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?

 

[Don87]

Nice machine. And like Gary............can't say I've ever seen a 4 wheeled road grader.

 

[Red Horse]

4 Wheel Austin Westerns were popular DPW machines here in New England. Yours looks to be in good shape-great rubber. take good care of it and it will be like money in the bank:thumbsup:

PS Buddy of mine picked one up a year or so ago and quickly resold it- I'll see what I can find out.

 

[Red Horse]

4 Wheel Austin Westerns were popular DPW machines here in New England. Yours looks to be in good shape-great rubber. take good care of it and it will be like money in the bank:thumbsup:

PS Buddy of mine picked one up a year or so ago and quickly resold it- I'll see what I can find out.

 

[Mac in PA]

Here's some info about my grader for those that aren't familiar with it. It has a 3-71 Detroit, which is a 3 cylinder - 2 stroke diesel that uses a Roots blower for aspiration. Has 113 HP and 299 pound of torque.

When I got it there was 4058 hours on the clock, which still works. I have no reason to believe the hour meter was replaced.

The drive-train is a 3 speed gear transmission with a high and low range. Six speeds forward and two reverse. Maximum speed is 20 mph according the factory chart inside the cab. It's 4 wheel drive all the time. The rear axle is positive drive to both wheels. The front axle has a differential so only one wheel actually drives.

The brakes are hydraulic with one brake drum on the front drive shaft at the transfer case. No brakes at the wheels.

It has 4 wheel steer. Rear steer is controlled by a hyd. cylinder and a lever attached to a control valve. Front steering has a hyd. cylinder also but is controlled by a tiller (no steering wheel) attached to a control valve. The tiller looks like a horizontal bar (about 12" long) with a handle on each end that pivots in the center. It rotates about 1/4 turn from full right to full left.

One final thing ........ It is fun as all-get-out to use ..... :cool2:

Hearing protection suggested.


Mac

 

[tonyoz]

I hav'nt seen one of these graders in years.The only difference was the make- Aveling Barford which was the English version and the engine was a Leyland. I operated it's big brother a Super 500, 6wd 6ws GM V671. The tick with the steering is to hold the tiller with the right hand and the rear steer lever with the left but don't use them together cause one cancels out the other and nether will work. I have also seen a super500 being reversed flatout using the rear steer when the operator got the steering all mixed up and it rolled down a batter on the road we were building.The grader ended up doing circles on the end of the blade until the engine blew.

 

[Mac in PA]

I have been collecting as much info for this machine as I can find. One thing I haven't found yet is the weight of it. I'm guessing somewhere around 16,000 pounds.

If necessary I can drive it to the feed mill to get it weighed but I prefer to avoid this 20 mile round trip.

Any info on this machine would be greatly appreciated.



Mac

 

[crashz]

My father had 2 AWs. A 6x6 and 4x4 like yours. Big tough machines that can move mountains of snow. We still have the 11' hydra-turn plow from the 6x6, and it weighs almost 3 tons on its own.

The only reason he got rid of them is because he had little work for them other than snow duty, and the state wanted trucks instead of grades in the road (faster & less of a hazard to drivers). They are typically built so rugged that they rarely need repair, only typical maintenance. Just like really old loaders, the Birfield joints on the axles can develop leaks.

 

[Red Horse]

4 Wheel Austin Westerns were popular DPW machines here in New England. Yours looks to be in good shape-great rubber. take good care of it and it will be like money in the bank:thumbsup:

PS Buddy of mine picked one up a year or so ago and quickly resold it- I'll see what I can find out.

Mac- my buddy sold his, with a front plow and a wing, cummins powered for $6500

 

[kebo]

Really nice looking machine there!!! That must have been one heck of a rock the 4x4 grader to come to a complete halt with just one ripper hung on it. Amazing that it didn't bend something either! Good luck with it.

 

[Mac in PA]

Really nice looking machine there!!! That must have been one heck of a rock the 4x4 grader to come to a complete halt with just one ripper hung on it. Amazing that it didn't bend something either! Good luck with it.

Actually there is a rock vein about a foot below the surface in a small section of the field. I was reminded of it when I was thrown forward and the grader sat there with all 4 wheels spinning. :ashamed:

The center shank is forward of the other two so it's the one that caught the rock.

Red Horse - Thanks for the price info :thumbsup:


Mac