M4 High Speed tractor runs!

First time in at least 20 years a running engine has been in the critter. 817 cu in of Waukesha gas engine roared to life yesterday, filling the shop with smoke from the 'pickling oil' I had shot in the spark plugs four years ago after I put new pistons and sleeves in it.

All was well until I saw diesel fuel from a torque converter return line shooting all over the engine bay. The 3/8 in. steel overflow line that runs from the top of the converter cooling radiator down to the reservoir had ruptured from water freezing in it sometime during it's retirement and it happened to be in a place right above the engine. So we shut her down before we got the chance to see if the torque converter will make motion. Gave it a hot soapy water bath, walked out of the shop and called it a day.

Replaced the steel line with new tubing today but I don't want to run it till we top off the torque converter reservoir. Can't wait till tomorrow. Jim

Would that beastie be an Allis Chalmers, or am I remembering the wrong numbers?

Cool--looks like quite a beast! Always a good day when another piece of old iron comes back to life.

Picture is quite interesting,Dad wanted to know if that is similar to a sno-cat?? We haven't seen anything such as that,but seen a few snocats they use to groom trails around here.Appreciate the reply. Good luck in getting it running,and post a Video when you get it going,would love to hear that size engine run.Regards,Victor

Too bad you dont have the cannon it used to pull!

Gene

This is indeed an Allis built machine. Made from 1943 till ?. This one is a 1945 according to the tags. Lou, the snow cat is a lighter machine with much wider tracks, though I'd like to own one.

This thing is called an 18 ton, and that is what it weighs with ten troops sitting in there and a shell box full of cannon shells. The tracks are the same as the Sherman tank although the tank tracks look to be longer. The M-4 is designated to pull the big guns, the 150,155,8 inch, and 240 mil. There is a 30000 pound winch in the back and the drawbar pull is listed at 37000 pounds at stall in low gear. It's also set up for both air and electric brakes for the trailers. The manual steering brakes are the only brakes on the vehicle itself and each steering lever has a little flipper latch to lock the brake levers back. There's a foot pedal for the air brakes that are on the trailer and the electric brake setup is a complicated maze of wiring going to resistors and switches.

Now the good news. I was going to wait until tomorrow to see if it would move itself, but after supper the anticipation got to me so I fired her up, put her in gear, let the clutch out and it started creeping, so I hit the gas and away I went-for about two feet cause it's still in the shop. Then I put it in high gear, pulled hard on the brakes and mashed the pedal. The torque converter is strong enough that I couldn't quite hold it with the brakes and the Waukesha was rattling the walls. This is VERY good news cause the old timers that worked on these things all talk about the torque converter before they talk about anything else. The book said if it takes longer than three minutes to build pressure on first startup in the morning, the converter needs work. This thing had pressure right away. Did you hear the champaign cork pop? Jim

here may be some better pics of
It

Better pop a cork on the gas can too! That old
Waukesha is a thirsty beast. Congrats, always great to see another old machine saved from the scrap guy.
Paul(1956 M38a1)

That has a tank undercarriage. Trail groomers have a single long track on each side but a Tucker Sno-Cat has 4 tracks similar to a CIH quad track. Just google Tucker Snow cat for some pictures.

Very interesting machine! Do I understand correctly that the torque converter fluid is diesel fuel?

Diesel fuel is used in the torque converter. We mix one gallon ATF to four gallons #2 diesel because today's fuel 'aint what it used to be' so that's the reason for the ATF.

Thirsty is a good definition but I think ravenous is better. The stats claim it has a range of 100 miles on 125 gallons of gasoline. I don't know if that's under load or not. The ignition is controled by a cable similar to a PTO cable in a truck. The knob is under the dash and the cable goes to a switch/anti-diesel valve on the intake manifold. When the knob is pulled out the switch on the manifold powers the ignition and electric gauges in the dash. An anti-diesel valve closes at the same time to let vacuum through the two Zenith down-draft carbs.

I don't own this machine but I am doing a very thorough restoration. Everything will function when I'm done, except there won't be a belt on the compressor. Gotta park it in the shed for awhile now to free the shop up for the spring fieldwork machinery.

Roy, thanks for the pics. Jim

Jim, she's a beauty, thanks to you and Old Roy for very interesting posts.

This from C.H WENDEL'S BOOK, THE ALLIS CHALMERS STORY: Primarily intended for towing artillery, the M4 was built from 1942-1960. Rated to pull from 18,000-30000 lbs, it carried a Waukesha 6 cyl gasoline engine rated at 210 brake HP. The M4 had a top speed of 35 MPH, and a range of 180 Mi. It could carry 10 men, in addition to the driver, and a hatch above the crew compartment gave access to a ring mount which carried a .50 cal. machine gun for air defense. The M4 used the same arrangement of crew compartment , engine room, and cargo space, and was in fact a scaled down version of the M6 tractor.