Roadless Crawler Weight Opinions

DanielW

Member
Hi folks,

There's an auction not far from me next week that has a new-major/E1A-based crawler with a hefty blade. I don't know much about crawlers, but the undercarriage looks to be quite good for its age, and the body looks very straight. I'm interested for a few reasons:

i) It would be handy around the farm - especially logging in the winter.

ii) It's nearby

iii) It's a gas - not diesel. I know this might be counterintuitive as ignition & engine parts are pretty much impossible to find for the 200 gas engines, but there's a method to my madness: I already own two gas E1A majors (my two favourite tractors). If the engine goes on one, I figures it's good to have spares available for another.

It turns over, but doesn't run. Looks to me like the fuel system is all gummed up. How hard would this be to winch onto a float if it isn't running. As mentioned, I know very little about crawlers. It's been sitting outside for a few years, so I suspect the clutch packs are seized. Would that make it nigh on impossible to move around?

I'm also wondering about how much this would weight so I don't overload my float if I get it. I'm thinking it's probably about the same size as an OC-6 - 6000 lb or so?

Any thoughts as to whether it would be sensible to bid, how much I should bid, and how hard it would be to move would be greatly appreciated.

(not sure whether this belongs on the crawler forum or the Fordson forum)
 
I cannot help with a lot of your question as we do not know what blade you have but I am very interested in why you think it is a Roadless J17. The most common crawler based on a Fordson Major would be a County. If it is indeed a Roadless be very careful with the tracks as they are rubber jointed and are under a fair bit of pressure to straighten out flat if they are split without the proper tools.

The clutch packs will prevent you steering properly but you should be able to move it.

Many of the spark ignition Majors were converted to either a Perkins L4, Perkins P6 or a diesel Major engine. I have had a petrol/kerosene Major since 1975 and still use it around my property.

cvphoto97862.jpg


Roadless rubber jointed track.
 
I have a handbook and a spare parts list for the Roadless J17 crawler but in none does it specify the weight of the tractor.

The weight of a basic Major is 4360 lbs, petrol. 4380 lbs petrol/kero and 4420 lbs for diesel. These weights would have included the heavy cast front wheels used as standard.

The track gear and bulldozer would add an extra 2000 lbs at a rough estimate so you would be looking at around 6500 lbs at a rough guess. That could be out either way.
 
Thanks very much for the info. I was going off what I was told, but looking at some pictures I took I think it's definitely a County, not a Roadless (shows how little I know about these).
 

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