Doug Harke

Classic Caterpillar Toys

Crawlers were the major source of high horsepower tractors until the introduction of substantial numbers of four wheel drive tractors in the 1970’s.  Until John Deere introduced the large R diesel tractor just at the mid century point, Caterpillar crawlers were shown pulling the large John Deere implements.  The smaller D-2 and D-4 crawlers were popular because they could handle the equipment that was built for three, four, and five bottom tractors.

There is a nice assortment of early Caterpillar or Cat toys for the farm toy collector to add to their display cabinets.  The earliest is the cast iron Ten crawler made by Arcade and introduced in the late 1920’s.  It is rather crude and has link chain for tracks.  Most were blue but green and red ones were also offered.  The next Arcade Cat model was more detailed and came out in 1932.  It was machinery gray like most tractors of the time and had a closed engine.  The color was changed to yellow in the mid 1930’s to replicate the change in the real machines.  In the late 1930’s, the engine covers were removed and the engine was painted silver.  All of the later Arcade Cats had realistic steel tracks and nickel plated drivers.  Just before the end of production a model with rubber tracks was offered.  The scale was somewhere between 1/18 and 1/20 as compared to the first Ten which was closer to 1/25 scale.  These Arcade Cat toys are quite scarce and a nice original will run close to $1000.  Thomas Toys and other cast iron parts sources carry a nice assortment of parts to restore or repair your cast iron Cat.

The late cast iron Cat made by Arcade from their 1940 catalog.  Note the metal tracks.

Arcade ceased production of toys in 1941 to manufacture parts for the war effort and then did not re-open after the War was over.  Cruver made a nicely detailed plastic model of the D-7 crawler beginning in 1946 and this was produced until 1950.  The tracks did not move on this toy but it was fitted with small wheels on the underside so that young farmers could push it along the floor.  Cruver also made a model 70 scraper to pull behind the D-7.  Again, it was a nicely detailed toy with tires that looked like the real thing.  The scraper is much rarer than the crawler.  Reuhl took over the production and marketing of the Cruver Cat toys in the late 1940’s and replaced it with a diecast D-7 in 1950.  Both the Reuhl and Cruver Cat toys were 1/24 scale.  Like all Reuhl toys, the D-7 was a very detailed toy and was assembled with screws so that broken parts could be easily replaced using the parts order form included with each toy.  A working lever could raise and lower the dozer blade.  Reuhl offered a model 70 scraper pan with a dolly so that it could be pulled by the D-7.  They also offered a pull-type ripper for the D-7 and these could be ordered as a set.  The two variations of the D-7 are straight levers and ones with round knobs.  Production of Reuhl Cat toys ended in the mid 1950’s after the licensing agreement was terminated.

Plastic D-7 was made by Cruver as described in this 1947 ad.

Ertl acquired the molds from Reuhl in the late 1950’s and reissued the tractor-scraper pan and the model 12 grader but not the D-7 which was changed substantially in the late 1950’s.  Ertl’s first Cat crawler was the bar grill D-6 released in the early 1960’s.  This is a very rare toy and probably is more scarce than the Reuhl D-7.  It had a swinging drawbar and a lever to lift and lower the dozer blade.  By 1963, the bar grill D-6 was replaced with a flat grill D-6 which had a swinging drawbar and a blade lift mechanism like the bar grill model.  This was replaced, in the late 1960’s, by the most common D-6 which has a fixed diecast drawbar and no lift mechanism for the blade.  The late D-6 came in two decal variations and was produced through the early 1970’s.  Like the Reuhl D-7, the Ertl D-6 was approximately 1/24 scale.

Early 1950’s ad fully describes the features of the large scale D-6 made by Doepke.

Early 1960’s brochure of Cat toys by Ertl shows the flat grill D-6 with the swinging drawbar.

Doepke made a larger scale D-6 crawler in the 1950’s and it is also a favorite of farm toy collectors.  Unlike the other Cat toys, the Doepke D-7 was pressed steel and old abused toys are often badly rusted.  It was a favorite in the sandbox because it was more sturdy than the diecast or plastic toys and the Bakelite tracks worked just like the real ones.  A company called Mystic River Sales, from Connecticut, offered a pedal Cat D-4 with a dozer blade and an optional trailer.  Price of the crawler, with blade, was $45.90 which was almost one-half of a month’s salary in 1950.  A few were made that were battery powered but the gas engine powered model was never marketed.

The diecast D-7 made by Reuhl is fully described in their sales literature.

Pedal D-4 crawler was one of the most sophisticated toys in 1950.

There is a good assortment of parts to restore the Reuhl, Doepke, and Ertl Cat toys.  Be careful to use the correct Cat yellow as the later one is too brown or tan.

TTT October 2003 Page 5

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