Cant remember or find the thread from the other day i was reading but some guys had questions about this old rig and its setup, since i stumbled upon it i figured i would post some more pics to clear it all up
Two different reasons that I can see why this unit was constructed as it is. 1. The Ford flat head died, and already had the dual transmissions in play behind the the original engine. So, rather than swap engines, just remove the connecting rods and pistons from the Ford flathead, then install the nice running Cadillac engine and it's automatic transmission. 2. This combination let the tow truck owner have even more gears with the three transmissions for more low speed POWER. I really like the set up. The automatic transmission will let the user start and stop easily, and the two manual transmissions will give a lot of power to pull things around and about.
It looks to have a slew ring on the rear as well. Maybe was a mobile crane at one time. I love old machinery like that.
I really like the 2u-joint coupling from the hydramatic to the ford crank. No rods, pistons, cam/gears. funny I don’t see a pan for the Ford oiling.
The builder, would of have had drilled holes into the main caps and screwed in grease zerks, for proper lubrication of what was left of the Ford flathead. I can tell by the quality and planned out design of the build in whole, that the person who created this tow rig, would for sure done as I think he did with the grease zerk installation.
The Jalopy Journal
