Definitely way ahead of it's time. I had a very small hand in the mechanical restoration of it, and by pure fluke, the painting. The tractor and people behind it will always have a place in my heart and memories. A sincere hats off to the late Tom Kempling, Late Bill Wilson, Will(John) Voth and the paint shop boys at the old Lafarge, Calgary Service Centre paint shop.
Not only that, but it serves an important purpose - I don't think it's easy to see the front wheels from the driver's seat, so it tells the driver where the wheels are facing!
Well that's honestly a really amazing tractor. It's a look at how people designed tractors back then. Some 3 wheeled tractors were the norm. By the way, do you have any old Allis-Chalmers tractors there? I'd love to see a video of one.
Grease, what's Grease?" Ratchet" "GRIND" "GANGK" " WOCKA WOCKA" !!!!! Jeez you can't hear the engine over all the unlubricated,open spinny grindy parts!!! What a beast!!!! PS,there's at least 2 more places that a big red "GMC" would fit!
***** Witam.Ciekawy ciągnik ile waży i jaka ma moc szacunkową ?. Wydaje się że silnik za szybko pracuje bo przy manewrach bardzo szybki, strach w oczach :-)
Excellent replica! Those were some amazing looking traction engines, and it was a real shame none survived. Thanks for bringing back some steam history, first caterpillar tractor!
Thanks for the reply, I agree. Its a fascinating tracator for sure 1918 technology. I like the gears inside the back wheels and the 2 oil cans and many more things like the length of the sterring rod. Have a good day my friend. GO GMC !
Why do so many old tractors not seem to have a crawler gear either forwards or reverse. My somewhat later David Brown on "Low-Slow" transfer box setting plus first or reverse would crawl along at around 1/2 a mile an hour at tick over revs. I would have thought a crawler gear would have been an essential for an agricultural tractor of the period to get enough drawbar pull for heavy ground.
Good question, my best guess is the gear cutting would be expensive and the transmission case would need to be shaped differently to accommodate the large driven gear.
Their price in relation to equivalent Ford tractors and their limited usefulness was some of the things that kept it from selling well, but in many ways it was very much ahead of it's time.
She lives at the museum, I believe she was donated when the gentleman who restored her passed away a few years ago and is now maintained by a fellow who knows her inside and out.
+Michael Hartzell The name "Sieve Grip" is a reference to the wheels, they where designed for use in softer sandy soils, mainly for traction work. They where more used for industrial jobs than farms, although they could be used for field work if need be.
It does make me wonder, whether it would break teeth, grind the rock (depends on how soft the rock is), or do something else in the drivetrain. Best would be that it just stalls.
The damage would be quite bad, I'd say. Though the angle of the teeth is relatively wide, so I assume stones getting stuck wasn't happening too often. It looks like the drive sprocket and the wheel sprocket "rim" are both removable, but you'll still have a big sprocket to remake/replace, especially with its open design with dirt and sand grinding between the sprockets.
It's too bad they quit making these by the time Harry Fergusson patented the 3 point hitch. If the gas tank was on tha back, with a front seat access, and 3 point hitch, this would have been a real nimble and stable design.
Thanks so much for watching, it's price was actually it's downfall, they could not produce them cheaper than their direct competitor: Ford. But no Ford tractor could match it's performance on soft surfaces.
Man I'd love to haul one of those not working to the scrap yard HAHAHA, good place for a GM. Ok maybe not this old a GM, it probably makes more power per cubes than anything GM is making today.
