Wonderful to see that that this machine was brought back to life! With a little care and fresh grease it is perfectly able to do today what it did 70 years ago. Amazing.
my friend had one of those... he also had a version that instead of dipping.. had big drive rings and fixed buckets. his was equipped with a ford layman diesel instead of a gas engine. he dug foundations for housing projects from the late 40s to the late 70s all over so cal.. he had a second big ring type that he sold to a gold miner who turned the big wheel around to dig upward as they backed it into cliff faces... he had mini hydraulic cylinders that lowered a rod that looked like an F with a bunch of flat lines.. so he could follow the construction cord he had laid out.. he went to the fixed bucket on the big ring as it dug faster.. over the 40 year that he dug foundations.. when he retired he had almost 7 million dollars cash in the banks.. and worked alone mostly. when he moved out of the property he had years later.. all the trencher parts were scrapped. he had bought all the parts from Challenge when they quit production.
i was an oiler on a cleaveland 247, 320 and 400, ican't remember if the 247 had cable hoist or it was hydraulic.all three were production ditchers, the 247 were a bit smaller and seemed to be pretty nimble. the 320 and 400's we'd get6 or 7 ft ditch x 3ft a mile at least in 8 hours. always near a hot line. once in coalinga california we'e hit these little knob of a hill and every thing would come to a dead stop, sometimes breakin buckets ( oh that was me hammering the bucket in mud,) but the knobs were, 10 hours a day and maybe 3 or 5 ft, and the company thought the world of us, i got valley fever on that job, there were fossils of shells like shelll oil company. they're beautiful machines.
Back in the 70s my dad had 3 cleveland trenchers digging farm drainage. We used to carry and lay 4" clay tiles. On a good day we could dig and lay 1000 to 2000ft. Life got easier when they came out with 250ft rolls of corrugated plastic pipe.
That machine look a whole lot of thought to design and build this, there are a whole lot of things going on when it working! Talk about handy, its sure a compact unit and includes the blade and all for back filling one heck of a neat machine!
Very cool, thanks for sharing, you guys didn't even look scared navigating the trailer ramp. (There isn't much that scares me, but steep, slick, trailer ramps do it.)
Great looking machine. I see you have several Fordson road graders too. I'd love to see some vidoes of those and the other equipment you have. Also, any update vidoes on this machine would be great.
I saw a modern version of this on a job I worked back in the mid 90's. Made by Vermeer. It cut a trench in solid rock, two feet wide and up to ten feet deep. If I remember correctly. Guy that ran it said it was $300 an hour.
Today don’t have computer parts to finish the product plus will last six months operating because the def system is shorting down the machine just sad but true
Wonderful to see that that this machine was brought back to life! With a little care and fresh grease it is perfectly able to do today what it did 70 years ago. Amazing.
my friend had one of those... he also had a version that instead of dipping.. had big drive rings and fixed buckets. his was equipped with a ford layman diesel instead of a gas engine. he dug foundations for housing projects from the late 40s to the late 70s all over so cal.. he had a second big ring type that he sold to a gold miner who turned the big wheel around to dig upward as they backed it into cliff faces... he had mini hydraulic cylinders that lowered a rod that looked like an F with a bunch of flat lines.. so he could follow the construction cord he had laid out.. he went to the fixed bucket on the big ring as it dug faster.. over the 40 year that he dug foundations.. when he retired he had almost 7 million dollars cash in the banks.. and worked alone mostly. when he moved out of the property he had years later.. all the trencher parts were scrapped. he had bought all the parts from Challenge when they quit production.
OML the trench is super clean and the spoil pile isn't scattered all over hell half acre. excellent machine design.
i was an oiler on a cleaveland 247, 320 and 400, ican't remember if the 247 had cable hoist or it was hydraulic.all three were production ditchers, the 247 were a bit smaller and seemed to be pretty nimble. the 320 and 400's we'd get6 or 7 ft ditch x 3ft a mile at least in 8 hours. always near a hot line. once in coalinga california we'e hit these little knob of a hill and every thing would come to a dead stop, sometimes breakin buckets ( oh that was me hammering the bucket in mud,) but the knobs were, 10 hours a day and maybe 3 or 5 ft, and the company thought the world of us, i got valley fever on that job, there were fossils of shells like shelll oil company. they're beautiful machines.
Back in the 70s my dad had 3 cleveland trenchers digging farm drainage. We used to carry and lay 4" clay tiles. On a good day we could dig and lay 1000 to 2000ft. Life got easier when they came out with 250ft rolls of corrugated plastic pipe.
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That machine look a whole lot of thought to design and build this, there are a whole lot of things going on when it working! Talk about handy, its sure a compact unit and includes the blade and all for back filling one heck of a neat machine!
No doubt brother that is some very creative engineering
I like the conveyor belt, gets the spoils away from the trench. Great little machine!
What a wonderful find! Cletrac trencher running good for its age!
It might be 70 years old , but it,s still going , & still doing it . Rock on .
Very cool, thanks for sharing, you guys didn't even look scared navigating the trailer ramp. (There isn't much that scares me, but steep, slick, trailer ramps do it.)
Awesome machine love to see it being rebuilt and painted up new like a show room floor model lol
I like the cobweb most of all. The spiders sure have a history of that old contraption.
Great Video 👍👍👍
Great Channel 👍👍👍
👋👋👋👋👋👋👋👋
Interessante máquina de cavar parabéns
A bulldozer with a trenching bucket ladder? That's gotta be a neat attachment for modern bulldozers today.
Great Machine 👍 Thanks for sharing.👍
What a cool machine.
The original ditch witch.
Sweet rig! Definitely built to last!
Awesome machine!!! Perfect for digging footers 😈
WOW!!! I once swapped a 20?22?R Toy and 4 speed into a junk Cletrac. Wish I still had it.
That thing is an OSH violation with it turned off! Awesome!! :)
Great looking machine. I see you have several Fordson road graders too. I'd love to see some vidoes of those and the other equipment you have. Also, any update vidoes on this machine would be great.
I saw a modern version of this on a job I worked back in the mid 90's. Made by Vermeer. It cut a trench in solid rock, two feet wide and up to ten feet deep. If I remember correctly. Guy that ran it said it was $300 an hour.
How genius was it back in time …. I like it , still working, need some love …
Matt from Diesel Creek is major jealous right now !
Wow! What a heavy contraption, man 👍👍👍👍
Top of the line equipment back then
It must have cost a small fortune when new :o So many buckets and motors. $200k in todays money maybe.
thats an amazing machine how deep does it dig ?
Sweet machine! Thanks for sharing
Somebody definitely scratched f*ck on the left of the front blade
Sounds like it needs a lot of TLC and a few cases of some good grease . It's definitely different from what I have used.
Looks pretty safe to operate I'll say.
The tractors...good friend.
Great - Now I want one...
nice where is it ? NJ , newark ?
Legal muito bom
awesome machine, I love it
Would love to have that little gem
How cool is that!
Amazing 👍🏻
sure looks like fun! im so jealous.
Thing is pretty cool
Quite the neat machine.
Today don’t have computer parts to finish the product plus will last six months operating because the def system is shorting down the machine just sad but true
Sensacional 👍
very neat thanks for sharing
no OSHA back in them days, looks like a people grinder too me
I have ran a buckeye and a red seal
Ever consider selling it? Im in Alturas, CA
Just awesome
Cool old tool
Original ladder trencher?
watsonville ca?
Probably jumps like a grass hopper when you hit a bolder
i love shit like this so cool
Nice machine! Restore that one.
I hear bearings gettin tore up!
dang ground is like concrete
A bit one dimensional but great if you need a trench dug.
A little bit of grease and it b like new
too cool
HAHAHAHA 😂🐐
I love it!
That looks like a Cletrac
Oliver OC 3
oiling the machine would work much better
looks like low hours.
Please grease this machine. It looks so dry.
good lord oil it first