One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

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wanderingwillys
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One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:07 am

Hi guys - just figured I would share some pics of unloading after she made it 2700 miles cross country... The driver was joking he's hauled all sorts of heavy and oversized loads but never anything that generated this kinda interest - people slowing down to take pics, DOT guys climbing inside it, and all sorts of questions at the truck stops...

Came off pretty easy - rolls and steers well, brakes work, and the trans shifts well - time to dig up some batteries and see if I can get that Cummins to make some smoke soon...

Enjoy

Matt
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Kevin Lockwood
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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by Kevin Lockwood » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:13 am

Awesome,
Welcome to the amphibs!
Keep us posted on her progress.
Kevin
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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by soccergorilla » Tue Jun 21, 2016 10:20 am

Awesome....I will come over to see big Stella at some point. Sean.

wanderingwillys
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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:41 pm

Thanks guys - had a question that perhaps one of the other LVT4 guys might know...

I opened up the passenger side (gunner / radio operator) void cover just aft of the engine room in the cargo area where the fixed fire suppression system is supposed to live according to the book and a few other vehicles I have seen...

On mine there is no evidence of a bottle, brackets, pull cables, or CO2 lines at all - the only thing in the void is the wire braid armored cable running to the radio remote box...

All the paint inside looks original WWII OD and where it is peeling it appears to only be one layer with green zinc chromate primer on the steel...

Did they delete the fixed fire systems in the later model tractors?

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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by Minn-LVT » Fri Jul 01, 2016 9:21 pm

Running AV gas in a radial engine during war time, my guess is they did not delete fire protection equipment for safety of the crew! Sure you are in the right area? Mine is accross from engine bay, not aft of it..

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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:40 am

Yep - did some more looking and opened the companionway void cover in the starboard engine room - sure enough - there is a half a bracket and the swivels for the cables but that's it - the book lists the location of the two pull handles (one in the companionway and the other behind the assistant driver, both the penetrations are still there but the cable and housing is gone...

The other vehicle I saw the system in was a wreck so I think most the engine room was missing hence the confusion on remembering which void cover...

It looks like there is a larger diameter JIC (-10 or -12) bulkhead fitting down near the floor level at the aft end of the void - is that the CO2 outlet line from the bottle to the engine space?

Where does the pull handle behind the assistant drive mount to?

Also are the CO2 nozzles common to anything else? Stuart maybe? Would be interested in finding some...

In other news I got the Cummins 250 they mounted in the bed to fire off after sitting for 8+ years last night and all the brakes, steering, clutch, and gears work - she'll move under her own power now ;)

Thanks

Matt

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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by Cyclefreak13 » Mon Jul 04, 2016 5:14 am

Oh don't tease us we NEED video. :D
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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Mon Jul 04, 2016 9:53 am

I've got video but it's like 6 megs - not sure how to post it...

Try this: https://youtu.be/c_f84IFUl9Q

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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Wed Jul 13, 2016 8:42 pm


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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by jfo137 » Thu Jul 14, 2016 6:42 pm

Growing up just South of Buffalo,NY I watched that break ice in the Buffalo river. Always hoped they would find a good home. Can't wait to see the progress.

wanderingwillys
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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Thu Jul 14, 2016 10:17 pm

I intend to leave a few of the more subtle mods the city made to her as an ice breaker to honor that side of her career while still restoring the remainder...

Should be fun ;)

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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by battlebaby3 » Sun Dec 18, 2016 5:20 pm

A question , So Buffalo, NY still had 7 LVT 4 in service or in storage as of this year. A few years ago well over 10 years ago we did a Invasion reenactment in Dunkirk, NY. We heard of them like a old story. So whats the story. I live in Erie ,Pa we didn't have anything cool to bust up ice in the bay.

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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:38 pm

The story goes like this - during the mid 1960's there was a City of Buffalo Engineering Department Employee who was an Amtrac driver during WWII and the department was trying to come up with solutions to the winter flooding problems they had on the Buffalo River (ice damming up the river)... He piped up and said "it wasn't made for this; but I think an Amtrac would chew right through that ice" - SOOOO they started looking around and found a gent in Ohio that had one and convinced him to let them truck it up and try it out... Worked great and the Buffalo Icebreaking Team was born...

The city then went out and bought 2 runners that they operated as is for a bit - added another unit and had all three converted to have a Cummins 250 in the bed with a aux trans and shaft brakes - operated the converted units from then until 2006 - the 4 shell tractors were acquired along the way for spare parts bringing the fleet total to 7. One of the converted models popped a head gasket and they had slowly been moving toward using the Fireboat Cotter to clear ice as well as planning a powered barge with an excavator arm mounted to it to retire the 70 year old tractors.

I am trying to get all the newspaper articles and other media that the head mechanic (and an operator) had saved along the way - he just retired after almost 40 years - he started in 1978 or 1979 I believe. Pretty cool stuff.

In recent years there has been much less shipping traffic up the river for the grain mills and refineries so the demand has been less - in late 2015 they decided to auction the fleet off and in March of 2016 the hammer fell and the auctions closed. All the tractors went to new owners - I have one of the modified ones in WA, the one modified one with the wounded motor stayed local in Buffalo, the remaining modified one went to Hawaii last I heard. The four shells all were bought by a single buyer and went to PA.

So that's the story - hth

Matt

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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by battlebaby3 » Sat Dec 24, 2016 10:57 am

Thanks for the story and update. I went looking in The City of Buffalo website. They are having another auction on the spare parts for theses LVT4. Pallets of parts. International Auction site has them. auction 9662 item 59236.

Pat
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Event Coordinator The Bridge at Remagen, Tidioute.PA
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Re: One of the Buffalo 7 makes it home (LVT4)

Post by wanderingwillys » Sat Dec 24, 2016 2:07 pm

Cool - talking to Dale the mechanic there he said that stuff would be coming up soon - thanks for the item numbers

Matt


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