Air up he tires before trying to move it. They don't look too crushed down and as long as the tubes don't have folds in them you'll probably save the tubes and tires. If you start moving it around without airing them up, you just about guarantee you'll ruin the tubes and tires.

Bring a few gallons of oil, ten gallons of water and a good five or ten gallons of diesel. If you've got an old boat fuel can or something that can be used as a pony fuel tank with a hose supply from the bottom, more the better. Also bring two good 12V batteries and a few jump cables. Group 31s if you can. Bring an assortment of pipe plugs from about 1/8" up to about 3/4" and some pipe nipples, hose barbs and six or ten feet of 5/16 and 3/8 fuel line.

Check the oil and coolant. If the oil looks high open the oil drain plug in the pan just a bit. When it is about to unthread, stop and see what drips out. If water comes, hold the plug against the threads and drain until you start getting oil. You'll get clear water first, then you'll start getting gloppy gray oil mixed with water. Sometimes that stuff can be thick and you might even need to poke around some before you get to good, clean, black oil. Tighten the plug back up after you're getting mostly clean, black oil. Check the oil level again and add as necessary.

Add water to the cooling system. Watch for plugs or drains being open. Use one of those pipe plugs if you need to replace one that has been lost. Also watch for any leaks from cracks, broken hoses or rotted or missing fittings.

If the engine is a Detroit, start by trying to rotate the engine by pulling on the fan or barring through the crank pulley holes. With the angled exhaust opening, rain may have run down there, but maybe not. Detroits were pretty good about absorbing a little water ingress without getting it down into the cylinders.

If the engine moves at all, it'll probably rotate. If it moves, take the valve cover off and bar it over through a full revolution by pulling on the fan or barring through the crank pulley holes. Once you've gone one full revolution, check the injectors. Detroits have two or four exhaust valves, each cylinder will have three rocker arms. The outer two are the exhaust. Usually you don't have any trouble with those. The center rocker arm on each cylinder runs the fuel injector. If the injectors are stuck, the injector plunger will be down and the center rocker arm will flop around. (Keep in mind that at least one cylinder will probably be in the process of injecting wherever you stop the engine, so don't forget to move it a bit more and check that injector again).

When the injectors stick down, they also lock the rack, which is a little pipe looking thing running the length of the head right under the valve cover. Any that stick down can be pried back up using a long screwdriver or small prying bar. Be careful what you pry against so you don't bend the rack control tube or other things. Keep rotating the engine, using the cam to push the stuck injectors down and prying them back up until they pop up on their own. This usually takes a few to six or eight cycles.

Once the injectors are going up and down on their own when you rotate the engine, the rack should move free. You can grab that control tube which runs down the length of the head and rotate it back and forth through about 15 or 20 degrees. You'll see that tube has little arms attached to it which run to little shafts which go into each injector down near the top of the head. Those are what control the dwell, or amount of fuel injected. With the injectors working and the rack free, it is safe to attempt starting and the engine shouldn't run away.

They run away because one stuck injector freezes the rack, which at rest is at full fuel. The engine will still start, that cylinder just won't have fuel, but the rest of them will be running wide open.

If the injectors are working and you can move the rack manually, check to see if it has fuel and if there is fuel flow to the lift pump. The lift pump is mounted on one of the blower shafts, usually on the bottom driven lobe shaft. It'll have two fuel lines, one in and one out and be a little gear pump bolted to the blower housing. They didn't always have gravity flow to them, but looking at that fuel tank, you can probably crack the fuel line and see if anything runs out.

If you've got fuel by gravity to the lift pump, you're ready to start. If not, add fuel or rig up your pony tank and fuel lines to supply straight to that lift pump. There are filters downstream.

I'd hook up the batteries and see if you can start it. Detroits usually need 12 volts, could be positive or negative ground, but frankly the polarity won't matter. They usually need two twelve volt batteries in parallel to swing the starter.

Ether is a good idea, it'll get it firing sooner and help the lift pump to pick up the fuel. I don't think ether can hurt a Detroit unless it is really overused. Get the engine spinning on the starter and just give it a whiff in the precleaner. With it spinning, give it progressively larger shots and it'll fire.

I know oldbeek is right, a Galion isn't as good as a Cat, but this one looks pretty complete, the price is right and I don't think you're going to go contracting with it. It'll be a fun little project and a handy tool for occasional use and play.

Hope this helps,

Pete.

Looks like something I'd bring home. Could be a fun project.

Definitely a Galion grader, but I'm having trouble identifying the model. I thought it was a 101, 103 or 104 - but those models all have a bigger fuel tank that projects well beyond the engine cowl width.
That one has a engine cowl and tank that are flush, as regards width. Kind of looks like an older model Galion that has been fitted up with a later model front axle and hubs, as the front wheel hubs look late model.

You can buy one of these old Galions fully operational and in reasonable running order for about $4K - and they aren't exactly a sought-after, or highly regarded item - so I'd be very careful about dragging home a money pit.
A full set of tires, even used tyres, will set you back many hundreds of dollars - and one thing I can tell you, is that most used motor graders contain many dozens of worn articulating joints, that all cost $$$'s to make tight again!
A motor grader with a pile of worn joints will not steer straight, will be worthless for any kind of smooth grading, and will be aggravating to operate.

Probably has a 4-71 in it. Most likely has water laying around the bottom of the air chamber, under the intake ports. The bottom of the ports are up a bit off the bottom of the intake chamber. If it ever froze, it may have a broken vane in the blower. Its only a few bolts to remove the blower. Gasket set is cheap. I would pull the blower and sponge the water out. Sucking in that water when it fires can open a hole in the block when the rod snaps under compression. Its worth saving. Even if the grader is junk them working, used blowers fetch about $600.00. Even if its a 4-53 or a 3-71 the possible issue is the same. Get some yellow 3M snot to hold the gaskets on the block when you put the blower on. Otherwise it is hard to not have a leaker.

I have 2 of those old Galions. Cannot think of the model number now. I have some manuals that may be the only ones in existence. 503 is the model number that comes to mind. The running one has an IHC engine in it that starts on gas & runs on diesel. Back in 1987 we spent $2500 overhauling it. It never seemed to have the power it needed with that engine. Maybe the injector pump is slightly out of time late. The other one is also same model but has a 250 or 300 cummins in it. They are good machines for farm use. All hydraulic. I remember getting the IHC engine overhauled and first started about 9pm one night. I tried moving it and the throwout bearing pushed thru the clutch fingers and it stuck in gear and was heading for my good truck!! I got it shut down in about a foot of the truck!! Installed a clutch without pulling the engine. I have a 112 Cat that is an old Army Corps machine. Still O.D. green.

Wish I was nearby to give you a hand with it. I enjoy getting an old machine to fire up.... Working on my 613 right now, it has been sitting for about 6 years...

Bring 5 gallons of gas and pour over it and toss a match on it and run as far away from it as you can and stay away. Bad news. catskinner

in my opinion. if has a detroit it will probably be an easy start,then you can evaluate the rest of the machine. it may take a few hours but since it is free? if it has the IH UD engine i would still try to get it started but my effort wouldn't be as important because that power plant is a dead end. go get some close up pics and get some weights off of the net so you can determine salvage. if it has a detroit i would first take a couple of quarts of ATF and pour over the valve train and injectors and also i would squirt some ATF through the vent on the side of the governor so it can soak while you get everything else ready. if it runs away don't pull the emergency kill because it will suck the seals out of the air box and will have to be torn down for repair. i prefer to have a hose in the fuel line i can cut.

I "learned" on a T-600 in the late 50s. It was a sweet machine to operate, made cutting blue tops a breeze even for a newbie.

I had a GALION grader with motor DETROIT 371 and was not too bad

"OldRedTim" wrote:

Looks like something I'd bring home. Could be a fun project.

Yup ! Been their, done that, and still doing it.
Must be a darn disease.