Hi, This is my first post but I have been reading and learning for some time now. I really appreciate the depth of knowledge here! I decided to pull the old 212 out of the shed after it sat for about five years and it cranked right up with a couple of hot batteries so I figured I was in good shape.....untiil I broke the left rear drive chain after a slow trip down the drive. I have repaired the broken case where the wadded up chain pushed it out but I am worried that I might have the same problem if I just reinstall another chain. I do have the section of the manual that covers this and I think that the tension is correct. Is there a common issue that I should look for before I proceed? I am not really even sure that it is a 212 as it has been "winter watch" serviced at a dealer before it came to the farm. That program is a good excuse to paint over everything (grease, mud...) and use up leftover stickers!! The serial number is 9T1035. I am sorry to go on so long and any help or ideas are really great. Thanks, JEFF

You won't know if it will work unless you try it!. I would go ahead. The tension doesn't seem to be very critical unless it gets so slack it balls up or wears the tandem housing. Check the teeth on the sprockets carefully. Might should check the opposite side before it does the same thing. It's fun working down in that case isn't it!

It's a 1950 212.

Same thing happened to me 30 years ago. I put new chains on it and still use the same old grader. You can, if the chains are real loose rotate the bearing housings that support the drive sprockets because they are made on a excentric. If you look at the bearing carriers you will see what I mean. The manual says that one bolt rotation takes up 4 in of slack so you need more than 4 in of slack at the top of the chain. I will bet those chains are more $ than I paid way back. Charlie

I got the old dog on the ground today after about seven hours and all worked well. I was afraid the cause of the problem might show it's head and it did. The brake is hanging up in such a way that if you back up it really catches hard. I think that this is what did in the other chain when just the right combination happened and the slack was allowed to push its way right through the case. Brake keeping the tension side tight while the slack side was able to droop at just the right angle while backing up?. Just a therory. If I had the socket on hand I would have had the wheel off just to know what is next! I got the new chain from a a friend and it is much tighter. I am a little worried about the other side but if it works i will leave it for now as I don't want to take it that far apart for now. My wife asked me if I will ever be done with projects the other day.....of course you know what the answer to that was !!! Thanks for the help and I will let you know what the brake outcome is. I should say that I just put a master cylinder on to start all of these problems. The cylinder is a 1940's through 60 Studebaker 1 ton pick-up unit if any one needs to know. Thanks Again, Jeff

The nut on the wheel is just the beginning! You need a puller. A BIG steering wheel style with about a 1" screw is what I borrowed. Tightened it up tight and whacked it with a sledge and the wheel jumped right off. I tried my hydraulic jack arrangement, but couldn't get it to come off with ~ 20Tons, but I didn't know to hit it with the sledge.

Then when you're through you need to press the wheel back on to the tapered axle with something like 40 tons pressure. I rigged up a couple of hydraulic jacks on a a fixture welded to a nut screwed onto the threads on the end of the axle.

When we got our grader, it was running with a wheel wallowing around on the axle because someone let it get loose/didn't replace it properly. Had to replace both the axle and wheel hub. Then it was on to the brakes!

Thanks for the cross over on the master cylinder. CAT seems to have used mostly standard components for brake systems, if you can just figure out what they are.

CC, thanks, I am back to it later today. I can picture the install tool now that you say that...another tool to build! I should have a puller on hand. You probably saved me a few hours of figure-it-out time. Do you know if there is a way to verify build year and model with the serial number? Thanks for all of your help! JEFF

I show the 9T1035 as a 1950 model.

CC, I thought I had a puller at the farm but of course i was wrong. The dumb part of the story is that i spent a couple of hours trying to remove the tire/rim from the hub. This thing has sat for a while and I think that the cheap paint didn't help but a sledge and port-a-power didn't even budge the rim. I think I wil leave it together and deal with the brake issue first.
Magnet, at least I don't feel so bad having my rear kicked by a unit 12 years older than me! Thanks for the info as it has been a topic of debate since this old girl showed up. A good joke about a six pack in there some where but I will let that go! JEFF

I went through the rim removal dance too! Tried to get rough with it with a backhoe bucket with no effect at all. Finally got a 12 pound sledge and was able to break it loose so I could install the tire/rim on the new wheel. I was lucky to find one with good tires on all the rears.

I need to get the head off ours and do the valves, it will barely run anymore. On the back burner, we've got a 12E now.

CC, I did the same with the back hoe with no results. I managed to get the rim off today and the hub and drum as well. The cylinder looks like it has been bad for a decade or so and the linings were rotted and in a pile on the bottom. No wonder the wheel was locked up. Pretty much what I expected I guess. Now for a little parts shopping and casting number crossing and maybe I can get it back together.....just to start on the other side. Thanks again for the help and suggestions! JEFF