Ac hd41

Any of you Cat Skinners spend some time on the Allis Chalmers crawlers?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=-KHQQsTh70o

They were before my time but I'm assuming they wern't a quality product or poorly managed since there not around. Would be interesting to hear some pros and cons about the HD dozers. You ever use them Oz D?

My Grandpa rented one they used for ripping farm ground back in the '70's putting in orchards. It was the biggest one around back then. This particular tractor I think came from a mine, the local A/C dealer bought it. I heard the Peterson guys came out to look at it, and the broom stick didn't lie- that thing ripped deep! I have a picture of it, I'll try to get it scanned and posted.

not to get off on a tangent (this is Antique Caterpillar after all) but I remember them back in the day although never operated one myself.

I was fascinated by the V-12 (NTC 1710?) Cummins engine it used but it may have overpowered for the drive train. I think they followed it up with a KT-1150? Cummins in the came machine (HD-31) but the ones I knew of had final drive issues.

Here is an old one still operating...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmPdEjmysfk

AC was the first with a torque converter , first with sealed rollers, first with a sealed track pins and bushings, and first with the delay built into a power shift transmission between forward and reverse, but somehow AC failed to prefect the challenge of finance, design, manufacturing, and marketing profitably. The HD41 preformed but refinements were undoubtedly necessary. The HD41's siidelined quickly when the D9 and D10 high tracks came out leaving the HD41 in the dust and AC financially unable to compete.

Thanks for the info RT. Sounds like they had some good engineers to be the first at several things. Often other are able to perfect someone's ideas.

Jim, ya I've post some off topic things about my Power Wagon and KW problems. This is the only site I'm able to find out the answers to some of my hurtles. I've tried other sites but when it come to mechanical related questions this is the site to ask.

Here is a link to some of the Worlds Biggest Dozers
http://machmachineine.blogspot.com/2010/08/10-models-of-worlds-largest-bulldozer.html

The HD41 did have final drive problems. My neighbor is a total AC fan, so I hear all about them...I've only seen 2 of them, a dirt contractor South of here had them, but I never saw them in action, just sitting at his yard. They were big Mamas...

Got a die hard fan here that runs them in his artichoke patch between Moss Landing and Castroville. Not sure what models but sure is odd to see a fleet of them working the harvest.

The antique show at Albany, MN has one. I think there is a post here from last years show with a HD 41 with 3 other crawlers mounted to it while it was playing at the show. I'm quite sure Sasquatch posted it. Maybe he will chime in.

Hi, Old Magnet.
Does that guy grow BIGGGG artichokes?

A kew-ree-yuss mind would like ter know.

Hi Deas,
More to do with big "muddy" than the size of the chokes. Late harvest gets them into the rainy season although that hasn't been much of a problem of late.

Hi Oil Slick - Nope, never got to operate a HD41. They were not popular in Australia and didn't sell in large numbers. A poor dealership didn't help.

However, I did get to drive a HD31, which was the HD41 fitted with the big 6cyl KT-1150 Cummins, instead of the V12 VT-1710 Cummins that was fitted to the HD41.

An associate owned 2 x HD31's and he worked them hard and got quite a satisfactory level of performance out of them. The reduced power through the HD41 drivetrain played a big part in that.
The A-C's always suffered from "sloppy" torque converters. They would slow down enormously under heavy load - but of course, the torque output and pushing ability increased enormously due to the massive torque multiplication.
You'd start off pushing with the HD31, build up a great bladeful of dirt - then when you hit the slope to push up, the tractor felt like it was nearly going to stop!
However, it would just keep on pushing and handle an enormous bladeful with ease. The A-C blades were always an excellent design, too, and that helped with the amount you could push.

A-C's earthmoving products always suffered from the sales and marketing depts running the company and over-riding the engineers.
The S&M dept would want "more power than the other brands" to brag about in the sales spiel, so the A-C engines were always "turned up", against the A-C engineers recommendations.
This resulted in A-C engines always working on their limit and developing a degree of unreliability in later years. The Cummins engines eliminated that potential problem, the KT-1150 and VT-1710 were among Cummins best engines.

Russell is correct - A-C were first with many major and far-sighted design improvements. Unfortunately, first is not always best.

1. A-C produced the first torque converter. Correct. However, Cat spent more time refining the torque converter and produced the torque divider - one of Cats greatest engineering developments.
2. A-C produced the first sealed track rollers. Correct. However, A-C track rollers used taper roller bearings. Good for speed and efficiency, but not so much for durability in the long run. Cats bronze bushing rollers were more durable.
3. A-C produced the first sealed and lubricated track chain. Correct. However, the A-C SALT track chain failed miserably, because A-C rushed the product onto the market without adequate long-term testing. The A-C SALT track chain had nothing to prevent the seals from being crushed and damaged with side thrust. They failed early. Cat saw the problem and inserted a steel thrust washer in between the links to prevent the seal from being crushed. The Cat SALT chain was highly successful due to thoughtful design.

A-C was an interesting company. It was a major industrial powerhouse with enormous wealth from production of huge items of industrial capital equipment from the late 1800's.
A-C produced a breathtaking array of products, from X-ray machines to huge compressors, crushers, pumps, earthmoving and farming machinery that was sold in virtually every country in the world.
However, A-C failed purely due to poor management and a failure to understand that engineering design and customer support, took precedence over fancy marketing and sales.

There were quite a number of A-C tractor products that were quite satisfactory. I liked A-C tractor engineering, the steel quality was good, and they were easy to repair, with simple designs.
However, A-C failed to attack and remedy faults in design. One would become annoyed at an A-C design fault that caused owners regular downtime and additional cost - but it would never be improved, no matter how much one complained.

This was a big failing on A-C's part. Cat were always quick to improve design faults. A-C didn't care about them - if you were an owner with a complaint about poor design of an A-C component, it always fell on deaf ears.
A-C tractors did a lot of major projects around the world, but owners of A-C's rarely made the same kind of money out of their tractors like Cat owners did.

Regards, Ron.