HOT ROD LINCOLN

hot seller. A later version, built in 1963 with a D311 engine, was found recently, but the model relationship to the earlier unit is unknown. The generator head and welding controls are largely the same, but it uses the later D311 engine. So far, just three Cat Twin Arc-welders are known to survive.

The working history of Mike’s welder is unknown. When found on a farm, it had been sitting 22 years with the twin unit. Both wore decals from the Contracting and Material Company, of Evanston, Illinois. This company did all sorts of large and small construction jobs in the Midwest during most of the 20th century, but it apparently went out of business in the 1980s. A search found only a few references to it online.

After bringing the welder home in 2015—looking as derelict as could be—mike found the engine in good condition and had it running in short order. The welder had issues, but during the restoration, the generator was sent off to a specialist for internal repair and it now works well. The sheet metal was Swiss cheese, so a good portion of it had to be recreated. It took a while, but Mike eventually found a few period pictures of similar units. A few differences in the sheet metal deepened the mystery. If you happen to know anything about these rare, mid-’50s welders, get back to us and we’ll pass your info on to Mike.

Just so you know: we didn’t come up with the “Hot Rod Lincoln” title—mike did. Of course, it goes back even farther into Rock ‘n’ Roll, car-song lore, but to have such a big-and-powerful old welder that nobody has even seen leads to some fanciful names. And, yeah, it welds great!

The welder was based on the D315 power unit/generator. This engine had debuted in 1947 and was used in the D4 crawler/dozer, 355 Traxcavator, and 112 Motor Grader. It saw service though 1959 before being replaced by a new engine. It displaced 350 cubic inches from four 4.5 x 5.5-inch cylinders. Flywheel output was a maximum of 82 hp at 2000 rpm, but the welder was rated for 1800 rpm and about 68 hp—the same as the 40KW generator set. The engine used wet sleeves and had five main bearings with 3.5-inch main journals. It had a compression ratio of 18:1 and was indirectly injected using pump and injectors designed and built by Caterpillar. The D315 cranked over with a 2-cylinder, 10-hp-at-3000-rpm gasoline pony motor, and that had a standard rope starter and an optional starter generator.