Cat D6 9U

I have recently acquired a Cat D6 9U, Serial #9U27640. There are two issues where I would appreciate some assistance.
1. The machine was field converted from pony engine start to 24 volt direct electric start. When I received it, the four 6 volt batteries were junk, so I replaced them with four new 6 volt batteries. Due to other circumstances, I did not flash the field immediately but the engine ran for a while. A couple of days later, I flashed the field. Now, when I start it, the ammeter registers a minus 15 amps when it is at idle, zero amps at medium speed, and 15 amps positive at full throttle.
Did I ruin the regulator by not flashing the field immediately, before starting it?
Do I have a bad gauge?
Other?

2. The drive sprockets were pretty badly worn, so I ordered new rings to weld onto the existing spokes, after cutting off the existing rings.
In order to avoid disassembling the rear end, (the whole thing is a rust bucket), we welded braces onto the new rings, then cut them into three pieces. When we cut the new ring, it sprung out out round by about 1/2" in spite of our braces. We have been trying for two days to get it back into round, with little success.
Any suggestions on how to get the new ring back into round?
Any suggestions on how to avoid the same problem on the other side when we are ready to replace the ring there (other than complete disassembly?
Ron A.

Sounds like the regulator cutout contacts are welded or badly out of adjustment. That could be as a result of not polarizing it or it could just be faulty. If they are not welded or burned, you can usually adjust the voltage it cuts out at by bending the anchor point of the spring on the relay that feeds the BAT terminal. I have also substituted a diode in the BAT wire for the cutout on an otherwise good regulator. I went inside and crimped the contact points of the cutout relay together so they could not open. I suppose I could have just connected my diode to the GEN or ARM terminal bypassing the cutout relay completely.

On the sprocket, I think some judicious trimming with a torch and rewelding should get you closer than the 1/2" but it may run just fine as is.

Sorry posted in the wrong thread.

CC Jersey:
Thanks for the input. I will look at both a little more closely.
Ron A.

RE your second ring. If the ring has that much stress, you could try an stress relief heat treatment before cutting. Don't know what kind of hardness the ring has, if it is induction hardened or not. You might find a supplier that has had good results with that style of installation, if there is more than one source for rings that old.

Stephen:
OK. Thanks. I got the ring from a local supplier of used parts. Don't know who he got it from. It had a label on it saying "Made in Korea".
I'll look around a little and see who all has them available and if they can help.
Ron A.