old dirt/oil combo was too hard to wash off and it was ice/snow outside, so we just tore into it.---kinda scrape as we go. Found the problem child in the transmission. It was needle bearings in the reverse idler gear went out and cut a groove in the hollow shaft that they ride on. The gear bore could be worn beyond holding new bearings---dont know yet. Guess this was a real problem in these crawlers! needle bearings were not heavy enough to hold the weight of the tractors. I might have to try welding and grinding on the shaft or take it to town and let them weld/mill it to specs. If I can get them,--probably should put all new bearings in the whole transmission since this loader did have a backhoe on it and probably was subjected to a hard life! --- A hoe on a little crawler is a very stupid idea to start with! Never could see the purpose of doing that. --- imagine the pressure on the little gears in there when you were on ruff ground and bouncing around with all that weight behind you plus all the loader weight in front! shaft in pic. shows the wear into the shaft. finals have to come off and differential comes out after steering bands are off. After looking closer at the gas tank--Well, gonna have to cut it out, build a frame in there and find some sort of small tank to set in there. Original tank is part of the seat , battery box, and tool box as a unit all welded together. --- that was another design flaw by Case ---- all of these tanks rotted out and thats why I am seeing pix. of them with tanks hangin on the top of the counterweight in back. Anyway thats as far as we got yesterday afternoon.
"A machine you build yourself is a vote for a different way of life. There are things you have to earn with your hands."
