There at one time was an aftermarket set up to apply hydraulic boosters to the steering clutches......
There at one time was an aftermarket set up to apply hydraulic boosters to the steering clutches......
[quote="Garlic Pete"]If that unit works the way I recall others I've seen, it may be a good thing he didn't get it started in gear.
I believe these Rivinius units provide no direct physical connection between the steering clutch levers and the clutch release yokes. This means, if he had gotten it started in gear, expecting to pull the steering clutches back for control, he might have found no way to stop it except shutting it down.
I believe the steering clutch levers are simply connected to hydraulic valves, which then activate small hydraulic cylinders on the clutch release yokes. When you first start it, until the pressure builds up, you have no way to release the clutches. In normal operation, pressure builds almost instantaneously. In something that has been sitting for years, however, the fluid has most likely leaked out of some dry seals over time. This would leave you with a likelihood that you'd get no steering until you added fluid.
Even if it had fluid, there are lots of potential problems, stuck or plugged valving, rusted valve linkages, bad pump or seals, etc.
All in all, if they work the way I think they do, I'd want that master clutch releasing before I got that thing started in gear. If you had plenty of room and knew what to expect, you could always just be ready to kill the engine, either with the throttle or the decompression, of course. Not expecting that, though, and with maybe some trees or rocks in front of you could lead to some excitement!
Pete.[/quote]
That is exactly what he was thinking would happen. He had the fuel off and the compression released to see what would happen. It started to move and the decision was made to fix the clutch in wood tick heaven.
I know where there are 2 of those. One is on a machine that walks and talks. The other is on one that may some day....
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