neil wrote:

Off-topic, regarding poison oak/ivy etc., I saw this video promising how to avoid poison x so long as you know that you were going to be exposed or did see that you got exposed. It's basically just washing the affect limbs with ordinary soap and a washcloth. The trick is to thoroughly use the soapy washcloth (like a good 30s of scrubbing the area) to remove the oil from your skin and if it's done within 2 hours of contact, you won't get poison oak. So, I tried it at my house and sure enough, it worked like a charm (and I get poison ivy just the same as most people). I grabbed some poison ivy in one hand, smeared it on my other arm, waited an hour, then washed it off using that technique - no poison ivy rash.
 

Wow, you are brave! I have also heard that ivory dish soap works well for this. Some people say you have to use cold water only - warm/hot water will open your pores and spread the oil further.

In this particular case, I noticed there was a scratch on my arm that looked irritated - I thought it was getting irritated from all the diesel splashing on my hands recently. But now it's all over my face. Hopefully it will clear up soon.

Busso20 wrote:

looking at the pictures would the threaded brace be required? I see there is hydraulic tilt cylinder (on the RHS only picture I can see) on the draft arm, my thinking unless your pushing material at the top of frame above blade the braces would not be required, (fitting tilt cylinder in that position would be better than brace and cylinder), tilt cylinders should be able to hold the blade at the set angle, these would have been fitted to help hold tilt angle while carrying a high load is my guess, the crack would be from movement up and down of blade fighting the tilt cylinders against the fixed braces as the blade does roll backwards on lifting as the brace would push it forwards , im not sure if I made sense???
 

Thanks Busso. Others have also expressed a similar idea - it seems like the braces and tilt cylinders will want to fight each other. In practice, the blade will only tilt about 6-8".

If/when I get the machine steering well, I am probably going to swap the blade for a more standard toolbar blade. The existing modification may have been primarily intended for snow removal? It's not clear.

Ray54 wrote:

The steering clutch adjustment is a job you do by brail if you don't have the fuel tank/seat removed. If the big cone nut turns you have it made (1 5/8 if I remember right ). I generally remove the small plate in the back as well. Helps get a second wrench in to loosen the lock nut.
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The world is a large place. But Cat did not want to waste any of it. Most all the steering clutch and brake parts only have at most 1/8 of an inch clearance when pulling out of the case. Including the larger cover, needs to be tipped just right to clear the steering booster.
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I did spot what I think is a pony motor air cleaner in the pile of 9u D6 parts. As there is at least one dismember pony on a parts tractor here, so I should have an air cleaner. I am not sure how close pony is on the 4&5R is to the 8&9U tractors.
 

Thanks Ray!

I may be all set on the air cleaner - waiting for some parts to arrive. I'll let you know!

I'll take your word on the larger cover. I certainly couldn't figure it out! But I think with a second person, maybe it would be possible to remove.

This morning I had a few hours to work on the machine, which was a good distraction from the poison oak. I took off the smaller square cover, as well as the rear inspection plate, for both sides. The brake bands seem intact on both sides, though the liners are probably worn (they seem a bit thin - 3/16" or so). Initially, there was maybe 1mm clearance clearance between the top of the drum and the band for the left. I adjusted the support screw as suggested in the manual but it wasn't completely clear that changed anything.

The right brake band was lying on the top of the drum initially. After adjusting the support screw, the band had maybe 1/2 mm clearance? Barely anything. Initially, the lower portion of the right brake band was well below the brake drum.



One this I noticed is that the positions of the rear pin of the lever 6B7149 differs between the two sides. For the left, the rear pin is flush in the anchor 6B7155 with the brake released. When the brake is depressed, the pin lifts up out of it's seat ~ 1/2". For the right side, the pin floats about 1/2" above the anchor, and then rises another 1/2" when the pedal is depressed. From the parts book, my guess is that the angle of the lever is set by the overall rod length 8B406. Do I need to elongate this rod?

I turned the brake adjust screw 6B7178 probably about 2 full turns on the right side. This "tightened up the brake" according to my helper who was pressing the brake for me. Visibly, it raised up the lower part of the band a bit at rest, and it visually looked like the band was grabbing tighter with the brake depressed.



One other interesting observation: when my helper pulled the left steering clutch lever, the yoke made a small but noticeable rotation around its mounting screws. However, when my helper pulled the right steering clutch lever, there was no perceptible movement of the yoke. My plan is to adjust the right steering clutch until I get a similar amount of movement as on the left side, but I didn't have a big enough wrench with me today.

I noticed that there was some residual liquid in the right steering clutch compartment from washing it. Liquid towards the back on the inside doesn't go through the drain. I mopped some of it up with rags but will have to get the rest another day.

After all of that, I was out of time. I will test the steering out next week and see if the situation has improved. And hopefully adjust the right steering clutch as well.

 

My own observations with any U series D6, B model or D5 (basically same chassis) the seal for the cross shaft will seep right side first, contaminating that side. Flushing and generous dousing of the brake bands and drum with brake cleaner will usually help a lot until the back end gets opened up.
Is your helper pulling ALL the way back? If the engine isn't running with clutch and one of the selectors engaged? the booster will not be working. Armstrong required to pull back!
Neil: you like playing with fire! I would not dare test your poison oak/ivy trick!!!
JM

neil wrote:

The way I understood adjusting band-type brakes is to start with adjusting both the support set screw and the adjuster fork and nut to get "close", then adjust the set screw to the prescribed amount from the service manual - e.g. turn up tight, then back off maybe a turn to a turn and a half, then adjust the fork / nut to get the correct adjustment of the band, and then finally adjust the long rod to the pedal to get the pedal to the correct height. All of this pre-supposes that the linkage is firm and not sloppy. Lost motion from wear is an enemy of good adjustment. If your pins and yokes are worn, replace them and it'll be a lot easier to adjust.
 

Thanks Neil. I finally got to try the machine out after adjusting it last week. I was able to turn right some of the time, but had to really mash the pedal. In contrast, I can feather the left brake with gentle pressure and have WAY more control.

The linkage seems tight to me - in fact, too tight. After tightening the band tension nut 6B7159, the right brake pedal offers resistance about 1/2 way depressed. But the pedal has no function unless you push it much further, with all your might. (I think, stretching the spring way further than it wants to go.)  Even then, operation is intermittent.

I don't fully understand how the linkage is supposed to function, but I'm stuck on the lever 6B7149 being tilted forward. I think next time, I will loosen the brake tension nut and the brake support screw, and try to get the lever back into the same position as the left side. Then I'll try adjusting again.

I also put penetrating oil on the clutch adjustment nuts and the locknuts and threads for the brake linkage rods, in case that I decide to lengthen the rods. But I feel like lengthening the rods in a just a bandaid over some other problem.

On the positive side, today I was able to turn right every time I needed to, drove the machine in 3rd gear for fun, and pushed some big dead logs down a little hill. Diesel is running good.

I forget where you are on the learning curve, do you have operator's manual? The amount of free travel in the steering lever is the indicator the clutch needs adjusting. Start the adjusting by tightening nut 2B989 after releasing the lock nut., from the picture in this thread. I have seen many head ackees from adjusting the linkages rather than the clutch.

Fairly successful day today! Got the right brake adjusted so it feels closer to the left, and works reliably. Still doesn't work as well as the left brake, but I have a theory about why. But the main thing is - the machine is steerable enough that I can finally move it!

Ray54 wrote:

I forget where you are on the learning curve, do you have operator's manual? The amount of free travel in the steering lever is the indicator the clutch needs adjusting. Start the adjusting by tightening nut 2B989 after releasing the lock nut., from the picture in this thread. I have seen many head ackees from adjusting the linkages rather than the clutch.
 

Thanks Ray! I am brand new - had never been on a crawler/dozer before I purchased this project. I bought an operator's manual from Jensales - really useful, but it's frustrating that for some reason they omit the fluid capacities, which I believe should be on the inside back cover!

I haven't been able to break the locknut free to adjust the yoke. However, the clutch does release. I also had someone confirm that the right yoke moves when the lever is pulled, when the machine is running. The free play is different between left and right steering clutch levers, but the difference and slop may be from inside the hydraulic booster - it looks like it is leaking oil from the front seals where the clutch rods enter.

However - your point about the linkages is well taken! Today I confirmed that the brake linkages were adjusted completely differently between the two sides. Someone tightened both linkages for the right brake all the way. First I loosened the brake tension nut and the brake support screw. Then I unscrewed the front linkage rod 3 or 4 full turns. This pushed the lever 7B6175 back towards the steering clutch compartment (it had been about 1/2" forward of the compartment - whereas the left lever was touching the compartment with the brake released), and also let the lever 6B7149 drop down into its seat. The rear pin of 6B7149 is still floating about 1/8" above its cup, but it's a lot closer to seated. Then we adjusted the brakes as directed in the operators manual. Visibly, the action of the band is very similar between left and right sides now, and the two pedals feel similar when you depress them and the machine is still.

That said - the right brake is still not 100%. For the left brake, I can feather it with gentle pressure and vary how fast I turn. For the right, I still have to mash it. When the band first tightens on the drum, it doesn't brake - you really have to squeeze. (...tbc in next post...)