D-2 steering clutch?

D2 steering clutches are known to freeze up and rust which expands the plate assembly. when it broke loose it cleaned out the rust buildup and the assembly went back to normal thickness.

dpendzic, I assume that loosening the tracks jarred something loose. I wonder if disassembly of the tractor to get the clutch to move is sometimes necessary, and the neighbor got lucky?

Thank you,

Ken

yes--he got lucky--strain from the track to the clutch sometimes breaks them loose--towing a heavy disc or log--some even have tied the machine to a tree or bury the dozer blade if it has one. otherwise you have to pull the clutch assembly which is a bit of a job

Dependzic are we saying the clutch(s) expanded so much the whole mechanism would not turn. What could it have been hung up on. He did say the tracks would not move. Also why would he think loosing the tracks would allow it to move, was he expecting to get enough slack to go over the sprocket?

NTL it certainly has something to do as you suggest I just don't understand the whole pic here.

So mcuh to learn so little time and it's getting shorter :eek2:

I'm guessing that the frozen tracks kept the machine from moving-or something got jammed in the sprocket teeth, and the expanded clutch discs took up all the throw from the lever/linkage system.
and by loosening the tracks the friction load was reduced on the links/pins/bushings and it started rolling and the movement and torque helped break the discs loose.
the other possibility is that something malfunctioned in the clutch/throwout bearing and kept the levers from returning to the normal position but that doesn't explain why it moved by loosening the tracks.

I think Garlic Pete is more onto it--I missed the point that it happened while it was being worked

I will print the information and give it to my neighbor. I appreciate the time you all took to help.

Thanks,

Ken

I took the information to the neighbor. He has been using the tractor, and did say one of the brakes needs adjustment all of a sudden. Maybe the lining has come off the band as you have suggested.
He wanted to mention that the top cover is hinged, making it hard to work in this area, and also that he thinks the brake adjustment if under the mechanism, and is hard to get to. Does this sound like the adjustment he should be working with, to adjust the brake? It does seem that an adjustment is not going to do the job, but probably new lining.

Thanks,

Ken

Ken, the brakes are adjusted from the top by removing the square covers just above the footwell plates. You'll find that each brake band has a nut that is turned on an eye bolt that tightens the bands to the drums. The brake adjustment underneath the tractor that he's referring to is the support bolt and jam-nut that holds the brake band up under the drum so that it's more centered around it. Once you've achieved the desired band adjustment from the top you then go underneath and loosen that jam-nut and turn the support bolt in till it bottoms out against the band and drum, then back it off 1 1/2 turns and tighten the jam-nut back down to lock it in place.

When I first read this post I also suspected a situation like Deas explained where steering clutch material loosens up and climbs onto itself increasing the clutch stack height and creating the resulting loss of clutch lever actuation, but still can't explain why the machine wouldn't roll. Now if it wasn't loose clutch material that bound up the mechanism, with the way the D2's clutch linkages are designed something else would've had to been floating around inside the steering clutch housing and wedged itself against the steering clutch yoke, forcing the yoke in towards the centerline of the machine creating the loss of control of the clutch lever, while at the same time binding the clutch/drum components severely enough to stop the machine. But this scenario isn't one that I would expect would just straighten itself back out again and not cause further problems. More info would be needed for a better guess.

Sasquatch, This information will help. It interesting to read your explanation.

Thank you,

Ken