Very nice work so far. May luck be on your side the rest of the way.

The clutch brake can be a weak point in the wet clutch system. The wet clutch is so forgiving in how much you can slip it. Had a old long-gone mechanic tell me he had never seen the friction surface wear out on a Cat wet clutch. It was always the drive teeth that wear out. So if you get it moving have no fear in slipping the clutch a bit.

The D6 operators book says to keep the forward/ reverse lever in gear, and not use it as the neutral. As the pump that circulates the oil is driven by the lever being in gear. More for doing stationary work than when starting it. Only a guess but would think the D7 is the same.

Very exciting and great news!
My first 17A had a wet clutch, and owner cautioned me to leave everything in neutral, as the oil sticks and the machine can "creep" possibly maiming someone if not careful.
As others mentioned, maybe start up, allow everything to warm up ( can't remember if leaving F-N-R lever or shifter in gear?) to circulate the oil?
Then, shut down, start again with everything engaged to lessen the grinding (except main clutch of course).
Hope your next post will be of it moving along and loading itself to come home. JM

Latest video is up in case anyone wants to hear the old girl run.

Hi Scott,I must say, I enjoyed watching your YouTube video. You put together a good video, and did a great job of conveying information for the viewers. I'm not sure how you manage to appear so clean after working on the tools, I almost always seem to end up with my clothes covered in dirt and grime. Towards the end of the video, it appeared that you could not contain the pure joy of your achievements for the day, and rightly so, that joy is what we do it for and makes all the hard toil worth it.Another item for your checklist now that you are running, if you haven't already done so, behind the diesel tank and in front of the winch is an oil reservoir for the steering clutch booster (I'm not sure what it's actually called). 

And back to the clutch brake, it appears in your video that the clutch lever is fouling with the left foot brake pedal? Is the lever reaching the full forward position? Also the cover and external lever that you pointed out on the clutch housing isn't the clutch brake mechanism, as far as I know that spring mechanism and lever is to simply prevent the clutch brake from being applied without deliberate force forward on the clutch lever to prevent undue wear on the clutch brake. I've circled the end of the clutch brake actuating lever in a picture, follow that down behind/outside the clutch housing and that's where the clutch brake is located. From memory, the two nuts that I've circled provide the adjustment for the clutch brake.  

Hi D8Dude -

Yes, we certainly had a good time getting the old tractor running again, and it was a huge relief when the rack freed up and it finally started.

Thanks for the tip on the steering clutch.

Also, thanks for explaining the clutch brake; my service manual arrived yesterday, so hopefully I won't make any more mistakes like this.

Scott

Hi, bulletpruf.
Thanks for the video - great stuff.

Nest time you are out there, I would suggest that crawl under the front of the old girl and check out the equaliser spring between the tracks which holds the engine up. The tractor looks to be very 'down by the bows' to me.

The unit that D8Dude mentioned is indeed the steering clutch booster. If that is not working or if the steering clutches are out of adjustment, trying to operate will 'make a man out of you'.. D8Dude has shown the plug that you need to access to check the oil in said booster which, I think, takes ordinary SAE 30 weight engine oil.

You can check if the boosters are working properly without moving the tractor by simply pulling each steering clutch lever fully back while the engine is running and the master clutch is engaged. If the levers are hard to pull back through their entire stroke, it is likely that the boosters are not working. If there is an early resistance and they then become easier, it is likely that the steering clutch working with that booster needs adjusting - may be one, may be both. The adjustment procedures will be in the "Operation and Maintenance' manual.

Hope this helps.

Just my 0.02.

Hi Scott, I really didn't think this project would ever get so far along. Congratulations! I started looking at the pics again and enlarging some of them. There is a major problem with the right track. The track appears to be frozen and won't rotate to the point that it is lifting the tractor! If you get the D7D to move it looks like reverse is your best option.
Happy New Year,
Craig
 

Deas wrote:

Hi, bulletpruf.
Thanks for the video - great stuff.

Nest time you are out there, I would suggest that crawl under the front of the old girl and check out the equaliser spring between the tracks which holds the engine up. The tractor looks to be very 'down by the bows' to me.

The unit that D8Dude mentioned is indeed the steering clutch booster. If that is not working or if the steering clutches are out of adjustment, trying to operate will 'make a man out of you'.. D8Dude has shown the plug that you need to access to check the oil in said booster which, I think, takes ordinary SAE 30 weight engine oil.

You can check if the boosters are working properly without moving the tractor by simply pulling each steering clutch lever fully back while the engine is running and the master clutch is engaged. If the levers are hard to pull back through their entire stroke, it is likely that the boosters are not working. If there is an early resistance and they then become easier, it is likely that the steering clutch working with that booster needs adjusting - may be one, may be both. The adjustment procedures will be in the "Operation and Maintenance' manual.

Hope this helps.

Just my 0.02.

Hello Deas Plant - 

Thank you for the information and suggestions.  I will check these items out the next time I visit the tractor.

Best regards,

Scott

seiscat wrote:

Hi Scott, I really didn't think this project would ever get so far along. Congratulations! I started looking at the pics again and enlarging some of them. There is a major problem with the right track. The track appears to be frozen and won't rotate to the point that it is lifting the tractor! If you get the D7D to move it looks like reverse is your best option.
Happy New Year,
Craig
 

Hi Craig - 

Wow, that doesn't look good!  I'm not sure why I didn't notice that.  Is there any other way to try to free this up other than drive in reverse and hope for the best?

Thanks,

Scott

Hi, Bulletpruf.
With the engine running and the transmission in neutral - gear shift lever only, F/R lever in one or 'tuther' - test the steering clutches as I mentioned above. If both pull all the way back pretty freely, put the transmission into 4th gear and engage the master clutch with BOTH steering clutch levers held all the way back. Then SLOWLY release one steering clutch lever at a time to see what happens. Try this in both forward and reverse.

If you can't get the master clutch to disengage and the clutch brake to work, you will likely have to stop and restart the engine to make the gear changes. If this is the case, hold BOTH steering clutch levers fully back when re-starting.

You might also want to do a little 'homework' on the hydraulics to make sure that they 'ackshully' WORK and will raise the blade before attempting this.

If the steering clutch levers don't behave as they ought, you will likely need to check the fluid level in the reservoir - which you should already have done before starting as this would rule out low fluid as the reason for non-operation - and also check the steering clutch adjustment as per the manual.

Hope this helps.

Just my 0.02.