955 12A Traxcavator

A buddy of mine has one of those critters, has a side-dump bucket and a set of home-made scarifiers on the back

MeanGene,
I have a question... were these considered "good reliable" machines? I always wanted one but never knew how they held up.

Hello Bill
Nice machine,I was told that they used to have cylinder head problems..
I may be getting a 955K this year.
Looking forward to seeing your progress on its restoration.
Martyn

I think your thinking of the D330 (955H) as the ones with cylinder head problems. The 12A is the old reliable D315.

Your lucky to find a 12A in good shape. Most have been beat to death a long time ago. They are a little weak in the rear end, including cracking of the ring gear bearing supports. Under hobby use they will probably last forever.

They are one of the worst to work on if you need to get into the steering clutch case.

Another question... This machine steers both ways OK. Turning lefting it sometimes requires a slight "jab" on the brake pedal to get the clutch break loose. It this someting that will get better with use? This machine only saw 100 hours use in the last 15 years.

Another question... This machine steers both ways OK. Turning lefting it sometimes requires a slight "jab" on the brake pedal to get the clutch break loose. It this someting that will get better with use? This machine only saw 100 hours use in the last 15 years.

With that limited use in 15 yrs for sure it's going to change. If it's rust it probably will get better with use. If it's due to oil contamination it may or may not improve. The loaders were one of the first to go to the bronze faced discs which are the most resistant to sticking and rusting but the tooth/drum/hub areas still rust. Also kind of depends on what happened the other 40 years😊

Bill, get it going and run it around doing a lot of steering with the side in question. That will wear off some of the rust inside the drum. Nice new 53 BelAir.
Later Bob

I have an HT 4, It has proven to be pretty indestructable up here in the granite and DG. Please post a picture of the bucket rolled back all the way. You could try washing your clutches and brakes. You spoke of your gas tank, I thought the 955C's were direct start.

Tom