My Allis-Chalmers Forklift Project

[OmniEquipped]

I'm glad there is a forklift section here. I love forklifts. Anyway, a while back I completed a minor restoration of an old AC forklift I purchased for my business. I've worked on several old forklifts, but this was the first one I owned personally. I bought it from a defense contractor. It was used in warehousing as opposed to a production line, so it doesn't have a scary amount of hours on it for it's age. It's a 1981 model with a Continental F245 6-cylinder LP and a 3-stage mast. It will lift 8,000 lbs. If interested, you can check out more details about the machine, with links to more photos of the project, on my blog at this link.

[joestewart]

I vote good work! Wish I had one. I operated a Clark (not sure of model, but it was a little smaller than yours) for several summers at a fish processing facility. It ran on propane also. I'd love to have a machine of this style, much more nimble than the telehandlers, but I do not have any hard surfaces to operate the machine on. I'd get it stuck in short order.

[Taylortractornu]

I ve had a couple indoor AC units and loved them. My neighbor in his 80s worked for AC when they first started the lift truck business. He worked for them and went to school with them from the time thay bought Baker. The first one we got he found for us it was behind a machine shop about to get scrapped. He got it for 450. It came from the Airforce and looked new. He showed me something when we paid for it. It had the inching pedal adjustment run all the way down. Unscrewed it and drove it into a trailer. He also worked for Clark , Towmotor later Cat, and Hyster and was right there when the new eletric trucks came out. I like watching him looking ant an old eletric lift and explaining them.

[SFSRACING]

I've been in the forklift business since the early nineties. I own my own company Southern Forklift Service Inc. since 2004. The first company I worked for was Kalmar AC (the AC stoud for Allis Chalmers) they bought AC out I think in the eighties. I spend a lot of my early years reconditioning those old AC lifts in our used equipment department. That one looks good, be sure to take care of the bull gears, I had to replace some for a customer a few years ago.

[bull]

That really looks nice.

[caterpillarmech]

Wifes uncle had one. Good tractor but not made for off road. Laid it over and inlaws were not happy. On the pluss I t is hard to tear up even rolling it over. Good job on the restoration. She is a beauty.

[DigDug]

Nice Job. I need to find myself a forklift for around the shop. We now use a skidsteer , but it wont lift enough.

[stumpbuster]

hello there! I just got a 1973 Allis f60 rough terrain forklift. Its getting self etching primer after the paint was stripped off, then I am looking after the fluids and filters and tring for a repo owners manual. I love this machine and want to give it the tlc that a quality machine deserves. Has a International six OHV with propane. Would a 32 weight hydro oil be right for this in the hydraulic system ?

[OmniEquipped]

Thanks for the comments. I love to bring old machines back to life. I used to like cars and motorcycles and such, and I still work with those too, but I really like restoring old equipment. Anyone else have any A-C forklifts? Post some pics!

[OmniEquipped]

hello there! I just got a 1973 Allis f60 rough terrain forklift. Its getting self etching primer after the paint was stripped off, then I am looking after the fluids and filters and tring for a repo owners manual. I love this machine and want to give it the tlc that a quality machine deserves. Has a International six OHV with propane. Would a 32 weight hydro oil be right for this in the hydraulic system ?

My manual doesn't specify on the fluid, just says to use a good quality hydraulic oil. I guess it depends on operating temps and such. I think I'm running 32 in mine and it works fine. If you have any leaks you may want to try something a little thicker.

[boone]

Great job on that forklift. Looks like brand new! Seeing that A-C reminded me of some pleasant memories. Fifteen or so years ago I drove an Allis acc50 for a couple of summers during college at a tire plant in the warehouse. That A-C was a tough ole retired work horse that had to be one of the original fork trucks they bought when the plant opened in '75. No telling how many hours it had on it! It was loose as a goose all over. Had to add half a quart oil to it every morning. When coming off a 30 minute lunch break, I'd have to get the oil absorb pellets out to clean up the mess it made leaking. Oil on the warehouse floor was a no no. My brother and I both worked there and he drove a bigger Hyster that they had also retired. We were the utility workers cleaning up, straightening pallet of tires, etc. Many a day that thing wouldn't start and the old Hyster would have to push me - counter weight to counter weight to the maintenance shop. They'd usually have it back the next day and it'd be ready to go again for another 12 hour shift.

[stumpbuster]

Thanks for the comments. I love to bring old machines back to life. I used to like cars and motorcycles and such, and I still work with those too, but I really like restoring old equipment. Anyone else have any A-C forklifts? Post some pics!

Thank you Omini for your comments! Its been busy with work(I do trees and landscaping www.stumpbuster.com ... but this ac forklift I am thinking ..is a awesume machine. People tend to neglect fprklifts in particular I think. This one had water contamination in the hydraulic system and condensation in the engine oil. Its hard to make a living and I can't devote as much time as I would like to this side project ..that said... I welcome your imput and that of this group.
I will post good links to information to the group regarding shop manuals once I check out them myself. There was a great thread somewhere else on the site about the merits of flushing out the brakes because of water/rust and using dot 5 fluid that does not attract water to save on maintainance costs. I will try to see if I can break the bleeders loose and flush the system next... amd send pics. Woody

[highplainsdrift]

does anybody know why my old allis chalmers lift starts and runs good then after about 5 minutes just shuts down? ive checked fuel and spark and both seem to be ok even after it shuts down, i can let it set for an hour or so and it will start then do the same thing! it is baffling to me i am pretty mechanically minded but this is a weird one!! thanks ,please post if you have any ideas!!

[OmniEquipped]

does anybody know why my old allis chalmers lift starts and runs good then after about 5 minutes just shuts down? ive checked fuel and spark and both seem to be ok even after it shuts down, i can let it set for an hour or so and it will start then do the same thing! it is baffling to me i am pretty mechanically minded but this is a weird one!! thanks ,please post if you have any ideas!!

What fuel type is your engine?

[stumpbuster]

does anybody know why my old allis chalmers lift starts and runs good then after about 5 minutes just shuts down? ive checked fuel and spark and both seem to be ok even after it shuts down, i can let it set for an hour or so and it will start then do the same thing! it is baffling to me i am pretty mechanically minded but this is a weird one!! thanks ,please post if you have any ideas!!

My ac machine (1973) had a clogged heater hose that caused the propane to shut down. The prevous owner discribed the same thing that you discribe that was happining to the machine and found the problem was with a clogged pipe in the cooling system that would cause a senser to trip.