Markds3 wrote:

trainzkid88 wrote:

those cross lines are from the bearing shells and are trace of lube grooves. most slipper or cast in place white metal bearings had them the idea was the lube could flow and spread evenly via those grooves. id say its been sitting a while to leave marks on the shaft. its no problem probably disappear with some use.
I realise that sir (I have watched every episode of Toby's including the one where he made the bronze bearings for the pivot shaft and hand ground those gooves into the internal diameter by hand). I'm talking about the machining marks on the pivot shaft itself, zoom into the photo and you will see what I mean. There is a little more wear towards the inside, however it is minor.
I  can guarantee you if you're seeing machining marks its not worth it to pull the mic out . That shaft will probably only measure a couple thousands and Cats spec is very forgiving. 
Really like that you're just resealing and not painting 

d2gary wrote:

Very nice tractor. Everything looks in excellent shape, I did notice your sprockets have been welded. It'll be good as new when you finish. Great work please keep the updates coming

Yes, the sprockets have been welded, however, it was long before I got the tractor. I mentioned this to my locat CAT mechanic as I thought it unusual as the pins and bushes show very minimal wear. He said it was in line with best practice as a worn sprocket only accelerates wear on pins and bushes and vice versa, which is exactly what Toby details in one of his latest episodes. I'll get a pic tonight which shows how the wear on my sprockets is nicely right down in the base of the teeth, not at the tips, like Toby showed us in his video.

d2gary wrote:

Markds3 wrote:

trainzkid88 wrote:

those cross lines are from the bearing shells and are trace of lube grooves. most slipper or cast in place white metal bearings had them the idea was the lube could flow and spread evenly via those grooves. id say its been sitting a while to leave marks on the shaft. its no problem probably disappear with some use.
I realise that sir (I have watched every episode of Toby's including the one where he made the bronze bearings for the pivot shaft and hand ground those gooves into the internal diameter by hand). I'm talking about the machining marks on the pivot shaft itself, zoom into the photo and you will see what I mean. There is a little more wear towards the inside, however it is minor.
I  can guarantee you if you're seeing machining marks its not worth it to pull the mic out . That shaft will probably only measure a couple thousands and Cats spec is very forgiving. 
Really like that you're just resealing and not painting 

 

Yes, I'm doing all I can to preserve what is the orginal paint and decals which are all in remakably good condition!

That’s great news on your SE. What Mag and Carburetor part numbers are on it? Not the CAT number, but manufacturer…I.e. Eiseman …. Zenith…

I recall following this originally-super find, congrats.

Keep safe-

🤗 Nice work on the 5U🤗

bernie wrote:

That’s great news on your SE. What Mag and Carburetor part numbers are on it? Not the CAT number, but manufacturer…I.e. Eiseman …. Zenith…

I recall following this originally-super find, congrats.

Keep safe-
 

Thanks Bernie, I can't quite see what numbers are on the Zenith, but I think its pretty standard for the era. The mag is an American Bosch MJK4/2 360C-47, pic of the name tag below:
 

To give everyone an idea how little work this tractor has done - I understand this is most likely the original track gear: 
Rail height:
 
See how tightly the links sit together:
 
Sprocket wear:
 
And as mentioned in an earlier post, all the witness marks from the bushings are right down in the base of the teeth:
 

And probably most surprising is how little wear there is on the track rollers, these are the rear rollers which I had to remove to pull the track frames off the pivot shaft. The bushings also have very little discernable movement as well!