Here's a strange little trencher I picked up awhile back from a friend of mine. It was made by the Omsteel Machinery Company of Omaha, Nebraska, sometime in the '60's, apparently. Power is a 10hp Kohler which drives the digging chain with a system of belts and chains. The truly bizarre thing, though, is it's digging propel mechanism. In the third pic, the crank at the right is driven off the digging chain shaft, causing the rod just right of center in the pic to oscillate, causing the pawl(s) attached to it to engage the ratchet wheel (just left of center in the pic) which drives the 4 wheels of the machine through a system of chains and sprockets. Really. 1st "gear" allows one pawl to engage the ratchet gear, second "gear" incorporates a second pawl which doubles the travel speed from "very slow" to "slow". Fourth pic is of the engine and control room. As preposterous as the machine may seem, it does a good, if slow, job and has been quite reliable.
A "K series" Kohler, that's something you don't see everyday nowdays. That's a crazy find you got there Dave.
Thats neat, it looks like it digs deep, odd for a machine that small. It would be nice to fix that monster up. There was a really old ditch witch on ebay not far from me. I stopped at $300, I probably could have got it for less then 350, I wish I would have. It was a walk behind with a 3ft depth. Must have been one of the first ever made.
Theres a carcass to one of those or used to be one behind a shop in Florence Al. Its at the old Duetz tractor dealership. They also sold a larger one that was a ride on with Ford bronco axles. I think it was an Omsteel to.
Dave: Just looking at the pic the chain teeth are backwards. Providing this odd trencher does not have a chain that turns the reverse direction that "newer" trenchers do. If this trencher works like most the chain will rotate clockwise when viewed from the right hand side. If this is so...your teeth are backwards.
Some would say its sad to have noticed such things, personally I think its quite impressive. :notworthy The sad part is I went back and had another look ( as I didnt notice the first time :Banghead ) and have to agree with you. Either that or it is a backfilling model as the augers would also be going the wrong direction Realistically the chain has simply been fitted the wrong way round, just like some have witnessed on dozers and excavators.
So THAT'S why it's in backfill mode all the time So if I run it in reverse everything will be alright, right? Scary thing is it digs pretty well with it on backwards- it'll be a trenchin' fool with it right way 'round:yup
Just swap the carb and the muffler and you´ll be back in business.
ointlaugh :falldownlaugh :drinkup
old trencher That is a (Brown) trencher I believe I had one like it a long time ago but it had a wisconsin engine on it was a bit crude but did work real well I put in a lot of cable with it and even bought a new chain for it of ditch witch. it was simple to work on too and most of the parts were off the shelf stuff you could by at most auto parts stores
I have an OMSTEEL 400 trencher. I will take some pics of it when I return home in a couple weeks to show you guys. It is a rather large piece of equipment. I've had to do the normal / usual maintenance kind of things: hose replacements, cylinder rebuilds, engine replacement. It digs a deep trench at 5 feet with the stinger and about the same with the hoe. It is rather fun to play with on my property. I hired myself out a number of years ago, but have not done so recently.