Hey model man, thanks for the input. I agree with you about the final outcome to be a workhorse not a showpiece. What I'll be happy with in the end is if someone can just recognize it as being a larger d series cat dozer. If I can  accomplish a realism to a d11 by say someone like my wife I'm right where I want to be!!  (Although I would show her a pic of a d11 and a d3 

 , hopefully she sees it!!!!  But yes I'm striving for a workhorse. Going to be used to build and maintain our 1/14 scale short course trophy truck racetrack in between races. Down at our Riverlot it started out as me and the neighbor playing in the sand by river-- that morphed into about 10 of us having several races per weekend and a full racetrack with guide rails, berms, jumps, seating for spectators, watering system,,ect,,,,  as I look back I'm starting to realize my addiction,, ahh still in denial!!! Lol!!!
So you think the grousers look big? For me it's like the signature of a beast, thick and tall, big looking tracks. I think that comes from all the used equipment I've had and always wanting the new stuff but not being able to justify the $200k for new. I may trim the height down some but it's mainly going to be used in sandy/silty soil.   And if anything looks like I'm heading in the wrong direction I'm always listening