Can anyone identify this tractor?

[Svctech]

I met a guy today that had a partially restored tractor on a trailer. We believe it is a former military piece. It has a Hercules engine.
Thanks for your assistance.

Please reply to svctech@hotmail.com

 

[bullbreaker]

I met a guy today that had a partially restored tractor on a trailer. We believe it is a former military piece. It has a Hercules engine.
Thanks for your assistance.Please reply to svctech@hotmail.com

Not sure of the model # but I believe that peice of equipment was made by "Cletrac" which I think after they folded was briefly taken over by Oliver.

Boone

 

[bcp]

Do a Google image search for:

airborne bulldozer

Lots of similar sized ones show up.

Bruce

 

[BeezFun]

Do a Google image search for:

airborne bulldozer

Lots of similar sized ones show up.

More impressively, they show up being loaded into GLIDERS! Even after seeing the picture I still can't believe that even the military could dream up a reason to fly a bulldozer in a glider. If the enemy would have heard the airplane, won't they hear the diesel engine on the bulldozer? Two generals were probably drinking one night and one said it couldn't be done, so the other one spent $10M to prove him wrong.

 

[USNative]

Nice old tractor. Is this a project you are going to be working on?

 

[cdaigle430]

More impressively, they show up being loaded into GLIDERS! Even after seeing the picture I still can't believe that even the military could dream up a reason to fly a bulldozer in a glider. If the enemy would have heard the airplane, won't they hear the diesel engine on the bulldozer? Two generals were probably drinking one night and one said it couldn't be done, so the other one spent $10M to prove him wrong.

They were used to make makeshift runways behind enemy lines. The gliders would sneak in in the cover of night behinf the front line just far enough away so they couldnt hear the dozer. Then they would starting clearing a path so more glider with troops could land in and deliver troops and supplies.

It was a good plan-risky and dangerous though.

 

[BeezFun]

They were used to make makeshift runways behind enemy lines. The gliders would sneak in in the cover of night behinf the front line just far enough away so they couldnt hear the dozer. Then they would starting clearing a path so more glider with troops could land in and deliver troops and supplies.

How can they be behind enemy lines and not have the enemy hear bulldozers clearing a runway? Isn't the definition of "enemy line" the line where you know the enemy is behind....

 

[crbr]

A nice looking machine.

 

[fuseboxer]

I think it might have been possible to crash land on a barren Pacific island and set up a runway and fuel depo. I do not how successful or how many existed. My step dad had a picture of himself on a shallow islet in the pacfic and everytime the runway was bombed he would use that dozer to fill in the holes with coral reff material. Two men, one dozer with camoflag net, on a small island. He was there for years. Too shallow to approach close with a ship to drop off a dozer. He always liked the crystal water and sand sharks. Cooking sand shark over deisel fuel you have to be pretty hungry. The few drums of diesel and hi-test gas were burried.

 

[BeezFun]

I think it might have been possible to crash land on a barren Pacific island and set up a runway and fuel depo. I do not how successful or how many existed. My step dad had a picture of himself on a shallow islet in the pacfic and everytime the runway was bombed he would use that dozer to fill in the holes with coral reff material. Two men, one dozer with camoflag net, on a small island. He was there for years. Too shallow to approach close with a ship to drop off a dozer. He always liked the crystal water and sand sharks. Cooking sand shark over deisel fuel you have to be pretty hungry. The few drums of diesel and hi-test gas were burried.

Amazing what these guys did in the war. So why was there a runway there? If ships couldn't approach, how did we get fuel on the island, and without fuel why would an airplane land there?