I am a bit confused. When you started it in gear with the steering clutches held back they must have been released. Now you can only turn right meaning that the left steering clutch is stuck. I would put it into a harder push and see if the left track stops when pulling the left clutch. You could have a non working or stuck brake linkage on that side

On the steering clutch plugs many folks drill a 1/4 hole in them and put a bent cotter key in them. That lets the moisture out, does a decent job of keeping mud out, and the key rubbing around keeps the hole from plugging with mud.

"old-iron-habit" wrote:

I am a bit confused. When you started it in gear with the steering clutches held back they must have been released. Now you can only turn right meaning that the left steering clutch is stuck. I would put it into a harder push and see if the left track stops when pulling the left clutch. You could have a non working or stuck brake linkage on that side

On the steering clutch plugs many folks drill a 1/4 hole in them and put a bent cotter key in them. That lets the moisture out, does a decent job of keeping mud out, and the key rubbing around keeps the hole from plugging with mud.

Good point.......drilling the plug and putting in a LOOSE fitting cotter pin works well for the dry main clutch as well. Just have to plug it if you ever want to wash the compartment.

We need a better description of the steering clutch behavior to help.

Will not prevent them from disengaging, but have you checked the oil in the steering booster under the seat? That can leak out into the bevels gear compartment and leave it dry enough that damage would soon result. Clutches will still release, just takes a lot more effort! Plug is accessible from the rear but can be hard to get to if you have a double drum CCU installed. Like most things on the tractors of that era, motor oil is perfectly adequate for it or i have used a hydraulic oil/transmission fluid in there.

If you can only steer right, I suspect your right steering clutch is stuck released. On two different 17As recently, which are pretty much the same as your 3T in this respect, I saw where the steering clutch release bell crank bearings developed some rust after sitting for some time. This meant when the steering clutch is released, the lever returned normally, but the bell crank held the clutch released.

Take the small squarish covers off the back of the transmission case. You'll see the adjustment for the clutches in there, and also one end of the bell crank. Have someone move the steering clutch release lever and you'll see the bell crank move (at least on the side that is working). If the side that isn't working doesn't move as much, pry gently on the bell crank to get it to move to the completely relaxed position, (outward, I believe). If that does the job, we sprayed P. B. Blaster in there on the bearing up in the top of the case where the bell crank pivots. That, and some working back and forth of the lever while prying the bell crank back and forth soon had the steering clutches working as they should.

You definitely need your master clutch washed. The steering clutch with oil in it probably also needs to be washed and I'll bet that the other side is dry and is the one with the condensation problem causing the release bell crank not to allow the clutch pack to clamp again.

Pete.

It's not real hard to get the top of the clutch housing off, other than maybe fighting rusted-in bolts. I've seen them cut in two in various forms of abomination, but it's not necessary. You have to remove the floor boards and the throttle rod, maybe a couple other things. Then you can really wash it with steam or pressure washer.

Also, if you have a winch on the D7, it's easier to lift off the fuel tank and service side clutches through the top. They can even be removed through the top, but it's a sorta bloody-nuckle job.

There are shims on the flywheel studs that drive the links to the driving disk. If you have to disassemble and reassemble the clutch, be sure the links are letting the clutch engage both driving surfaces by moving a shim from front to rear or otherwise.

I been in that job before, once up on a canyon wall where it blew up. Hope you're in a better place than that. happy New Year!