cable control unit
model no 12
general specifications of cable control unit

DRUMS 2
CCU DRIVE by shaft from upper structure
REDUCTION by bronze wormwheel and nickel steel wormshaft
REDUCTION RATIO 24-9
ROPE DRUMS 7 1/4" diameter 4 5/8" between flanges 11 1/2"max diameter
MAXIMUM CAPACITY using 7/16" diameter or 1 1/2" circ wire rope equals 150 ft
AVERAGE CAPACITY 130 ft
CLUTCHES malleable cast cone, lined ferodo
BRAKES external contracting type ,(spring steel band, lined ferodo)
working directly on extention of rope drum flange
CCU CONTROL by lever clamped to bronze sleeve screwed internally
four start threadwhich engages on main leg of winch case
ROPE RECOMENDED 7/16" diameter wire cable with steel core, 6 strands of
19 wires 100/110 tons tensile

thanks for that Graham.

What's it like to service up one of these things, easy to get the bits and are they alright to use or tempermental?

hi richard i was lucky enough to find one in the tractor mag for sale that had sat outside for 20 years or so
it had been rebuilt but never used the cone cluches were new as were the drums
i had new leather seals made and using the ccu i already had i made one good one from the two
mine has been a bit tempermental but i think it will be ok once i get it all bedded in ok and adjusted up i just have not had the time
here is a picture of my box a ruston buycrus s46
cheers graham

So in 'those days' what were the scraper offerings for a D4? Your RB S46, an Onions (as Yellow iron has - converted to hydraulic - on his D4) and the Cat Perf. hand-book shows a model 40 (4.5 cu.yd) made from '49 > '59.

How many cu.yds will a D4 handle (safely)?

anything else?

hi Richard ,i only really know of the onions and Rb boxes
i think the sterling is a badged Rb
Dave's box is factory made hydraulic ,i also made enquiries about that box but never heard back ,Dave got it and i brought his CCU from his D4D
i have a picture of my dad pulling a D6 sized box with a D4c ,levertons took the picture many years ago i will dig it out
i came across this heli box some years ago in an old chalk pit but could never find out about the pit owner
cheers graham

this little setup is not to far from me ,the box is the same as daves

this picture is of my dad at Reading
if i remember correctly the machine pulling the scraper had broke down and my dad hooked it onto his near new D4c ,levertons took the picture and my dad sent it to Hinton Sherye some years ago as he was going to do a book sadly the picture never came back along with some others
it then appeared in the first publication of earthmover's in may 2004
i am going over to my dads this afternoon and will ask him why he was pulling it in case i have got it wrong

Graham & Richard - If this wondrous winch (or cable control, as it should be termed, more correctly) uses cone type clutches .. this is possibly the reason for the "temperamental" behaviour.
The LeTourneau cable controls used cone clutches as well, and it's critical with all cone clutches, that the cones are adjusted correctly (i.e. - central), or they will "grab" and "chatter" .. and generally behave erratically, when in use.

I have never seen anything like that cable control, either, and I wonder if there's more to those control levers than shown in the pics. I cannot understand how they could be operated by the dozer operator, with them in the position shown.

Ozdozer, just to clarify I have no intentions of using it, just researching the subject. There always seems to be an 'art' in setting up most things of this vintage.....no need to plug in a lap-top here But what you say makes sense about centralising the cones.

The levers must have been made for some lanky John Cleese-type opeators who fell asleep in the green-house when they were younger

hi ozdozer ,these ccu,s come with the controls like you see , some people modified them
Paul badger had done a great job on his D4D he had a ketton working weekend these came up the side of the machine like a D6/D8 ccu controls do
the controls are pushed right back when the ccu is not in use
when in use and in the braked position they are within reach over the fuel tank ,it helps to sit a bit angled
here is one fitted to a TM 55 the controls are in the not in use position
i will try to get some pictures of mine with the controls in their working position
cheers graham

Graham i have an onions 9/11 box it's immaculate barring the paint work !! What i need is an old tractor to pull it. A nice D6C maybe a 47J if thats the powershift model with a 3306. I know that sedgemoor plant, haven't seen him advertising for a long time now.Ive allways thought the D4C has a nice look to it especialy the front end. I nearly bought a D in the early 80's but ended up with an 4E LGP in 87 ish and i still have her.. She used to belong to Skepper Bros. That box of Daves was laying at Beenham for some years dont know what Grundons pulled it with, a D65-6 probably !!!
Gordon.