OC-3 update

[Jim W]

Hello all,

Need some input here. Reading the identification plate riveted to the outside frame just below the engine on the crawlers right side, here is what I find.

AC Anderson INC
New Jersey

Model F3A H ANG
Serial OP6120

I see that this is for the Anderson dozer blade I have with this but it is riveted to the frame not the sheet metal. Any way to at least get a year the Anderson was built? This could at least get me an idea of the crawlers age.

I have the original bell housing but there is no information on it, Is there a place on the frame I should be looking for to find the tractor info? So far a search of the frame etc has nopt revealed anything.

I have the Mecedes motor running now (its an OM621 200D) however need to set up a radiator for it, the original conversion plan was to mount a radiator behind the operators seat as the hydraulic pump was frame mounted where the original radiator sat. I do not want to keep it that way so a search is on for a smaller radiator and a method to mount it up front. Not sure I will be able to keep the origianl sheet metal though. Until this is done I can not operate the machine to test out the drive components however it rolls fine and the PTO does operate with out any noise. after the motor is functional I can get to mounting the hydraulics and blade.

Jim

[Blake Malkamaki]

Did the guy still have the vacuum pump on the front of the engine Jim? If so, you can take that off and put a plate over the whole - that will give you some more room up front. They made a plate for it for the cars without power brakes. It has to be dished out to clear the cams on the front of the timing advance mechanism on the front of the fuel pump.

Blake

[Blake Malkamaki]

I agree, the radiator in the back is a dumb idea. I'm sure you can get something that would fit. If you had to you could eliminate the fan and put an electric one in front.

[Blake Malkamaki]

Is the Benz 4 speed still in it ahead of the 3 speed? That would make a super auxiliary tranny.

[Jim W]

Blake,


Sorry have been away from things for a while. Yes the vacuum pump is gone and a cover in place on the front of the injection pump gears. He had the hydraulic pump mounted kind of in front of that area but it then precludes mounting a radiator back on the front cross member. Still looking at ideas to solve that issue but none look like I will be able to keep the original hood sheet metal or the front grill as i may need to put the rad out in front a little. I can see why he was going for the rear mounted set up. It also looks like no clearance for the fan blade (this one does not have it now) as it will hit the front cross.

It does have the 200D 4 speed as well! I need to figure out the shift pattern as it has a side shift lever as well as one on the top. Neither connected of course. The side I know gets me into neutral and a forward gear but not sure of which yet. I can actually move the machine with the starter though when in gear and the Oliver is in 1st. Not that I do that but gave it a quick try to see if everything was still connected in the Oliver gearbox. I need to replace the flex coupler but need to ensure its the original Mercedes part before I order one on line. It looks to be but I cant find dimesions for the replacement part anywhere. Also need to find something to fabricate an air intake as all I have is the intake manifold.

Done rewiring the battery to starter, next to wire up the alternator and when I get the radiator solved work on a throttle set up. This one has been "modified" at the injection pump with a push rod used for speed and shut off. Not very stable but with out any parts to get it back to where it was not sure yet how that will be handled. Its workable for now but not driver friendly at all.

Still need some other parts for the 200D, the gooseneck water inlet/thermostat housing is one and I want to redo the motor mounts as right now its rigid mounted to the frame.

Jim

[Blake Malkamaki]

If it's the one I sold, he had the whole car. The shutoff cable is actually a four position cable with OFF • RUN • GLOWPLUG • START -- you will need that as those engines will absolutely not start without the glowplugs working, even in the summer. I would mount an electric fan in front of the radiator. There are lots of different ones available in different sizes.

The shifter in that car was on the column and had linkage that went to those two levers. Not sure of the combination to get different ratios, but you should be able to figure it out, or ask on a Benz site. The flex coupler is pretty simple and they last for years. Do not use ether on that engine. If it's mine, it has new 1 mm oversized pistons.

[Jim W]

Hi Blake,

What was done on this injector pump is the throttle lever end is still there but the end cap has been removed and replaced with oversized washers with one having a nut welded on with the pull shaft extending out of it. The original throttle no longer functions as such. Not sure what was done inside the assembly, these things are new to me. The entire engine and trans was painted CAT yellow as well. Valve cover had been removed and just put back on so it leaks. Not sure if this was yours. The flex coupler shows signs of dry rot as it has splits etc along the edges.

I have used ether to get her going, a few times ended up with ether lock. Glow plugs were converted to the 12 volt parallel versions with just straight wires that I connected to a starter solenoid so I can activate and shut off as needed. It has started when previously warmed up with out the glows running. I can only run short time though until I get the radiator done.

I figure I can sort out the shift pattern when I can run it a bit. Really looking forward to see what 1st gear will give me as I do want to move some dirt with this, nothing major but some grading I need done for the live steam railroad I am building.

I could post some pictures of the project.

Jim

Jim

[Blake Malkamaki]

Post some pictures. I might be able to tell if it was mine. The guy I sold it to was Anthony Basinger in western Ohio. His email address is anthonyhbasinger@gmail.com.

[Jim W]

Blake,

Wow this may be the same one, the fellow I purchased it from said the guys name was Anthony that he got it from so I have sent an email to him to find out. If so this could be good!

Thanks!
Jim

[Jim W]

Blake,

Made contact and its the right person! So this is your 200D, he has some concerns with the injector pump mods he did so I may have some more work to do to make this a decent runner.

Jim

[Blake Malkamaki]

Yeah, I'm not sure what he did to the pump, but it ran fine before. Did he turn it up for more power? Is all the linkage there from the intake manifold to the pump? That linkage works a butterfly in the intake manifold, which controls some kind of vacuum or pressure signal that works a diaphram in the back of the pump. All that stuff needs to work together. Hopefully that is all still there.

See if he has any extra parts from the car around.

If it were me, I think I would put a foot throttle on the tractor, with a throttle lever or cable rigged up to hold the throttle where you want it while under load. That way you can run it either with your foot or the lever. That engine will run about 4300 rpm and make 60 hp, and I think the tractor would handle moving along at a pretty good speed. At least I have seen them do it. We have an HG with an Oliver 77 engine that was the experimental tractor to develop the OC-6. I believe it handled that power fine, and the Benz engine probably does not have as much torque as the Oliver 77, but I don't know for sure.

The glow plugs should be wired in series and have a dash-mounted glow coil in series that tells you when they are hot and when to pull out the starter switch. If those glow plugs are not right they can burn off and fall into the combustion chambers.

Keep us informed.

[Jim W]

Blake,

Unfortunately no on the pump governor set up. There is no linkage the intake manifold had been changed so all I have right now is a manifold with an open air intake port.  I will talk with him more about it and as he is employed as a diesel mech now maybe we can come up with a solution. I researched his posts here from back then and he did have a question on how to boost it. We don't live that far apart either.

The glow plugs have been changed out to parallel. I found where there was actually a kit to do this. So far I had been lighting them up for a minute or so then starting it. Perhaps this is part of the hard starts it is prone to have though? I do have a set of factory glows for it but do not have the rest of the components to wire them properly.

researching also for lubrication, I found several posts about what to use on the rollers etc. This crawler has what looks like the standard Zerk fittings at those locations however from what I read and in the manuals we are to use oil instead of grease. Some have had luck using a grease gun filled with oil but indicate its a messy way. Any other hints to this portion?

To note I still can consider another motor swap but would like to keep this motor in place.

I have uploaded a pic of the pump mod. It should be in the "other" section of the gallery.

Jim

[Blake Malkamaki]

Jim, I hope he has the manifold and parts. Maybe he knew what he was doing and it will work the way he has it? I don't know. Hopefully he'll help you out and work with you to get it working right. Originally it had a diaphragm on the back of the pump to control the fuel rack, but it looks like he has converted it to manual. Maybe that's ok??

As far as the glow plugs - the serial ones were always a pain because if one burned off or had a crack through it, none would work. Kinda like the old Christmas lights. The parallel conversion is probably a good thing. The old ones took about a full minute to heat up in the winter.

For lower track wheel lubrication, use 50 wt non-detergent motor oil, or the equivalent weight of gear oil. No hypoid or extreme pressure additives though. Use the same in the transmission and rear end and final drives. The Benz transmission takes Dextron ATF.

I would try to make that engine work as that is what makes the machine unique. HGs and OC-3s are all over the place with gasoline engines.

Blake

[Jim W]

When he emailed he was concerned that this set up is not correct. Researching the posts here that he had back in the day he was on track with someone about governing concerns but the trail ends there, I am waiting to hear back from him as well. Having a hard time finding 50W oil locally but have found several forums where 50W is said to be the same as 90w gear oil as far as viscosity is concerned. If that can be found with out the additives (if possible).Clean up work continues with the oil leaks fixed, fuel lines  and filter replaced. Going to try a simple cable set up for throttle control and have an idea on radiator set up as well. I wont be able to use the original hood at all it looks like so perhaps when all is said and done will have something made up to keep the general shape.

[John Schwiebert]

That engine has a pneumatic governor. You need a vacuum line from the inlet manifold behind the butterfly to the injection pump