REFLECTIONS

A. At present we do not know of anyone producing the LI decals. If these are being made, kindly advise our column for future reference.

21/3/22 Q.  Herman Sass, 20 East Morris Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14214 is looking for information on a Do-It-All tractor built between 1917 and 1925 try Buffalo-Pitts Company. This was a single-cylinder, two-wheel garden tractor.

21/3/23 Q. Fred Burkhart jr., RR 3, Box 136, Robstoum, TX 78380 inquires as tothe age and proper color for a GT-25 Terratrac tractor built by American Tractor Corp., Churubusco, Indiana.

A Our information indicates the GT-25 to have been built about 1950 or 1951. It was powered we believe by a Continental F-124 engine. The slightly larger GT-30 was tested at Nebraska in 1952 under No. 471. Subsequently, American offered several different models. J. I. Case purchased American in 1957, giving them their start in the crawler tractor business. We believe the Terratrac models were finished in an industrial yellow.

21/3/24 Q. We need information on an Ottawa drag saw engine. It has two push rods. The piston is 3 inches in diameter. What is the proper color, and what is the year? Also need help in getting the engine back in time. Carl L. Hatch, RD 4, Box 277, Towanda, PA 18848.

A. Ottawa engines were a deep red color so far as we now. Our supply of literature fails to show the model using the 3' bore however, but we would guess your engine to have been built between 1920 and 1925. To get the exhaust valve in time, turn the engine over to about 10 degrees before bottom dead center. At this point the cam should just start opening the exhaust valve. Turning the engine in its usual direction travel (so as to take up the slack in the linkage and gearing) the exhaust valve should close just ahead of top dead center. Since the intake and exhaust cams are in a fixed relationship to each other, further adjustment of the valve timing can usually be accomplished with the adjusting screws on the rocker arm. Each builder had their own ideas of proper valve timing, so it may be necessary to move the cam gear a tooth or two one direction or the other. We have found that the original timing marks are not always absolutely correct. Occasionally, experimentation is required to improve performance. By performance we mean having the engine operate with no load for hours at a time during a show without causing any problems.

READERS WRITE

Cletrac and Alamo colors, ake Zilverberg, Little Pine, Route #4, Aitkin, MN 56431 writes that the Cletrac of the late '30s and early '40s was a brownish orange, much darker than AC orange. Also, the Lindsay Alamo engines were burgundy. Mixing gallon of International red with 1/3 quart of Royal blue seems to match it very close.