Well one thing I know for certain is it's always easy for us to judge after the event from the safety of our arm chair !!

Good on you for posting your reply and explaining why's and why not's that led to this

Is the blade off the ground ? if not I would start by getting the blade off the ground and then you probably would be able to pull it home with the D4 to some were to have a closer look at what the problem is were it is cleaner and safer to work on and all your tools are handy

you will be surprised at the pulling power of the D 4

Paul

If the pony doesn't bog when attempting to start the pony clutch is slipping.
I wouldn't give up on starting it just yet. The three section oil/scavenge pump system should still be able to deliver oil at some pretty steep angles. Even if oil pressure was lost bearing freeze at idle would not be as severe as under load.
Bar it over a few more revolutions, tighten up the pony clutch and have another go. If oil pressure doesn't come up in reasonable time then shut it down and you know the task ahead.

Hi, Dcrobira.
You don't show a photo of the front of the machine but it would appear to have a front-mounted cable control for the blade. You did say that the left corner of the blade was dug about 2 feet into the ground. Because there is no front-side-on photo, we can't see if there is any weight on the blade lift cables.

How-wevver, what does appear to me to be possible would be that the tractor could have been reversed out of that situation under its own power at the time. I would have attempted reversing out while making sure that the blade lift was carrying ANY weight by pushing control to the 'Lower' position. I think it would be a pretty safe bet that this would have allowed the right rear to come down from that angle very quickly as most of the track is off the ground now and you have the logging winch on the back end as well for extra weight to help that to happen.

With BOTH steering clutches engaged, it doesn't matter a whole if one track is mostly off the ground like that, There is usually sufficient weight/traction on the bottom track to drive the machine. I doubt that I would have even attempted to turn the tractor whilst reversing out of there, just make sure that there is no blade weight being carried on the front until the back end comes down, then start lifting the blade but only as much as it needs to keep moving back.

One CARDINAL 'ROOL' for operating a dozer - NEVER cut a pass that you can't back up on UNLESS you have a DEFINITE escape route in front of you.

If the blade rises over something that might stop you from reversing out of wherever you are, back up and pick it up before going on - - - AND before getting snagged on it. This include logs or saplings that might cause a track to slip.

As MrsMP says. that li'l D4 might surprise you with its pulling power. If I was planning on pulling it out of there, I think I'd be looking at using a fairly long bridle arrangement with a loop of chain or cable attached to the drawbar and the right dozer trunnion to help pull that high side down. Alternatively, a choker around the right side of the winch drum would have helped to achieve the same result.

Hope this helps - even if only in the future.

Just my 0.02.

My D4 6U had the oil cooler lines shunted back the oil filer base using rubber hose. The hose got snagged and pulled off by a root or branch while I was bulldozing at 3/4 or more engine speed. Speed and power died off and the engine quit. Tried to start it and pony would not turn the engine.

After finding the hose problem, I refilled the crankcase. Then pulled the oil pressure tube from the block and plumbed in a fitting to a hand pump and pumped in oil.

After that intraveinous infusion, I tried barring the engine (don't recall how) and got it to move. Started the pony, then the main. Oil pressure came up just fine and I put it right back to work. Used it for several years after that with no sign of a problem.

Give it a try.

Jim

Lesson learned!? If your going to work around hillside areas and pushing out trees with minimal experience then have someone else there and with a another tractor for safety. You just shook hands with danger!

Is there any trees nearby to snatch block your winch line to the two other machines

Thanks for the explanation of events. As you stated if unsure what to do, the best thing is to stop and think it over. The only mistake was perhaps not shutting it off. Good luck with getting it running and hopefully it will all work out OK. They are tough old beasts. Keep us posted.

Sounds like your clearing operation was very shoddy ,and hap hazord ,if you keep the clearing neat by wind rowing or piling trees and stumps as your clearing ,so the machine is engaged to the land rather than traveling over trash ,also filling stump holes and keeping the land graded as you clear,and establish working room , things may have been different ,especially on hill sides . An experienced operator would have felt the root ball raising the front of the tractor ,and imediatly threw the tractor in reverse backing off as the root ball came up . Also this same experienced operator would have pushed the tree with the center or lower side of the blade so that as the root ball raised the tractor it would throw the lower side up keeping the machine more level throwing the tractor into the hill ,rather than down the hill

As to the engine .I would remove the oil filters ,and cut them open to see how much bearing material is deposited in the filters .If the filter are still clean you may luck out by hooking up a brake bleeder filled with oil under air pressure to the gauge line at the block and try to pressurize the oil gallary while barring over the engine to see if this will free up the bearing s ,and adjust the pony clutch as OM recomended

gee I hate to have to learn working for some of you blokes sounds like some people never made mistake my trades man that taught me used to say "THOSE THAT HAVE NEVER BLOWN ANYTHING UP HAVE NEVER TRIED" I have lived by that ever since we all make mistakes and most of us learn from them I always find it dosnt pay to be to critical of someone having a go especially if they are honest enough to talk about it because if people are to critical they tend to try and hide there mistakes and then miss out on knowledge from more experienced people

just some thoughts

Paul

"mrsmackpaul" wrote:

gee I hate to have to learn working for some of you blokes sounds like some people never made mistake my trades man that taught me used to say "THOSE THAT HAVE NEVER BLOWN ANYTHING UP HAVE NEVER TRIED" I have lived by that ever since we all make mistakes and most of us learn from them I always find it dosnt pay to be to critical of someone having a go especially if they are honest enough to talk about it because if people are to critical they tend to try and hide there mistakes and then miss out on knowledge from more experienced people

just some thoughts

Paul

Well put Paul