i posted a while back about a 420 navy that i found and bought to eventually restore for my collection.
i have been doing quite a bit of reseach on these tractors in particular. i have found 8 of them total and talked to one or two owners and it has been quite helpful. i want to crack the code of the "CJ 207". i know this included industrial yellow paint. i also suspect it included no hydraulics. my tractor has them but apparently they were added when it was repurposed. when this occurred the tractor was painted over the original yellow (original USN ID number is still there and was just applied with black spray paint and stencil). all parts still have this paint underneath except the hydraulics/3 pt. you can see where i scratched off an area on the main case under the seat thats yellow and an area just above on the rockshaft where there is no yellow. several of the other survivors ive seen are also minus hydraulics but one had them. it was also a green repaint.
with regards to serial number plates, the only differences on the plates are the tractor serial number, navy identification number and the BUDOCKS number. i have found that this is an abbreviation for bureau of yards and docks to whom these tractors were issued. mine says BUDOCKS AE-41-56. all say BUDOCKS AE- and end in -56. i suspect the 56 is just the year the equipment was issued as all are the same but the other number varies somewhat among surviving tractors and i suspect this may identify a certain location or company or the like. if anyone has an idea what this could mean or knows the ins and outs of what was formerly the bureau of yards and docks please let me know. i tried the us naval museum and national archives but neither source could offer any help.
also all tags include "w/sickle" (top right) which makes me wonder if they were originally issued with mounted sickle bar mowers for base/runway maintenance, etc and this is also part of the cj 207. according to one owner who has the original documents for the tractor, a few images in the op manual show controls for a sickle bar mower on the pictured tractor.
should be a fun project when it gets underway (may not be til next year). im glad i found this one sitting out back when looking at another tractor. it needed to be saved. if anyone can shed any light or provide any helpful info i would appreciate it. if i get anything else interesting ill pass it on. im also waiting on the research from two cylinder club.
i have been doing quite a bit of reseach on these tractors in particular. i have found 8 of them total and talked to one or two owners and it has been quite helpful. i want to crack the code of the "CJ 207". i know this included industrial yellow paint. i also suspect it included no hydraulics. my tractor has them but apparently they were added when it was repurposed. when this occurred the tractor was painted over the original yellow (original USN ID number is still there and was just applied with black spray paint and stencil). all parts still have this paint underneath except the hydraulics/3 pt. you can see where i scratched off an area on the main case under the seat thats yellow and an area just above on the rockshaft where there is no yellow. several of the other survivors ive seen are also minus hydraulics but one had them. it was also a green repaint.
with regards to serial number plates, the only differences on the plates are the tractor serial number, navy identification number and the BUDOCKS number. i have found that this is an abbreviation for bureau of yards and docks to whom these tractors were issued. mine says BUDOCKS AE-41-56. all say BUDOCKS AE- and end in -56. i suspect the 56 is just the year the equipment was issued as all are the same but the other number varies somewhat among surviving tractors and i suspect this may identify a certain location or company or the like. if anyone has an idea what this could mean or knows the ins and outs of what was formerly the bureau of yards and docks please let me know. i tried the us naval museum and national archives but neither source could offer any help.
also all tags include "w/sickle" (top right) which makes me wonder if they were originally issued with mounted sickle bar mowers for base/runway maintenance, etc and this is also part of the cj 207. according to one owner who has the original documents for the tractor, a few images in the op manual show controls for a sickle bar mower on the pictured tractor.
should be a fun project when it gets underway (may not be til next year). im glad i found this one sitting out back when looking at another tractor. it needed to be saved. if anyone can shed any light or provide any helpful info i would appreciate it. if i get anything else interesting ill pass it on. im also waiting on the research from two cylinder club.
