Found this old tractor today. Side of the engine reads GM Diesel, but no decals as to what size it is. I haven"t seen one with a GM in it before so I figured I"d share a pic. Any ideas as to what it is.

I saw a picture on the internet, of an LA at a show that had a 671 installed. It was painted Flambleu Red and looked finished ready to go to work. I wonder if it ever broke an axle? This was before Photo Shop became popular.

My brother has worked as a road mechanic for Detroit Diesel for 35 yrs. Before the Series 70 came out & the two strokes were king he always said "If it"s pitch black in a parking lot at a truck stop how do you know it"s a Detroit?---you listen for the dripping sound".
Steve

dont be so hard on the old jimmy there ok . they might not be every bodys ,favorite ,but they are fun to drive in this day and age...they is also know as a turner engine...(turns diesel into music).. do you have any better pic,s of the row crop 706..thanks

Melonreo,

Sorry no more pics of the 706. I"ll be headed back out there to check on a few things next week. I"ll snap a few and post em.

I have a Ford tandem truck w/ a 671 Detroit.Years ago I drove into the yard w/ a load of corn while an old trucker was loading out a semi of corn.He says how do you like the "converter"? I says what? He says a "Detroit converts fuel and oil to noise and smoke" ha, ha.

We need to keep the records straight. To my knowledge Ted Egging( who later founded the Egging Cab CO.) was the first person to put a GM Diesel in a LA.. He made many conversions in our county and also in many parts of the country. He always tried to get my Dad to put one in our LA.( He lived twenty miles from us) Dad said when the Case engine wore out he would. Case engines never wear out if they are maintained. Actualy my Dad and Ted had a running battle. He tried to get Dad to buy the GM xconversion and Dad tried to get Ted to buy a Airplane from him.( as my Dad was a Ercoupe dealer) plane pictures are of me in 1951 and the 48LA in 1956

now the case pictures

It is kind of neat, if you don't have to use all day. Thank God Case never put something like this into production. Why does this remind me off some Oliver abortion gone wrong? lol

Oh, that Detroit 2-stroke racket... The exhaust pipe could be a chimney and not get it far enough away!

I ran a Massey 98 (rebadged Oliver with a 3-71) for awhile. Bottom of them will never rust as they always seem to leak. Great way to convert diesel to noise but will start in weather about anything else will laugh at. They don't lug like a 4-stroke.

I heard you're supposed to slam your hand in the door getting in whatever has that powerplant. Then drive like you're mad at it and it'll run fine. It seems to work well. :)

Personally I'd think you'd want at least another cylinder (4-71) on an LA but that's just me.

Interesting tractor. Looks like a nice conversion. I think Case (maybe others) offered kits for this. Dad says an L would burn a lot of fuel so you can guess folks were looking for better economy.

Ken in AZ

I would think a 471 would be a better choice as well. A 671 would have about the same cubic inches. Any idea what kind of fuel consumption for the Detroit? My LA would use 5+ gallons of gas per hour when working hard. That's why I switched to a 500 for PTO work.

We ran a Fox Super D sp chopper with a 471 from '69 to '76. It would burn 7 gal/hr.

My 81 yr old neighbor worked for Detroit Diesel for 40 yrs(he"s got great stories!). He was the field engineer who adapted Detroit"s to any vehicle that wanted one. I"ve got an LA and he says they put 3-71"s in them like Don R. says. Don Livingston has a couple LA"s or 600"s with Diesels. He would know for sure.
Great find!
Steve

It looks like a 3 cylinder Detroit, maybe a 371. Lots of power and busted ear drums LOL.

Acording to the serial number it is a 1948 LA.

How about a 1949 LA

Its a gas LA converted to diesel. Don't know if it was a Case conversion or aftermarket. There were 2 different size GM diesels that were used I believe and in a post yesterday I learned that the wet clutch had to be replaced with a dry clutch in this conversion. Others will chime in here with more details, my knowledge is very limited on this one.

Jim

No that i was able to get the photo to work here are the rest of them.