I agree, it takes time and effort, not everything has to be "as new", as long as they do what you want and are happy!
I spent my younger days working on farms, everything from NAA & 8N Ford tractors to D8's and most of them had seen much better days too. It is amazing how well Caterpillar holds up and puts in days work even when well past "specs" the factory set.
KEEP EM CRAWLIN - rubber tires and rubber tracks have taken over the farming here. Seldom is "iron" seen doing the work today. Preserve them best you can!

cts what is your location more explicitly where did you work on a farm?

I'm interested because that is my background also.

Sacramento Valley, Glenn and Colusa Counties mostly.
Rice, safflower, wheat, orchards -

"mrsmackpaul" wrote:

I find I can achieve a awful lot with a lot of time and a little money
My work is never done right by collectors standards but it seems to work ok

Paul

I'm the same way, I feel if I can keep it from deteriorating further i've saved it for another day.

Don't know if I can call this progress but pieces are coming off.

The fuel tank magically started leaking so I had to drain it. Of course the tank shutoff valve was stuck so it took some time to get all the fuel out. So once I had everything drained I had to see what was inside the fuel tower. Oh my!

The idler sprocket bushings are pretty much gone in the left side. Not surprising since its the roller frame with the big alignment problem

Seat tank is going to need a little love also

You know when I get into fixing some of my machines I am amazed at how bad some things are and it would be a good add to how well built these machines really are that they keep on running and working fine when they are lacking so much TLC

Great work and I enjoy reading your posts

Paul

Spent the day yesterday pulling more pieces off,and I to am amazed how wore out some of this stuff is. Nice to see in our disposable society that true craftsman did exist at one time and a fair amount of pride was taken in producing a very high quality product.

I was mostly removing major components and inspecting to see what is going to need attention. I found plenty!

I think fuel filters will be on the list


Surprisingly the winch looks really good. A good cleaning and new brake band. Subject to change of course



The pump is attached to the winch which means you don't have hydraulics unless the clutch is engaged, but I'm keeping it that way. Kinda funny to see operator friends run it and try to figure out all the levers. So far I've only had one last over 5 minutes!


I looked in my serviceman book but I can't find any mention of split pea soup for the pinion lube but that's what it looks like


My hydraulic unit says HYDRECO HYDRAULIC EQUIPMENT CO CLEVELAND OHIO.
Haven't really looked up any info on it yet but it seems to function ok

All I know is these things are A lot easier to store when they're in one piece

More pieces coming off and surprisingly nothing has really put up much of a fight. So far only 2 broken 3/8 bolts.

Radiator guard came off with the belly pan. It has a good selection of dirt, sticks and oil along with 2 egg sized rocks


Got really lucky on the final drive housings, maybe because mine weren't stuck. The right side is pretty bad as far as the clutches go but the clutch hubs look good on both sides.

Left side is dry and looked pretty good initially but when I released the clutches and started digging around it seems like the lining is starting to break down.

Not much to a little D2 once you unbolt all of this stuff but it sure seems like everyone that stops by to look is really interested in the inner workings.

The weather was pretty bad yesterday so I used it as a good excuse to stay in the shop and pull the steering clutches. Everything came apart without to much of a fight. The right side outer drum came off without a puller and I think the bearing on that shaft is gonna need replaced. The shaft slides in and out but the bearing doesn't seem to have play side to side. No big surprises in the clutches but they're pretty well shot.

Both outside huds look good, one inner hub is good one is bad


Had to fabricate a puller to pull the hubs. Probably not the best but it did work. Kinda like harbor freight if you use it for one job you got your monies worth.

I think there's a lot of force holding those hubs, they all come loose with a bang. Definitely need to keep the bolt in the center until they're loose. Make shift puller after 3 hubs


All the cat parts I've seen have cast in part numbers, don't know if these have been replaced or if they're cat

Lots of hard work there, but at least looking at those parts you know you aren't doing it for nothing. Those clutches were ready for some attention.

What is wrong with the one inner hub? In the pictures I can't tell which is good and which is bad and why.

Keep up the good work, and keep posting to bring us along with you.

Pete.