Austin Western for farm use

[Mac in PA]

I recently aquired a 1963 Austin Western Pacer 100 with a 3-71 Detroit. It came with the eleven scarifier shanks and an extra tire and wheel but no V-plow, which I had no use for anyway.

I made a set of ripper shanks for deep till and tried them out on the lower 5 acres. Everything seamed to work really well, even after getting a ripper shank caught on a rock that refused to move. That brought things to a screeching halt in a hurry. I simply raised the rippers, pulled forward and set them back down in the ground (no bent shanks). :thumbsup:

The max working depth is 24" but in this hard compacted soil I've been running them at about 16".





Mac

 

[Farmerford]

Nice machine! Doesn't look 50 years old.

I recall that the feed mill on the farm in the late 1960's had a 4-71 and it made quite a sound when you loaded it up with corn.

I am curious about the design of the rippers; the shanks seem to be narrower than the lower parts. Was that to make them fit the existing holder? Seems like the narrower shanks would establish the amount of force they will withstand.

 

[kneedeep]

Down below the Mason Dixon, we call that monster a "Road Patrol!!"

:thumbsup: :cool2:

 

[mjncad]

Now that is a cool toy...err...tool! :thumbsup:

 

[Mac in PA]

Nice machine! Doesn't look 50 years old.

I recall that the feed mill on the farm in the late 1960's had a 4-71 and it made quite a sound when you loaded it up with corn.

I am curious about the design of the rippers; the shanks seem to be narrower than the lower parts. Was that to make them fit the existing holder? Seems like the narrower shanks would establish the amount of force they will withstand.

I wasn't sure how much stress the scarifier frame work would endure so this had a big influence on the ripper design.

I chose the parabolic shape because it supposedly requires less horsepower. It's hard to tell from the pictures but the width at the wings is 8". The shanks are 1" by 6" and 26" long, spaced 22" apart. They create about 4" of lift, which seems to fracture the soil very well. There is 6" of additional support on the rear and sides of the shanks and 1" on the front. The shanks slide up into this channel and the two 5/8" bolts basically keep them from dropping out the the bottom.

My original thought and design was to keep them narrow for less drag and to keep a weak link in the system to protect the scarifier frame work. The original design I tested did not have the front, rear and side support. It relied on the two bolts to keep everything together. The bolts acted as sheer bolts and would break when I hit a rock. This became very time consuming putting the shanks back on and 5/8" grade 5 bolts aren't cheap.

Since the scarifier frame work seems to be stronger than I expected I don't believe I need a weak link to protect it.
At this point I am considering adding additional support to the sides of the shanks to prevent any possibility of them bending. Looking back a better choice would have been to use 1 1/2" or 2" thick shanks.


Mac

 

[creekbend]

Nice job and equipment. Best wishes.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think that is the first machine of that size that I have seen with a single rear axle, most have twin live axles on the rear for extra traction. Those rippers look like they will handle a good sized rock without bending. Using those on you pasture will certainly loosen up the soil and allow all those rocks to come to the top so be prepared to do some rock picking later.
Very nice machine, bet it will clear some snow of a road too not to mention the road bed maintenance function of it. As long as you operate it efficiently/expertly it will keep those dirt/gravel roads in shape too.

 

[farmgirl19]

Nice machine!

 

[herringchoker]

When I was growing up the local highway maintenance depot always had two of those Austin-Western graders. The later ones looked exactly like yours, the older ones had a slightly different cab. They graded dirt roads in the summer and in the winter they mounted a big V-plow and wing for snow removal. They were unbeatable (if slow) punching through big snowdrifts. You could hear that screaming GM diesel coming for at least a mile away. Yours looks to be in "like new" condition. They are great machines, with 4 wheel drive and steering. Nice setup.

 

[Turbys_1700]

That is a really nice road grader...
I don't ever remember any of those types down here in NC, only Gallon's...
I guess that with minimal snow down here the 4WD was not needed...
May I ask where you were able to get a machine like that?