Save or Scrap? CAT Towmotor sitting for years. Will it Run?? 

The Towmotor co est 1919 were the inventors of forklifts, their early models didn’t have forks and would just tow carts from place to place 👍🍻

The small forklift getting lifted by the bigger one is like a mother cat bringing her kittens back😂😂😂

"Got a screwdriver..., woop yeah things are angry down here...., the lights really did dim, heh heh heh!" That gave me a hearty chuckle as well, especially since you called it beforehand.

That started single handily carried this entire video. These are always great to watch cause I like looking at old machines run

You should know by now, if a forklift (or in this case a Towmotor) is not leaking, there's nothing left to leak!

Don't give up on the Towmotor just yet Matt. At work we have a mid 70's 15,000lb capacity Towmotor with a Continental flat 6 that had a similar lost spark issue. Our company purchased the machine from a salvage yard where it lived outdoors exposed to the elements for many years. It took some digging, but my friend (who's name is also Matt) found the problem. There are bakelight/plastic pieces that isolate the points assembly/parts from the breaker plate and distributor body. The bakelight/plastic pieces had disintegrated and were causing the engine to randomly lose spark. My friend found some non-conductive material at our shop and made new isolators for the distributor. That solved the problem and the Towmotor has run fine ever since. The distributor in that machine was rusty like the one on your machine due to being stored outside for a long time. My friend thinks that's what caused the isolator pieces to become brittle and fail. It's worth checking out.. Distributor refurb kits are still available as are new/used distributor assemblies. Those old Towmotors are great machines once they're sorted. #DieselCreek

0:34 we can see here as the mother gently picks up her offspring. Truly a sight to behold.

This brought back many fond memories of the first forklift I ever operated, a 1950's Towmotor. The shop's chosen forklift mechanic knew of it's history before the shop owned it. It began life in the high rise construction industry. Back then it was raised floor by floor with a crane to move construction material around as the high rise buildings were constructed.

That starter is a real trooper.

@Diesel Creek - Towmotor was a fairly popular brand back in the day. The company was founded in Euclid, Ohio in 1919, during the early days of forklifts, right when Hyster and Yale were getting started too. The company operated until 1965, when it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of another forklift manufacturer (Caterpillar Tractor), and production ceased sometime in the 1980s. Why share these pictures? Well, Towmotor is an interesting part of our industry history. See, the Towmotor marketing people were pretty savvy. They promoted their forklift as a "one man gang" capable of doing the work of 30 men (aka a gang) using hand trucks. That idea, of a one man gang really seemed to light up the imagination of forklift owners and operators. Soon people were referring to ALL forklifts as “towmotors” regardless of the brand. This was pretty great for Towmotor, but less so for all the other brands. It’s a classic example of a genericized trademark.

That opening shot was like a mama lion carrying her cub out of danger! 😄

I don't think I can recall the last time you threw the white towel into the ring, but you definitely gave it far more attention that it probably deserved. I'm sure that the outcome of this revival was not at all what you were hoping for, but this was still a great video.

The sound of your Armytruck in the intro is so cool, i had to rewind to watch the intro again

Semi supervillains logo on the door was a nice touch

I'd check the rim dimensions and see if you could transfer those pneumatic tires over to Allis (with maybe a little wheel opening trimming. Other than that, good decision Matt!

The GM starter sell node back in the day , the contact disc could be flipped over giving you a new surface on the disk . Its been a long time back but it seams like the copper stud bolt contacts could be rotated 180 in the bakelight insulator. Thanks for making the video. 👍

Much respect for calling attention to you doing something dangerous. Which of us hasn’t been in a hurry and done something stupid only to realize it afterward? It takes a lot of integrity and humility to own and highlight it for others.

You show some video editing skillz 🤣 Nice 👍🏻 The semi supervillains on the garage door

Matt these videos are getting better with each one I don’t know what I would do without your channel. Amazing!

My dad said back during the Civil War they used them to tow aircraft around in the hangers, Lee said, let's call those things "towmotors" and the name stuck. Makes sense to me@

It's amazing how serviceable the older equipment is the newest stuff not so much

Watching these videos is like checking in with a friend who is into stuff you know nothing about. Just interesting and positive.

The original Towmotor had no forks, but was used to tow things around the plant etc.

My Dad worked in a pallet factory that was just across the road from our house when I was small child in the 80s. 6 year old me, would love to go and stand by the fence and watch my Dad drive around in one of these things moving large stacks of pallets. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I knew that these were called Fork Lifts. I had always called them Stacker Trucks. Just hearing the sound of this running brings back some fond memories.

An air filter would help starting by causing more vaccum to suck the propane in. Similar to a choke on a gas engine

I was a machinery hauler for 38 years. There was a machinery mover/rigger in cleveland that would load/unload from time to time that had Townotor lift trucks from the 1930S/1940s that solid built they would repair rebuild as needed. These guys were old school they would drive these townotors on and off their straight trucks on blocked wood planks. They were one of the best riggers I ever worked with.

One of your best ones for a while mate, so satisfying when they start😊

My nextdoor neighbors are both retired from Towmotor. They have one and use it as their mail box. He made a mini pallet on the forks and perched on it is the mail box. Pretty cute and a big middle finger to the P.O.A.

Win a few, lose a few, play a few in the rain. The video was well edited and entertaining. Thanks! 👍👍👍

Old trick with those delco solenoids is to slacken the top contact nut. push the stud in. rotate 180 degrees and retighten and you get fresh contact for the solenoid to contact with.

O’Reillys used to sell a universal drop in four-cylinder electronic ignition upgrade to replace the points on forklifts. You might check on that. I’ve worked on a few forklifts over the years and I can tell you one thing. Even with a good running engine, if the starter is hung in to the fly wheel ring gear, it takes a tremendous amount of current to turn over that engine. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen people try to start a forklift that the battery was low on. they crank the engine over just slightly, and then the starter hangs in. even with a jump pack and a charged battery they won’t crank over. There was a couple in particular that I worked on all the time and the guys never could figure out how I could get them started after they had tried multiple times. The trick was really simple. I reached in and turned the fan blade which turned the engine over until I heard that tale tell click of the starter disengaging. Then I would hop on and fire it right up. That starter needs to get the momentum going before it engages the teeth on the fly wheel in order to have the torque needed to crank even a freshly ran engine. Another thing about the propane forklifts is your usually running a two stage regulator for the propane. The first stage takes liquid propane out of the tank at high pressure and evaporates it into a gas. The second stage of the regulator takes the pressure down even more to feed into the carburetor. To prevent the first high-pressure stage from freezing up as the liquid propane evaporates into a gas the engine coolant is pumped through the body of it. So, if your antifreeze/coolant is low or not circulating properly the high pressure regulator will freeze up starving the engine for fuel. There was one that was basically worn out, but it was at a small business where I knew the guys, they had already spent a bunch of money with a forklift repair technician who replaced all kinds of stuff, then wanted to do a head job on it, etc. so they called me and asked if I could take a look at it. Like yours in the video it would barely run had no power didn’t wanna stay running. What I finally decided was somehow, the timing had changed just enough that it was firing too late on all the cylinders. So I simply moved the spark plug wires, reverse rotation of the distributor, one tower on the cap. It fired up, and then I was able to adjust the timing using the distributor adjustment. they were ecstatic. When they offered to pay me I told them don’t worry about it. Just remember that next time I need something done. They used that old machine for probably another year before it started having other issues.

You should get that roof cage for the small wheel loader and as much steel as you can get from the lift stages, you can use that Also you can yank the side shift cylinder and the hydraulic valve Battery obviously, maybe keep the counterweight for a tractor weight and the cooler grill as Yard ornament, a cast that says Caterpillar is neat

I would actually be disappointed if Matt didn’t use the impact on the spark plugs 😂. Thanks man 👍

There was some comments here about not to give up on this one and not to scrap it.. But for real this forklift has so many issues as you said and maybe the worst problems you havent found yet so I do agree on scrapping this. It just doesnt seem to be worth the time and money to get it fixed & that clutch aint really a smooth one to use. Thanks for the awesome video and take care Matt ❤🇫🇮

I’d love to go do stuff like this under my pole barn but back surgery has got me down but matt always got a good video to bring my morale back up thanks Matt and keep on wrenching

TOWMOTOR CORPORATION was founded in 1919 and introduced the first forklift industrial truck in 1933. On November 10, 1965, Towmotor officially became a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Tractor Company of Peoria, Illinois

Awww, such a cute beginning! Momma CAT picks up it's kitten by the scruff of the neck

I kept expecting to hear attenboroughs voice saying "here we see a mother forklift carrying her kitten to a safer location"

So happy to see you again hope you’re doing well and your family too mate all the best

Matt’s dance whenever something fires up for the first time cracks me up ever single time. Keep up the awesome content man! 👍🏻

Checking compression early on in an unknown engine like this is a good idea.

the moving video overlay on the garage door was a nice effect !

Best background action, carton of delight 😆

The reason I enjoy your channel is you remind me of my uncle, who was heavy diesel mechanic RIP R.G.. He would buy equipment at auctions typically not running and from people who had them for decades refurbished them and sold them. People would say he turned junk into gold.

Love the Semi-Supervillains ad placement!

OMG! Those letters look like the stickers on the garage door! But they’re not!🤩🤩🤩🤩

The moment I realized it had a clutch, I said, "Nope. Send it on down the road" LOL

Nothing like starting the day with breakfast and a diesel creek video.

For those that might be wondering, the fuel gauge was designed for a gasoline engine, and the forklift was converted to propane, so the gas tank is completely empty for safety reasons.

Matt, your PSA about charging batteries reminds me of the time I helped my father in law work on his fork lift. We threw the same type charger to the battery, he was working the throttle, I was working the starter sparks were flying and I knew about the hydrogen production in the back of my mind so I was nervous the whole time. Of course he wasn’t fazed a bit and we made it through. Great times!

I would have a hard time admitting defeat without learning for next time what is causing it to lose spark, seems the machine may be at the end of its rope but I'd want to figure that out. The switch could easily be failed to the point of acting as a resistor and heating up to a fail point, I've only seen it once and been laughed at for suggesting it in the past but that one time $6 saves a machine😊 as far as the oil leaking, i would let it run a bit with the new oil, not sure how the Continentals do it but i have a clapped out one thing starts dumping oil out of every seal in the engine shortly before i think an oil change is due every time and it self heals about half an hour of run time after the oil change (even with all the externals resealed). It's bizarre but not a big deal once you figure it out. Having driven forklift for several years, the transmission seems like a deal breaker more than Anything else.

Seeing Matt's happy face through the smoke bring a smile to my face. A wise man said; happiness is enjoying the simple things in life. 🙃

I was a maintenance repairman at a metal Refinery for a very long time starting in the early 70s and we had about two dozen Tow Motor brand forklifts some dating back to the 1940s all powered by little Continental 4 cylinders. I'll tell you what, they were virtually indestructible.

As a self trained street mechanic , I picked up about 10 old forklifts over the years . The small towmotors(precat) had many issues , but usually the same . Blown head gaskets between 2 cylinders , Worn steering joints , but joints could be adjusted for wear ( remove counterwieght for ease of access ) and very worn reverse/forward gears barely catching . Still I loved my small Towmotor lifts . They would start everytime and were extremely maneuverable in very cramped places . I had a 391 and a "LT35" plus other makes .They were very handy in a metal shop and tons of fun . Best tool ever . Enjoy your videos they bring back many fond and not so fond memories .

Napa must smile broadly every time you walk in. Funding their kid’s college plans.

On November 10, 1965, Towmotor officially became a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Tractor Company of Peoria, Illinois.

We once had a Towmotor branded forklift at a company I worked at in the 80's. It was an old one and had a learning curve but was amazingly reliable.

An idiot in a gas station did just what you did and the battery blew up, started a fire, the entire gas station burnt to the ground and my uncle who worked beside this guy in the next repair bay got 167 stitches all over his body, all thanks to that guy's negligence. Not a scratch on the idiot. It's dam serious, good that you pointed it out. Cheers.

The Towmotor Corp was established by Luther Sears in 1919. They were origionally used to pull equipment around in large manufacturing plants. Eventually they were converted to forklifts and Caterpiller has always called their forklifts towmotors for this reason.

I was 15 and taking automotive classes at the local trade school. We had a CAT forklift that had the exact same issues. Compression, spark, timing, fuel, firing order, etc was always good. Never did get that engine out to see if it had jumped time internally. I need to check in on it 😂

She probably needs a new pressure regulator for proper LPG carburation. Makes them tough to start. Nice find, Matt. Good for parts. Thanks for sharing.😉

I see the legs of a new workbench in the roller protection on that boat anchor.

Awesome! I always love seeing some local Bethlehem steel equipment still kicking around.

My mate stuck a 4 cylinder Toyota motor in his which he runs on gas. Magnificent little forklift. 🇦🇺😁👍🏻

I love these long videos reviving the dead even if it's just to give them their last breath. It is interesting to see these machines, fun to see you complain about them and educational to learn the procedures to follow when finding yourself in those dead ends that can blow the fuses of more than one... and in the end, it was just a weak switch making ground contact. It's good to see it reach a successful end (the start-up) even if it's not the best of results, but not to see how the towel is thrown in... so I hope to continue watching many of these videos in the future! greetings from Argentina!!

"If you want to save them all then you become a crazy cat lady" -- Matt 😂😂

I no joke just happened to start scrolling RU-vid for a good video to watch while I am doing some other work and out loud said “yes! Never mind my next hour is booked” to which my wife said why, and I showed her you had released a new video. Can’t wait.

I worked in a couple of factories many years ago. All forklifts, forktrucks were called Towmotors, regardless of brand. Some of them were actually Towmotor brand.

Used to be able to rotate the contacts 180 degrees in the solenoid and it worked fine.

@48:40 love the emotion we're all sharing

01:15 Love the garage door!!

Matt, I found this information: many companies built variations, Towmotor's "one man gangs" were so popular that all industrial forklift trucks were generally referred to as "towmotors." Since they were considered essential cost-saving equipment, one Towmotor performed the work of thirty men with hand trucks...

Love the battery explanation, said alike to someone who may have seen one or two blow up accidentally on purpose. Good to know 😂💪🏼

Matt, pull the mast off and use it as a mezzanine lift if your building one into your shop, I have 3 of them to get into my house, and the loft inside my house and into the mezzanine inside my 2 story garage and they all run off 12v tail lift motors and remote winch controllers saves heaps of space not having stairs. Sad that the old gear has to go but recycling is still good.

I think it was nice to see you give it a shot at this , though not sure what I want to see done to it now since I’m still more interested to see what happens to the backhoe and the crawler loader, for its actual name, that had the backhoe attachment you dug out of the bushes earlier this year.

Good episode Matt. I think you are making a good decision to send it down the road, maybe parting it out to friends, reference the engine to your "Continental" friend. But you might want to think twice about the starter. That thing hung in there like a Champ. Maybe it will work in another application, ya never know 😅. Looking forward to your next adventure. 👍🇺🇲💪

At work we had an old Lewis-Shepherd forklift which we referred to as the tow motor. We replaced with new Yale forklifts and we just naturally called them tow motors. I think we just were used to saying “where is the tow motor “

Cat is definitely worth keeping over the allis chalmers. Many forklifts from that era are manual, very easy to run and excellent for offroad fork lifts since it can help you get unstuck, when you do. Plus its got side shift.

Older propane forklifts had a pre-heater for the fuel. Coolant lines and fuel lines run in and out of a thing that is round, and about 5" in diameter, and maybe 2" thick. A lot of them had a primer button in the middle- kind of worked like a choke. You could push it manually for more fuel. I seem to remember that they were normally electrically activated.

Thanks Matt for mentioning the power company being there. I was wondering where you were at on that. Hope you get your heat and stuff going soon.

As you say can't win them all. Was curious how the power was comeing along. Hopefully by now all hooked up and good to go

On November 10, 1965, Towmotor officially became a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Tractor Company of Peoria, Illinois. At the time of its acquisition, Towmotor was a stable firm with established worldwide markets and employment of over 2,000. 8:55

"Al Gore machine".... I see what you did there. 😆😆😆

Initially vehicles manufactured at Mentor carried both the Caterpillar and Towmotor names, but the Towmotor name was removed by the early 1970s.

These videos are reminding me of the old garage days!! I love it

I enjoy watching thanks for your time putting it all together. I am retired 72 years years old in Arkansas.

I worked at a junkyard for years. We had a lift very similar to this one with slick pneumatic tires, and we used it to move cars outdoors in all weather conditions. We used it mainly in dirt and gravel, and it would move cars with no issue, even when it was muddy outside. That type of lift is more versatile than you would think.

Even when your just working on a forklift my wife has to knock on the bathroom door to make sure I’m not dead lol. I always enjoy your videos Matt. Thanks for doing what you do

Matt, you have great skills and you regularly put them to use with outstanding results, might add your camera work is exceptional and deserves comment...thxs for doing what you do

Kind of sad this one couldn't be saved. I agree with you I don't like to see a vintage machine go to the scrap heap. May be a Longshot but maybe you can find an avid collector who's looking for one of these and they'll give her the TLC she needs

I saw the title and thought there was one you couldn’t get running! 😳 But you never disappoint Matt!

Starting that thing and getting it to consistently run and reliably idle, definitely the hardest motor I've seen you work on. Well done as that needed a lot of patience and diagnostics and it ran for one last time at least. Shame it was dumping oil but at least you can reuse the forks.

Caterpillar bought the tow motor company in 1965 or 66 to get into the forklift business . Towmotor the one man gang !

Would make a great garden gnome I’m thinking

I understand your decision. The factory I started at in late 70's, had Hysters, forward on one side of the pedal, reverse on the otherside. They were three wheeled forklifts.

6:37 Matt: “Where’s the dipstick?” Me, immediately: “He’s holding the camera.”😂

That starter is a must keep! With the way it held up you would be hard pressed to ever find one that tough again! Has that nice straight roll cage to maybe put on or use for something else like the wheel loader that doesn't have one. I would also keep the lift & Shift cylinders and pump if good.

Those Tow motor Cats were innovative in their day, with a self changing oil system, and a power saving ignition. With a bit of 'Bush" engineering you might be able to fit the booms, & even the wheels to Alice. Don't forget to save that starter motor!. Great video,- thanks.😎

You need to keep that starter Matt 😂. That was a heart breaker. Suffered the same myself, went to do a will it start on a Case 1394 with the engine full of water. Got her rolling but no way would it fire. So much cranking that I carried 2 starters so I could swap out rather than waiting to cool. 3 videos, a set of rings, 1 piston and 4 exhaust valves later I got it to finally fire up. Just like that old CAT I'm looking forward to it heading for the shredder 😅😅. Somethings just don't want to be saved. Keep up the good work 👏

Look at the pump on the cat and the stuff on the mass. Looked to be a really good pump to us for parts and you may be able to us and set up the side shift on the other 1