Allis Chalmers HD16DP-7748 Transmission Issue

Greetings all. Who knew becoming a land developer would find me owing such a variety of heavy equipment but here I am again with my potential acquisition of an Allis Chalmers HD16DP-7748. I do not know for certain but I am going to put this around the 1967/68 vintage. It's certainly larger than my D6.

I went to check this bad boy out and it is in unbelievably great shape... everything works very well accept an issue with what I believe to be the transmission. The current owner explained that the unit would not move when he purchased it. Found the transmission dry... no fluid. They filled it up and that got it to moving. Over time it has retreated into a process of firing up the motor... than working the forward/reverse back and forth until the machine begins to move... initially it will move about 10 feet in both direction and then build up as you continue to cycle back and forth. Ultimately it will reach a point that it will move well for the day until such time you shut it down and let it sit. You then will have to repeat the process. I have ordered a complete sent of manuals for it but do not have them yet. Thought I would look to see if there was an A-C old timer on here that could lend some pointers.

That machine I believe has a wet clutch. And if memory serves me right there were a lot of problems with the clutch. But I don’t think it to be a major job to tear into them. And also parts might be an impediment. I think with the right helper it be doable.