Ok.... we are off to the races.  

My recently (last Thursday) acquired D6b CAT has revealed it's first cause for concern post purchase.  Shame on me for not seeing this before the purchase however it is what it is and I will deal with it. Generally speaking, the dozer is in great shape and I watched the unit in action prior to the purchase.  

What I failed to consider is while the owner showed me how well it can push material... he really hadn't done much turning left or right.  I know that I should have asked for this but spaced it at the time.  After purchase I loaded it on the low boy to transport it to it's new home and found that right turns were ever so slight regardless of how hard I pushed on the brake, which did not stop the track, or how far back I pulled the steering lever.  When I brought this to the owners attention he indicated that it was cold and would get better as it warmed up.  I accepted this notion as the temps had plummeted to their lowest level of the season this day and believe(d) it was just a matter of an adjustment.  At the moment I am hopeful that it still is just that.  The left steering works like a champ and has no issues.   

I am no stranger to steering systems on heavy equipment as I also own a JD 350b and am in the middle of a steering clutch replacement and brake assembly replacement on both sides.  In a previous life I also spent countless hours on a JD2010 crawler with clam shell bucket and rear backhoe who's track would get thrown off about every 15 hours of use.  I was just a young buck at the time and while putting a 3/4 mile road in the forest I had the stamina over a 4 hour period and nothing but a pry bar to get the track back on after which I would collapse in complete exhaustion.  Ahhhhh... those were the good ol days.  I however am not intimately familiar with the D6b (yet) and would like to ask if I am on the right track (no pun intended) given this is considerably larger than the 350.  As I indicated, at the moment it does inch to the right.... but ever so slight and usually requiring a release of the brake and lever and reapplication for the next inch.  I would have additional information to provide here however today and tomorrow are in the single digits (much worse than Thursday) with an added -20 degree windchill and am all but certain my phalanges will refuse to function as well as any articulating movement on the D6b. 

The dozer as a whole seems to be in fine shape and was currently being used for creating ponds so it hasn't been sitting by any means.  I would consider my purchasing it to be for medium duty use.  I have purchased 25 acres and am gearing up to put in a 75 to 80 home subdivision.  My first rodeo doing such.  18 acres is all previous farm land the remainder heavily vegetated (like our current president) at this point.  I will be using it to clear this vegetation of 50' and smaller trees (predominately deciduous) and brush along with landscaping for the civil infrastructure side of it... roads and the like as well as retention pond(s) once the platting engineers tell me what those will be.  I believe this machine will do the job well and provide all the power necessary to achieve the ends.  Engine and transmission along with hydraulics seem to be in very good order.  Very little seal leaking. 

On a side note... it is missing the protection plates for the track adjusters/rails and the adjusting springs are broke on both sides.  This does not hinder it's use and thankfully I was aware of this before purchase and determined I could work with this as no one had actually attempted any 'welding fixes' to the adjusters to overcome the broken springs.  Would like to inquire as to desirable sources for used parts to address the plates and springs. I do intend to produce video content for all the work I do on this and load them up for others to review and learn from.  Ironically I can find little out there for steering related issues on this particular machine. 

Thank you again for any assistance provided.

Welcome -
I will enter a note of caution, those recoil springs are just waiting for release, know what you are doing and follow all precautions to the letter! NO SHORTCUTS.
Those springs help keep tension on the front idler, keeping the track in place on rollers, idler and sprocket.
As suggested, first thing to check would be the adjustments on the steering clutch and brake band, owner manual for instruction.

Pictures are always helpful and appreciated.

If you are pushing trees, do you have a ROPS? Be cautious of pushing trunks with forks or crotches. They can rollup and then fall right back on the machine, not a place you want to be. Cut crotches before pushing!
CTS

Righty and not a lefty eh? My own experiences with every D6 as well at the D5s; adjust brakes and steering to proper specifications; Open the access port at the right rear of machine; I have seen many that had contamination from weeping seals, allowing the brake band and drum to get soppy with oil. Take a large can of brake cleaner if so, and spray generously to clean the crud off. If you are lucky, that might be all you need to get many hours of use before a proper repair of the leaks, etc. Good luck. JM
***seems like the right side always leaks first***

ctsnowfigher and juiceman, thank you for the information. recoil springs are broke and have little tension on them at the moment however I do understand what you are saying and will always move forward with an emphasis on caution as I have a whole lot more livin to do. This machine does have a ROPS and in a previous life, back in the 60's, I worked with my dad in his logging business in Montana.  Fell, skidded, and bucked trees before loading them on the transport with a knuckle boom.  I will say that I am not familiar with the term 'crotches' in this context all tho I was once kicked there by a Shetland pony one time... whole nother story.   We had a D8 cat at the time with winch, ROPS, etc. Regarding pics.... am I correct that there is no attaching of images directly here?.... never mind... figure it out.  I do actually host a pic server dedicated to heavy equipment.

I will report back on my success or lack there of on adjustments.

If spring is broke, there still a lot of tension left. Example scrapped a D8, cut every coil and still loaded, cut each coil second time, and the expansion did not stop till every coil was cut in two places. A little residual tension can still kill you

I think what he means is a log hung up in another tree. particularly the fork of another tree. can be very dangerous as they can become loaded with large forces that when released can make stuff fly at rapid knots.

Hi, Folks.
Dunno how trees hung up in other trees got into the conversation but there is a 'sortuva' shared principle there. The difference being that with the tree, you don't really know which way the force is gonna go whereas with the spring, you do know which way it can go - - - - sometimes. But you can be fairly sure that it won't go down 'coz the track frame is gonna stop it - - - which still leaves up as one of the options.

Be SAFE.

Just my 0.02.

That recoil spring has a lot of pressure left in the portion that is not broken. The recoil springs on my D6B are both broken and it was apparently run for years with no trouble before I purchased it and I decided it would work for me also. 
I couldn't see the front idlers in detail in the pics but what I could see looked like there is too much slack in the idler yoke retention plates. This should be repaired before more damage occurs.
The failure of the right steering brake is sometimes caused by an untrained operator that doesn't realize that he has stepped on the brake lock lever and has operated the tractor with the right brake applied enough to wear the brake until it needs adjusting or replacing.
Craig

Seiscat: I agree with your last sentence. My late model D4D SA suffered one time too many, as someone locked the brake pedal on the right and fried the brakes. Being "wet" back there and so HOT, I am amazed it did not erupt in flames. People could smell the gear oil practically boiling. It finally cooled down to where I could adjust them.
I got lucky and did not have to have new brakes installed. JM

Looking forward to applying all these suggestions but at the moment it's titches wit cold out there. Supposed to warm up to a balmy 20 degrees on Wednesday. I will hopefully have something to report come the end of the week.

Thank you all for your comments.