Old Fiat-Allis Dozer at Rest

I came across a set of pictures recently on the superb American based Facebook group Antique Heavy Equipment and just wanted to share them here on the Digger Man Blog.

These photos of an old Fiat-Allis HD-31 were posted on the group by James Bigler from Pennsylvania, who says that this old girl has been parked up for well over 15 years. Despite being abandoned for so long the machine still looks in very good shape considering its age, and its heart-breaking to see this beast of a dozer just being left to rot.

According to the “Bible” for all things earthmoving machinery related, “The Earthmover Encyclopedia” by the wonderful Keith Haddock, the Fiat-Allis HD-31 was first launched in 1976 slotting in between the then current models the HD-21-B and HD-41-B models.

The HD-31 was a heavily “beefed up” tractor featuring undercarriage components from the larger HD-41-B and was powered by a Cummins KT-1150-C diesel engine that had a power output rating of 425hp.

As this example is depicted with dozer blade, ripper and full cab, operating weight would have been just a shade under 70-tonnes. Production of the HD-31 continued until 1982 when it was replaced by the 455hp FD-40 model.

One can only imagine that something drastic and expensive had gone wrong with this machine for it to just be left out in the field like this, it would be awesome to see someone rescue it and restored to its former glory.

Photo: A working example of an HD-31 courtesy of Vannatta Bros. 

Here’s a short video of an HD-31 which I believe was recently up for grabs in an auction in Sweden.

The Digger Man Blog would like to thank James Bigler for allowing us to share his photos contained in this post.