WILL IT RUN?!? The Military 20 Ton Crane. 

I'm sure Alan could put that crane to very good use up at the Mountain Fortress. It would make things so much easier for Alan especially as he is usually working alone and as we have recently seen on his channel there are so many heavy objects that need to be lifted to the very top where he is building and installing the fans. I would love to see the crane go to Alan so that's my vote. He has been such a great addition to the team and the channel, he deserves a helping hand.

Finding Allen on that mountain top is one of the best things that's ever happened to you guys. There doesn't seem to be anything that stops him. If your heart suddenly stopped, I have no doubt he'd find a way to get it running again...

Let Allen use it for his fortress. That would be an extremely useful tool up there. And he deserves it. He’s awesome.

As much as the young kids poke at Allan, he knows alot about alot lol. Such a good help.

Give that thing to Alan!! He’s drooling over it!!! Alan is a wealth of knowledge. He is a testament to perseverance. Im curious to know what his past careers have been. The guy is amazing.

I bet Alan could use it to help build his mountain fortress!

Alan can do anything!! He is such a valuable member of the team!

It would be an epic surprise if you did it up so it works fully and give it to the Wizard, he needs a crane for his fortress! 😅

Great job Alan getting it running!

Alan is the man. No one like him. One of the best things to happen to Sparks Motors.

Alan is just very determined, and a great shade tree mechanic. A little common sense and determination makes many things possible. Excellent work. I would rebuild it and you will find it can become a valuable member of the recovery team. Fantastic video work.

Sparks Motors / Recovery is going to have ALL the coolest equipment on the planet to help them achieve what it is they do! This company is so interesting.

great job on the old crane

Never underestimate the utility of a terrain crane.

Frankly with the recovery work you do, leaving it as a crane is probably the best use. At most refit it with the widest tires you can easily transport, some enormous mud pads for the jacks, some spikey rock pads, some anchoring spikes on the front blade, a front mega-winch, etc.

At 68 years old, I wish I could have found an outfit like this to retire from. Maybe I wouldnt! These guys are so real and down to earth its breath taking.

Allen is a down to earth cool dude and very knowledgeable!

Good addition to the recovery collection

I think the 20t is gonna come in handy sooner or later. Bridge building, tilt up concrete walls, recoveries. I used to run a 30 ton Drott repairing railcars. We pulled locomotive engines with it too. That might be more than that crane can handle. Bridge contracts could be lucrative. 🤘😎

I'd fix it up and keep it what it is. Make it a really nice crane! I'm sure you guys could use it for recoveries or around the lot and if not I'm pretty sure there's at least a few people out there that could find an amazing purpose for it. I sold him notice small cranes anymore it seems like everything is large to incredibly large. Which means they generally have to bring in the wide load crew shut down intersections etc. Having something small reliable could probably do a lot of the jobs.

Alan is quite the dual threat. He knows a little about alot of things and he has the common sense and experience to use all that info. Glad to see that thing come back from the dead!

My take is that you scored huge here!! Rebuild what needs to be rebuilt to OEM, then show us what this rig is capable of? I know you guy's can push her to the max of her limits!! Great job!!

Love seeing these old relics brought back. It’s amazing how they can set and once running will run for a long time usually.

Iet Allen use it up at the fortress, till he gets all his turbines and stuff up top!

Go over the crane to get it fully functional and make sure cables are in good shape cause you'll sometime find a recovery that the crane will be the perfect tool for the job, meanwhile let Allen get very familiar with it while using it to build his fortress especially installing windows and wind turbines etc

wizards electro magnet would need something like that

I don't know, but I think it would look good at our military museum.😁

You rock Alan!! such a awesome recovery, you could use that up at your place.

Take the crane off and mount a couple of massive winches on the chassis. Drop the blade and drag the stuff right out. It would be a cool and light weight setup and the huge tires would allow you to get out to where everyone else gets stuck.

need to see more of this beautiful crane and it can be used for special recoveries its plenty capable !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i would love one

That is serious heavy duty recovery with that crane

Alan the master of all big up man.....

Get it going and use it on the Fortress to make the work a little bit easier.

Great work Alan and the team! I hope this gets a second life of useful work (I'm sure Alan could use it!)

Interesting . On occasion I wish I wish I was younger so I could do this again but then I snap out of it ! LOL ! Thanks for sharing !

What to do with the Crane? 1st thing would be tested by making an awesome 'tree house' in the back lot of the property. 2nd build an awesome Wizard's tower on the mountain!!

That crane needs to be up at the mountain fortress. We need a 2hr video of yins up Allen's fixing some equipment at the fortress.

My wheels are turning because these wheels are turning. That's clever. That is what was going on in my head. Extremely cool rig

since that is a low duty grader in the front, use it as a road grader, then put a rotating brush on the back or maybe a big chain square road leveler.

I mean this WOULD be the coolest looking recovery vehicle you've ever ysed!

You guys are a great team!

Pop the crane off n make it a stationary unit!!! Mega flag pole!!! Be able to fly colors high!!!

Alan is an absolute genius! I’m sure he could have used that bad boy to help him lift stuff to the top of the mountain fortress - especially after he recently struggled with the frames for the wind turbines, But would he even be able to get it up there?!? But either way - great job 👏👏👏👏

Put the crane part onto the cement truck.

The bearing being under diesel fuel is better than the being exposed to air assuming of course you replace the diesel with motor oil before use. And a little oil in the diesel doesn't hurt pre 2000 engines.

That's a real humdinger! 🚜

What if you made an off-road recovery vehicle for pulling cars/junk out of ravines that actually had enough boom to reach over the edge and not have to drag against the cliff side? 20 tons is a heck of a lot of pull.

Alen did a good job .Give him a raise.

Alan is a god damn wizard, Don't matter what it is, He'll figure it out, Even If it's a 60 year old military crane

I love you Alan.. You are Awesome!

Allen is one of the best mechanic I've seen yet

If it's not reliable enough to use, id set it up and use it to hold a sign for the shop

The inverted V on it leaves me thinking it might have deployed during Operation Desert Storm…

You could shorten the crane and do remote mountain rescue with the crane, it is a military crane so it should hold anything you throw at it

Alan. If you jump across the big studs on the starter. Just the armature will spin without spin ing the engine. This cleans up the brushes and commutator.

Allen really knows everything

Put the crane at the top of the Mountain Fortress!

This would be the perfect vehicle to turn into a Mad Max vehicle.

This should become a badass crane build.

New hoses good radiator flush. New cables like new. Sweet

looks like a great machine for holding the giant hot tub

This is the crane I operated from 1981 to 1983 Fort Eustis Virginia Fort Story Virginia. Loaded them onto LCU's to transport them back and forth between the two posts. Mostly if not all the time used out on the beach. This is a beach baby. And it is 4 by 4 by 4. The ones I was assigned to were 1966 and 1967 models. All the operating controls are like hydraulic brake systems on a car. As it was the ones I was assigned to they were already outdated wore out so constantly had to bleed them out periodically and adjust the swing left and right controls. As I said I just operated them, I was not the mechanic. But I sure as heck fell in love with those two Cummins engines. With just the foot and tip of the boom it was a 30 ft total length boom Atmos if we added the 10ft extension obviously 40 ft total that was Max we were allowed to operate with. This is not a reach type crane. That is a very bad idea. This is more like power lift and swing left and right raise your load straight up and drive flatbed vehicle under the load. We were never allowed to swing the boom over the cab area rule number 1. You don't want to disable your lower control cab. The boom does not rest directly on the cradle above the radiator. Check all your boom sections for any bends or twist in any of the support. Last thing you need is your bun to collapse under load from a damaged section of Boom. Make sure the upper is locked in position when in motion for travel. There is also a PIN to lock the rear wheels in the straight-ahead position to be placed in there by hand usually they're hanging by a chain, simple but functional. I suggest finding an operator's manual for this piece of equipment. Tire pressure is 55 lb in those tires.

Alan seems to be quite the engineer. Good job 😊

Looks like a new recovery rig to me

Whoever said, "If you can move, you can have it," is kicking themselves right about now....

I would take the Crain off and set it up in the yard for just a stationary crain or like a dock Crain like the ones you see in the ports, then do something with the chassis

Fix it up nice and shiny and let Alan run it !!!!

You definitely could use that big crane on recoveries. Picture another hill top recovery where the vehicle goes off a cliff. Then you pick it up and move it.

Build a long range winching truck maybe and extra heavy mini-boom.

Sounds like the brake chambers are caged which means the springs are compressed. Have to release the caging bolt to help release the spring. Also sounds like they aren't getting proper psi of air to them so they can function properly.

Looks like the perfect tool to install windows on a mountain top fortress

I definitely agree! It'd be awesome to see that on some recoveries!

Or find a big barge and mount it for underwater lifts.

You know if you think about it that would make a really good flagpole when not in use❤

I say fix it up get it running good and safe and donating to a organization that builds affordable homes for disabled people/vets im sure that someone could need a good strong crane.

Allan do it again.... Save the machine...

Sure it is super easy to work on. Its US millatary. Well engineered. Your going to bend a push rod, or blow a headgasket. Slight coolant leak a blown head gasket?

That Rig would work PERFECTLY for a mobile hot tub hanger!!!

Drop it off up at the Mountain Fortress Labs so Alan can use it, then when he finishes his work, bring it back for recoveries.

Leave the crane on that way you can lift stuff at the Fortress cool

I would figure out a way to park it on the roof so I could fly large American flags, or Holiday decorations as appropriate. Huge eye catcher!

That's sick can't wait to see what you do with it

Remove the crane, give it a flatbed and use it as an offroad tow truck. And you could turn the 4 legs into spikes at the end and just put em in the ground while winching. Keep the Shield and paint it Acid Green with darkish purple and black details. And dont forget the white spray paint tire lettering

Looks like a giant flag pole for a giant flag while we figure out what else to use it for.

The wizard put his magic to work forsure this time

Allen is happy. And Dave on a wheel rolling around the equipment that doesn't run well to vid? Not me. D even says no brakes. That thing is a beast!!!

Deep recoveries are not a problem for this thing. Deep ravines, bring it.

My older brother was always buying and selling old snowmobiles He just LOVED them! :) He swore by the rule the first thing to do with a used snowmobile was remove the gas tank, (and clean it your favourite way) and put all new gas lines, a inline filter and check the one in the carb (most have) Looks like this applies to old army trucks too! :)

Go for it Allen, you can do it.

Should take it up to Allens Forturse to help him finish the building on the mountain! That be cool to see if you can get it up the mountain!

This would be cool as the chariot to carry the Viking hot tub!

Don’t drag the pendant cables on the ground. They’re what hold everything up, if damaged replace them. Always remember everything on that machine is supported with cable. 3 broke wires in one strand in a one lay or 6 random in one lay it shall be taken out of service and replaced. Google wire rope inspection if you don’t understand what I’m talking about. I always replace them first thing to take that problem out of the equation. Those are great old cranes and drive lots of pile on the east coast. Many have low hrs and the only thing that goes bad are the bearing if they set for long periods of time. Remember grease and lubricants are a cranes best friend. Those levers are for the outrigger jacks to extend and retract. Stay safe y’all they can be dangerous of you don’t respect them. Much different animal than and hydro ran machine🇺🇸🇺🇸

Well it running great video thanks Dave Sparks and company

you should modify it with the extension off the crane, add the pulleys to the 1st section so it's a short boom heavy lift, and then add some heavy horizontal winches to it for a lift and pull mud/snow recovery

Keep it as a crane. I'm sure it would be a great addition to your fleet.

Shorten the craneboom Beef IT Up and make a seccond badass wrecker from IT 👀

When i was in the military, we had a 20 ton RT crane like that, along with 2 P&H 20 ton cranes, the rough terrain crane broke down on the way back to the motor pool one evening and i had to go get a tow bar and my m-916 lowboy truck and pull it back to the motor pool, fun times.

That would probably be more useful to Alan most of the time but y'all could use it some too

Sell the crane to a boat yard/dock for putting in or taking boats out of the water 🤔. Have a great day 😊.

That's what I was thinking give it to allen. He could use it to lift all that heavy metal