ACCO bulldozer moves again

[FatCatGotHot]

Hi mates,

I think this are just great news: Someone - and we dont know who - has moved the huge ACCO bulldozer on a lowboy to another location in Italy. OK, information is thin, but it looks like she is going to get to work again. ...no, "again" is the wrong word as she has never been used on a construction site. 30 years old and still the original paint on the blade.

Here are the videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77QOQZKKPZM&feature=channel&list=UL

What will they do with this juggernaut? Over 200 tonnes of weight and 1300 HP...serious vineyard ripping? I hope there will be some good footage of her pushing and ripping.

Salute,

Max

[Deas Plant]

Hi, FCGH.
It is great to hear that it has been saved and I enjoy the Youtube videos. How-wevver, we do know who now has it although not necessarily what he plans to do with it. It is now in the possession of one Robertodavide Valerio who has a page on Facebook where it is said he has posted some photos of the move. I refuse to register at Facebook so I can't access them.

The 'small' 'prototype' grader is still in original condtion, ready to work, but the big one has apparently been stripped of its balde and the dual wheels and its future is a bit uncertain.

BTW, the dozer weighs 183 tons fully rigged and has 2 x 675 hp Cat diesels giving it a total of 1,350 hp.

Anybody got any further information?

[FatCatGotHot]

Hello Deas,

yeah, there was hope that e could see her move some serious dirt. But is it not just great to know that the ACCO dozer will be on display in a collection and will be not cut up for scrap? From what I've heard from Italy, they plan to show it to school classes and people who are interessted in this dozer.

I've never heard of a "SMALL" ACCO grader! Didn't know they built 2 units. But I gues these muckshifters will go for scrap. 60 feet long with a 30 feet wide blade is just too big.

The only further info on the dozer I found was tha probably Berco america built the track systems. Looked into my book shelf and found weight declared from 166,00 kg to 183,000 kg, hence the 200 tons. But with 1350 HP, I figure its 166,000 kg

I never understood that funny 4 sprocket design...anyone a clue on this??

Cheers and happy pentecost,

Max

[Deas Plant]

Hi, FCGH.
Apparently, Acco built a 160 ton 'prototype' grader before he built the 'REAL' one. I don't know any of the specs on it other than the weight. I have a tendency to laugh out loud when people say that the Champion T100 is the biggest grader ever built at 91 tons and 700 hp. It's only a pup, an 'also-ran' that comes in in THIRD place - AFTER the two Acco's.

Maybe you could do a weekend jaunt down there to get some photos of all of his 'toys'.

[FatCatGotHot]

Hello Deas,

now I had to laugh: A short weekend trip... For Australian standards, yes, its a short ride, but for us lazy Europeans used the comfort of over-population, its defenitly a holliday trip. Would need a Shelby GT 350 and a lot of money for speed limit violation fees to realize it in just 2 and a half days.

Sorry pal, I'm just too busy in the nex 3 month. Got to finish my re-education first. But there is the plan to visit Accos machines as I speak Italian.

Salute,

Max

[Holger]

ACCO grader:
Deas Plant @ Mitsubishi on real boggy ground in NZ.

[bigkit]

Hi FCGH, I would imagine the 4 sprocket idea was to ensure the drive force was not applied to one single section of the chain. The larger load bearing area would slow wear on the chains and given the horsepower the chain may not have withstood to force applied to it through just a few links at a time. Also the loading through the planetary drives would be less, so all in all its aforce over area issue I guess.

[Deas Plant]

Hi, Bigkit.
I don't know that your explanation would work. I have been assured by people whose business is dealing with tracks and track wear that even with the oval track designs, it is only the first 3 or 4 links/pins/bushings on the sprocket that have any real load on them. After that, they are just following the sprocket around to the lift-off point, be it in forward or in reverse.

Just how you would keep TWO sprockets on the one track chain in perfect sync so that both had equal load regardless of pin/bushing wear is a bit beyond this little black duck, especially when the two sprckets are connected by a gear train running in oil and the pins and bushes are out in the open exposed to dirt, sliding contact, abrasion, etc.. Gotta be a smarta cookie than me.

At least he had the good sense to put a top carrier roller in there. It took Cat quite a while to wake up to that one, even with the eyeball evidence of the track chains whipping up and down frantically the whole time the machine was moving.

Hi, FCGH.
Better make that trip to Italy sooner rather than later or there may not be anything besides the dozer left to see. And what of the famous German Autobahns that we hear about? Hasn't the rest of Europe caught on yet?

Just my 0.02.

[bigkit]

Hi Deas, you could well have a point there. I was just an idea but I can see your logic. Maybe the designer was a muppet like me?

I'll keep on thinking...........................

[tctractors]

Deas, the older style (Oval ) track design put about 6-7 in average track bushing copping a load from the rim, the high drive set up gives 3-4 track bushings a right hiding with very fast wear rates, this is well known World wide with plenty of owners avoiding the CAT system, the ACCO tractor is driving through about 7 track bushings with planitary hubs so the loadings are possibly a lot more comfortable than on the Oval (flat track) system and would be a big improvement on the single drive hub used in the High Drive style tractors that CAT knock out, the drive system used in the ACCO would put only half the loading onto each bushing in the drive point, on the top roller thing with CAT, they used to sell wear plates to weld onto the track frame to lessen the damage caused by the track smacking down onto the top of the frame, the track would be flaying about like a Bull Whip when the tractor had the "Boot" stuffed into it, the damage to the front idler mounts and track link War wounds would make your eyes water, just why it took CAT so long to poke a simple top roller in beggers the grey matter??? they were an option at 1 point then a standard fitment, I can recall a Chepstow Plant Dozer burning out a set of tracks in 1'200 clock hours, the CAT's were swapped out for Komatsu as they could not make any Coins with the early High Drives.