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| The GT-30 sitting in my yard. |
The following in blue is a short story of how this new project came to be, skip if you wish.
For years I have enjoyed looking at machines, whether it be videos, images, or by the roadside whenever I am out and about, they always seemed cool to me. I guess some of it came from my dad as he's worked jobs relating to equipment for many years. I generally prefer the older machines as they are simpler, and typically have a more eye catching look to them.
It wasn't until recently that I started checking Facebook marketplace, mostly joking to myself about what I might buy, some machine, a forklift, dozer, tractor, whatever it is I might just buy one someday. One of my friends even sent a link to me to a machine joking that I should buy it.
Well a few weeks ago, I went onto the Marketplace and saw a listing for a TerraTrac crawler tractor, for only a 1000 dollars. Having no knowledge on what a TerraTrac is, I did some fast research, found that ATC (American Tractor Corporation) was the manufacturer of the tractor, and had made many small models like the one I was looking at.
After all the time spent looking at the market place for something I might just buy "someday", I decided to buy it now. Surprising my family and myself, I drove to the guys house, looked at it with my dad, and later that evening bought it. My folks didn't care too much for the idea of buying a tractor, but I felt it an opportunity I couldn't let pass me by.
I have a truck, but legally I cant tow the dozer and a heavy trailer with my truck, it weighs too much together. It took about a month or so to get the darn thing to my home, it was something that should have been simple but was awfully long winded and filled with stupidity. I am very thankful to the fella' I purchased it from for being kind through the whole process and holding it whilst we figured out how to move it.
But now I have a tractor, one with tracks at that, and don't forget a dozing blade! It's a personal project for me, something to learn about, to take apart, and to fix up, and care about for years to come! It will take a while to get rolling, as I spend 48-60 hours a week at work, some of my time doing house work, a beetle project, and some for CBH Trains. But a little bit here, a little bit there and this GT-30 will be growling on.
The first goal of mine is to move the machine to the back yard. I constructed a pad of gravel and landscape timbers so that I have some place clean(ish) to work at. Once I get the thing back there my focus is likely on the motor. When I purchased it from the seller, it had sat for 3 years, and 5 years before he bought it too. So it's been sitting a while, with the motor seized up. I need to unseize the motor, which I will do by taking the heads off, seeing if tapping the pistons will help free it up.
The motor in the GT-30 is a Continental F140, a motor that found use in many small machines at the time such as forklifts, welders, and of course many tractors. Continental's F140 is in a family of many small motors like it produced by Continental with a flat head. As such there are many engines around like it, and manuals can be found for it. I purchased one such manual from Ebay, so when I get a chance ot take apart to motor for inspection, I can check everything and know if anything is wrong. Lets hope I don't have a broken motor, Ha!
However, due to the weather where I live, pulling it into the backyard is difficult. The rain has made our area a muddy mess, end even though the machine rolls well, I wont have enough traction to move it.
So in the meantime I decided to play around and take the hydraulic control valve apart.
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| The control valve, sitting atop the hydraulic tank. |
It has two levers, one with a detent in it. I took off the spring covers outside and out came a ball bearing for the one with a detent. I found it but dropped it and couldnt find it in the grass. My first mistake, ha! Oh well it's a simple thing to find. I took it off the tank, brought it inside and took it apart.
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| In a big ol' tote. |
It doesn't look bad, took it apart mostly to see how it worked. It's got some build up on the inside which needs to be removed, the levers are slightly bent with play in them, but overall in good condition. I'll find a seal for it, and properly seal the connections, might as well do it now.
A lot of work is needed.
• There is no seat
• All gages are not working
• Starter is not installed
• Motor is seized
• Track frames need work
• Blade needs repair
• Whole hydraulic system needs work
• Radiator has a hole in it, needs ot be repaired.
• Fuel tank has a big ol hole in it, needs work.
• Exhaust pipe is missing
Here's to the next steps. I'll make more posts covering this project as it progresses.
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