Today we hear from volunteer Mike Goodliffe. Mike says “I was intrigued to learn more about the floods in 1947 floods as my grandfather was called in to help, and always recalled the floods that year. And I had already sent Daniel Abbott some info from him in previous years when he first founded the group.
“Daniel is a fellow farmer friend of mine and as a farmer I’m not afraid to get a bit mucky and pick up a spade. So when I found out he was short on volunteers for the actual dig I was very disappointed to find out I was busy when they initially started the dig however he said I could come down whenever I could. I think it was about day three, Monday/ Tuesday before I arrived on site. I got stuck in as soon as I possibly could. With lots of hard work, we soon made progress and Buffalo 47 was ready to come out by the following Thursday.
“On the farm we do 90% of mechanical repairs and fabrications ourselves so I’m putting these skills towards it. I’ve got parts in the workshop from Buffalo for repair and also have supplier’s contacts and or the knowledge towards other areas of the project.”
Mike decided to focus on the control levers which are used by the operator to turn or brake the Buffalo. The previous levers were in pretty poor condition and needed a major overhaul.
The Buffalo LVT 4 uses a ‘controlled differential’ to steer the vehicle. By adjusting the position of the leavers, pinions on one side of the differential are locked, causing the tracks on one side to rotate faster than the other and so turning the Buffalo.
You can see what the levers looked like after they came out of the Buffalo and after they were restored below.
One part that needed to be made from new is the quadrant that held the steering in place. Click on the image below to see an interactive 3D version of the original piece, as you can see many of the teeth were missing.
The new quadrants were laser cut by local company CBL Engineering. The company are precision engineers and hydraulic specialists with over 25 years of experience. They are specialists in the production of C.N.C. and manual machined components, supplying many different sectors including Aircraft, Communications, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Automotive and Foundry Industries.
If you are a company that you think can help please contact us.
Crowland Buffalo LVT 