145 Amapola Pacifica, California 94044
The phone rang. My friend Bill Cox, a retired paving contractor,
asked if I wanted a steam roller and two engine-compressor units.
As usual, my curiosity and enthusiasm went into high gear. I next
found myself looking at a two-ton roller and two large engines
that, try as I might, I just couldn’t figure a use for. It is
always difficult to pass up such goodies.
However, between these mechanical potentials, and overshadowed
by them, was a small, nondescript crawler tractor. Now this was
worth jumping over the fence for to take a look at! Little did I
know that I had just jumped into three years of dedicated research
and trouble.
After locating the owner (not Bill), and after much on-again,
off-again negotiating, I bought the tractor with the stipulation
that it would run. It did. Barely. I now owned a new piece of old
iron.
The brass plaque on the dash announced it to be a ‘Beetle
Tractor,’ a Pacific Western Gear Works Product of Western Gear
Works, Seattle, serial number 154, Model W-2. It is powered by a
four-cylinder Waukesha gas engine.
But where would I find information? Information on the engine
was no problem, but the tractor itself was another story. Phone
calls to Western Gear Works in Seattle proved to be a dead end, as
were most other leads.
Then a miracle happened! A tractor-nut friend of mine, Carter
Provo, showed me an article from a September 1949 issue of Popular
Mechanics Magazine about a tractor and tractor-like machines
designed and made by the U.S. Forest Service in Portland, Oregon,
for fighting forest fires. There in the article was a picture and
some information about my Beetle!
Also, a picture was located in Vintage Garden Tractors, a book
by Dave Baas, with the notation ‘no additional information
currently.’ Not much help, but now I knew that at least one
more of these tractors existed.
From the Popular Mechanics article, I learned that the Forest
Service had a Regional Equipment Laboratory at Portland, Oregon.
After many calls to the F.S., starting in San Francisco, and many
fruitless calls to the F.S. in the Portland area, I hit pay
dirt!
Talking to a mechanical engineer in Portland, when asking about
the developing lab and the Beetle tractor, I learned that the lab
has been closed down for years, but that he might have some
information about the Beetle. He said he would call back. Indeed,
he did. He was most helpful. He was even able to furnish me with a
copy of the original fifty-page shop manual.
The shop notes indicate that there were twenty tractors made,
but I think the notes are incomplete because my tractor, number
154, is not listed. They all appear to have Waukesha four-cylinder
ICK gas engines.
The shop manual states the following about the Beetle: ‘it
is a small, rugged, track layer, equipped with a hydraulic operated
dozer blade; it is more economical to operate, store, transport and
service than larger machines, and, due to its extreme
maneuverability, can out-work and out-perform them in many types of
work.
‘Originally designed for building trails,’ states the
manual, ‘trenching on rough ground along steep slopes, the
Beetle is especially adapted to farming, landscaping, spreading top
soil, backfilling and light concrete work. Distribution of weight
has been carefully considered in the Beetle design. Its low center
of gravity permits it to be used on side slopes up to 50%. With a
total weight of only 1,850 lbs., it may be easily transported with
a -ton pickup truck.’
From the manual:
General Specifications
‘The Beetle is made in two models the narrow gauge and
the wide gauge. Both models have the same engine, clutch, and
transmissions, differing only in the width of blade, width of
tracks, and the distance from the out-side-to-outside of the
tracks.’ Still from the manual:
MOTOR
Type
4-cylinder, 4-cycle, liquid cooled
Displacement
61 cubic inches
Power
15BHP at 1900RPM
Maximum Torque
40 ft. lbs.
Fuel
Gasoline
Gas Tank
7-gal. capacity, gravity feed to carburetor through porous stone
filter
Accessories
Electric Starter, Generator, Hydraulic Oil Pump for Dozer Power,
Air Cleaner and Muffler
Governor
Flyball type built into motor with friction type hand control
for variable speed setting.
General Description
‘The Beetle does not have a frame in the ordinary sense of
the word. Its ‘backbone’ is formed by rigidly bolting the
engine, clutch housing, transmission, and steering differential
into one unit. A leaf spring mounted on the underside of the clutch
housing transfers the weight of the engine to the frame of the
track assembly on each side. The final drive assemblies, which
mount the final drive sprockets, are attached to each side of the
steering differential housing. The final drive housings also mount
the dead axle on which is mounted the track frame and the pivot
point of the bulldozer blade. A wishbone ties the engine and the
front tow hook to the dead axle. The seat post is bolted to the
rear of the transmission. The draw bar fastens directly to the dead
axle.’
SIZE
Narrow Gauge
Wide Gauge
Width, outside-to-outside of tracks
28′
33′
Overall length, cutting edge to back seat
1055/8′
1055/8′
Overall height
40′
40′
Width of blade at cutting edge
44′
51′
Height of blade
18′
18′
Length of track on ground
36′
36′
Width of track plates
5′
6′
Weight of tractor, bare
Approximately 1,600 lbs.
Weight of tractor with dozer
Approximately 1,850 lbs.
Tractor Performance
Speed with motor Turning 1,900 RPM:
Forward
Reverse
First
1.55 MPH
1.97 MPH
Second
2.46 MPH
3.12 MPH
Third
4.04 MPH
5.14 MPH
Draw Bar Full
1,600 lbs.
Draw Bar Horsepower
10
All drawing parts (two transmissions, two clutches,
differential) seem to be off-the-shelf Clark Equipment Parts.
It is interesting to note how the Forest Service viewed the
patenting of the machines they developed. When a machine was
developed and approved by the Equipment Laboratory in Portland, it
was blueprinted and patented in the name of the United States. That
meant that the patent rights were open to anyone. For any person
definitely interested in manufacturing one of the inventions, the
Portland Equipment Lab had blueprints available and would give all
help possible.
These Beetle tractors traveled far a field. One company in
Seattle had manufactured the powerful Beetle for other uses. There
were Beetles sent to Canada, French Equatorial Africa, as well as
to our national forests. And on the east coast, they lowered
Beetles into coal barges to scrape the last few tons of coal.
The original engine of my tractor was bored 0.03′ oversized
and tired. However, I was fortunate to find a used Waukesha engine
that was in good condition and standard in specifications. As of
this writing, I have checked all sizes and tolerances, and Ed
O’Sullivan, my genius mechanical neighbor, volunteered to grind
the valves and valve seats, and I have cleaned the motor inside and
out.
One main problem that I had and did not realize: Oren Nevins, a
Kansas prairie electronics savior, discovered that the distributor
cap was marked for a different firing order than the firing order
of this Waukesha engine. As of now, I have reassembled and
installed the engine into the tractor and, in the very near future,
will fire it up.
Since this metal monster of mine is so different and has such an
unusual history, I would be interested to hear from anyone else who
has one and what sport they have had with it.
