Since I bought the 1961 36A D8H it has seeped gear lube from both final drives...very slowly. Well today I pulled the caps off both sides to see if I could find any metal or bearing material around the inside of the caps...."I had learned here at ACMOC board that oil is pumped through the dead shaft and that metal would likely collect inside the cap" is this correct?? I found nothing at all. Just some minor sludge along the bottom flange of the cap.... The dead shaft outer roller bearing looks like new, as did the race in the cap. I tried to wiggle the sprocket with a big bar, and no lateral play at all on either side of the machine.... "I did not have the machine jacked up" so maybe I had to much pressure on the sprocket... I had it sitting on a couple tie butts ahead of the sprocket near the balance point.
Next I pulled the left side final filter... no metal, so I cut it open and checked, nothing inside the filter. I ordered the two filters from NAPA and they will come in the morning. I have to pull the right side filter, but don't expect anything different. Now, the questions.... The bearings/seals I need to see or tighten are inside the hub right?? the ones held by a big internal nut that needs a special wrench to remove?... and I need to use a puller to remove the guts to get at the outer duo-cone seal?... I know to change the inside bearing you have to pull the sprocket off. All of this work is beyond my capabilities or desire to be honest. My plan right now is too change bother final filters and fill with 80-90 wt and leave it alone. I only use the machine for a drive around the place and a little winching when I need it. This machine runs like a watch, very good engine. Steering is "stiff" but fine.Brakes and clutches seem fine. One other question for any 36A direct drive guys is what is normal for a "growl" that comes in higher gears for these tractors.... I have never had or run another direct drive Cat of this size. I know all transmissions and drive lines have differing noises that are normal.. But I am wondering about the growl as I describe it that I hear. Its been this way since I got it. Here are some photos I what I saw....

Looking at those filters like that is not going to tell you squat, you have to pull the paper element out and put it in a vise so all the pleats are together and squeeze the oil out then pull the pleats apart and lay the inside down on the bench and then you can see any metal on the outer side of the paper. I myself don't like the looks of the rollers on that bearing, they are dull not shiny and some look rusty. But for a winch tractor may be just fine. Gary

"Rome wrote:

Looking at those filters like that is not going to tell you squat, you have to pull the paper element out and put it in a vise so all the pleats are together and squeeze the oil out then pull the pleats apart and lay the inside down on the bench and then you can see any metal on the outer side of the paper. I myself don't like the looks of the rollers on that bearing, they are dull not shiny and some look rusty. But for a winch tractor may be just fine. Gary

I did pull the filter apart... I just didn't see anything in it. I think the photo of the bearing is just not a clear picture... the bearing was shiny and plenty of oil on it.... it moved smoothly and easily. What I need to know is if seals can be tightened without having to pull all the guts out of it first. That big nut inside the plate that you see is not the actual nut that needs to be tightened is it?, my understanding is that a larger nut is on the dead shaft deeper into the hub??? with another one on the inside of the seal also and that would mean pulling the sprocket. ??

It's been several years since I had an H so my final drive memory may be a little fuzzy. That outer bearing has to do with swing frame oscillation and does not have to do with the final itself, there are 2 more back to back bearings like the one on the photo and a big roller bearing on the inside of the hub. If you just have a small seep and nothing in the filters I would just leave it, those finals can be an expensive can of worms and you would need Cat tooling to disassemble and assemble. Not uncommon to spend $10K per side and that was years ago

You would need access to the inner adjusting nut to tighten the bearing load/seal. Sprocket would not need to be removed unless your going after the seals.

"Old wrote:

You would need access to the inner adjusting nut to tighten the bearing load/seal. Sprocket would not need to be removed unless your going after the seals.

Thanks OM, For what I have this tractor for, I'll just keep her full of gear lube and use it now and again... I was surprised I did not find any metal or chunks.. all seems ok. It rolls freely, does "growl" But maybe they all do. Its just not the higher pitched whine that the power shift tractors all make. For me this was the first direct drive "large" Cat I have had anything to do with.

The cross shaft can growl, a test would be after it's warmed up and you hear the growl pull both steering clutches and apply the brakes to stop the tractor, this will stop the finals from moving but the rest of the drive train will still be working, see if it still growls or stops. If the growl stops it's in finals if it still growls then it's elsewhere

There is NO inner adjusting nut that will help you in any way to stop oil leaks on D8H/K Series Tractors, the outer nut on the Dead Shaft would want to be tight and probably is tight, inside the outer hub is a large square section rubber seal that can cause oil loss seen usually on the Track Frame, with the seal removed and the hub free of the frame with good bearings (no lines in the outer Cap Cup) you can re-set the Pre-Load that sets the support tension of the 3 taper roller bearings in the outer cap. tctractors

Tim,

The bearing preload on the the sprocket/bullgear spindle is shim adjusted on the outer cap which you have removed. The manual will give you a procedure to do this. It's pretty simple to do with a tension wrench and a "made up " piece of tooling.
The bearing cup and cone you can see only occillates with the movement of the track frame, so it does't have much movement at all. It DOES NOT FULLY ROTATE. If there are brinelling marks in the cup then you will have difficulty in setting the preload properly. Replace if necessary.
You will need to have the large "square" seal OUT to set the preload as it just creates a whole lot more drag and give you and incorrect reading. ( you probably won't be able to turn it at all.)
If you have to replace the outer duo-cone seal which sits between the sprocket and the outer support hsg, the you will need some extra tooling and expertise.
The manual will tell you all you need to know.

Good luck

Cheers djcat

I appreciate all the help, Finding no metal, and not wanting to spend big bucks with seal changes, etc. I think the old girl will be fine for what its for. I was just curious if I could see pieces of bearing in the cap, as was mentioned in another post about the seals, bearings etc, but that was on a D4. I do have all the manuals for this S/N 36A, and after seeing the process of seal replacement and all the tooling, pullers, etc needed, I figure I just better be happy with what I have. This machine is just for enjoyment..."unless I get my D9 stuck" which I have...twice...and then its saved the day with the winch. Thankfully I have the chains, shackles etc, and it was more fun getting it out than a headache. I will try the test on the finals/driveline to see if the growling I hear is the cross shaft. In a high gear 5th or 6th with just the main transmission in gear and clutch engaged it does not make noise enough to say so, but when moving, in the higher gears it does growl.... but so do lots of older tractors, so its just a question of what is normal. I think the finals are where the noise comes from.... being an ex pipeline winch tractor, my guess is she did a lot of traveling in higher gears over the all those years. It sure is a good running old machine... I am thinking of selling it to a collector since I now have the 9G, but not sure yet.I can put this one inside...