The back section swings underneathe the frame on it's own circle, I should have taken better pics but I was in a hurry when I saw it.
It's a good old Ambling b*****d ....... (aka Aveling Barford). I did my apprenticeship with them. A-B graders did not have an articulation hitch like most but pivoted the rear bogie using the hyd. cylinders seen in the 3rd photo. It's an AWD (6 x 6) but someone has disconnected the front driveline and turned it into a 6 x 4. A shame really because by god those things could pull. What it'll probably do now is spin the rears with those narrow tyres on it. Tell me what engine it has in it and if the transmission is powershift or manual and I'll tell you what model it is.
Didn't recognize the engine, 6 cylinder, in line pump, turbo. Can't tell you what trans it has. Didn't get up in the machine.....
Jesus Nige your on the ball. I remember back in the sixties when I was a kid, And I asked my father what sort of Grader is that. And he said to me.....Its an Ambling b*****d there a heap of tish lol...... funny that. ( by the way we always use Cats )
A-B's were a bit like Poclain excavators. You needed maintenance staff who were on the ball and knew how to look after them to get the best out of them, but back in the day they were the only 6-wheel drive grader on the market. The SG (Super Grader) used solid steel bar for the frame instead of the hollow section used by the lighter models. It was amazing to watch the press in the Plate shop bending those bars, even after they'd been heated in an oven it still used to make it creak a bit I can tell you. I spent 2 weeks once during a summer shut-down scraping in the crankshaft bearings for the water pump that ran that press (yes it was a hydraulic press using water as the fluid, not oil). Happy days .......... The SG weighed in at about 21 tonnes and used an 8V-71 GM engine for power. Thinking back to the early/mid-70's a Cat 16 wouldn't even look at some of the work an SG could handle. The one in the photos looms like an MG, the "lighter" 6 x 6 machine. Depending on its age it could have either a Leyland 680 or a Scania engine in it. This one looks fairly recent as it has a ROPS, so most probably a Scania. The transmission would be an Allison. 562C - Go back some time and have a better look if you can. The Serial Number plate should be on the LH side of the frame somewhere close to the cab door.
NOT an 8V71, that I would recognize. I'll get back and have a look, but it might be a while.
Wow Nige - You really know what your talking about. What is your experience with them? We specialize in Magnetic Generators .
I was wondering if this Rig The AB is any kin to the Old Autin Western Grader that i Operated Back in the early 60s, it didn't have a tamden rear drive, but the Front wheels pulled & you could steer both the front & rear, it Had a UD 14 Int. Engine, it was a good old grader, you could get in tight places with it, what makes me wonder about if these Machines are Kin is the front of the AB looks just like the front of the AW, Just wondering
Wow. Just looked at the pictures of the Austin western on the steering box thread. I'll bet they shared the front axle. Look at the pictures in the 2 threads that are taken of the front end from the back side.
Aveling Barford AFAIK bought out either part of Austin Western or some of the patents that Austin Western had developed. A-B also had a 4 x 4 grader with a single axle at the rear instead of a tandem. But that was before my time, I'm only going on heresay and vague memories of conversations that took place about 40 years ago.
I wonder when they quite making the Austin Western Graders? I know back in the Late 50s Austin Western was making Cherry Pickers, did Gallon Buy them out, i know for the next 30 or so years you would see Gallon pickers on lots of Job Sites,
Update. Aveling-Barford manufactured Austin-Western graders for sale in the UK & the British Commonwealth under license from A-W from 1950-1973, replacing the engine used in the US with a British-built Leyland. They started with the A-W 99H and then also manufactured the Super 500. A-W was taken over by Clark equipment in 1971. A-B continued manufacturing graders under their own name until 1999.
Nige Im not sure but I think some of them over here in oz had Gardiner Engines in them. And they had a 4x4 model to for memory. But I stand corrected it was a long time ago.
Yep they did Nige it's a Aveling Barford based on the American Austin-Western 100 series “Pacer” this 4x4 model from around 1967.
Gardners would be before my time with A-B, although I remember 6LW and 6LX Gardners in trucks like Fodens & ERFs'. I remember their adverts like it was yesterday - "L. Gardner, the Great British Diesel. Patricroft, Manchester". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Gardner_and_Sons I only remember A-B graders with Leylands of varying models (the 680 was common) and Detroits.
we had one in the salt in wa just out of carnarvon have a cummins 335 in it but run alot of 350 so the two had to meet ripper on the rear
Here is a 1963 Austin Western super 300 to compare. The Austin Western Pacer model only had 1 rear axle unlike there Super model.
Hey Dwan, my 1963 Super 366 came with a blade where yours has that bare cylinder hanging out, in case you didn't know what that's for. Seriously, that is one sweet restoration, and when you get ready to do another, I'll trade you one just like it in "unrestored" condition, so you won't run out of something to do.
Here is why I am missing that part that is suspose to be under the grader. Had to remove it to fix this.
Yair . . . I seem to remember some of the early DRMCO graders had phased cylinders like that for the circle turn . . . I thought it was a pretty neato setup. Cheers.
My sideshift rod looks about like that, maybe not quite that bad. My sideshift still works, but it has leaked when used since I got it. When I repack the cylinder I am going to need to straighten the rod. Did you just use a jack or press and wood blocks, or how did you do it?
Mitch; I did not have to repack the cylinder just straiten the ram and the leak which was about 1 qt. a day stopped. Seems the rod just pushing to 1 side was enough to cause the leak. I used a couple 4" x4" blocks and a 20 ton press. Just keep rolling the ram and press on the high spot. When I pulled mine apart someone had welded braces on the cylinder on 3 sides. I had to cut these braces to remove the head then weld them back together when I reinstalled everything. You can see the cuts I made with a cutoff wheel, ready to weld when restored. Mine is also a 1963 366 series machine and the seal for the ram is just a "O" ring along with a few felt wipers. Be verry carfull with the felt wipers when you remove them as there is a coil spring in the middle of them and If I remember right Minnpar http://www.minnpar.com/ wants $78 for them. The wipers are split so you do not have to remove the piston to take them off but to remove the cylinder head to get to the O ring you will have to take off the piston.
The turntable cylinders on my machine need rebuilding. Dwan, where did you get parts for your project? My Serial number is : Austin Western T366 View attachment 99768
Mind did not leak under the swivel joint. As far as the broken yoke, it is cast and hard to weld. I found a used one th replace mine that was broken like yours. $500 about 4 years ago. The replacement leaked so I had to take the seals out of my old one and put them in the newer replacement. No leaks now. I have had good luck finding parts through these guys. http://www.tractorparts.com/austin_western.htm Also http://www.minnpar.com/craneparts.asp has been a good source for soft parts like seals etc. Only problem with them is you have to know what you are looking for because some of the people that answer the phone there have never heard of an AW. Dwan
The broken yoke on mine was caused from the pin slipping down where only half was pinned...it seems that the setscrew bolt was not drilled through from the factory. Mine had been welded before, but the setscrew wasn't fixed, so it broke again. I have the cylinder at Superior Welding in Anchorage where Scott assures me he can weld new ears on and will re-drill the unbroken side as it has become sloppy. I have given minnpar a call and got an email back with parts list. They seem good to work with.
Originally the ones built in england under licence were all badged Avelling Austins, by far the most common model down here [NZ] was the 99H. thats what that 4x4 model in the pic is. Leyland 600 powered. And is still a few to be found working too. Nige, Is a old 6V71 powered super 500 down here that a contractor used for humping and hollowing; ie contouring paddocks for better drainage in marine clay paddocks. They updated it to a near new awd 140H, but found to there dismay that the dear old aveling would 'leave it for dead' sidecasting the hard clay ! Those circle motors/rams have to be timed with air to make sure they are sychronised to turn the turntable correctly too fwiw. Have even got a MG4 model too Nige, this is later version of the super MG. cheers merv
Merv, The Aveling-Austins were the Austin Western models made under licence by Barfords, basically the 99H & the Super 500. The later graders designed by Barfords themselves (but leaning a great deal on Austin Western design principles) were badged as Aveling Barfords. Back to my comment about a 6-wheel drive Aveling pi$$ing all over a 16G all those years ago..... the Super 700 that was the final model out of the factory was a beast of a machine and no 16 on earth would live with it. Based on experience I'd include 16M's in that comment too. Just for sh1ts & giggles I'd love to have a bash one day if I could find a Super 700 in good nick. I still have nightmares about the procedure you had to go through to preload the taper bearings in the top and bottom of the front axle tracta housings to get the correct load on the bearings but not distort the bore in the outside end of the housing to which the hollow wheel bearing spindle bolted. Happy daze .......
Nige; yes some of your pom engineering did produce some nightmares. Remember getting talked into doing a rear diff on a super mg series with the solid housing for the pinion. Had to dissasmble the whole diff head every time i wanted to adjust the pinion. Had a few blasphemous outbreaks of biblical porportions doing that job. On same subject; and you will probably know answer to this ?? Where the bevel gear/solid differential assmblys on aveling barfords made by kirkstall ?? Diff heads for super mgs over here are getting like rocking horse poo to find. And someone reckoned the crownwheel and pinions were made by kirkstall and are the same as in some ERF trucks. ? or is this just bull....?? Cheers from nz. merv
Merv, Some diff parts may have been made by Kirkstall but I remember the Barford Machine Shop & Heat Treat well and there were always baskets of diff pinions and crown wheels lying in the aisles so my guess is they made their own (I´m sure some of the smaller dump trucks used complete Kirkstall axles though), although it's entirely possible that if A-B's production couldn't cope that they had Kirkstall make batches of parts for them. I guess the only way to prove it would be to get hold of some Kirkstall parts and compare them.
Well, wasn't going to say anything, but in my cups, so a word or two is probably not in order, but..I used to run one of these six wheel drive Barfords for the government and I recognized the gov't orange right away. The cabs were set up for a smaller fellow that was used to all those levers poking out all over the place. Ours had a wing and would sometimes suck you over the bank - snow that is - as you plowed the road. I was used to the Cats 12,14,& 16's so I was completely astounded first time over the berm and I lifts the blades, put her in reverse and she backs out of there like she was just coming out of the shop after a service or something like that. Really, you couldn't get it stuck, just put er in gear and away you went! She did like her maintenance though! :drinkup