Geoffrey Schrab of Reeseville, Wis., fell in love with a 1926 Caterpillar Sixty as a teenager when he worked for his neighbor Allen Rudolf of Clyman, Wis. Rudolf acquired the machine in the mid-1930s and used it to power a rock crusher.

“In 2001, I purchased both units from the Rudolf estate,” Schrab says. “Two years later, I moved it into my barn and started disassembly, as the engine was tight due to an open exhaust being outside for 50 years. Fortunately, I had filled the cylinders with oil when I was young. I removed the cylinders and managed to press pistons out and began searching for replacements, as three of them were cracked. I was able to find 6½-inch bore replacements. However, another 10 years passed before I started working on the Sixty again.”

He had the cylinders bored to the original 6¾-inch size, reused the pistons, added some new piston rings, cleaned and polished the crank, and reassembled the engine. “I flushed the mice nests out of the radiator, and it was ready to go again,” he adds.

In 2022, Schrab took the Sixty to the Badger Steam and Gasoline Show in Baraboo, Wis., but the tractor would not start. So, he replaced the magneto with one from a Farmall Regular. After a pull, it took right off.

The Cat Sixty was originally introduced for sale in 1919 as the C. L. Best 60 tracklayer. It was manufactured from 1925 to 1931 by the Caterpillar Tractor Co. in San Leandro, Calif., and Peoria, Ill. There were 18,945 units made, powered by a Caterpillar 18.5-liter, four-cylinder, overhead valve, liquid-cooled gasoline engine that produced 60 hp on the belt and 35 hp on the drawbar.

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The Sixty was known for its overhanging radiator, individually mounted cylinders, lever controls, open clutch, straightforward exhaust, rough seat and exposed fuel tank. Features include three forward gears and one reverse gear, open operator station, and a steering system that employed roller-bearing-mounted, multiple-disc, enclosed friction clutches.

This machine was sold throughout the world and worked on every continent except Australia. It was part of the construction process of the Hoover Dam and even participated in completing the original Hollywood sign. The original price in 1931 was $4,000.

“Today, besides operating the rock crusher, I like to plow at the Rat Club’s plow day near Hartford, Wis. It takes 3 gallons of gas for one round on a 160-rod-long field,” Schrab says. “I also have other Cats — a model 22, 28, D2 and two D4s. The Sixty is one of my prized possessions because it was owned by my neighbor, and I truly like them in their working clothes.”

To have your favorite tractor featured, email or send in a photo of yourself with your tractor, along with a 300-word write-up about the tractor, to: [email protected] or Wisconsin Agriculturist, P.O. Box 236, Brandon, WI 53919.