Hi Oz Dozer,
Thanks for the recognition and strokes:)
Your right about the judgment of the operator. Takes some thinking on how to elevate something like this. There is no flexibility to the tractor frame so if you don't have a procedure thought out it's easy to find yourself with the whole load on one corner and the jack. A formula for disaster. In this particular case it was jack up the rear (note bolts going through drawbar into end caps of the stands)(these are undersized to the drawbar holes so there is flexibility) then jack up both sides at the front simultaneously (alternate working of the jacks)
I expect to be working under the tractor so for me it has to be sturdy. I've made it to far to lose it at this point LOL.
For those thinking of building some thats 3 in. sched 40 pipe inside 3-1/2 in sched 40, some 1/4 wall 2 x 4 sq. tube and a couple of 21 in. dia. used plow discs. The pins are 1 in. 3-pt hitch items. Note the front attachments also pick up the bolt hole location on the bottom of the track frame.
The rear adjustment tubes are capped at both ends, one end drilled with welded backup nut for 1-1/4 (for the 1-1/2 drawbar hole in the D6) the other end for 3/4 in to fit the 1 in. D4 drawbar hole. This will also allow mounting of different brackets and attachments. Don't forget the jack retainer ring under the square tube. Have fun, work safe.

One of the biggest problems when repairing machines, is the regular addition .. or removal .. of sizeable components, that affect the machines stability .. even when the original support arrangements initially appeared to be quite sound.

If you haven't recognised this potential danger .. and planned for it .. and set (or re-set), the support stands accordingly .. you can have a machine fall off, what originally appeared to be satisfactory supports .. but which became unstable, because of a major change in weight distribution.

OM, Oz, sometimes operator common sense & experience is what saves folks, as often as the fancy hi tec engineered precautions that the "Safety Police", as I call 'em, go round enforcing. Their job security & $$$$ seems to be the theme these days, & enforcement does go to the extremes sometimes, to the point of idiotic in my opinion. Yet, I guess there is a place in this world for them...it is a changing world!
And like I'm always telling my boys, guys working for me, or even anybody helping me, "heads-up, eyes open, have your thinker-a-thinking! Whether it's 200#, 2000#, or 20,000# falling on 'ya, it still hurts....& 'ya can not out run it!!!"

On the liter, happier side....all the yellow parts on Carol's little 9U got renamed yesterday...."Dirty Word, Dirty Word" & a few others that rhymed with "dirty, rotten, no good Sumbit**, @$#%&@#$......" & then I started mouthing off about the Caterpillar engineer that designed this set-up "should fry in hell for this!!!!" lightening gonna strike me yet!

I (& some off & on occasional help that drifted by to "just see what're doing") fought that shaft & bushings off & on all day & till nearly midnight last night! Used the torch & PB Buster liberally (heating, cooling, soaking), big hammers & various pry bars, finally got about 3/8" of the shaft & outer brass bushing showing outside the steering clutch housing. Also finally got the transmission side lever off the shaft & onto the floor. (still laying there too!!)
I used the lever on the shaft inside the housing for leverage to pry against. The outside brass bushing is totally grown to the shaft, but the inside bushing is free of the shaft, & moves some in the housing.

After a nite of thinking & dreaming on this I went back up there about 5:00 this morning, threw the heat & PB to her again, thought & talked to it some more, came home & coffee'd-up some more, & now gonna go at it again!
No doubt in my mind....I will conquer!!! I think if I ever get this fixed, I'm gonna drill & tap about 40 grease zerts all over this thing!! About 40 or more on each end, maybe! May even rig up a sloppy oil bathed set-up too!!!

Oh yeah OM, This thing already had drilled & cotter keyed drain plugs in the steering clutch housing....they were just plugged up with dirt & crud.

Well I'm outta here. >})}>POOF<{({< I'm gone!

Seeing as how you've got the shaft exposed outboard you might consider welding a coupling nut to the end and going at it with a slide hammer. Course it right in line with the tracks so you would have to jack them up some.

Interesting, mines a Carol too!!

ttman - Sounds like you got the tenacity to see it through. Two things I found when you're trying to get rusted parts separated, is ..

1. Heat kills rust, better than many things .. but use it in moderation ..

2. Hot/n/cold extremes are the way to go, when you've got components swelled by rust. Dry ice can shrink parts substantially .. and heat on housings that are holding parts tightly, makes them swell enough to gain necessary clearance.

OM,

I like Oz was also admiring your stands. I use old railway sleepers, but no matter which way you set them up and cut them down, they always seem to be in the way!

I've also had the same problem trying to remove the steering yoke on the right hand side of my 9U. There is a slight bit of play in the bearing, but unless you remove the transmission, i can't think of another of gain access to replace it?

I doubt these brake peddles have ever worked as good as they do now! Even when this thing was brand new!!
I thought & dreamed all night about maybe writing up some kind of "How To" manual, sell it on Ebay, & just sit back & watch the royalty $$$ come rolling in....What you'all think?? hummmm... But it is hard to sleep when 'ya thinking about money, isn't it?

Tenacity, well I been watching Joey, the King of Obsolete, & the stuff he pulls off up there in "snowdrift country" is amazing! & I'm sure not gonna let him outdo me!! hahaha:D
But I Did-not-cry when I knocked that silverdollar sized chunk of meat & hide off my thumb & hand yesterday.....& no one was around to listen to any whining, so no "feeling sorry" mileage there....
OM, good thought about welding nut on shaft end for slide hammer. I hadn't thought of that. I have seen shafts drilled & tapped for slidehammer pulling though.

Heating, cooling, soaking did the trick, along with lots of talking so there was no doubt that I meant business!!!
I rounded up some other odd shaped prybars & rods, managed to get the shaft moving some more using leverage between the transmission housing & shaft end, as well as more prying & leverage against the lever still tight on the shaft inside the housing. As usual, when things reached a certain point & everything was just right, the shaft & bushing just fell out, so to speak!

Bushing on tranny side stayed in housing. I felt it was OK, & would have been kinda hard to replace, so I cleaned it up & left in in place.
Bushing toward the outside came out on the shaft. It cleaned up really nice with emerycloth, so it got reused too. Shaft cleaned up great & slid back with anti-seize. Outside bushing drove in & is snug in housing, shaft works just right, no excess slack anywhere.

I wonder if Cat will take these $50 brass bushings back?? I'll swing by the Cat House in a day or so & see....maybe I'll trade for something else....or keep'em along with my other treasures.....

Two most amazing things of all is that nothing got dropped inside the clutch housings that has to be fished out! Other is that I never had to throw a hissy-fit & beat & break things up!!! haha

yes a how to book on these cats would make a lot of money. the tricks are worth a lot of money.

thansk

ttman4,
Now that your so good at it, you can do the other side too:D

Hi David Wills,
Yes, I use old RR ties also, they are handy to drive up on (full length) to access underneath and for storing the tractors on them. As blocking they always seem to get in the way and its a long crawl/slither to come in from the other end, if that isn't blocked also. I can just manage to get my gut between these stands but it is a little tight.
This tractor had to come off the ground because the steering clutches and linkage are frozen and I need to be able to index the master pins for removal plus rotate the sprockets to access the final drive pinion flange bolts.

This is also earthquake country where conventional blocking is a crap shoot.

Yes, that lower yoke bushing is well buried. A job for the next time you do a steering clutch overhaul.