Fiat-Allis Dozers, Still Getting the Job Done

 
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Rob R.
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 6:33 am

I thought a would post a few pictures of some of the Fiat-Allis equipment my brother runs, or has run.

For several years he had a Fiat-Allis FD30, which was an absolute beast. One full blade worth of dirt would fill an average tandem dump truck. We had an abandoned sand pit on our farm that was quite large...one morning after the FD-30 first arrived on the scene my brother told dad and I he was going to fill in the pit. Ok, have fun - he came back for lunch and told us he was done. We did not believe him, and went out to look. The adjacent hill was gone, and the pit was filled in...with topsoil graded over all of it. :shock:
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The other machine is a Fiat Allis 21C, which pulls the tile plow. This machine has done a tremendous amount of work over the last 10 years. Steven and his team replaced the undercarriage, and overhauled the engine. It has an Allis 25000 series engine, which is the same platform as the purple "Big Al" truck engines. This year it got a nice upgrade with a propane-fired block heater, which turns itself on automatically. Nothing like getting to the field at 0600 and having the engine already warm.
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I will try to dig up some more pictures of the dozers working. Unfortunately parts are becoming more and more scarce for these machines, which makes them a rare sight out in the field/pit.


 
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Post by NoSmoke » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 7:17 am

The key to parts for old machines is to join like-minded forums. Through JDCrawlers, I was able to obtain cheap used parts for my bulldozer and keep it going. Fortunately mine is a late model tractor that John Deere dealerships still have parts for, but even the older ones have parts from online bulldozer junkyards like Lavoy's in South Dakota.

It is also amazing what bulldozers can accomplish. One of the reasons people underestimate what a bulldozer can do is because they think they must move all the dirt to fill in areas, but that is not so. They only have to move half the dirt. That is because if you take 2 feet off the high side, and deposit it to the low side, you just made a four foot cut, and that looks substantial. Last month I used a John Deere 700 bulldozer and a Hitachi 160 excavator to move 50,000 cubic yards leveling gravel pits, 6000 stumps, and build two ponds on 18 acres of land. It was all done in 38 working days. It was a lot of fun, not all that lucrative, but really changed the mountainside.

Still I love bulldozers. We have always had one kicking around, on the small side granted, but they really work well. The wife yesterday said it was time to buy an excavator. Words cannot describe how much I love her!

A picture from the top of the mountain on that 18 acre pasture project last month. (I do a lot of custom clearing jobs).
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Post by coalnewbie » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 7:53 am

I had a Caterpillar D8 (cable blade) complete with pony motor. After three hours use my right shoulder would be numb. The then city boy was ripped off as the clutch was burnt out. The 35 ton low boy delivered it started I used to start it by bump starting it in fourth gear with my JSW50 excavator. I sold it to a guy who cleared land in Salisbury Mills. He bought it started, cleared a mountain over the summer leaving it going 24/7. Stopped it and scrapped it. I would love a pony motor D6 but it would have to be cheap and the drive clutches OK. It's always the drive clutches ... LOVE those old machines.

Now I have a traxcavator Cat 955H and would not sell for anything. You can keep your modern chit which I could not afford anyway. I went to HO Penn to get a track part and they gave me a price and I burst out laughing. I bought a scrap complete track in Germantown, walked the old one off and walked the new track on. How do I left up the rear end? With my Taylor 14 ton fork lift that I also bought for a song 15 years ago. All these machines together cost me less than your small sized Kubota. Now I am but a broken down ol' fart reduced to posting idiosyncratic posts on a coal board but I have my memories. :)

Love the pics of the machines guys. Takes me back -- way to go. . The Cat is used every three days to organize the horse chit pile, a 5 minute job. Lifting off my 6000# Bombardier SW48 with a Perkins ---- what don't you understand about the fact that I have no loading dock - idiots. The brakes on the Taylor were locked solid that is why it is so jerky (they now work again).



and then

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JSW50 behind DB 1210

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Cat 955H

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Putting the roof back on the coal bin

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Last edited by coalnewbie on Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 8:46 am, edited 4 times in total.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 8:32 am

The key to parts for old machines is to join like-minded forums. Through JDCrawlers, I was able to obtain cheap used parts for my bulldozer and keep it going. Fortunately mine is a late model tractor that John Deere dealerships still have parts for, but even the older ones have parts from online bulldozer junkyards like Lavoy's in South Dakota.
We have many contacts for salvage parts. Trust me, finding parts for your JD is like finding sand at the beach compared to these Fiat machines. The undercarriage for the 21C came straight from Italy, and the engine parts came from a warehouse in Quebec.

The FD-30 has a V-8 IVECO diesel that is also not easy to source parts for. Twin turbos, 4 valves per cylinder, and one of the smoothest diesels I have ever heard...plus it starts very well in cold weather with no assistance.

Last I heard the FD-30 was clearing land in Northern Ontario. It was replaced by a D6 Cat, which is very nimble and easy to truck. The FD30 weighed over 90,000lbs with the blade and rippers, and limited which bridges it could be hauled over, especially in Northern VT.

 
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Post by coalnewbie » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 8:45 am

The FD30 weighed over 90,000lbs with the blade and rippers
Mine are but mere babies compared to that one.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Thu. Dec. 08, 2016 9:05 am

coalnewbie wrote:
The FD30 weighed over 90,000lbs with the blade and rippers
Mine are but mere babies compared to that one.
It would bury our D8k, and burn less fuel doing it.

Lehigh Anthracite has an FD-50.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Dec. 09, 2016 6:18 am

Still I love bulldozers. We have always had one kicking around, on the small side granted, but they really work well. The wife yesterday said it was time to buy an excavator. Words cannot describe how much I love her!
Once you have an excavator you will wonder how you ever got by without one. Although we have some CAT dozers, we have always had Volvo excavators. They cost less, and have outstanding fuel efficiency and operator comfort.

Shown is the EC160 that rarely cools off. I think it has averaged 1200 hours per year since purchased. In addition to the hydraulic thumb, this one has been fitted with GPS for outstanding grade control.

If Steven wants a bigger one next time he will have to do some work on the shop doors. :)


 
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Post by NoSmoke » Fri. Dec. 09, 2016 7:01 am

Rob I have a friend who has a Volvo and swears by them too.

I have a chance now to buy a Daewoo 34,000 pound 1997 excavator with 4000 hours, though it has a manual thumb. I have always had hydraulic thumbs and am with you on that. To rent an excavator here, a hydraulic thumb is extra money per day/week/month, but well worth it. The guy that owns the Daewoo (you can actually see it in my photo of that Hitachi Excavator, if you look just to the left of the boom, you can see a pine tree, and then a tiny orange blob. That is it.) It is the same size as the Hitachi, but needs new tracks. The poor guy had some plans that went south, then got sold a bill of goods when buying it. They admitted to the machine needing some track rollers, which they paid to replace, knowing the track pins were shot. It basically needs new tracks, but he is selling it for $21,000; tempting to say the least. Still I can rent one of the same size for $7000 a month so it is pretty hard for me to justify though...still if you got a machine kicking around...any machine...you use it for tasks you never would have thought of.

Around here you just have to be careful with used equipment, especially stuff with tracks. They always claim it has "40% life on them", but it always a third of that in reality. When I bought my tiny 350D I could have bought a D-6 Cat for the same money ($10,000), but it had a 40% life claim on its tracks, where as mine had brand new tracks. Considering I use my dozer daily and can not afford a lot of down-time, I went with smaller and in better condition than bigger and worn out. I do however need a big dozer. I do way too much custom hire land clearing not to.

Incidentally I just got a job to clear 18 acres last night from a neighbor. That puts my total up to 58 acres to do.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Fri. Dec. 09, 2016 9:32 am

If you are looking at a used Cat machine, spend the money to have Cat do an independent assessment of the machine. They are very thorough. You will get detailed measurements of the undercarriage, analysis of the driveline fluids, pressure tests of the clutch packs, etc.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Dec. 10, 2016 7:50 am

A few more pictures from the last couple seasons.

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Getting ready to start the first job of the season, still a little frost.

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If you can't go around the hill, go through it.

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Large job, 25' tile spacing.

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On to the next job.

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Outlet with sand sock.

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D6 Cat with 4020 JD tractor


 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Dec. 10, 2016 7:54 am

D8k:



21C:


 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jan. 14, 2017 10:23 am

Well, it looks like the Fiat Allis will become a backup machine and the D8K is going up for sale. A very nice D8T came up for sale, and we are having it outfitted with a new tile plow, and a front mounted reel to carry and unroll the tile as it is installed.

This machine was a really nice find, it was build with the waste handling package (increased cooling capacity, skid plates, etc) but was used as a dirt machine for most of its life. We recovered a lot $ by selling the blade, rippers, etc. It will also be outfitted with 36" pads with "ice picks". I should have pictures of the finished product by the end of February.

 
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Post by CapeCoaler » Sat. Jan. 14, 2017 7:42 pm

We live on sand here so...
The point of doing tile is to get a jump on spring planting...
Because the ground is too moist?...

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Jan. 14, 2017 7:50 pm

That is part of it. Nutrient retention, root growth (if the water table is high, the roots are shallow in the early summer, and when the dry weather hits...the water drops and the roots can't catch it), easier access for harvest and tillage in the fall.

In our area the increases in yield generally pay for the tile in 3 years.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Sat. Apr. 01, 2017 4:36 pm

The D8k has been sold and shipped. It will make an excellent machine for the new owner.
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D8T rolled in the next day. Truck driver was a real professional. Said his road tractor rolled over the 2 million mile mark on the way to our place. Not sure how he can hear anything with those straight pipes, he hit the jake on approach and rattled every window in the shop. They weighed the dozer after loading it. With a nearly empty fuel tank it was 90,000 lbs on the nose. With a full tank of fuel and the 4 ton counterweight on the front, it will be nearly 100,000 lbs.

This D8T was originally ordered as a landfill machine, so it has the upgraded cooling system, A/C, and heavy belly pans. The nice part is that for some reason it spent its life working in dirt rather than a landfill, so it has the benefit of the upgrades without the abuse of the landfill. Overall it seems to be a VERY tight machine for a 2005, and the inspector from Caterpillar gave it a clean bill of health.

My brother had it filled with 36" pads, and added mud grousers. Flotation and traction should not be a problem.

The old Fiat-Allis 21C is serviced and put away, waiting for another chance to go to work.

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