. Relocated vents help cool or heat the machine quickly.
The standard package includes the same 5-inch LCD monitor as the D3 Series CTLs, which offers Bluetooth connectivity and functionality for the rearview camera feed, creep, job clock, and maintenance reminders.
Customers can upgrade to a new 8-inch advanced touchscreen monitor, like the display found in Cat’s next-generation mini excavators and small loaders. It delivers advanced radio control and supports the 270-degree multicamera option. The advanced monitor pairs with the advanced joysticks for integrated control of all machine functions and adjustments.
“You can adjust the movement – or the aggressiveness or the conservativeness – of how your tracks and lift arms work through your advanced touchscreen display,” Dante Thomas, skid steer and CTL marketing manager, said. “And you can control of all of your display functions from the advanced joysticks. There are buttons with enter and select functions on those joysticks that you’re able to change any functionality that is possible.”
Cat also redesigned the entry, making the 255 and 265 easier to enter and exit. The cab door can be opened even when the lift arms are not fully lowered to the frame stops. It can be removed without tools in less than one minute.
Advanced technologies
Calling the 255 and 265 “one of the most attachment-friendly machines on the market,” Thomas says both the standard and advanced monitors can run Cat Smart Attachments, such as the dozer and grader blades and backhoe.
“It has attachment recognition that when you plug the attachment into the machine, it recognizes which attachment is connected. It adjusts your joystick pattern, so it gives you intuitive and simple control,” says Thomas.
The available Cat Product Link Elite system tracks machine hours, location, asset utilization, provides fault code details and delivers advanced monitoring and machine health, that is remotely accessible via VisionLink. In addition, Product Link Elite provides remote flash and troubleshooting capabilities and quickly enables the remote activation of the SEA High Flow feature.
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Quick Data is a snapshot of new and used wheel loader sales trends from Randall Reilly’s EDA equipment financing data, TopBid auction price service and EquipmentWatch market trend reports.
Demand for wheel loaders has softened with new and used financed wheel loader sales down year-over-year from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023 according to Randall Reilly’s EDA equipment financing data.
Financed new wheel loader sales dropped 10%, while used financed wheel loader sales fell by 15% compared to the same period last year.
Cat (22.4%), Deere (21.0%) and Komatsu (12.4%) held their positions year-over-year as the top three sellers of new financed wheel loaders. Top models sold included the Deere 544 P-Tier (401), Deere 624 P-Tier (380) and the Komatsu WA270-8 (364).
[Watch: “A Really Solid Machine” – Test Run of Komatsu’s WA475-10 Wheel Loader]
Cat (28.5%) and Deere (22.9%) also snagged the No. 1 and 2 positions for the highest number of financed used units sold, with Case (14.7%) claiming the third spot. On the date we examined the data, the top-selling models were the Case 321F (340), Cat 926M (164) and the Case 621G (159).
During this period, there were more buyers of new loaders in Florida (955) than in any other state. Buyers of new wheel loaders were also prevalent in Texas (893) and Illinois (665). Those states were also top buyers of used financed machines, with 712 units sold in Texas, 413 in Florida, and 412 in Illinois.
EDA data is compiled from state UCC-1 filings on financed construction equipment. EDA continually updates this data as information comes in from each state.
[Related Content: A Rundown of the Latest Wheel Loaders for 2023]
Used Wheel Loader Market
Used wheel loader prices rose 10.1% for the 12-month period from August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023, according to Randall Reilly’s EquipmentWatch market trend data.
The average price for a used wheel loader was $137,465 in July 2022 compared to $151,367 in July 2023. The average age of used wheel loaders fell slightly during the period, dropping from 8.8 years to 8.3 years.
EquipmentWatchThe average age and price were calculated on 153,356 resale listings during the period in the EquipmentWatch database.
Over the last 12 months, prices for used wheel loaders have in general increased, with the largest gains in October 2022 (6.5%) and February 2023 (2.9%).
EquipmentWatch defines fair market value (FMV) as the monetary value of an asset that can be expected in a transaction with a single seller and single buyer, neither of whom is under any compulsion or time restriction to complete the transaction. FMV for heavy equipment is most closely associated with the private resale market, as opposed to the public auction market.
Wheel Loader Auction Prices
Caterpillar also dominated the auction charts, accounting for 18 of the top 20 wheel loaders sold in terms of price for the 12-month period of September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023. Deere and Komatsu were the only other manufacturers to appear on the list.
The top auction price spot went to a 2021 Cat 966M with 2,188 hours. It sold for $400,000 at a Ritchie Bros. auction in Orlando, Fla., on September 21, 2022. The second-highest price paid was $315,000 for a 2019 Cat 980M with 7,836 hours at another Ritchie Bros. sale in Atlanta, on December 1, 2022. Rounding out the top three was a 2018 Deere 944K with 8,941 hours. It sold for $290,00 at a J.M. Wood Auction Co. sale in Montgomery, Ala., on March 21, 2023.
In total, there were 358 wheel loaders sold at auctions tracked by Top Bid during this time, with an average price of $99,747. (This does not include any units sold for less than $5,000.)
EDA, Top Bid and EquipmentWatch are owned by Randall Reilly, parent of Equipment World.
[Related Content: Heavy Equipment Auctions Set for Second Half of 2023]
Volvo Construction Equipment bought Terex’s off-road truck line in 2014, and six years later, it rebranded its articulated haulers under the Rokbak name.
On this episode of The Dirt, we hear from Paul Douglas, Volvo vice president of rigid haulers, who explains the differences between the old Terex line and the Rokbak trucks. He also gives a hint at some of the new things coming from Rokbak, including redesigned cabs and replacing the current trucks with new models. There’s also the possibility of a new size truck to hit the market.
Rokbak, as with other construction equipment brands, is working toward a zero-emissions future. On this episode, he explains where the articulated dump truck market is heading in terms of alternative fuel. He adds that customers will see big changes in emissions and engines in the next five years, with the ultimate goal of reaching zero emissions within 10 years.
So to learn more about Rokbak and what the brand has in store for the future, check out this episode of The Dirt.
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