D7 17A final drive??

Pretty rare to break a dead axle but more common/slight chance of having the dead axle get loose in the housing.

Pretty sure It's out on the tapered end the Axle going Thru the case is not loose or spun that I can tell. No its going to be a job.tractor runs good has new rails and sprockets I sure dont want to scrap it. I know I will probley have to get the caterpillar man out to my place to help$$$$😖hocked:

Better to have it break there then have it tear up to main case.

I'm confused, how can the dead axle turn by turning the bearing adjuster nut when it is keyed in the outer hub, unless the whole hub is turning? Does the inner castellated retaining nut under the back-end turn as well? This would mean the whole shaft is turning. If the dead shaft were broken off, you would have a lot more symptoms than a leaking seal, like track rubbing the dozer arms, running out of line , throwing the track off and some terrible crunching noises from the final drive. I have known bearings collapse and damage a dead shaft but never known a shaft break through lack of bearing adjustment. Time to drop a magnet into the final drive as well and see what comes out.

No, the inner castle nut is tight. the sprocket is running out of line and rubbing on the track frame. that's what led me to try to tighten the bearings when I took the outer bearing cover off and I had the tractor jacked up to get most of the weight off. I then was tightening the back bearing with the big spanner wrench I noticed the outer end of the dead shaft would turn about a 1/4" either way but where it runs thru the case and the big castle nuts by the draw bar are tight no movement or play.

Are you sure it is the shaft turning or is the bearing holder turning on the shaft because key or keyway is shot and the axle nut is also turning because it is locked to the bearing holder by the two dowels?
What I am saying is, don't assume the dead shaft is broken, more likely the hub is broken and the bearing holder is loose on the end of the shaft. If the shaft is broken you would see the outer bearing and track frame drop as you jacked it up and if you let it back down with a small block under the sprocket, you will see it go back up. Either way you have a lumpy job on your hands and I would be looking for an independent mechanic with the pulling gear to do the job rather than a Cat dealer because of the labour cost involved.

Ok ill look at it a little closer and see. but I'm sure its the shaft that I seen move. Could it have broke so clean out on the tapered end that it is still able to support the weight of the tractor? there is play but not excessive. Wont know I guess for sure till I tear into it. I'm just dreading the cost of having someone come out with the pullers. I could do the work myself if I had access to the big boy tools.

Thanks
Josh

A clean break inboard of the taper would still support the weight of the tractor through the outer taper roller and hub but there would be a lot of up and down movement, you should be able to get the track split and the machine jacked up out of the track frame and the outer hub off to the point of pulling the sprocket before needing to get someone in with the sprocket puller. I used to use the sprocket puller to bump the outer hub off the dead shaft but I don't reckon you will need to do that.

catsilver,
Will I need to remove the track frame?