There is an excellent museum at Parkes NSW. Included in their collection is a home-made monster tractor, amongst other items. All very interesting. And what about the lineup of equipment on the roadside at Ilfachombe, near Longreach Qld? Also, what about Old Lizzie at Red Cliffs Vic (Near Mildura). Pity these are not in working order though. Australia had a wonderful array of machinery in the early 1900's.
Lanz Bulldogs are Started with a Blow lamp or after about 1952 electric Starter motor......... Field Marshall (English) tractors used a Cartridge to start.
Here is a Pic. of a 1952 Lanz Bulldog D2206 (first of the Electric Start versions..) I have recently restored (and Scratch built the model as well) ..... KB
-- Edited by KJB on Wednesday 19th of January 2022 09:14:19 AM
I cant remember ever seeing a field marshal tractor but I certainly dont doubt you.
From a post on a forum on tractors it was mentioned that both the Lanz and the Field Marshal shared the same ot similar engines.
Maybe this is why the Lanz could share the shotgun starter.
This was said:
This tractor has an engine similar to the German Lanz Bulldog in that it has a single cylinder 2 cycle engine. They also have a wick or place to put a blow torch into the head to warm them up to get started. The Lanz used the steering wheel as a crank on some models and I think the last ones were electric start. The Italians had a Landini which was similar. John Deere bought the Lanz company and Bulldogs and other Lanz equipment went away.
The tractor I saw was a very old unit. In fact I recon it had steel wheels.
Field Marshall ....cartridge/wick start, steel wheels . This Pic.(NMP) is probably similar to the tractor you saw on the EP....... Engine layout similar to Lanz Bulldog - horizontal single cylinder , 2 stroke , water cooled . Difference is the Lanz is Hot Bulb ignition start/run pre early Fifties. KB
I worked on a farm in the SA Mallee, between Lamaroo and Pinaroo, Parilla to be exact, god forsaken sandy country it was.
They used both a Lanz bulldog and a Field Marshall, both fitted with World War 2 bomber tyres to help traverse the sand.
I spent most of my time there working on the Bulldog, big slow revving single cylinder, surprisingly they could bound accross the country quite quickly in top gear, things could get interesting when the steering wheel, used for starting came out when you were mobile.
As I said single cylinder, slow revving, started with blow lamp and steering wheel in the fly wheel, rocked it back and forth until you built enough momentum to overcome the compression, then away she would go, I vaguely remember the steering wheel getting stuck in the fly wheel after it fired now and again, interesting times for a young bloke.
I worked on a farm in the SA Mallee, between Lamaroo and Pinaroo, Parilla to be exact, god forsaken sandy country it was.
They used both a Lanz bulldog and a Field Marshall, both fitted with World War 2 bomber tyres to help traverse the sand.
I spent most of my time there working on the Bulldog, big slow revving single cylinder, surprisingly they could bound accross the country quite quickly in top gear, things could get interesting when the steering wheel, used for starting came out when you were mobile.
As I said single cylinder, slow revving, started with blow lamp and steering wheel in the fly wheel, rocked it back and forth until you built enough momentum to overcome the compression, then away she would go, I vaguely remember the steering wheel getting stuck in the fly wheel after it fired now and again, interesting times for a young bloke.
You have more than "earnt your Retirement..." then..... KB
Field Marshall ....cartridge/wick start, steel wheels . This Pic.(NMP) is probably similar to the tractor you saw on the EP....... Engine layout similar to Lanz Bulldog - horizontal single cylinder , 2 stroke , water cooled . Difference is the Lanz is Hot Bulb ignition start/run pre early Fifties. KB
KJB,
My computer wont recognise that jfif. file
I guess you are telling me I am incorrect with a Bulldog tractor having a shotgun cartridge starter. Or maybe you are saying it wasnt a Lanz Bulldog I was shown.
Fair enough, I will let it go.
I may through a couple of other contacts actually get some info from the owners two sons. Havent spoken to any of them for many years but you never know. I would imagine that the tractor would be a collectors item and should be still around somewhere.
Thanks for your info.
-- Edited by Rob Driver on Wednesday 19th of January 2022 04:35:34 PM
Not according to the Operators Manual .....I am POSITIVE of this .......but I could be mistaken !
Ha ha, but seriously, how does the electric start work? As I understand the originals need a preheat from a blow torch, the rock and roll to get compression (with the electric steering wheel), then usually start.
My little Hino diesel truck had a decompression lever in 1973, hold it open whilst turning the key, and she started after glow plug preheat.
-- Edited by Craig1 on Wednesday 19th of January 2022 07:49:37 PM
Not according to the Operators Manual .....I am POSITIVE of this .......but I could be mistaken !
Ha ha, but seriously, how does the electric start work? As I understand the originals need a preheat from a blow torch, the rock and roll to get compression (with the electric steering wheel), then usually start.
My little Hino diesel truck had a decompression lever in 1973, hold it open whilst turning the key, and she started after glow plug preheat.
-- Edited by Craig1 on Wednesday 19th of January 2022 07:49:37 PM
The electric starter on a Bulldog is known as a "Pendulum Starter" - made by Bosch. It oscillates the Crankshaft forward to Compression and then lets the Crank "bounce" in reverse to Compression . While this is happening a "Trembler " coil is is manually turned "On" supplying continuous spark to a Spark plug and and the injector is supplying Petrol/Diesel mixture to the cylinder . Once the engine fires and starts the fuel is manually changed to diesel and the Spark turned "Off". The Starter motor is a clever piece of engineering and only needs a smallish 12 volt battery as once it is in motion most of the hard work is done by compression. If in good condition the engines start quickly without any hassles.
Lanz Bulldogs are interesting tractors , their strong points were simplicity, economy and durability - all ideal attributes in "back block" farming areas of Australia and many other countries. These days they are sort after Worldwide by Collectors and Restorers . KB
My first encounter with a crude oil Bulldog Tractor was in about 1943. A relative of mine was farming on a property about 30 miles north of Dalby. He started the tractor after heating the oil/bulb at the front, by attaching the steering wheel to the flywheel and turning the wheel to turn the engine over.
I think there was a decompression device involved. The engine could actually run backwards and to get the correct forward motion in the engine you were required to throttle down in the revs. and at the precise time open the throttle just as the flywheel bounced back the other way.
This was a very large tractor in it's day and unless you got the engine running in a proper manner you could have 5 reverse speeds to one forward gear.
The smoke produced by that engine filled the shed until she warmed up properly. Another rellie had a smaller version and to avoid all the pre oil heating dramas of a morning he would let his machine idle all night.
Those old bulldogs were said to be able to burn any oil as fuel even down to bacon fat.
The only other tractor to my knowledge that was started with the blank 12 gauge shot gun cartridge was a Field Marshall. I think it ran on diesel.
Another tractor from my earlier days purchased in 1947 was a Mccormic W D 40 Diesel, it started on petrol and after warming up you switched over to Diesel. That old diesel is still running today powering a grain drying plant on a rellies grain farm.
Wonderful to read and see some of these older machinery items.
Have fun Haji-Baba
-- Edited by Haji-Baba on Friday 21st of January 2022 01:25:18 AM
"This was a very large tractor in it's day and unless you got the engine running in a proper manner you could have 5 reverse speeds to one forward gear."
Now that you mention it I do recall there were circumstances where they would run backwards, I think it was more of a problem with the Field Marshal than the Bulldog, though I could be wrong.
"This was a very large tractor in it's day and unless you got the engine running in a proper manner you could have 5 reverse speeds to one forward gear."
Now that you mention it I do recall there were circumstances where they would run backwards, I think it was more of a problem with the Field Marshal than the Bulldog, though I could be wrong.
A Lanz Bulldog can Start and run backwards easily but there is a simple technique to reverse the rotation without shutting the engine down. Many Lanz Bulldog models have a "Rotation Meter" to indicate in which direction the engine is running - (Safety Feature!) Running in "Reverse" for any length of time is not recommended as it interferes with engine lubrication. Very early Lanz Bulldogs used the "Reverse " running as a "Reverse Gear".
Interesting Snippet - Lanz Bulldogs have been commonly known in Europe as "Bulli's" since the 1920's. When in the late 40's early '50's Volkswagen produced their new Commercial vehicle , they originally named it - Bulli . Lanz objected and took Volkswagen to Court and won. Volkswagen had to rename their new commercial vehicle and chose - Kombi......
I have seen a well tuned Bulldog idle so slow that the Crank does not rotate - it just oscillates (fires on Forward and Reverse compression without going "over top dead centre..") KB
Field Marshall ....cartridge/wick start, steel wheels . This Pic.(NMP) is probably similar to the tractor you saw on the EP....... Engine layout similar to Lanz Bulldog - horizontal single cylinder , 2 stroke , water cooled . Difference is the Lanz is Hot Bulb ignition start/run pre early Fifties. KB
Hi to KJB and other members,
I want to say I was mistaken about the Bulldog and the shotgun cartridge. My memory has let me down from 30 years ago.
I contacted a fellow who new of one of the farmers sons. We exchanged emails and this explains my stuff up.
Field Marshall ....cartridge/wick start, steel wheels . This Pic.(NMP) is probably similar to the tractor you saw on the EP....... Engine layout similar to Lanz Bulldog - horizontal single cylinder , 2 stroke , water cooled . Difference is the Lanz is Hot Bulb ignition start/run pre early Fifties. KB
Hi to KJB and other members,
I want to say I was mistaken about the Bulldog and the shotgun cartridge. My memory has let me down from 30 years ago.
I contacted a fellow who new of one of the farmers sons. We exchanged emails and this explains my stuff up.
My apologies to the forum
Our memories are not always perfect Rob but it was good that the Topic initiated a "catch up" with an aquaintance of yours from the Past..... Cheers KB
Just out of Japarit Vic there is a pioneer museum. Great if your into that. Just a donation
Just south of Beaufort they hold a couple steam rally every year. Again, great if you like that stuff.