Start/move without alternators

[galeo7171]

Just picked up a m1009 with both alternators missing. It will turn over and start for now. Is it safe to run it without the alternators for couple of minutes so I can move it into the garage ?

 

[dmetalmiki]

Absolutely..(in fact) You could drive it all day with charged up batteries..plus batteries carried for backup IF you had to. However for anything on a long drive you would need to have belts to enable ancillaries to work..Power steering, water pump and such.

 

[The FLU farm]

Make sure the wiring for the alternators can't touch ground, or each other, and drive.
I used my 1008 for over a year without any alternators.

 

[TechnoWeenie]

Umm.. what are you doing for belts?

Kinda important to have power steering, water pump, etc...

If it's just a couple of minutes, it shouldn't be too bad...

I don't know what operates the oil pump, so I'd figure out what turns that BEFORE you do anything else...

Don't need coolant pump if it's gonna be a 60 second drive...

I wouldn't drive 5 feet without adequate oil pressure...

 

[cucvrus]

Oil pressure is driven from the cam shaft in the rear of the engine. It uses the same rod/shaft as the vacuum pump. All is well. Driving it a year without them must have been interesting. Black out on and no heat. How often did the batteries need charged? Cold starts and the injection pump would chew thru some CCA real quick. Curious. My Honda tractor has a charging system. Very simple one but it is there. And when it quit working it was good for about 2 hours from cold start with a new battery.

 

[galeo7171]

I ended up starting and moving it yesterday, the power steering belt was the only belt on there so it was easy to move.

 

[The FLU farm]

Driving it a year without them must have been interesting. Black out on and no heat. How often did the batteries need charged? Cold starts and the injection pump would chew thru some CCA real quick. Curious.

In reality it was more like four or five years, but it wasn't exactly a daily driver and used only in the neighborhood. Got that 1008 with one alternator missing, so I disconnected the wiring for the other one.
Used a solar panel to keep the batteries charged, one at a time, and since it was in SoCal there was no need for a heater. Very rarely used it after dark, making lighting a non-issue as well.
It wasn't until it was converted to a dump bed (electric over hydraulic) that the charging became more important. Eventually I installed the left-over alternator from my M1009's 12-Volt conversion (yeah I know, wrong side, but it worked) as I'd moved to a much cooler climate, used it a lot more often, and needed it to jump start other 24 Volt vehicles.
Now the dump bed is gone, as is the bed, and it's mostly used as a tug.
Anyway, had it been missing both alternators, I would've bought shorter belts to keep the water pump and power steering working. Sometimes life can be quite simple, if you let it.