Clewiston Tractor, now Kelly Caterpillar, was contracted by the U.S. Sugar Corporation in Clewiston, FL to build rubber tire tractors to pull sugar cane wagons from the field to factory in the mid 1950s. The Caterpillar D6 9U tractor served as the base unit with a custom wheel conversion added.
This conversion is basically the drive train of a grader located just outside the steering clutches where the normal drive sprocket would go. Also the equalizer spring that holds up the engine is eliminated and replaced with a hard bar.
Later in the early 1960s, the Caterpillar D6 B series was used as the base model when U.S. Sugar ordered additional units for its Louisiana plant. It is estimated that a total of 100+ units were produced.
The DW6 has found its way into multiple applications from pulling circus wagons to having front mounted blades and used in construction. At one time it was discussed by Canadian Caterpillar Dealer Geo. W. Crothers Limited and Hewitt Equipment to produce a DW2 and DW4. Although no known examples exist, we do have a few pictures of at least one DW4 made.
The DW6 is always a crowd pleaser when at shows. It’s big, tall and very unique as it appears to be a rather large skid steer... LOL!
There are several DW6s around the world with units in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. I personally know of at least 11 that are still being used today with (I am sure) many others hiding in collections.
