Used as a chicken roost by the former owner...
Why the heck would I want to do that? I have been doing research for a book I am writing on the 139th Airborne Engineer Battalion. They were the combat engineer element of the 17th Airborne Division who fought just west of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and they rode in gliders during Operation VARSITY as the 17th Airborne Division invaded Germany on 24 March 1945.
As I pored through the archival material at the National Archives I came upon an entry that said simply: “AIRBORNE CLARK TRACTOR damaged by mine. Operator injured.” It was 4 February 1945. For some strange reason I had to have one of these things. It’s not logical or practical, it just is. Since I am an avid collector of all things associated with the 139th it seemed logical to me!
Gooseneck trailer with winch
A two month search uncovered a suitable project just south of Buffalo NY. I scheduled a pickup date, and I and one of my sons drove with a friend from work who wanted to visit his father in Buffalo. We arrived after a 928 mile trip. It took us exactly an hour to inspect, and winch the dozer onto the 20’ gooseneck trailer behind the Chevy Dually. I was impressed with the efficiency of our loading/safety team. The Dozer is not running, but free-wheeled nicely and the winch and pulley system tugged it right onto the trailer. I secured it with 4 heavy duty class 80 chains and 4 ratchet binders and off we went.
Since I am still three months (93 days, 4 hours and 27 minutes) away form the move to our homestead, I cannot disassemble the big parts. I still have to move it on and off of the trailer to get it to NM. I am able to work on small things such as distributor, generator, carburetor and a few other components. The time I have now has been used diligently to do research, find missing parts, connect with others who are doing the same (and there are dozens of other folks rebuilding Clark Airborne Dozers!!) and to learn more about the project. I filled the fluids, checked the basics and charged the battery. I have found that a recharged battery will turn the engine over, but there was not spark or fuel. I checked the compression and had between 90-99 psi across all 4 cylinders. The TM (Technical manual) calls for 85 psi minimum with no more than a 10psi difference between cylinders. I think I have a solid engine which needs some TLC.
Dirty Caburetor
Clean Carburetor
So far I have rebuilt the distributor, found and had a generator rebuilt, worked on the carburetor, and am tending to minor details. It’s a fantastic project and when we get the home built, the boys and I will have a blast resorting this thing to fighting condition.
The value of what we are learning is immense. I see and appreciate the practicality of a non-electronic ignition system and an engine that you can reach all the components for and do not need ANY special tools to do all of the basic work, and much of the advanced repair. Hand tools, a manual, a source of spare parts and some confidence will allow me and the boys to tackle the
Used as a chicken roost by the former owner...
project. I know there will be some pitfalls and parts disappointments, but each of those will be challenges that will mold the young men into future problem solvers. You can follow the progress at the following sites:
A forum thread on the restoration progress here, and for information on parts, another thread devoted to that topic here.