Bus Front End Revives Old Grader

Bus Front End Revives Old Grader SCHOOLBUS CONVERSIONS Schoolbus Conversions 32-3-37 Instead of spending $2,000 to repair the diesel engine on his 1950's Austin Weston grader, Tom Miller attached the front end of an old International bus. "I cut the frame of the bus off right behind the transmission to use the radiator, motor and transmission as a unit," the Trinidad, Colo., rancher explains. "The grader's frame on the rear end slopes down, so I just set this bus unit on the old frame." He used his 4-WD Michigan loader to remove the grader's diesel engine and radiator and replace it with the bus front. He modified the drive shaft and changed U-joints to make it fit and welded plenty of braces from the grader frame to the bus frame. He removed the bus's air compressor for air brakes and replaced it with the hydraulic pump to operate the grader's hydraulics. "The biggest challenge was to connect the linkage from the clutch on the bus to the grader. I also had to work on the throttle linkage," Miller adds. He notes that between the grader and bus gears - eight altogether - he can drive in super slow speed if needed. The bus's V-8 392 cu. in. gas engine has worked well to run the grader. Miller credits the bus's large radiator for preventing overheating. Miller uses the grader to remove snow in the winter and to level the ground along his irrigation ditches and roads throughout his ranch. He purchased the old Army grader many years ago and also picked up the used bus because he wanted its tires for a ranch truck. He transformed the bus body into a woodshop. "Nothing goes to waste. The old bus put new life into an old grader that wouldn't have been good for anything," Miller says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Miller, 20981 Hwy. 350, Trinidad, Colorado 81082 (ph 719 846-3027).

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