New toy

[Lavoy]

This is a Heller Universal bucket trencher mounted on a 40.

[JD440ICD2006]

Very unique!
Is it yours and are you going to restore it?

[pop pop]

, you got it bad man ,,, how many times did the wife hit you for this one? heehee , or did you sneak it onto the back fourty while she wasn't looking,, ,well, all kiding aside, it looks pretty straight, probably super low hours, but all froze up??? tell us more,

[Lavoy]

Actually it is my brother's. I have been piddling on it for the last couple months as time allows. Pulled the entire trencher and mount off to get at the final drives. A previous owner had run the bull gear through the side of the final case. They put in all new bearings, JB Welded over the slot, and pumped the case full of gun grease. So, replaced that case and rebuilt it, rebuilt LH final drive, worked on both steering clutches and all the linkages. Had to make all new back plates for the buckets, new front vertical plate that the buckets ride against, and one of the plates on top. All new drive chains and sprockets, digging chain links and bucket teeth, pretty much every bearing on the trencher, plus had a new shaft and a couple of idler wheels for the digging wheels made.
Rewired the crawler, all new hoses, a whole bunch of new bolts and assorted hardware, all new fluids and filters. The engine appears to have been done in the past, the main transmission and the trencher transmission showed virtually no wear. The crawler never really works much as a dozer, so the undercarraige is in great shape except for one band roller, and one broken upper idler support. I did the idler support already, will replace the bottom roller this winter.
The conveyor drive belt is shot, new one should be here this week, will put that on this weekend, and hope to do some digging with it.
What you see is probably as far as it will go as far as restoration. It would take a complete tear down to paint, just don't have the time to do that. The crawler is mechanically very good shape now, shows about 2700 hours,and is ready to be played with. We have our annual threshing bee at the farm in a week and a half, hope to be digging trenches with it there.
If I can figure out how to do it, I will post some video if it works.
Lavoy
The trencher will dig a 4' deep trench, 14" wide. With the trencher transmission in low, and the crawler in 1st, it digs at 8" per minute. In trencher high, crawler 4th, it will do about 13' per minute, real speed demon.

[mapaduke@yahoo.com]

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT WORK 'ALSO.I HAVE SEEN A COUPLE OF PICTURES OF THEM AND WONDERED HOW IT WORKED.
WAS IT INDUSTRIAL YELLOW?

[digitup2]

I was thinking they must have geared it down from stock speeds for that trencher to work .digging some tile in with that unit would be a blast .Are there many rocks in your neighbor hood Lavoy.Every one needs to experience a rock while wide open with a rig like that .Done it and got the scars to prove it !!.Digitup.

[JD440ICD2006]

Lavoy,

At the "13 feet per minute" digging speed, you may want to consider a full cab for it. (no wonder the dumping belt is worn slap out)

Seriously, video of that unique old piece in operation would be great!


Chuck W.

[Lavoy]

It appears to have been yellow to start with, then someone painted it white/gray/whatever the hell color it is now.
No rocks where I am here unless they import them, at the farm more so. Not normally big ones, just nuisance rocks.
In low gear at 8" per minute, I told a guy I could point it at the house, leave for lunch, and it wouldn't even be across the driveway by the time I got back. At idle, you have to watch the track against the frame somewhat to even tell it is moving.
The auxillary transmission is truly a work of art. They completely cast an entire center section from the engine to the tranny that has another set of gears plus the output shaft to drive the trencher. Unless you look farther back, you can't even see it is not the Deere part. The starter mount is there, the same ribs, serial number tag is even in the same place. I can not imagine how much work it must have been to cast that piece. Especially on something that I doubt they sold more than a handful. I have only ever seen one other one. I have searched for a couple months on the net, and the only reference I can find is the guy that has one on a Cletrac.

[Draco]

Now....Thats an interesting machine.

[JD40c]

Even if it'd be a lot of work, that's rare enough to deserve a restoration

[Lavoy]

It does, but I just don't have the time to get deeper into it. It would require a full disassembly to do a restoration, and I have too many other projects that have been on the back burner for too many years. I did put about 6 weeks of on and off fixing on it, so the crawler is mechanically very good. I know it is hard to tell, but there is probably $4,000 worth of parts that it has had thrown at it this summer. It is ugly as sin, but you could put it to work now, and probably not have any trouble. I much prefer that to a DuPont overhaul that can only sit at a show, and is not even functional, or would break first time you tried it.
Lavoy

[JD440ICD2006]

Lavoy,

It is obvious in the video that someone has tuned the engine and got everything working properly.
I agree about the Dupont overhauls. What is amazing is that people still get caught on that one. How many times do we see an old crawler with bright new paint, new decals, even new handles in some cases. Those are the sellers that talk about an undercarriage with words like "good" or "about 70%". I can not tell you how many good 70% U/C's I have looked at that measured past worn out.

[Lavoy]

I actually never touched the engine. There is no paint whatsoever left on the block, so my assumption is that it has had a rebuild, or they would not have cooked the block. If it was a replacement block, it would have been in primer. The previous owners son had put in plugs, the electronic ignition system, and a rebuilt carb, I didn't do anything else to it. It runs great, and responds like a fairly fresh engine. In some of the vidoes, you can probably hear it bark when it gets and extra big mouthful of dirt.
Lavoy