rhartwick wrote:

Not to barge in on this thread, but I am hoping for more discussions on this. My D2 has the same problem of play in the rear end, forcing one clutch lever slightly forward when I apply the other one. Watching Squatch's videos on completely rebuilding the rear end, that kind of total rebuild is out of the question for me, at least this year. Is there a fairly easy way to shim/adjust the bearings to at least make things pretty good, if not perfect? I probably put less than 20 hours a year on the machine, mostly for light grading and such. I am hoping I can just slide by with it the way it is without creating major new damage. How risky is it to run it like this with some play in the rear end?

Thanks for this question Sir, and never think you're barging into my thread, you've helped me get a picture for a way forward, and Neil's idea of taking the rear cover off to measure the end float is a great idea and it's what I will be doing before making a decision about pulling the whole back end apart. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any options otherwise if we're going to tighten up that bevel gear shaft! 

Well my friend with the D2 in Gore messaged me yesterday and he's found the original track roller lubrication tool that came with the D2 when it was new, which is a bonus:
 

Wow! How cool is that!

Another interesting little update on this tractor, I found out that this little D2 was part of a World Record (Certified by the Guinness Book of World Records) organized by the West Otago Vintage Club in 2008 where the largest number (503) of self laying track machines operated at one place at one time. Someone might have some more details on the event but it sounds like it was quite a logistical achievement!

That club has had several big time shows of vintage equipment and quite a museum from what I hear.

After being caught in a blizzard on Monday night on my way to the farm where this little tractor has spent the last 72 years:
 
I filled it up with antifreeze, made sure it started and ran, and then took my friend there on Tuesday to show him how to start it. Finally, on Saturday he went and collected it, took it back to his business in Gore and I am just waiting for my freight company to collect it there and bring it up here to Nelson:
   

That's a nice sight there, those little D2 crawlers are deceptively heavy, and that trailer drawbar didn't have much freeboard for crossing any ditches and drains did it, dragging it out of a wet boggy paddock could have gotten exciting in a hurry! LOL

I have a friend here in Oz who is into old tractor and engines, he bought his first Cat, a little 22 a few years ago, and went to pick it up with his Ford Ranger 4 X 4, he said the tractor was sitting in a old shed up the top of a hill, and he had to drive back down a narrow rutted dirt track about a mile to get off the property, he said it was lucky he had good, working electric trailer brakes, because that little 22 was surprisingly heavy and wanted to keep gaining speed as he went down the track! LOL

The little D2 is about embark on one of the longest road trips possible in New Zealand, too bad you can't set up a Go Pro camera on it to take a photo every 10 minutes to capture some of the prettiest scenery on the planet as she travels from the bottom of the South Island to the top.

We look forward to some pics of her getting a good flogging in due course!

the way around the excess hitch weight is to position it further back so its more spread over the tri-axle set up. as long as the trailer is pushing down on to the hitch you have enough weight.

Well, the little D2 got collected from Gore on Thursday:
 
And at 8am on a beautiful frosty Saturday morning I had the pleasure of unloading it here in Nelson.  I'm hoping I can secure a low-loader to transport it to the farm sometime early this week: