Most of the changes to the D5B were cosmetic – new deeper, sloping hood and improved operator deck and controls. Its manual transmission also differed from the standard direct drive D5 in having more closely spaced gears to better adapt to whatever it was pulling.ĭevelopment never stops at Caterpillar and the D5 was no exception. Usually fitted with an air conditioned cab, it featured full length fenders, larger muffler, extended air cleaner stack, six-way adjustable suspension seat and a strengthened drawbar. The D5 SA was a version especially developed for the agricultural sector and was a direct drive model only. The new D5s spawned a couple of offshoots, most notably the D5 LGP (low ground pressure), and the D5 LGP (low ground pressure).ĭ5 LGPs were very popular in Asia, and featured a widened, lengthened track frame with very wide track shoes, either a traditional single bar grouser or a specially developed trapezoidal shoe which was self cleaning.Ĭaterpillar’s trapezoidal shoe had made its first appearance some years prior on the Company’s D6B LGP, a model only available in Japan at the time.

The latest D5 models are still manufactured in Japan to this day. Production in Australia and France ceased in 1972, but Japanese production continued on, and Japan became one of the prime sourcing locations for the model. Unlike its 1939 predecessor, demand for the new D5 turned out to be high, so much so that Caterpillar opened up production lines in Japan, Australia and France to cope with the worldwide demand. Marketed as just the right size for the contractor who needed to upsize from a D4 but couldn’t afford or really need the turbocharged D6C, the D5 was advertised internationally as the “tractor that filled the gap”. While the older D6B had been powered by the Cat D318 engine, the new D5 featured a naturally aspirated Caterpillar D333 diesel with a ninety three flywheel horsepower rating. The D6B had been a good reliable tractor for Caterpillar but had been replaced by the more powerful D6C. This “new” D5 had been developed from the very successful Cat D6B. Rebirth – The 1960sĬaterpillar revived the D5 name in 1967 with the introduction of two new D5 models, a direct drive and a power shift version, both of which were available in either 60” or 74” gauges. Only three of the forty six produced are known to still exist.

This was due to low sales (an existing D6 of the day could do everything a D5 could and more) and the onset of WWII. Powered by a six-cylinder Caterpillar D4600 diesel, (the same engine that was used in the first Cat DW10 motor scrapers), the 1939 Cat D5 is a very, very rare tractor as only forty six were ever manufactured and production was curtailed the same year it commenced, 1939! The 1939 D5 was an offshoot of the D6-2H series on D4-7J undercarriage with a 60” gauge, and was known as the D5-9M series. I say once again, because the origins of the Caterpillar D5 go way back in time to 1939 when the D5 model was first introduced. In a bid to market an intermediate sized tractor to fill the void between the D4 and D6, Caterpillar once again revived the D5 name. Rather than a child of the late 1960s, its heritage goes much further back.

Caterpillar’s D5 is a bit of an unsung hero, straddling the gap between small and medium sized track type tractors in the company’s product range.

Cat d5b weight