Allis Construction Machines Info

[Tom_Byrne]

I have a chance to possibly pick up an old Allis track loader real cheap. Pretty good sized machine, about the size of a Cat D4, I would guess. Trouble is, I can't find much info on these old beasts. Anyone know a website that that could help? I went on a bunch of old tractor sites and get mostly info for farm tractors.

[AGCO918]

http://www.allischalmers.com The website is a farm website.There is somebody around that can help you.You are most likeily looking at a hd3 ,hd4, or bigger.

[john-holcomb]

I can't tell you where to look but I can tell you that the old Allis crawlers were a tuff machine. My neighbor has an HD6 as his small dozer, he also has a couple of Cat's, and he wouldn't part with the Allis. He is a JD man and I asked him why he didn't have a 450 or 550 Deere and he said the Allis was twice the machine. So I guess if you can't have an Oliver/Cletrac then the Allis would be the next best thing. LOL

[JoeJ]

;)Tom, Try asking over here... [url]http://www.mytractorforum.com/[/url] :DYour getting serious about those plants Gail wanted to get rid of huh:D:D? Your neighbors are goin ta just love you.......;) Joe

[HubbardRA]

You gonna do some serious landscaping when you buy that new place?

[JimDk]

Tom, Try: www.ibdozing.com As a former H3 Allis dozer owner,I used to do some reading on this site. Lots of people restoring, using, selling parts for those great old machines. There is bound to be someone on the discussion group that can answer your questions. Good luck, Jim

[Tom_Byrne]

Thanx for all the help guys. Talked to a retired excavator I know and looked the machine over a little closer. It's an Allis HD5 Track Loader, probably late 50's or early 60's, with a two cyl. Detroit diesel. My friend used to run them and told me they are almost impossible to kill. Loader seems pretty tight considering it's age, but the tracks and engine are what I really need to check. It's sort of a complicated deal right now, have to see how it shakes out.

[BLT]

Engine is 2-71 and about 50 HP. If engine is in reasonable shape, it will start up in cool weather blackish grey exhaust and then should clear up If it leaves a trail of blue exhaust, oil consumption is evident. Normal oil pressure hot is 40-45 PSI at speed and 2-10 PSI at idle. With that configuration engine it is common in cold weather to use ether to to make starting easier. Over on the governor side I beleive is where the M/N of engine is stamped. It is 271AC3 and the S/N will start out with a 271- or a 2A- with a star stamped before the start of S/N. That indicated original block. HD-5 crawler loader was a working fool and nothing could match it until Cat came with 977 loader.

[Al]

Hi, I had an HD5 with a loader. I bought it for 4000.00 in 1975 used it to load and grade out several hundred loads of dirt and sold it a year later for 4000.00 It is one heck of a tractor. In their day they were a very advanced unit. They were one of the first pieces of construction equipment to have modular assys. Ex. The transmission was a module connected to the clutch output with a u-joint and the tranny could be removed for service without pulling the engine etc. My unit was a loader unit and had 6 track rollers, and corrugated paving pads. The log skidding and dozer units had shorter tracks and 5 rollers. They also had Grouser pads, cleats on them. My brother has a 1954 "5" with a dozer. It has 24 inch wide LGP (low ground pressure) Grousers on it and it will go unbelieveable places. You can drive it through sloughs and swamps that you can barely get through on foot. These units were powered with I thought 2-53s, but they may be 2-71 "Detroit" or "Jimmy" engines built by General Motors, GMC Detroit Diesel division. They are 2 cycle and use a supercharger to blow the intake air into the intake ports and they fire every time over. They were very economical engines to run. They are quite noisy have a high pitched scream. They usually are not muffled that well. I have heard 4-53s in Timberjack log skidders working 5 miles away on a day when a light breeze was in the right direction and things were quiet otherwise. These engines were designed for use in world war 2 as a cheap throw away engine for various applications. They were built in 53, (and I believe 55), 71 and 92 cubic inch versions. The number designating the cubic inches of 1 cylinder. They were built in 2, 3, 4, 6, 6V, and 12V versions. The HD5s were either 2-53s or 2-71s, probably 71s, I don't remember for sure. The 6Vs were also made in a double length block with a long crankshaft for a V12. They were essentially 2 V6s end to end. These engines were used for everything, trucks and for a number of years the 6-71s were powering more big trucks than any other engines. They would take the abuse from "Cowboy" drivers much better than a Cummins. Though with a "good" driver that didn't try to overrev them etc, the Cummins were almost indestructable. They were used in generators, every kind of construction equipment you can think of, marine, you name it. You could always identify one by the scream. They always leaked oil, and usually carried no oil pressure at idle, but they ran and ran. I believe that one model of Oliver row crop and 1 utility were built with 4-53s in they and a 400 John Deere utility was built with a 2-53 in it. These things were good starters in cold weather, just a whiff of ether in the intake and if the battery could turn them over they would go. I am in Oregon tonite and about 3 miles from where I am is an Old Monarch 60 which was a little bigger than a sixty Cat. Allis later acquired Monarch and they built some crawlers that had steering wheels. Allis built some model Ls, and Ks and some others. After the end of ww2, they pulled the gas engines in the Ks and put 4-71 Detroits in them. They then became HD10 s Since they only had single reduction final drives if you were trying to push a tree with the blade up so the force was pushing the tracks in the ground, they would just clean the teeth off the final drive gears. It was more power than the rear ends could handle. A friend of mine had one, and we just put a new bull gear and pinion it the left final drive. The teeth on these gears are about 4 1/2 inches wide. The first day out the operator was grubbing stumps and got the blade under a stump and raised up on the blade shoving the tracks down, gave it the clutch in low gear and crunch both gears in both final drives. They were large crawlers, they just didn't have the drive train to handle the horsepower of the Detroits. The replacement for the 10s was the HD11 with the double reduction final drives and the Allis Buda diesel. One bull gear set and a planetary set inboard from the rear sprockets. This is how all of the new high horsepower farm tractors and construction equipment is built now. The replacement for the HD5 is the HD 6 which also has a Buda diesel in it instead of the Detroit or also called Jimmy. Allis Chalmers acquired Buda and used these units in the later equipment. All of the motor scrapers had the Budas in them. They were built in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. There were 4 sizes I believe. The 160, 260, 360, and I believe 460. My brother used to work in the factory that built them. They were 2 wheel drive and the front tractor unit pivoted on a King Pin on the front of the scraper bowl frame. The tractor unit could swing 180 degrees side to side to turn. The steering was controlled at the pivot or king pin. Now all of the Allis construction equipment is owned by Fiat, and it is now Fiat-Allis Al Eden

[stevei46]

Al I think the oliver tractors that used the detroit engines were model 88s and 99s these had the 3-73 engines this is the only pre.1957 tractor with blowers allowed in antique tractor pulls they can be made to make huge hp. and a nice one will bring as much as $10,000

[Al]

Steve, You are probably right. I remember seeing a couple, but it was a while ago and I barely remember the details, Thanks for the input, I appreciate it. Al Edem

[JoeJ]

Not orange, but one I'd love to find and restore!! Euclid TC-12 Twin Powered Crawler

I was told the steering was done only by throttle of each engine.

[tec2484]

I found a few places you maybe able to get parts for it if you do get it http://www.fpsmitheq.com/currently_dismantling/allis_chalmers.html http://www.tractorparts.com/ http://www.thilltractor.com/dismantled.htm and a picture http://www.tractor.org.il/tractors/showTractor-en.asp?id=75 I want one now!!!