# I bet this will present some machining opportunities!



## PHPaul (Oct 14, 2019)

I've always wanted a dozer to play with.  Makes absolutely NO sense financially as I could hire out everything I want done around here for about 1/2 what I paid for this thing, not to mention the parts and labor to get it back in form.

Only known issue is a bad bearing in the trans.  Getting at it to replace it is a non-trivial exercise involving removing the tracks, final drives and clutch packs.  Part itself should be commonly available and reasonable.  I also notice the idler on the left track is pretty floppy, hoping that's just bearing(s) and/or the shaft.   I do have the missing tin and it's very straight for something that gets abused as much as a dozer does.

Guy I got it from assures me that the engine will run with a tuneup and I've known him long enough to believe that.

Something to keep me out of the bars this winter...


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## francist (Oct 14, 2019)

I don't know the slightest thing about dozers, but that one sure is cute!     I bet it'd clean up really nice....

-frank


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## brasssmanget (Oct 14, 2019)

I've been trying to talk my better half into letting me buy a dozer for years too! Same logic applie(s/d) - rent one she says!! lol


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## projectnut (Oct 14, 2019)

What a great find.  About 20 years ago I wanted to either build or rebuild a small crawler tractor.  Everyone I talked to told me I was nuts (which I already knew), but that didn't stop me.  Rather than build a tracked machine I did get talked into building an articulated wheeled machine.  It now has a 7cu.ft. bucket, forks, a log splitter, and front blade.  

As it turned out it took more time to build it than I have spent using it.  I would guess I had in the neighborhood of 1,500 hrs. in drawing up the prints, sourcing the materials, and the actual build time.  I now have about 250 hours on the clock.  Most of it has been spent plowing snow, and removing tree stumps.  The one time last winter when I did want to use it I couldn't get it started.  2 months later it started and has started and run fine ever since.

I'd still love to find one like yours.  The trouble is I have no place to put it, and no work for it once it's finished.


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## Flyinfool (Oct 14, 2019)

Too bad you are not close to me, I have a project that would give you a lot of fun play time once you get it running good.


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## PHPaul (Oct 14, 2019)

UPS guy stopped by today while grandson and I were unloading it.

I told him he was looking at an opportunity to deliver some REALLY heavy packages.

He asked what I was going to do with it, and I told him "fix it up and putter around with it here."

He sez "I'm really looking forward to seeing it run.  Just remember I only have 2 years until I retire..."

Wisenheimer...


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## Martin W (Oct 14, 2019)

Nice Dozer! Good you got all the tin work. I found a set of torches handy with mine, helps get some rusty parts off. 
Cheers 
Martin


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## PHPaul (Oct 14, 2019)

Martin W said:


> Nice Dozer! Good you got all the tin work. I found a set of torches handy with mine, helps get some rusty parts off.
> Cheers
> Martin



Yup, the Smoke Wrench has been busy already.  Just hooked up a new bottle of acetylene.  Guy I got it from loaned me the JD Service Manual, I've been reading up on pulling the drives and trans.  Involved, but shouldn't be too difficult as long as the fasteners cooperate.


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## Cadillac (Oct 14, 2019)

That looks like a great project I'll be looking forward to the build. Im still debating on building a track vehicle for my son. I ran across a build of a guy here in Illinois that built a mini dozer for his boy and has plans to build a dump truck for his other. Dozer looks very similar to yours I can't remember the model he was going for but it was pretty dam cool.


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## PHPaul (Oct 15, 2019)

Ooo-oooo, that smell!  Can'tcha smell that smell?

Varnished gas, dried up 60 year old grease, 90 wt and sludgy black oil..._eau de garage_!

Got the pans off, drained the oil outta the engine, pulled the filter canister and drained that, took the air cleaner off.

Somehow or another, a meese got into the air cleaner and drowned in the oil cup on the bottom.  Ga-ROSSSSSSSSSS!  Dang that stunk.

NAPA had the points, condenser and plugs on the shelf, but had to order the oil filter from the warehouse, it'll be there in the morning.  I love me some NAPA, when I did the 1938 Farmall F14 they had pistons, rings, bearings and an overhaul gasket kit overnight.

Try that with the kiddies at Advance Auto sometime...


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## westerner (Oct 15, 2019)

PHPaul said:


> Something to keep me out of the bars this winter...


And it will do that completely, and utterly without doubt. 
Enjoy. When I sold my 1971 F-250 to the young man, I said "you will enjoy "working" on it, as much as "driving" it. 
He looked at me kinda funny, and I damn sure laughed. . He has since seen what I meant, and I am offering counsel


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## PHPaul (Oct 18, 2019)

Progress Report on the crawler.

On the off chance that anybody is interested, I post updates at the link as things progress.


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## Martin W (Oct 18, 2019)

Paul
You may need to up the ante with a bigger hydraulic jack with that master link on the track.lots of progress though. Keep the good work up
Cheers
Martin


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## C-Bag (Oct 18, 2019)

Messing with crawlers is definitely mans work! Out here on the left coast I've never even seen a JD crawler, almost all CAT and IH. My grandfather was field mech for IH for 35yrs and bout wore him out. Talk about hard work! He could crush walnuts with his bare hands and he just loved shake hands with guys and watch their eyeballs bulge and their knuckles crack. It's telling he went from being a blacksmith directly to working on cornbinders.

Thanks for the update and I wish you good luck with that knuckle buster.


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## PHPaul (Oct 20, 2019)

Well, I beat that son-of-a-gun into submission!  Had to reinforce one half of the pin pushing jig so it wouldn't bend, plus I pulled my head out of my...uh..."back pocket" and heated the HEAD of the pin where it keys into the link.  Still took a couple of hours of jacking, whacking and heating but both master pins are out and the tracks are off.

Next step is pulling the final drives.

Pix and details at the link above.


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## PHPaul (Oct 21, 2019)

It's ALIVE!  MUWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Wanted to make absolutely sure it would run before I tear into it any further.  Good oil pressure, no leaks, I can see coolant circulating in the radiator. Need to rewire it as the insulation on some of the wires is pretty brittle plus there are a few "farmer fixes" (ie...wirenuts and electrical tape    )

Overall, I'm a happy guy!


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## brino (Oct 21, 2019)

Sounds great!
Congratulations.
-brino


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## PHPaul (Oct 22, 2019)

Unwrapped about a pound of electrical tape from the wiring harness this morning.  YIKES!


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## francist (Oct 22, 2019)

Sounds fantastic! 

-f


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## Old Mud (Oct 23, 2019)

Great running little rigs, no engines made today that could run with those wires in that shape.  Good project.


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## cjtoombs (Oct 23, 2019)

Is that a John Deere?  I'm envious.


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## PHPaul (Oct 24, 2019)

cjtoombs said:


> Is that a John Deere?  I'm envious.



Yup, 1956 John Deere 420C.  Tested the hydraulics yesterday and they work but EVERYTHING leaks and the oil looks like chocolate milk.  Another item on my ToDo list...


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## PHPaul (Oct 24, 2019)

Found some more presents when I drained the transmission.






Right side final drive off, wasn't too difficult.  I'll start on the clutch pack but I have to knock off early today to go help a friend.


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## C-Bag (Oct 24, 2019)

Uh oh. Funny I was looking at those and I could smell funky gear oil! Talk about a Pavlovian response.....


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## PHPaul (Oct 24, 2019)

Yup, _eau de' 90 wt._ 

Between that, varnished gas and um..."methane" my wife won't set foot in the garage.  My plan is working...


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## PHPaul (Oct 26, 2019)

Got the transmission out today.  Took a crew of three (Me, Myself and I) about 5 hours.  4 jacks and an engine crane, lot of fussing with jack it up a little here, let it down a little there, move it back a little, reset, up/down/move/rinse/repeat.   Biggest trick is getting the front flange of the transmission case up and over the rear crossmember for the undercarriage without tweaking the propeller shaft.






It's a LONG walk from the front of the transmission to the clutch and throwout bearing.  I suspect putting it back in is gonna be a cast iron *****.  Definitely going to have to fab up a jig to hold the trans and allow me to tilt it just right while rolling it into place.  Have some ideas on that subject, plenty of time to think it over.


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## C-Bag (Oct 26, 2019)

Good job. In a certain way I guess because the first 8yrs and 3 different places I worked I was the sole mech, but I kinda prefer working by myself. The last semi same job I did was the trans and transfer case in my Nissan 4x4. I ended up getting a HF scissor trans jack and modifying the head to tilt fwd and back. At the time they were only $59, now they are $99. In a certain way the scissor was easier because it took all the over shoot that always seemed to happen with the hydraulic jacks. I only used the jack once and it ended up getting left  behind but it worked excellent for what I was doing and like all thing HF it was cheap and I could mod the heck outta it and not feel bad. YMMV.


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## PHPaul (Oct 26, 2019)

I'm gonna try one of these on my engine crane for starters:






If that turns out not to work, I'll definitely jump on the transmission jack from HF.  Thanks for the tip!


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## C-Bag (Oct 26, 2019)

I love my engine hoist but it always seems to foul the Jack stands. It's hard to tell if you have more clearance above or below. With my trans/transfer case I had no overhead and had to work through the bottom and between the Jack stands so the little HF scissor unit worked perfect.

I made a sling similar to that that fit down in the valley of Chevy 350 in the place of the intake manifold. All done it was lower than the carburator would have been. My dad had a Chevy van and my brother did the engine and I did the auto trans. My brother was the one who turned me onto not taking the engine out the front but taking it out the through the passenger side cab. But one of the slings like the one in the picture stuck up too high into the dash because of the chains and thread mechanism. So I took two pieces of 3" channel with "C's" together and the screw mechanism inside the channel C's with 1/2" all thread and nuts to move the sling hook welded with clearance for the hook to stick out between the channel and tabs to bolt in place of the intake manifold.  It worked shockingly well. Engine went in slick as a whistle. I knew I'd never do another V8 so gave it to the guy we sold our house to as he drove nothing but v8's.


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## PHPaul (Oct 27, 2019)

Pulled the reverser off the front of the trans and found the above.  And that doesn't account for the rollers that came out of the transmission proper.  Likely they came from the bearing that used to be in the front of that intermediate shaft tho.  Not sure where the bearing remnants in the third picture came from, it looks to have been a needle bearing.

At the very least it will need a new reverser casting as the boss for the intermediate shaft is trashed.  The nose of the intermediate shaft where the nut is all boogered up is likely trashed too.  

Parts for these transmissions are roughly as common as hen's teeth, honest politicians and winning Power Ball tickets.  Even IF I can find them, being able to afford them is another whole issue.

I'll finish tearing it apart, but I also have to consider cutting my losses and parting it out.


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## C-Bag (Oct 27, 2019)

I've seen some pretty catastrophic damage but that ranks right up there! The first pic of the hole in the case....wow! Just out of curiosity have you tried finding JD crawler forums? It's always amazing like an iceberg, doesn't seem like much but a ton of resources once you get below the surface and into the network. 

I always hate to see that kind of slobbery red goop which always spelled doom in a transmission or transfer case. Or maybe everytime I've had to go into a trans I saw that rusty condensated clapped out gear oil. So that nose piece is just gone? Like the bearing died and expanded in that nose and shattered it? Wonder if this is why these are so rare, like it was a major fault that killed production?


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## PHPaul (Oct 27, 2019)

Well, perhaps I was overly pessimistic. 

There is indeed a "JDCrawlers.com" and the owner parts out antique JD crawlers and sources NOS and repro parts.  He's pretty sure he has the reverser housing on the shelf, and KNOWS he has one in a parts machine that just came in.  Just waiting to find out how much he wants for one.

My theory is that the bearing on the front of that intermediate shaft grenaded and then the shaft flopping round broke the end out of the casting.  The way that nut is beat up is my major clue.

Rest of the trans looks okay as far as the gears go, most of the bearings are pretty bad probably got run for a while with little or no oil after it all puked out that hole.  Bearings and seals and such should be reasonably available.  Only other question is saving the threads on the nose of that intermediate shaft.


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## C-Bag (Oct 27, 2019)

PHPaul said:


> Well, perhaps I was overly pessimistic.
> 
> Only other question is saving the threads on the nose of that intermediate shaft.


I know that feeling when you hope you can get a break buying a problem to get a deal. And that sinking feeling when it doesn't go your way. I hope this guy can be reasonable about how much he wants for the casting. Maybe the intermediate shaft is your chance for some creative machining? Have you seen Abom's vids on metal spraying?


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## brino (Oct 27, 2019)

Damn!

.....but as my Dad taught me, never make decisions at the end of the day when you're tired.
Maybe a few hours away from it can help you think a few things thru.

I wonder if that cast could be brazed over and a new hole bored.....

Is that a nut that has been welded on (and possible trying to fill the hole in the casting)?

-brino


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## PHPaul (Oct 28, 2019)

@brino - nope, that nut beat itself to death on the casting after the bearing grenaded.

Life gets in the way today, but I'll get it off tomorrow and get a look at the threads on the end of that shaft.


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## mattthemuppet2 (Oct 28, 2019)

maybe if you very carefully use a dremel or small angle grinder with a thin disk you can cut that nut in 2 or 3 places without going through to the threads underneath. Then wedge the pieces apart to remove the nut. At least that way you wouldn't damage the threads any further when removing the nut. Thread files or a thread chasing die might get you back in business with minimal effort, fingers crossed.

great project btw, I love reading this big project threads. Read on about a Triumph TR6 a while back that was simply epic.


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## PHPaul (Oct 28, 2019)

Well, Miracle of Miracles, I spun that nut off today and the threads on the end of the shaft are essentially unharmed.  I'll need to dress the very last thread with a jeweler's file a bit to get a new nut started, but that's it.  Apparently the nut was a lot softer than the shaft.

Clutch housings and PTO shaft bearing support plate are being stubborn but that's just a matter of persistence.


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## PHPaul (Oct 29, 2019)

One step forward...












When the front bearing on the output shaft went out, the shaft flopping around did some fairly significant damage to the ring gear.  The pinion seems to be okay.

Have feelers out to "the pros" as to whether or not I can live with the ring gear in that condition and just shim the pinion to put the load in the undamaged area.

If it has to be replaced (likely as a set, and the pinion is a machined part of the output shaft) we're getting to a major decision point, financially.  The housing I need for the front is available for $125 plus shipping which isn't horrible.  I suspect a ring and pinion would get seriously expensive.


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## PHPaul (Oct 30, 2019)

Damage to pinion.  REALLY not comfortable running that in addition to the damage on the ring gear.  Waiting on Lavoy to see if I can afford to replace it.


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## cjtoombs (Oct 31, 2019)

Not a pretty sight.  If I were going to use this to putter around the yard or haul it into town to drive it in a parade every now and then I would debur those gears and use them.  If I expected to get any serious work out of the tractor, they would need to be replaced.  Good luck.


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## PHPaul (Nov 4, 2019)

Well, I sat down with a spreadsheet today and listed all the stuff I knew for sure I needed and the prices I had found.

The total was way out of my budget.  I found myself running around like a 16 year old trying to scrape together the money to buy a car.   That made it impossible to ignore what I knew but didn't want to admit:  I just don't have the pockets for this project.

Based on prices I was getting from others, I guesstimated what I should be able to get parting it out and selling the usable stuff.  Even allowing for wheeling and dealing and not being able to sell some items, I should be able to break even.  Might even make a couple of bucks.  Time to run while I still can.


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## Flyinfool (Nov 5, 2019)

Bummer, This was going to be a fun to watch project. But I can fully understand the budget side of the equation.


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## westerner (Nov 9, 2019)

PHPaul said:


> Based on prices I was getting from others, I guesstimated what I should be able to get parting it out and selling the usable stuff. Even allowing for wheeling and dealing and not being able to sell some items, I should be able to break even. Might even make a couple of bucks. Time to run while I still can.


Wise, very wise. Very sad, but wise. I will one day inherit a Case 580E backhoe that will present me with the same sort of decisions.


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