I looked at little Oliver HG crawler that was for sale. The guy selling said they don't have any foot brakes. It did not have any brake pedals.

It ran pretty good and turned good, but it could not make a tight turn like a Cat because you could not stab the brake.

Anyone know about the Olivers? Do they have brakes? Seems like they should. I wonder if maybe you push the steering clutch levers forward to lock the brake?

Thanks.

I believe they are set up like the Cletracs......with differential steering....The steering levers apply brake band pressure to the side you want to turn. Pull both levers back at the same time to stop.....no steering clutches to stick:)

Thanks! That explains it.

The Cletrac we have does have one brake pedal. But the steering works like what Oldmagnet says.

My Cletrac has one pedal......foot clutch.

What was said about pulling both levers back to stop. Just remember to step on the foot clutch as you are doing it.
Cletrac was bought out by Oliver in the mid 50's as I remember. Cletracs were pretty popular in the Pennsylvania oil patch around Bradford Probably due to price. An old farmer who farmed on top of a hill liked the Cletrac/Olivers for hauling hay wagons down the hill because when you turned the corners you never disengaged power from both tracks. With a big load of hay on pushing you that was an important concern!
drujinin

The trouble we have with ours is when it starts getting warm from running it you can not make close right turn. It turns real nice to the left but to the right you need some room. I was told some one replaced the linings many years ago and that might be the problem. I have not looked into it yet. Too busy working on a Cat 20 and Allis HD 15.

If anyone knows where you can get the bands try this guy: www.olivercletrac.com/

I do believe that any brake shop should be able to re-line the bands though. You can check out my Cletrac and Olivers at: groups.msn.com/MikesRustyandShinyStuff/shoebox.msnw

Look at the second page of albums under "Construction Equipment".

Good luck, MikeA

Must be normal for Oliver crawlers to have this set up. But I have been working on a OC18 Oliver with air operated turning clutches and brakes. The lever is short and takes no effort to use, pull half way back and steering clutch is released, pull all the way back and brake is applied also. The main clutch is also air operated with a foot pedal. I have never seen anything like this and have been wondering if anybody else has.
Oz22

The first thing I would look at is an adjustment of the band. If that is ok then I would start looking at lining thickness. It was very common for poeple to reline the brake bands with a lining material that was not compatable with oil. They would not work very good as the oil warmed up. Everything has to be just right in order to lock a track up in a turn. Hope this helps.