Need Help. American Coleman A/C Tug

[astixjr]

The Clarktor MILL-50 project has me motivated to fix another tug at Creve Coeur Airport but I need some help. Our museum has this American Coleman beast but it has a brake master cylinder problem along with a few other issues. The brake problem has it parked because it's really hard to tow a/c with a tug that has no brakes. Anyone know where to find manuals or parts for this thing? Thanks in advance for any and all help.

[skymstr02]

I'd try taking the master cylinder down to the auto parts store and see if they can match it up. A lot of those type components are commercial off the shelf units.

Have you tried Googling the model number or manufacturer name?

[Jase]

Good advice from Skymstr. I'd advise going to an "old school" parts store like the local NAPA or similar, if any survive in your area. Advance, Western, and Auto zone on occasion have competent parts guys but mostly they have young kids whose response to odd things is "Not in the computer, sorry" Also if you have any farm tractor shops in the area they may be helpful as well.

That master cylinder looks like a 60's Ford F600 or similar big truck, so that may be a place to start. Any numbers or mfr name on the cylinder?

Gonna start calling you "GSE Central"!!

EDIT: Give Sage parts a call if NAPA etc doesn't work. Is that a 4WD and 4 whl steer tug?

Last edited by Jase on Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[b29flteng]

You might also go to the local junk yard and find something similar in out-put size (piston diameter) and make it work.

[astixjr]

Thanks for the input. I talked to the person who did some work on this tug two years ago and it turns out, he gave up for lack of manuals. He was able to locate a master cylinder overhaul kit but he had problems bleeding the brakes. It's got a large booster on the brake system and that may be part of the problem. I'll need to find some manuals for this thing before we can move forward. I found some paperwork in the cab that talks about emergency procudures for dealing with a Hydrazine leak. I wonder what this thing tugged?

[Jase]

AHA. Is the booster, perchance, mounted remote from the brake master cylinder? And is it a vacuum booster? If so, then it's probably a Furd med duty truck system. And they are a stone, redheaded, pain in the hiney to bleed. Ya pretty much have to "back bleed" em from the wheel cylinders back, with a pressure bleeder.

I'll have to see what kind of manuals I can scare up for ya, Mr GSE. Might be a long shot but post something on the ClarkTugs group, Joe might have a pointer for you.

[Jase]

Al, have a look here: http://www.tpub.com/content/constructio ... 40-200-14/

Pretty sure this is at least one of the manuals you need. This quick enough for ya?

Also, found Essco has one for 50 bux, but I think the one I posted above is just as good and free to boot.
http://www.esscoaircraft.com/Coleman_To ... /31345.htm

[skymstr02]

I found some paperwork in the cab that talks about emergency procudures for dealing with a Hydrazine leak. I wonder what this thing tugged?

F-16's use hydrazine, so thats one possible use.

[bdk]

Al, have a look here: http://www.tpub.com/content/constructio ... 40-200-14/

Pretty sure this is at least one of the manuals you need. This quick enough for ya?

Also, found Essco has one for 50 bux, but I think the one I posted above is just as good and free to boot.

Rats! I was going to download that onto a CD and sell it to Albert for $35.... I've got to pay my share of the bailout dontcha know.

[astixjr]

Thanks Jase, the first website link worked just great. For just $9.95 for thirty days, I'm allowed to download up to ten pdf manuals per day. They have a manual for the Chrysler six cylinder version of this tug but other than ours having a Chrysler V-8, it looks to be the same tug. No doubt, while laying on my back under this pig, I spotted that redheaded pain in the hiney of a brake booster. The good news is we do have a pressure pot brake bleeder or two that we got from the same outfit that sold us this tug.

We have our annual airport Halloween party coming up and we always have a hay ride around the airport. Usually, we use several different farm tractors each towing one of the local farmer's hay wagons. This year I think it's time to try something a bit different. I'm thinking about using several a/c tugs each pulling a flat trailer with lawn chairs rather than bales of itchy, dusty, hay. How about some patio furniture including a table or two on each flat trailer? Maybe a couch and an old easy chair? Hey, it's got to be better than sitting on a hay bale!

*BDK, so if you sell me a copy at $35.00, you will only owe me $265.00 for those .50 BMG parts you took back to the land of fruits and nuts. Did I say .50 BMG parts? No, sorry, those were vintage apple peeler parts right? I never gave you any parts for a .50, never happened....nobody can prove it.....

[Jase]

Hmmm, that might be kinda cool. Be more in keeping with the aviation theme to use baggage carts though!!

In all seriousness, it's probably a VERY good thing that you are all the way in "Mizzery" and I'm in Virginny, as I have to think that if we were both at the same airport or close by, it could become one helluva competition of sorts. We could probably talk each other into getting stuff that, by ourselves, what little good sense we have left would have us running away from.

Oh, and now I'm looking for one of those B-36 Coleman tugs. Never know what treasures one may stumble across........ <VeryEvilGrin>

Glad to have been of help. Those remote hydrovac systems can be a real pain to deal with. I'll PM you my cell number, feel free to call or email if I can talk you thru anything.

Found this explanation of the Hydrovac system on another board: Trucks which were not equipped with air brakes used them for years, and still do. What happens is that the first 30% of the brake line pressure (it could be 40%....the exact number escapes me) is used to pressurize the wheel cylinders. When brake line pressure exceeds that figure, then a vacuum valve is lifted which causes the cavity behind the diaphram in the booster to exhaust, and allows atmospheric pressure to push it forward, and at that point, the BOOSTER is pushing the fluid; all the pedal is doing is modulating the vacuum. Since the booster operates on the SUSPENDED VACUUM PRINCIPLE, they are very quick-acting and a superb unit for the job. Actually, in the "early days" ........like the mid fifties......Cadillacs used them for power brakes, and since they were conveniently mounted atop the LF upper control arm bolts, farm kids like me would scour the wrecking yards for them and put power brakes on everything from our '48 Dodge pickup to little 1-ton flatbeds. MIDLAND is my favorite booster, found on Ford and Dodge trucks, and BENDIX was another one that GM trucks used quite a bit. The little Caddy units were all Midlands if I'm not mistaken.

Also, here's a source for parts that may be able to help with the brake master cylinder and any hydrovac issues: http://www.bscparts.com/

[RickH]

Albert, hope don't mind but as long as we're talking tugs....

Anybody know where we can get manuals for Harlan diesel tugs ? We have a 1996 model with a Cummins and an earlier one with a Perkins .

We are also looking for a manual on the Consolidated Diesel Navy NC8A power unit.

The Lone Star guys have one of those big Colemans, theirs is a little soggy right now but maybe they will share their experinces with it.

[astixjr]

RichH,
Jase turned me on to this site: http://www.tpub-products.com/archive/ and it's been a great source of manuals for the last few days. They have a deal priced at $9.95 for 30 days of use on their site and you get to download 10 manuals per day. They have something like 58,000 technical manuals in their archive. I've already found five or six manuals that I've burned to a disk and then taken to the local copy place where they printed me a hard copy. We have some Harland tugs that are about the same size as the Clark but I have not searched for any manuals yet. Do you know the TM number you are looking for? Most of the ex-military tugs have data plates that actually list the TM manual numbers you should have to service the vehicle. I think you can search the archive before you join.

[bdk]

*BDK, so if you sell me a copy at $35.00, you will only owe me $265.00 for those .50 BMG parts you took back to the land of fruits and nuts. Did I say .50 BMG parts? No, sorry, those were vintage apple peeler parts right? I never gave you any parts for a .50, never happened....nobody can prove it.....

Didn't you get that check I sent? I bet if I talked to your wife she would be more than happy to let me haul all that stuff away.

P.S. I have a license for them things y'know...

[Broken-Wrench]

[quote="RickH"]Albert, hope don't mind but as long as we're talking tugs....

Anybody know where we can get manuals for Harlan diesel tugs ? We have a 1996 model with a Cummins and an earlier one with a Perkins .

We are also looking for a manual on the Consolidated Diesel Navy NC8A power unit.

The Lone Star guys have one of those big Colemans, theirs is a little soggy right now but maybe they will share their experinces with it.[/quote]


I would get something else beside a Nancy ( NC8A ).. I worked TAD to and for GSE pool and those things were always broke