Rubber Tracked Crawler Built From An Allis Chalmers C

Rubber Tracked Crawler Built From An Allis Chalmers C TRACTORS Conversions It doesn t look like an antique tractor but buried in Frank Schackmann s home-built crawler tractor is a C Allis Chalmers      Another fellow started this project several years ago but couldn t make it work and finally gave up on it says Schackmann of Newton Illinois I bought the remains of it out of a fence row hauled it to my shop and worked on it off and on the whole winter     Schackmann who retired from his job at Caterpillar a few years ago paid $50 for the tractor     That was two years ago When he got it together not only did he have a working rubber-tracked crawler but he also had a prize winner His favorite use for it is taking it to parades where he usually wins ribbons with it     But it was no prize when he pulled it out of the fence row It had an old 32 hp air-cooled Wisconsin V-4 engine in it and the pistons were frozen I couldn t get them to break loose so I had to find another engine The pistons were frozen in that one too but I was able to get them out so I could rebuild the engine he says     The rear end and transmission in the crawler are all that s left from the old C Allis Chalmers Frank thinks the tractor was a 1946 model He used the frame that he got with the tractor which was made of junked channel iron mostly It s put together so the sides can flex independently That way if you run over a log or a rock with one side it doesn t lift the other side off the ground too he explains     Frank made rubber tracks for his machine by cutting the sidewalls out of a pair of used 15 5 x 38 tractor tires The track runs on 24 in wide hubs made from well casing I used 24 in casing for the back and 16 in casing for the front he says     He welded brackets inside the rear hub casings so they would bolt onto the tractor hubs in place of the wheel rims He used the front axle from an old Ford truck for the front end of his undercarriage and bolted the casing hubs to a couple of wheels he found that fit on the spindles from the truck The idler sprockets between the front and rear hubs are the rims from a 1949 Ford car     The homemade track wouldn t stay on the flat well casing hubs so Frank welded a 2-in wide strip of iron cut from old pipe all the way around each hub This made enough of an arch in the center of the hub that the tracks can t slide around and slip off any more he says     The seat was missing when Frank bought the tractor so he built one to his liking The engine doesn t have a fuel pump so Frank had to build a bracket to mount the fuel tank in front of the operator s station and above the engine so fuel would flow in by gravity     The C Allis had a hand clutch and individual rear wheel brakes He rebuilt those too because they were frozen up Squirrels had actually built nests inside the brakes He couldn t find brake bands for a tractor that age so Frank made his own Since he steers the machine with the brakes his homemade bands get a good workout when he takes it to parades     He completed the project by adding a bumper on the front and painting it Allis Chalmers orange and silver      I use it for light work I have a grass seeder that mounts on the back and a harrow for the garden It ll go through mud that you can t hardly walk through he says     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Frank Schackmann 10727 N 1650th Newton Ill 62488     ph 618 455-3560

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